state of unbeing - FAQ v4.1

The year 2001 is State of unBeing's eighth year of publication. While individual issues have been missed at times, we have never dropped out of publication during that run, and are among the few remaining granddaddies of the e-zine scene. We may, indeed, be the longest running, surviving, text-based literary e-zine in existence. Give or take.

Originally out of Georgetown, Texas, State of unBeing was the brainchild of Kilgore Trout, who was already a veteran editor in a more local alternative publication. Surrounding himself with a core of dedicated writers and devoting himself to a varied range of subjects, Kilgore demonstrated that a non-profit based, decentralized publication can keep up high-quality production. Give or take.

State of unBeing's vision was to establish a text-based zine which would provide a forum to a range of authors on unrestricted topics. This form has allowed for unestablished authors and unconventional topics to a degree unseen in organization-based or topic-specific publications. Take.

Writers have come and gone, but the main core remain years later, and State of unBeing continues strong. Give.

The easiest place to find State of unBeing is at the website: http://www.apoculpro.org/sob/index.shtml. One can find both html and text versions of each issue (thanks to Nathan's lucidity), as well as versions of various binary issues that have been released, with their text transcriptions (again, thanks to Nathan's lucidity). State of unBeing can also be delivered in text format to one's email address by requesting membership onto the mailing list. To do so, you may follow the directions on the website, or simply contact Kilgore Trout -- be certain to give reasons why you should be added, if you are so daring, and it shall be done.

When added to the mailing list, the only thing you should expect to receive are copies of the issues by e-mail, when they are released, and the occasional SoB-related announcement, which is rather rare. Such is the lone purpose for the SoB mailing list at this moment, not a full-fledged discussion list as some may be subscribed to. As a bonus prize, your request to be added may be published in an upcoming issue, complete with the honored remarks of our editor.

It has traditionally been the case, since we originated time, that State of unBeing be released on the 23rd of every month. As with the Julian calendar, schedules have drifted to and fro, back and forth, with the release dates often landing at the ends/beginnings of months. With the analysis of such schedules, Kilgore has been seriously considering altering the release date to be something smack in the middle of each month.

Nevertheless, issues are as monthly as possible, with the random off-months of abyss and /dev/null -- there has been a wicked trend of non-existent August issues, originating with the ill-fated issue #8.

The most efficient way to do so would be to e-mail our highly-esteemed editor Kilgore Trout at kilgore@apoculpro.org. We are certainly capable of receiving submissions by mail, fax, phone, and carrier pigeon, with such arrangements made beforehand.

If a submission is accepted for publication, you will of course be notified of such events, and will receive the issue (and subsequent issues) it is published in. We do acquire simple, uncomplicated, one-time rights to publish the item in the issue -- otherwise, all rights to such items are retained by the authors. If for some reason we are interested in re-printing your item elsewhere (though, such a thing has yet to occur), you will be contacted prior to doing so, with complete details, and fully at your discretion.

We have always been driven to welcome new writers into our realms, often of the under-30 sort, and our material seems to reflect such things. As well, we have been driven to be fairly open when it comes to submission policies. The easiest, most productive, and amusing way to determine what kinds of thing may fall into the zine would be to read several past issues -- this is highly recommended.

Many a folk has been quoted in the past as saying "we'll print anything," and, for the most part, this could be considered true. As the zine has evolved and matured over the past several years, however, it has clearly formed its own niche (perhaps a gaping hole) in the landscape of text-based literary zines. As stated on the website, we do encourage people to submit things that perhaps might not be readily accepted by the mainstream reading population. The subsections we include in the standard issue (letters to the editor, articles, poetry, and fiction) pretty much cover every and all things one could send.

That being said, the only true underlying element we look for in all things published in the zine is Quality. Quality is the maker and ruler of all, undeniable and plenty. Your Quality may fall into the category of obscure literary criticism of 17th century grimoires, social commentary masked beneath dialogue on oak leaves, tales of wit and compassion in the Boxer Rebellion, headless women, headless men, headless children that come back again, a haiku, an essay on cleanliness, romance in ant farms, indecipherable rants and raves and Dr. Graves -- wherever it may fall, we tend to publish such things, as long as Quality exists.

