TAO LIN | BLOG

gawker published a 'piece' by me

re being arrested at nyu's bookstore for 'trespassing'

"3x contest" re Richard Yates

Winners: Jordan Castro (contest 1) Jordan Castro & Mallory Whitten (contest 2) theRealRealTruth (contest 3)

Contest 1 entries: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 (5420 words) 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 (5795 words) 28 (6153 words) 29 30 31 (6676 words) 32 (22280 words via '17824 + 25%') 33 34 (6360 words) 35 36 37
Contest 2 entries: 1 (126+ min.) 2 (48+ min.) 3 (19+ min.)
Contest 3 entries: 1 2 3 4 (~25 people) 5 6 7 (29 people) 8 9 10

Illegitimate entries: 1 (not all participants "in frame") 2 (not > 70% "on topic," I feel) 3 (not all participants "in frame" at relevant moment) 4 (not > 70% "on topic," I feel) 5 (uses obvious "gimmick," to a large degree, I feel)

Prizes: $800, "'special' galley," "'private' coin collection," [other things] (see below). Free books: every "legitimate-seeming" entry will get one of my books free, email binky.tabby [at] gmail.com which book & your address if your entry is linked above. Submission process: post your entry on the internet, comment the link in the comments section of this blog post.

CONTEST 1: TYPE OR "GMAIL CHAT" ABOUT "RICHARD YATES" AND/OR "TAO LIN"

Type 1000+ words or 500+ "Gmail chat lines" about Richard Yates, "Tao Lin's second novel," and/or "Tao Lin," using the following as reference: internet, official site, HTMLGIANT review/coverage of this blog post, Alt Report, Fishkind review, author description, Justin Taylor, [coverage "generated" by this blog post, listed above].

The longest "legitimate-seeming" entry will receive: $250 check + "'special' galley"/"box of drafts" ("longest" means "largest word-count," "1 Gmail chat line" = "2 words," if you promote your entry and it is linked by a site, or is already on "such a site," w/ an Alexa "traffic rank" below 50k your "prize-length" will be increased by 25%, 50% if below 20k.

Tips: seems "easier" maybe if you title sections of your "piece" in this manner, each title being a "topic"/[specific link] that you then "muse upon." Entries do not need to be positive, if you "hate me" and want a free book "feel free" to "shit out" an essay in ~10 minutes "shit-talking" me in a cathartic, stream-of-consciousness manner.

CONTEST 2: FILM AN INTERVIEW/DISCUSSION ABOUT "RICHARD YATES" AND/OR "TAO LIN"

Film a "live, 2+ minute" interview about "Richard Yates" and/or "Tao Lin" using things listed in "contest 1"/[anything] as reference, w/ the person being interviewed "in frame" while speaking. To increase the "prize-length" of the movie you can "upgrade" the interview into a "discussion" (3+ people; see next paragraph).

The longest "legitimate-seeming" entry will receive: $250 check + "coin collection"/"box of drafts" ("longest" means "lengthiest movie," w/ each person beyond 2 who speaks, legitimately, in the movie, increasing the "prize-length" of the movie by 1 minute; for example a "round-table"/"panel discussion" of 7 people, where each person is "in frame" throughout and has "a 'legitimate' speaking role," will increase the "prize-length" by 5 minutes; "additionally," for every 1000 views your movie has before August 03 the "prize-length" will be increased by 2 minutes).

CONTEST 3: FILM A PERSON SAYING "RICHARD YATES" IN A MANNER THAT CAUSES 3+ PEOPLE TO TURN THEIR BODIES, TO SOME DEGREE, TO LOOK AT [AFOREMENTIONED PERSON]

Film a movie where 3+ people turn their bodies, to some degree, upon hearing "Richard Yates," to look at the person who said "Richard Yates," w/ all participants "in frame" during the "relevant" portion of the movie (you can have other things in the movie if you want), can be "scripted" (something w/ friends) or non-scripted (saying "Richard Yates" loudly to "strangers" in a public area).

The movie where the most people "turn around" in the above manner will receive: $300 check + [package of "random ass shit" from my room, guaranteed to probably be worth ~$200-$5000 in ~2025 to NYU's "head archivist"].

OTHER INFORMATION

For this blog post "legitimate" is defined as "more than ~70% 'on topic' and w/o obvious 'gimmicks' like pasting the same sentence repeatedly, quoting 1000-word sections of other essays, having 30+ second 'silent' shots of landscapes, Photoshop'ing into a movie '1000 people turning their bodies to look at a person,' [other things of this nature]." People I know or "are friends w/" can participate, as the judging seems "objective," to a large degree, I feel, for the above contests. Motivated people can submit entries in each contest to receive 3 free books, but cannot submit more than one entry for each contest. "On topic" is defined as "about 'Richard Yates' (novel) and/or 'Tao Lin.'" I feel "flexible" re [things in this paragraph].

"3x contest" ends August 03, Tuesday, 10PM Eastern. Every entry will be linked at the top of this blog post. Richard Yates' release date is September 07 2010. Thank you for your time/consideration.

control what i will be wearing in the september 'nylon'

*update* voting has ended, 4 is the winner, votes are in parenthesis, 'god damn you all' who voted 10 *update*

noah kalina is photographing me for nylon tomorrow re richard yates, i will wear whatever receives the most votes

1. defiance, ohio t-shirt, green (6)
2. american apparel long-sleeve button-down, black (1)
3. turtleneck that i'll buy from kmart/sidewalk tomorrow, [non-black/white] (10)
4. xanax v-neck designed by brandon scott gorrell, white w/ green lettering (683, including ~450 students from a psychology class and 45 from a 7th grade class, also + 'infinity' of whatever votes 10 got)
5. plaid long-sleeve button down, light blue/other (0)
6. rosa t-shirt, yellow (7)
7. graniph long-sleeve button down, green (2)
8. suit that i'll buy at a thrift store tomorrow (11)
9. layered '6 and 2' w/ 2 unbuttoned (4)
10. cum covering my 'face, hair, ears, neck, and hoodie' (336)
11. [specify something and i'll add it as 11, 12, etc., if it seems 'desirable' to me]

i 'reserve the freedom' to wear a 'hoodie' of my choice in an unzipped/open manner, my shoes will be black ipaths and my jeans will be 511 levi's, vote by typing [number] or [outfit] in the comments section before 3 pm eastern time 7/15, i will actually wear what receives the most votes, thank you for helping me with this potentially stressful decision

'thought catalog' published a 'piece' by me

re xanga, blogger, wordpress, livejournal, deadjournal, open diary, typepad, moveable type, wheatblog, tumblr

interview questions i 'feel interested in answering'/'feel less interested in answering'

i foresee answering 200-5000 questions the next ~5 months re richard yates and other things; to possibly cause my answers to be 'different than in previous years' and for things to seem 'more interesting, to some degree,' for myself and maybe other people; and to create a giant list of questions that people, including me, can reference and possibly 'use,' in the future, as people interview other people, people interview me, and i interview other people, i've created 2 lists