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| User: | the_urban_monk (1504238)
The Urban Monk
Everything is connected. Everything changes. Pay attention.
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| Name: | Dogo |
| Website: | The Sitting Frog Zen Sangha |
| Location: | Phoenix, Arizona, United States |
| Birthdate: | 1966 |
| E-mail: | |
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LJ Talk:
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| the_urban_monk | @ | livejournal.com (Jabber) |
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| Bio: | "The awesome Barry Graham... where innovative writing meets issues that matter."
- American Book Review
• I'm just a man trying to live life with kindness and without causing harm - a daily vow and a daily failure.
• I'm from Scotland, but have wandered far, and have lived in America since 1995.
• I used to be a boxer. Someone hit me hard enough to knock some sense into me, so I quit.
• Now I'm a Zen Buddhist monk, a social activist and a writer. I've had four novels and a book of stories published: Of Darkness and Light (Bloomsbury 1989), The Champion's New Clothes (Bloomsbury 1991), Get Out As Early As You Can (Bloomsbury 1992), The Book of Man (Serpent's Tail 1995), and Before (Incommunicado 1997).
• Some people think my books are a cry for help, and some people think they're pretty good. The Times (London) called me "a young master," back when I was young and masterful. Details called me "one of the real literary finds," back when I was real literary. Booklist said my writing was : "unrelenting and brutally honest . . . Graham has a visual style and writerly voice that are all his own: timely, urban, and powerful." Irvine Welsh, who wrote Trainspotting, called The Book of Man "haunting and evocative . . . resonates with the redemptive power art has over life."
• My book on Zen, Kill Your Self, will be published by New World Library in 2009.
• At performances, I recite chapters of my novels from memory.
• I've written articles for a number of American and British publications including Harper's, Parabola, Details, New Times (Phoenix), The Arizona Republic, Las Vegas Life, Las Vegas Weekly, Scotland on Sunday, The Herald, The Scotsman, and the Edinburgh Evening News.
• My poetry has been published in magazines and anthologies, and I've had a stage play and a short film produced.
• I consider Arizona my home.
• I've witnessed two executions, invited each time by the prisoner, not the state.
• I'm on the Board of Directors of The Engaged Zen Foundation.
• I'm the Guiding Teacher of The Sitting Frog Zen Sangha.
If you find value in this blog and wish to support our activities, any and all donations will be accepted with profound gratitude.
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| Memories: | 39 entries |
| Pictures: | over 200 public |
| Interests: | 150: abandoned buildings, activism, adrian tomine, amelia rules, anatta, anicca, anthropology, architecture, arizona, b-movies, basho, beavis and butt-head, birds, blaxploitation movies, bob dylan, bodhidharma, boxing, brian michael bendis, buddhism, cats, ch'an, charles willeford, chinese poetry, christopher kimball, city planning, class issues, cometbus, compassion, cooking, curtis mayfield, david cronenberg, david goodis, david mamet, death penalty, dennis cooper, dennis lehane, design, dharma, dogen, dolly parton, dukkha, ecology, elmore leonard, engaged zen foundation, environmentalism, ethnopoetics, f.x. toole, folk music, frogs, gary snyder, george pelecanos, george v. higgins, ghost dog, giant robot, godard, graffiti, greg brown, haibun, haiku, han shan, harry partch, hip hop, hiroshige, history, hokusai, horror movies, howard zinn, ikkyu, independent comic books, insects, issa, jaan kaplinski, japan, japanese art, japanese fiction, japanese poetry, jim harrison, jim thompson, john mooney, johnny cash, journalism, karma, kenzo kitakata, kim ki-duk, kiyoshi kurosawa, koans, kronos quartet, leonard cohen, li bai, li pai, li