7. Who should I contact with comments, questions, complaints, or inductive proofs?

Being a far-reaching multi-faceted force in world politics and foreign relations, with multi-national facilities scattered beneath the earth's crust, Apocalypse Culture Productions does not merely publish State of unBeing. In a strong-headed attempt to push the boundaries of communication, as well as strive for positioning during the untimely Death of Kilgore, Clockwork introduced the first audio issue of State of unBeing, labeled #AAA, at the end of October 1997.

An additional audio issue, labeled alphabetically as #AAB, was released in April 1998 under the editorial management of Clockwork, with collaboration and proliferation from the entire staff.

When aural desires arose again, rather than publish a third audio issue, a project further separated from the zine was sought -- something in the lands of noise and landscapes, rather than in spoken words. Thus, the collective STS-48 was created, releasing the first full-length CD, Something, an improvisational noise bash head session, in May 1999.

As long as we are driven -- or at least as long as Clockwork possesses the ability to influence the Will of others -- you can expect to see further explorations into the other-realms of non-textual entity creation.

--SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB--

10. What are these so-called "binary" stars?

Binary stars are actually members of a binary system, in which a pair of stars revolve around each other, based on their common center of mass. I believe the middle star in the handle of the Big Dipper is a binary star -- Zeta Ursae Majoris. In fact, there may be several in the area of Ursae Majoris. There seem to be quite a large percentage of binary, and multiple, star systems about in the universe, primarily because it is a bit more difficult when a nebular cloud is collapsing for a single star to to avoid getting slapped around by other stars.

There seems to be strange a strange science-fiction mythos revolving around binary stars, and the existence of life and other such things around binary stars -- such systems often show up in books, movies, shows, etc. Perhaps solely because it is such a novel thing to have multiple stars, and it's damn neat to fantasize about, and render scenes involving, multiple stars on a horizon. Perhaps because, as mentioned above, it is actually more common to have a multiple star system than a unary one.

Oh, Binary Star is also a band classified under the genre "underground rap," on the label Subterraneous.

Well, perhaps not entirely rumors.

As you may or may not be aware -- I'm hoping somewhat aware since the existence of audio project-like entities was discussed earlier in the FAQ -- there have been a small horde of audio productions under the apoculpro name. With the advent of publicly accessible streaming media technologies, as well as an increase in bandwidth for the whole lot of us, Clockwork is blamed for taking it upon himself to throw the audio productions at the public using these technologies. Thus, in addition to directly downloading the MP3s of the binary/audio issues, you can find them streaming at the following locations:

Live365 -- http://www.live365.com/ -- High bandwidth. Most reliable.
Shoutcast -- http://www.shoutcast.com/ -- Medium/low bandwidth, as it is locally hosted. Somewhat reliable.
Icecast -- http://www.icecast.org/ -- Medium/low bandwidth, as it is locally hosted. Somewhat reliable.

Currently, as shown above, the most reliable, highest bandwidth-giving site is Live365. The only slight downfall is a rather sporadic commercial insertion they do, basically identifying Live365 as the hosting organization. Perhaps could be considered annoying, but unless a T3 falls from the sky into my kitchen, it is a small price to pay. The other two have lower bandwidth, as they are personally hosted/streamed by Clockwork using both the Shoutcast/Icecast services, based on the same technology. The small bonus with these is the lack of commertial insertions.

In the near future there are grandiose plans to offer a miniature slew of content, including radio shows, further programming, hosts, boasts, roasts, coasts, and other rhymes. Such things will of course be announced, and more information will be available at http://www.apoculpro.org/projects/radio/index.shtml.

A very small amount of t-shirts are still available. White is all that is currently left, in both L and XL.

A picture of the front of the shirt can be found here.
A picture of the back of the shirt can be found here.

Contact person for the t-shirts is Clockwork; email him for more information. Be advised he is often away and travelling on obscure directives for JPL , O.T.O, and other various organizations with Latin words in their titles, and thus, has the horrible habit of not responding promptly. Please do not take this personally -- just continue to pester him until he sends you a shirt with an apologetic note attached.

--SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB--

15. How do I know if I am in a state of unbeing?

It seems as though, according to a certain play-by-mail / play-by-email role-playing game, if you are a Necromancer, you are in a state of unbeing -- defined as those who "are no longer alive themselves, but are simply spirits whose souls and sentience now reside in thought alone."

And, according to a half-faceless entity in the midwestern United States: "It is the apocalypse. It is Marilyn Manson. It is you. It is me. And best defined, I truly believe it is our one collective scream for change."

Another, to my knowledge not from the midwestern United States believes symptoms of a state of unbeing to be "a poetry and grace of movement, plus prankish episodes in tune with the lunar cycle..."

If you are the Illuminati, or are a member of the Illuminati, or are an Illuminati, then you not only know you are in this state, but you also know this state does not exist, and only exists because it was meant to be existing to others, who don't exist themselves.

Do you feel indefinable? Undefinable? Illdefinable? Can you not manipulate reality or function normally from other realms of You, investing tremendous amount of energy into a glowing blue headache, seeking to leave your Being and Be, so those tasks can be performed, and performed properly? Do you get writer's block? Have you experinced being undead? Disembodied? Spaceless? Have you ridden a space elevator? Are you trapped in the image of your mother? Father? Do you feel autonomous? Are you a lemming?

--SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB--

16. Do you have any remote viewers on your staff?

We're working on it...

--SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB--

17. How exactly did George W. Bush become the President of the United States?

A wonderful, insightful question begging, needing, and crying for an answer. If nothing else, it is irrefutable proof of just how much the infrastructure of the country is pre-engineered and pre-designed, bluntly supplying a wonderful example for the phrase "ruling class." Purely his name, purely his name, I say, four letters with an elder father to boot, ex-CIA heading, ex-WHO meddling gentleman, orchestrated and pawned out to no end.

But, ya know, we're not into politics or anything.

--SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB--

18. What does novus ordo seclorum really mean?

It is a common belief amongst many folk that the phrase is translated as 'New World Order,' thus further fueling conspiracy theories above and beyond the normal call of duty. Not that I am stating there lies no conspiracy, small, medium, or large, behind the founding of our country and monetary system -- of course there is. If there wasn't, we'd still be trading solely hunks of metal and rope for some dog meat and blankets.

'Novus' is in fact correctly translated as 'new,' also meaning such things as 'fresh,' 'strange,' or 'unusual.' It is an adjective in nominative, masculine, singular form, thereby modifying the subject of the phrase. However, the use of the word 'novus' is interesting in itself, which we'll get to in a moment.

'Ordo' is also essentially correctly translated as 'order,' also meaning such things as 'rank,' 'series,' or 'line.' It is a noun, which is being modified by 'novus' -- nominative, masculine, singular in form as well.

'Seclorum' is another point of dispute. I was unable to find this word as it is spelled in any of the multiple Latin dictionaries I have available to me, which is quite interesting. And, leads us to the remainder of the explanation.

Virgil originally wrote a verion of this phrase in a line of Eclogue IV:

As one can see, the correct spelling of the word is actually 'saeclorum,' which is the genitive, plural form of 'saeculum,' with its poetical form being 'saeclum.' Literally, this means 'an age,' 'a century,' 'a generation,' 'the spirit of an age,' or 'the times.' With the word being in a genitive form, the phrase 'novus ordo seclorum' can then be more accurately translated as 'a new order of the ages' or 'a new order of the times' or any such similar phrase. Not exactly the evil, brooding force of New World Order, but, nonetheless, one could certainly pull many connotations from the terms. Combine that with the infamous eye in the pyramid, and you have yourself a ballgame.

If one is curious, the lines from Virgil can be literally translated as:

Where: F = force in Newtons; G = the gravitational constant, 6.67 x 10^-11 Nm^2 / kg^2; m1 and m2 are the masses of each body being attracted to each other, in kilograms; r = the distance between the two bodies in meters.

Does that mean anything to you? Does that explain anything at all? I would think not.

