At one point, around 3:am, his wife and producing partner, Cean, rallied the cast and crew off to one side and told them, "What's say we kill David and finish this movie, tonight! Who's with me?"
Is there an album of these? I’d love to see them. I know it’s a writing advice blog but… I’m sure I too have some embarrassing photos I could share. ;)
I don’t think so. They can link to Imgur or Instagram. Just thought you might get a kick out of my late teens early twenties Tyler Durden hair phase that lasted way too long.
Mr. Palahniuk, you absolutely have to grow your hair out again, it is gorgeous. As a balding man, I feel equal parts blinding admiration and burning jealousy.
Yeah, no. I'd resolved not to cut my hair until the covid mess was resolved, but recently shed my "lockdown locks." After a certain age they grow out grey and coarse, like the Crypt Keeper.
Hey Chuck, do you have a favorite Tales from the Crypt episode? I remember one episode in season one where some guy got surgery to put a cat part in his brain, so he'd be able to "die" 9 times. I need to watch more.
I'm sorry if I misinterpreted your comment. I read "Stop! Warning: you have reached your pun limit" (Message you wrote me after Halloween--I even memorized it) and I found it a bit shocking and hurtful. I asked you about it but didn't get a reply. I admit I'm used to another brand of humour ;) ... that's how we've gotten through these times, and my whole life.
Oh, Karen. I was teasing back because I adore your puns! Now this is funny because I was pushing for you to perform MORE. It's only when someone's truly irked me that I DON't push back a little. And at other times I don't respond because they've posted something very funny or insightful and I want them to have the last word. Now you must forgive me by accepting a new necklace.
Among my friends some mutual good-natured abuse is our go-to.
Other times I never get a chance to revisit older posts so I don't see the continuing comments. Please feel free to abuse me at any point. I kind of thrive on it.
Here's a last-word technique tip: Don't fire off your last word prematurely. You didn't even give me time to reply! Now you will have to retort with last words to all of my recent posts! haha
PS "Second to last word" (fire when ready, sir)... I guess it's a good thing that I "hit you as hard as I could" with my diatribe against your ribbing, instead of just hatching plans of revenge (my version of Adjustment Day.. not that I've gotten through that or any other of your books of the past decade or so). I'm nothing if not a heckler, but I do have work to do this weekend. I'm a language pro, not an author ;)
I can and do engage in that sort of repartee quite often with my friends. It's one of my "gifts." I didn't realize we were going back to "elementary school" here (boys teasing girls), but that's fine with me. In fact, I started that kind of "subversive" joke behaviour back then, which landd me in the principal's office more than once!
I also learned a thing or 2 from my anthropology studies ;). I'm from Planet Canada so I'm a lot like Pygmy trying to make sense of the new world.
I am tickled (to use one of your expressions) by your offer of another necklace, but say I just ask my friend to send me the bookmark you made that she's been keeping for me (as part of our covert trans-border smuggling campaign mentioned earlier). That will cover it well enough.
As the Balinese say, it's the thought (offering) that counts.
So we buried the hatchet, but you're too probably "too busy working" for a virtual hug (as you told me in Mtl when we met and I gave you our wedding invitation...this is me ribbing you here haha).
Once again you've upended my vision of reality. Previous times include the totally unexpected first box I received (which contained the necklace), the KC reading, the wedding present, and now this.
As for giving away the necklace, it was associated with so many momentous occasions and loved ones (including a dear friend who had restrung it over the years) that I wanted my friend who's dealing with stage 4 cancer (see Fight Club) to have it. She knows all those special people too. Maybe you could send her the necklace and she could start a whole collection! :)
I better stop now to give you time to come up with more last word zingers.
At a time when there is so much mind-boggling news (e.g. case numbers), this abrupt turnaround is a natural fit. ;)
I don't know how the Beijing Olympics will unfold, but the word play Olympics are definitely back on!
That was a delightful misunderstanding. I remember reading Chuck's initial response and took it as a playful comment. But I understand that over the internet, things get lost in translation. And sarcasm doesn't always work. But woo boy, Karen was about to call the manager on you, Chuck. Crisis averted! You get to keep your job.
HI Joseph, you remember that? haha Even after I "went undercover" (changed picture and identity)? HIs comment seemed oddly "forceful," and its not as if I never read any "offensive" words penned by Chuck before, but you're right, it's not always easy to capture intentions online. It's not one of my strengths.
Anyway, we have Chuck's blessing to joke away so let's give him what he asked for. He also requested a little "roasting," so I have whiled away the afternoon in that vein (it's 6.8 degrees Farenheit today here in Planet Canada, before the wind, incidentally).
See you in joke/ribbing land!
