by Brad Warner

Zen Master Genpo Roshi has announced that he is disrobing. To “disrobe” as a Buddhist monk means that you formally quit the Buddhist order and give up your status as a priest and/or monk. Ironically, it was disrobing that got him into trouble in the first place. It seems that Genpo, who is married, had an affair with the woman he was grooming to be his successor.

I never even knew or cared about any of Genpo’s sex scandals (this is not his first) until this one broke. But I have been highly critical of a scam he’s been running for a number of years called Big Mind(r).

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by Scott Rothman and Mike Sacks

$1,000 wk/8BR – Come enjoy beautiful East Hampton this summer! Awesome beach house just steps from ocean, with fabulous views throughout. New Weber grill. Plenty of rooms to sob in. Totally did not just rent this and hope I could find 7 other people to spend the summer with me. Tennis nearby. Minutes from town. Jacuzzi. Newly installed phone for late-night therapist and ambulance dialing. New bedding. Bedbug issue semi resolved.

Other amenities include laundry room, weight room, a guy looking to meet some cool buds, wrap-around deck where the seeds of new friendships can be planted, showers no one has rigged to look at you naked, etc.

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by Garrett Faber

“Give me an obscene gesture any day.”
-Chuck Palahniuk

You know who Chuck Palahniuk is; he’s inspired a generation of fucked up outsiders and insiders alike. He lit the fuse that sent my imagination projecting forward towards creative bliss and artistic freedom. His reach extends so far that even if people don’t know his name, they at least know one of his works. Since Fight Club — his first published novel — Palahniuk has grown as a writer and his audience has grown with him, enjoying every second of this wild ride through the world’s dirty subconscious. He is the father of Tyler Durden. He blew Shannon McFarland’s jaw off. He gave us false messiahs and pre-op trannies. And we love him for it.

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by Brandon Perkins

In the previous installment of our futuristic fiction series, Please Use Rear Exit, Mikhail, who recently x-ed his GF (Katya), ventures out for his first major post-break up night on the tiles with the boys. Unable to cut the ties completely, and with reminders in the form of text messages still causing his phone and his emotions to vibrate, Mikhail recalls his first breakup with Katya a year ago after temptation moved into the next cubicle at work. Meanwhile, Katya is similarly “enjoying” a night out with the girls. Though she’s putting lot of effort into her “over it” front, beneath the thin veneer, as with Mikhail, her mind’s in turmoil.

The scene in front of the mirror was absurd. Just wanting to touch up her mascara, Katya was finding reflective real estate hard to come by. Nipples were being forced back into tube tops as breasts were pushed together and back out. Faces ducked in close to the glass and everyone clucked away in the background. Spectacularly bedecked fingernails flicked at specs of makeup gone astray. Elbows flailed with more fury than the numerous turns of various lipsticks. A plethora of squinting and straining smiles dominated the mirror, turning the would-be reflection of harsh fluorescent lights into a pitch-black sea of narcissism. Katya couldn’t find a space to look at herself. The commotion upset her stomach more than it already was; acid churned into the swills of Smirnoff and tonic. She searched hopelessly for a sliver of space, if only to make sure that there wasn’t anything in her teeth or hair.

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by Alex Dueben

“If I’m not having fun, I may as well go get a desk job.”
– Cherie Priest

Cherie Priest is one of those writers who became an overnight success after more than a decade of hard work. She has two book series going on right now. Her new book is “Bloodshot,” an urban fantasy novel featuring an obsessive compulsive vampire thief nicknamed “Chesire Red” who has an ex-Navy SEAL Cuban drag queen sidekick. It’s a great, fun read with a very different take on vampires than most books offer.

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by Brad Warner

A couple weeks ago when I was in Durham, my friend Catie showed me an episode of the TV show Family Guy called “Brian Writes a Bestseller.” Hulu has the full episode up so you can take a look for yourself by clicking on the link at the very end of this article.

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by Erin Broadley

“If you care about what others think, you’ll never feel comfortable”
– Carrie Borzillo

There comes a time in every rock chick’s life when even the most badass of the bunch needs a little refresher course on self-empowerment and simple life maintenance like properly preparing absinthe. Enter the new book from entertainment journalist Carrie Borzillo, titled Cherry Bomb: The Ultimate Guide to Becoming a Better Flirt, a Tougher Chick, and a Hotter Girlfriend, and to Living Life Like a Rock Star.

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