Apparently, this is a universal law -- all objects in the universe are attracted to, and attracted by, every other object. Welcome to the super universe of mutual attraction. One can thank Newton for that.

Further, it is a general rules that more massive objects have more of an attractive force. If you observe an object of a very low mass interact with an object of a very high mass, it will seem like the low mass object is purely being pulled to the high mass object. Perhaps the most suitable example for this would be you standing on the earth. Amazingly enough, you are also pulling the earth to you. Though, the amount is pretty much negligible.

There also seems to exist such things called gravitational waves, or gravitational radiation, which occur whenever there is a large disruption in space-time, such as a supernova, collapsing star, binary pulsars, or the like. But. That's all theory -- it's never been detected.

This still doesn't explain anything. Nobody seems to explain why this occurs, or even begins to comment on an explanation of the phenomenon. So, why the hell is this going on?

If you know, please explain it to us.

--SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB--

20. Often, when attempting to fall asleep, I hear the faint whining, whirring, spinning of metallic dissonance, building up into an unimaginable crescendo of creaking, shattering ecstacy, ending with coily bouncy noises and the smell of my mother -- what is that all about?

This occurs to me at times. Well, everything except for the smell of my mother. In fact, it occurs once or twice a week when the garbage truck ambles its way down the alleys around the building at 3am, coily bouncy noises and all.

The smell though -- this surely must be an important detail. It is reported by many individuals who have a bipolar illness, or epilepsy, or like disorders, that they experience a strange, rancid, burning smell right before they have a seizure -- these are labeled as olfactory hallucinations, stated to be caused by abnormal electrical discharges in the 'anterior deep temporal lobe.'

However, none of these people report smelling their mother. Therefore, this must all come down to Freudianomics.

--SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB--

21. Is Kilgore really the incredible, remarkable, death-defying, debutante sex magnet we hear him to be?

Let us just say, like Elvis, Kilgore has groupies. And if Elvis had to choose one man on the face of this planet to sleep with, it would be Kilgore. Do the math.

--SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB--

22. Why do you keep doing this?

From the fixed-font mouth of Kilgore himself:

The short answer is that we're insane. Some of us have proof, too. I could try and come up with some answer that might make us look like hip anarchist literary renegades on the fringe of the writing world, experimenting with the very notions of time and space through the construction and manipulation of text, but who would buy that, anyway? Sometimes we believe that stuff, but, then again, we're all crazy. Our agendas, whatever they were in the beginning, have since been thrown aside -- in a carefree and nonchalant manner, I might add -- so that we might all allow ourselves to succumb to the succulent sweet sensation of losing our minds. How else can you explain a zine that's lasted for seven years with virtually no promotion, no flashy gimmicks, and no babydoll T-shirts?

Back in 1983, I went on a family reunion trip to Louisiana. The town we arrived in did not have paved roads, and the most memorable event that occurred was getting to feed bottle after bottle of cream soda to a stray mutt. State of unBeing is that cream soda slurping dog, wandering the streets aimlessly and waiting for someone to slap a bottle in its mouth. Give us the bottle. Give us the bottle now.

We're crazy. It's that simple. Have you actually read some of the stuff we've published? That should have been a big tip off right there. Most of us don't even use our real names. Why? Because we're all escapees from the looney bin. And those people that don't use a nom de plume? They're even crazier, albeit a little less paranoid. You wouldn't believe the amount of drool-stained submissions I receive (some of them from myself, no less, although sometimes it's a bit hard to distinguish if it really was me that sent that in).

If I was trying to impress my psychiatrist, I'd probably say that the zine brings me a fair amount of pleasure, both in composing it and reading the final product. I'd describe how nifty I think it is that somebody is going to randomly run across the zine, identify with it, and, even though his friends may lament his choice of reading material, make a passive connection with somebody a few thousand miles away. But I really never get too far with my therapist since he keeps telling me that the implants in my sinuses and back aren't really there.