PS I almost got kicked out of his first online seminar too! hahaha So I figured it was inevitable. But we're all theoretically older and wiser now. I think Chuck is a senior citizen (in case he's reading this).
PS Chuck seems to be desperate for things to do, seeing that he offered me another necklace. Maybe you could set your flamethrower on FULL and see what he offers you! hahaha
OK last retort.. I was saddened in late fall to have to end the chapter of my fandom after 15 years, but with today's turn of events, you've been reinstated as "just another fan" of my humour. ;) I'll let you know when I start my own Humour substack page! I can give you a discount! signed "Jew-hair girl"
Why does this say it was published January 8th in my email? Also, I just applied for an internship at NPR today — slowly following your footsteps. Keep one eye open, Chuck.
That's what I'm saying. Thank you for tearing apart your office for us. lol. I'm a seamstress with access to a large amount of red stretchy fabric. Sky's the limit Sir!
After seeing Parker Posey in a play, I was walking down the sidewalk with her coming in the opposite direction and we wound up doing the thing where we each tried to get out of each other's way and wound up doing an awkward pantomime.
Here's a shout-out to Chuck's luscious hair. I can picture Chuck standing in front of the mirror just stylizing and then when it's all said and done, doing the finger guns at himself.
When I was in the 4th grade, my teacher Ms. Merola took out a small lined piece of paper and placed it on my desk in front of me. Then she handed me a pencil. And she forced me to write the pronoun "I" in capital letters until it filled the entire page. My small hand cramped up by the end. But before that moment, I would always write with the lowercase i. Maybe I was a slow learner and didn't know it had to be capitalized, or maybe this habit came from a deeper issue. I don't know.
In "Consider This" you talk about how switching to third person can communicate a kind of self-loathing or disassociation. I was wondering if I wrote a story in which the narrator used the lowercase "i" when referring to herself, would that also denote some self-loathing too?
Also...did you like how I included a little anecdote? Haha
Hell, try it. I once used search/replace to substitute an exclamation mark for every period. That story suddenly had an amazing sense of triteness but excitement. It was exhausting to read. That said, do the experiment.
I’d much rather see Chuck in Tyler’s chenille robe with the coffee cups on it from “Fight Club.” Would love to know what happened to that nostalgia grabber. I still want one. Actually— what happened to all the costumes from it?! Things that keep me up at night as I chase the rabbit down the hole of all things, Shirley Jackson. It’s Chuck’s fault—- but, I’m sinisterly thankful.
In development, the film's costumer found a hand-knit sweater with a perfect depiction of a box of Ritz crackers. He built the concept that Tyler Durden would only wear clothes branded with products. But when Fox went to each company and asked for clearance to use product images on the clothes, everyone including Ritz Crackers said, "Our product? In a film about anarchy?" It was a resounding "NO" from every direction.
Unrelated but I honestly need to get back to writing basics. Do you have any advice on spending time in scene. Most of my work feels like a long monologue of someone narrating their life. How do I pull the reader back into the moment rather than a birds eye view?
First, know what's the purpose of the scene? What's the little machine supposed to accomplish? Too often, if you don't know your goal you'll start writing and get nowhere. Even if you know only the first small bit, write that. Once the first bit is executed your mind is freed to imagine the next.
I don't know. I can only see as far as my eye can see but, I always believed you'll never truly know what a person is like until you travel together, beyond the 40 road sign. Beyond familiarity.
(shrug) Photos are a necessary evil in the phone age. So I try to have a gimmick that will make the photos more than people-looking-at-camera. To date the worst gimmick was fake mugs of beer to hold, and masses of Mardi Gras beads to put around our necks. Those beads snapped in everyone's hair, and it was torture.
So I outlasted you in the photo-hating discipline. Another feather in my cap! I have been making the odd exception over the years though. But good for you for modernizing your "image". Maybe just crop those Mardi Gras pix and use them on your book covers.
I have a photo of us where the gimmick was to face off as though we were about to fight. It's a fierce photo, full of macho posturing (you were signing copies of Fight Club 2 at a comic book shop just north of LA) but what I remember about that day was how the ferocity of the pose and the clenched fists completely counterbalanced how personable and approachable you were. You threw me off by being genuinely interested in every single person you met, which I didn't expect a couple of hours into a signing event. Thank you for being patient, kind, and friendly - and for one of the coolest damn photos I have in my collection.
These are dope. Thanks Chuck!
Someday I might learn how to scan photos... Poor David did not want his picture taken.
At one point, around 3:am, his wife and producing partner, Cean, rallied the cast and crew off to one side and told them, "What's say we kill David and finish this movie, tonight! Who's with me?"