po, lizards, love and rockets, martial arts, meditation, michael pollan, mister rogers, narcocorridos, natsuo kirino, noir, npr, old photographs, paying attention, philip glass, phoenix, poetry, prison-industrial complex, progressive politics, public transport, punk rock, quentin tarantino, rebecca brown, red pine, rengetsu, richard stark, ryokan, ryu murakami, santoka, service, shodo harada, shonen knife, shunryu suzuki, so sahn, social activism, social justice, son house, sonic youth, sonoran desert, spiders, stonehouse, takashi miike, tanka, tea, the everybodyfields, the sun magazine, the white stripes, tu fu, urban decay, urban farming, urban gardening, vipaka, wildlife, wisdom traditions, writing, yasunari kawabata, yosano akiko, zazen, zen, zines, zoning |
| Friends: |  | 244: | 12th_of_never, _artistmonk_, _lost_found_, a_fascination, aaeichsteadt, adoka, adventuregrrl, aeonvolupz, allanb, alyx, annikaedison, anomosx, anon_cockatiel, anxiao, aoniedesade, aradii75, artemisiaabsin, ashlupa, auralfiend, austintacious, azbun, babbott, bbcaddict, bean_dame, bearlyjoe, beelavender, beljar, bellasanas, bonniedelight, britpoptarts, buzfree, cailleach_beara, caramida, catnash, catndhat, catseatdogs, catwoman980, centerofthemind, chameleonlizard, charvolant, chases_the_moon, chasingzen, chinook_wind, chixor1, ckocher, clawsoftiamat, cobaltika, cogenthoughts, comatosestate, crankenfurter, crash_cart, cronesmoon, cyndrekit, cynthia1960, dandycat, dao, daphnep, darkmugen, dcart, deanarae, deskitty, dirnaf, dirtgirl, dirtwitch, dkolodji, docbrite, drahgonne, dwaleberry, easily_charmed, ellf, erikted, eudaimonia, faganmobius, fivebells, fnbrown, forestdweller, frankiemouse, gea2, ghostinthephoto, gislebertus, gomyo, gracewanderer, greygirlbeast, gridvinik, groundbyground, hk2999, hotblue, hototogisu, i_maenad, iamkatia, iangalaher, imdaturd, ininetyfour, jacflash, jadedusoliel, jakebe, james968, javabean, jewyl, jmcleod76, jodimelancholy, julian_black, ka1idurga, katuah, kaylabe, kdancekid, keyne, kimberlyonline, king_cool_paul, koshkaphoenix, krissyfits, kyra, laughingwoman, laverick, lexica510, liadra, liakela, liberation_army, likethecountry, litch, living_tonglin, llahamamama, lostartofsecret, lovelyangel, machineplay, mal, manycolored, marie_rex, mayavada, mazzie, mcblm921, mehndi_chick, merruth, michimusic, milesofmanloaf, miss_craxy, misticblackbird, mizo_no_oto, moment_of_me, moriarty6, morpheus814, mr_eko, ms_danson, mudpriestess, mv_moorhead, nationelectric, neo_prodigy, netbard, newbodvie, no_htoon, noggie, ocvictor, officerxx, paeyl, pandora54725, paprica, parakleta, pepperfunk, photobodvie, plantyhamchuk, pookieyamamama, postmaudlin, ppsassygrl, prajnaparamita, pretty_eggs, przed, punkrockgoth, qudaitsewukong, queenmaleficent, quotamour, rdsp, reallyoldman, rickyv, roadcrooked, rojagrl, rootedfool, royalbananafish, ryanbrenizer, ryushinmalone, saamun, sacredink, sakura_tsuji, salyey_marya, saysdances, sciamanna, seraphito, shadowprison, sharkcartilage, shiggity, silver_scribe, silverpancake, sleepweasel, smallstar, sourrgrrl, spacekadette, spikeydemon, spinpsychle, spiralflames, stef_tm, stefan11, stellaspike, subrock, subtlesabotage, sudaesan, sunshine_two, sushis, tea_with_alice, teflonfeathers, tentsense, terabithiabeth, the_hedonist, the_xtina, thehornedgod, theklute, thelitterbox, thugfish, tiamatinchina, tilt_a_whirl, tomouse, tomtom57, txkink, ubermunkey, ulyart, una_ragazza_o, urban_exotic, validkittykitty, varushka, vaud, vaysha, victoria_lane, viralmemory, vision_serpent, voidseeker, vorpalblad, waggner, weishaupt, wildwose, windycitylotus, woodburner, wordmule, words_fail, ysolt, zaggers, zoeticzeke |  | 12: | _critical_mass, bikepirates, bodhisattvas, chattanooga_zen, cooking, daily_zen, freecycle_phx, gregsluann, hip_domestics, naturalliving, paidmembers, poor_skills |  | 7: | bookslut, doubtboy, gibsonfeed, jensen_blog, officialgaiman, pornobuddhist, savagelove |
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| Account type: | Plus Account |