If you want to run a zine for as long as we have, there are a number of things to keep in mind. The first is to trust no one. A staff position on a zine is much like a epic mafia saga. There's one guy whose ego is corrupted by dreams of power, there's everbody else who actually does all the dirty work, and then there's the young cub reporter who tries to get the scoop on the mob and ends up sleeping with the fishes. The whole power complex can come crashing down at any moment, so make sure to cover your ass first and have a loyal cadre of followers who are willing to go to the mattresses when everything goes awry. You also have to be really good at killing rookie reporters, which can be a problem since they're usually young and can run really fast.

You also need to be very, very stubborn. Not stubborn in an 'I'm always right' fashion, but more of a 'repeatedly ram your head into a brick wall because when you stop it will feel better' way. Being fanatical about something, be it religion, politics, or jazz, is a good sign that you may have what it takes in this area. Without a one-track mind, you will soon be distracted by such mundane things as friends, entertainment, and food. All of these should become secondary, as only the most devout can survive in the cutthroat world of text zines. Flashy graphics and advertisers? You won't be getting any of those, so only your obsession can keep you going.

Finally, you have to be insane. Really. It makes the ranting easier. And, let's face it, doing a text zine in 2001 is not exactly a rational idea. Of course, we've never tried to be rational about most things, and that's the way we like it.

State of unBeing is the product of a few select folks who decided to fight ennui in the only way they knew how, and it drove us all nuts. There are a lot of easier paths to get your own private, padded cell, but you probably won't have as much fun without us. Besides, when a horse and a cow finish a crossword puzzle together, do the anti-papist regimes call together an encyclical council? I thought not.

--SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB-SoB--

Individual bios and contact information, where available, are included below. Authors who have appeared in at least five individual issues of State of unBeing are qualified for inclusion. We hope we haven't overlooked anyone.

ADiDAS: Adidas, real name Patrick, was born and raised in Austin, Texas, where he lived a sheltered and isolated life, attending such fine institutions as McCallum High School. Presently attending the University of California at Santa Barbara Patrick is pursuing an double major in Religious and Global Studies. Patrick presently has aspirations of living a homeless life of poverty, all the while fighting government control and the ignorance and apathy of the average American.

BOBBi SANDS: Bobbi Sands was a portion of Crux Ansata's psyche spun off to deal with political issues. She has more or less reintegrated into his psyche.

CAPTAiN MOONLiGHT grew up in an American military family. He has published much on his theory of Utopian Socialism, a theory even he now has very little faith in. He is especially interested in Socialist politics and history and Irish and American history.

CLOCKWORK: Clockwork believes in the power of protein and dietary fiber, and is usually mistaken concerning most things you ask him about -- not wrong, just mistaken. He currently resides in Austin, where he sweats too much. He has become tired of working in cubicles, avoids standard employment as much as possible, and has become that "older" college student you see in your classes, pursuing a degree he doesn't like to admit he pursues. Thus far he is refusing to participate in the Who-Has-The-Longest-Bio contest. Clockwork still deludes himself into thinking that we are not all bacteria, that the universe speaks and makes funny noises, that he can hear other people's thoughts, that there was ancient, intelligent life on Mars, no matter what you may say, and that he is capable of creating things that could justifiably be placed under the category of "art," subsection "quality," further subsection "worthwhile."

CRUX ANSATA: Crux Ansata used to be a writer. Perhaps he will be once more. In the meantime, he is giving a year as a volunteer with Covenant House - Atlantic City.

DARK CRYSTAL SPHERE FLOATiNG BETWEEN TWO UNiVERSES was born on a United States Air Force Base in the "Witch Country" of Southeast England in 1979. When he was fourteen, he selected a pompous-sounding handle based on the letters of the Lovecraft Circle, with which he has been stuck ever since. He took his B.A. in Anthropology from the University of Texas at Austin in 2000, and currently works as an archaeologist. He is especially interested in religious anthropology, occultism, and Middle Eastern archaeology, as well as weird fiction in the Lovecraftian tradition. A practicing Catholic, he does not recommend imitation of the characters in his fiction. An article of his, "The Devil, the Terror, and the Horror," will appear in an upcoming issue of Lovecraft Studies Annual, edited by S. T. Joshi and published by Necronomicon Press.

