THE2NDHAND's erratically-published e-mail newsletter is the world's prime forum for the propagation of La Literatura del Estupidismo and those of at-once stern & frivolous inclinations...in addition to being an informational outlet in which all web site updates and Broadside productions are detailed, in which THE2NDHAND events and the related goings-on of our contributors and/or cohorts the world over are likewise related w/ a verve akin to that of a young child devouring a twinkie.

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Addendum:

(selected from a past edition of the newsletter)

We are back, men and women all, from the brink of network-borne disaster (in case you didn’t notice, our site has been down for a week or so; now tis back alive and kicking: http://www.the2ndhand.com ). We are also back from Oak Park, IL, where the 2nd-ever THE2NDHAND gathering at Barbara’s bookstore, right along the main, provided much brilliant respite from the ever-increasing heat. Thanks to all who read, and attended, including the Skunk Ape, who I had wonderful occasion to interview before he headed back to Florida, likewise before the Barbara’s crowd. After everything, I think all in attendance would agree the most defining characteristic of said S. Ape turned out to be a kind of pervasive bluntness. Brief transcript follows:

THE2NDHAND: So, Skunk Ape, you’re visiting us today from Florida, correct?

SKUNK APE: (speaking, mind you, through a megaphone) Florida.

T2H: But you’re not actually from Florida, I’m led to understand?

SA: Berwyn.

T2H: You’re from Berwyn?

SA: Berwyn.

New on the site:

MY NICARAGUA NICARAGÜITA: Finally, as long-promised, the first two of Germania Solorzano’s six reports (which originated as a series of broadcast e-mails to trusted associates) written during a holiday season spent in Nicaragua have arrived. From part one: "(Actually she says a little prayer, right there on the spot, whenever we evade disaster…Gracias senor por protegernos en nuestra viaje al mar…Thank you Lord for protecting us on our trip to the beach. Does this annoy me? Yes. She wasn't like this when I was a kid. Religious, yes, but not calling on God and Jesus every five minutes -- we evade disaster a lot.) Which leads back to my mother's response about religion: "We are all going to die…." meaning -- prepare! Prepare your lowly soul! Sinner thou!…." http://www.the2ndhand.com

From part two: "And whiter, more European-looking Nicas can snub their noses at her and ask if she washed the papayas before she bagged them. And did she use purified water? Fuck, either buy the papayas or don’t. Don’t freaking waste the woman’s life away. You want papayas washed in purified water, buy your own damn papaya and lug it home in your freaking SUV bought in Miami and cut it up your damn self. And yet here I am playing the role of the tourist. Yes, yes, give me a bag of papaya. How much? Pennies. Pennies. Pennies. I’ll eat them and probably die of cholera because she washed them in some well water full of swimming little microbes. Such is life…." http://www.the2ndhand.com

And: we are proud to showcase for you a new writer, who’s working a kind of atmospheric prose we find to be quite the thing. Read: ONE AND ONES, by Eric Graf, who has played his Skunk Ape roles in the past, indeed…: "see us in time like a space consumed. close to here you raised your arms in a yawn we drink too faster chasing rust up a ladder. you thought i forget moments of importance helping disregard a ball of aluminum foil set a mold of my teeth. yarn and seeing dressed up many days lent shape porcelain inviolable and secure behind a gate. they're home again across the street now waving goodbye in their minds as cats that grimace. anymore single glimpse into a touch command those lines are all i handle to another never lied begging over curtain of branches…." http://www.the2ndhand.com

THE2NDHAND
c/o Todd Dills
1827 1st Avenue N #301
Birmingham, AL 35203

Addendum: we are also back from Bowling Green, OH, from this year’s installment of the Underground Publisher’s Conference, at which we were delighted to spend time with friends and engage in various and sundry activities, not the least of which was a night of bowling with Missieurs Adam Voith, Jim Munroe, and sundry others, including a new friend by the name of Jeff Yamaguchi, whose account of the entire weekend echo my own sentiment, really, so go to http://www.bookmouth.com/#upc for a full account. While you’re at it, check out the main page of this site, all in all Jeff’s project is quite the thing. Comes highly recommended. And watch for next year’s UPC; it’s a great event… -*td