GRiPHON: twenty-something. at the time in your life when the memory begins its fade to black. a slow transition, lasting fifty years for some, twenty for others, and not completely a one-way street. but never again will you have the efficacy in the moment now. and so you feel like you should write it all down, capture it, put it in a jar filled with a clear jelly that will forever fix, but still distort, the moment. you have lost more hair and gained more weight than you would like to admit to, and you look now like your mother's father more than your own. such things were to be expected. you have been smoking for six years now. you forgot what it was like to not smoke. a car and a job and an apartment, several apartments, several cars, several jobs and where are you now? your cd collection is better than it was but you don't like the new music like you did some years ago and that too is to be expected. preferring japanese to italian and italian to beans and rice but usually eating beans and rice you are a series of simple resignations. nothing major, nothing profound. nor have you had the chance to stand up, do the right thing in the big way and become a hero. forever cynical, or so you'd like to hope. forever insightful, but blinded to many things you ran from years and years ago. it's raining hammers, it's raining nails. and the world is still full of shipping clerks who have read the harvard classics, but you are also aware of divorced women, the southern american gothic, and staying up two days straight on a bender. people are growing up. you hold out, resisting. not unusual but sad in your melancholy. you feel it too much sometimes. whoever said living without regret was full of shit, you have enough to fill a bottle of whiskey, drop by drop. you still wake up and get out of bed and do many things the way you've always done them, and it is strangely satisfying to have an ever-growing history of personal habits that are associated with you and you alone among those who have known you as long as some have. you'd rather be a superhero. but you're okay, at least now, with not being a man of steel just yet. as long as you don't forget what it was to want to leap buildings in a single bound. as long as you can still do it in your head and also remember the first time you slept with someone you wanted to sleep with for months. the relativity you know now will become fundamental truths. watch the leaves change every year and remember, and you'll be doing just fine.

HAGBARD: Hagbard, aka Jon Wiley, is proud to be a founding contributor to State of unBeing, as well as the first webmaster. He works as an actor in Austin and is also the owner of the Bad Dog Comedy Theater (opening May 2000). For several years he has promised to write another article for SoB and he continues to stick to that promise. Hagbard regularly wears and receives compliments on his SoB t-shirt, so get yours today!

i WiSH MY NAME WERE NATHAN: Mollified computer programmer seeks free time to write down the fiction he's living in his head. Currently living somewhere in Austin, and complaining about it. Nathan extracts the juiciest flavor of life from ignoring lessons from the past and enjoying the humility of making the same mistakes over and over again. His writing tends toward the pedagogical, homoerotic, and ludicrous. This is, of course, no indication of the writer's personality.

iVY CARSON: Formerly of the north of Austin area, Ivy Carsen has run away to the big city to become an actress.

KiDKNEE: Formerly from the north of Austin area, KidKnee has a real job, and a real life, and no longer writes for State of unBeing.

KAFKA GRAMSCi: It hurts to breathe, I am godless and lost, it is raining, and I sweat, tremble and cry, guilt fills me, and because I rarely sleep, my sanity is dubious at best, and thus do I vacillate between delirium and strict rationality, hallucinate, suffer from persistent and compelling delusions, live in constant fear of annihilation and am even more afraid of immortality, and I am hollow-cheeked with sunken eyes, believe in magic numbers and dangerous numerals relating to mystical, cultic, religious efflorescence and matters discredited long ago, and I adhere to contradictory, random, obscure rules and elaborate rationales, find secret meanings, concealed semantic content, hidden within the syntactical creases of newspaper articles, ceaselessly shadow-box with self-created fictions, and I live an anonymous life in an anonymous world in the kitchen cupboard---a sort of burrow, or maybe a glass prison, protecting me from the constant hum of international commerce enveloped by urban landscapes enlaced in networks of obscenely endless, pointless, and uninterruptible circulation with no human purpose---in a small flat owned by a woman, Catherine Marie, whom I love but could never tell so because I believe my feelings cannot be accurately transliterated from the silent lexicon of the spirit into that of the ear, and I am too eristic, I shoot rubber bands at a world that swings an aluminum baseball bat, which leads to innumerable troubles, smashed teeth and a bloody mouth and spirit, and after two years of work on a still unwritten novel I no longer know the time of the day apart from the movements of the sun and stars and seasons because all the clocks of the world have been unplugged.

KiLGORE TROUT: Mystery editor boy who has reportedly done other things. He first became aware of strange powers at a young age, but shrugged them off as side effects from the local water source. Kilgore owns way too many CDs (over 700 of them) and loves to talk about music you've never heard about. When not editing the zine (which is most of the time), Kilgore works in an office. Kilgore needs a vacation. Kilgore is also committed to dying at some point in the future, although rumors abound that he will be unable to go through with this promise.

NEMO EST SANCTUS: Nemo was a portion of Crux Ansata's psyche spun off for shadowwork and magickal studies. He has been more or less reintegrated into ansat's psyche.

NOMAD: Formerly of the north of Austin region, Nomad has run away to the big city to work in television.

NONi MOON: Miss Moon is a recent graduate of the University of Texas, with a Bachelor's of Journalism. Her ideals were frequently smashed in her years at college and now she is undecided as to whether she wants to look for them somewhere else. She is thinking about writing again one day soon. Her hair is not blue as of press time.

RiCH LOGSDON: Since receiving my Ph. D. in Eighteenth Century English literature from the University of Oregon in 1976, I have taught English at the Community College of Southern Nevada in Las Vegas. Yes, indeed, I am a professor. Currently, I am editor-in-chief of Red Rock Review, a kind of mainstream literary magazine.

I think I probably like all the wrong things. Certainly, I love being in Las Vegas. With round-the-clock entertainment, continual visual and auditory stimulation, I don't have to think, I don't have to worry, and I think I'll probably live a lot longer than most of you. I love sports. My passion is soccer; I coach an adult team in the Las Vegas Premiere Soccer League and emphasize winning at all costs. I love trashy movies, like Tarantino's "True Romance" or "Pulp Fiction." I think Ty Cobb was the greatest baseball player of all times, a good human being, and someone we should all seek to emulate. I'd rather hang out at Hooters than at a coffee house (Whistle Willy's, the setting of my story "Jim Jeffries," is Hooters. It's the only place in town where I am truly loved and respected.) And, yes, I enjoy contributing to SoB.

SOPHiE RANDOM: apologized for the inconvenience, accepted the responsibility, graciously deferred, and gave up.

THE SUPER REALiST: Taking his name from a Ferlinghetti poem (whom The Super Realist does NOT consider a Beat), TSR believes he can solve more philosophical questions from living life rather than reading every work by Camus or Neitschze or Foucault. College drop-out, blue-collar worker; he'd rather give you biting cynicism and punch your face in than try to talk zen circles around a problem. When not hanging out at Point Defiance Park in Tacoma, WA or smashing back Guinness at Hunan's Irish Pub, one can find TSR talking with the bums in Occidental Park, Seattle, WA. Taking various aspects of writings from Burroughs, Kerouac and Snyder have led TSR to live a life of travel and cultural diversity. Living in various places around the world such as LA, San Fran, Chicago, Dallas (well, the area), Hong Kong, Taiwan, The Philippines, Wales and finally in the Seattle area has helped him come to the realization that no one place is better than another, and he still has a lot left to learn. Holding no political/social/economic position, he tries to show the purity of the human soul and impress the hell outta chicks with his word mongering. 99% of his writings are his own actual experiences. His current goal is to hypocrisize his somewhat socialistic ideals by starting his own publishing company for new/inexperienced writers. And, being the modest, un-egotistical self that he is, The Super Realist sucks at writing bios.

All uestions above, except for bios, and when otherwise stated, unabashedly constructed by Clockwork, with the not-so-subliminal influence of prior FAQ verions and their respective authors.

State of unBeing is copyrighted © 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 by Kilgore Trout and Apocalypse Culture Publications. This FAQ is copyrighted © 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001. All rights are reserved to cover, format, editorials, and all incidental material. All individual items are copyrighted © 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 by the individual author, unless otherwise stated. This file may be disseminated without restriction for nonprofit purposes so long as it is preserved complete and unmodified. Quotes and ideas not already in the public domain may be freely used so long as due recognition is provided.