Is there an album of these? I’d love to see them. I know it’s a writing advice blog but… I’m sure I too have some embarrassing photos I could share. ;)
Can people post pictures in these Comments? I will try right here:
I guess not.
I don’t think so. They can link to Imgur or Instagram. Just thought you might get a kick out of my late teens early twenties Tyler Durden hair phase that lasted way too long.
I have 10 years of I.T. experience if you ever need help with that stuff Sir. :p
Mr. Palahniuk, you absolutely have to grow your hair out again, it is gorgeous. As a balding man, I feel equal parts blinding admiration and burning jealousy.
Yeah, no. I'd resolved not to cut my hair until the covid mess was resolved, but recently shed my "lockdown locks." After a certain age they grow out grey and coarse, like the Crypt Keeper.
Hey Chuck, do you have a favorite Tales from the Crypt episode? I remember one episode in season one where some guy got surgery to put a cat part in his brain, so he'd be able to "die" 9 times. I need to watch more.
Nah, he looks way more better and intimidating with a short cut. Like the look he had on the first JRE appearance.
It's not worth the effort to seek "redress" for that uncalled-for warning I got about committing puns here.
Meanwhile I gave away the personalized necklace and am open to donating a slew of books to anyone who is interested.
I paid a lot of money to support this blog, but at least I learned one important lesson: What subversive writing really is (i.e. puns and jokes).
Happy New Year to all. If I'm kicked off for being witty here and expressing myself in my own writing style, so be it.
Please let me know if I've given offense.
I'm sorry if I misinterpreted your comment. I read "Stop! Warning: you have reached your pun limit" (Message you wrote me after Halloween--I even memorized it) and I found it a bit shocking and hurtful. I asked you about it but didn't get a reply. I admit I'm used to another brand of humour ;) ... that's how we've gotten through these times, and my whole life.
I do appreciate your gestures, and this one.
Oh, Karen. I was teasing back because I adore your puns! Now this is funny because I was pushing for you to perform MORE. It's only when someone's truly irked me that I DON't push back a little. And at other times I don't respond because they've posted something very funny or insightful and I want them to have the last word. Now you must forgive me by accepting a new necklace.
Among my friends some mutual good-natured abuse is our go-to.
Coming from a big family, where everyone chimed in and tried to get the last word, I must resist that last-word impulse.
Other times I never get a chance to revisit older posts so I don't see the continuing comments. Please feel free to abuse me at any point. I kind of thrive on it.
So is your favorite holiday song "I'm dreaming of a White Cuckoo"?
Here's a last-word technique tip: Don't fire off your last word prematurely. You didn't even give me time to reply! Now you will have to retort with last words to all of my recent posts! haha
PS "Second to last word" (fire when ready, sir)... I guess it's a good thing that I "hit you as hard as I could" with my diatribe against your ribbing, instead of just hatching plans of revenge (my version of Adjustment Day.. not that I've gotten through that or any other of your books of the past decade or so). I'm nothing if not a heckler, but I do have work to do this weekend. I'm a language pro, not an author ;)
Cue head exploding in 3... 2... :)
I can and do engage in that sort of repartee quite often with my friends. It's one of my "gifts." I didn't realize we were going back to "elementary school" here (boys teasing girls), but that's fine with me. In fact, I started that kind of "subversive" joke behaviour back then, which landd me in the principal's office more than once!
I also learned a thing or 2 from my anthropology studies ;). I'm from Planet Canada so I'm a lot like Pygmy trying to make sense of the new world.
I am tickled (to use one of your expressions) by your offer of another necklace, but say I just ask my friend to send me the bookmark you made that she's been keeping for me (as part of our covert trans-border smuggling campaign mentioned earlier). That will cover it well enough.
As the Balinese say, it's the thought (offering) that counts.
So we buried the hatchet, but you're too probably "too busy working" for a virtual hug (as you told me in Mtl when we met and I gave you our wedding invitation...this is me ribbing you here haha).
Once again you've upended my vision of reality. Previous times include the totally unexpected first box I received (which contained the necklace), the KC reading, the wedding present, and now this.
As for giving away the necklace, it was associated with so many momentous occasions and loved ones (including a dear friend who had restrung it over the years) that I wanted my friend who's dealing with stage 4 cancer (see Fight Club) to have it. She knows all those special people too. Maybe you could send her the necklace and she could start a whole collection! :)
I better stop now to give you time to come up with more last word zingers.
At a time when there is so much mind-boggling news (e.g. case numbers), this abrupt turnaround is a natural fit. ;)
I don't know how the Beijing Olympics will unfold, but the word play Olympics are definitely back on!
That was a delightful misunderstanding. I remember reading Chuck's initial response and took it as a playful comment. But I understand that over the internet, things get lost in translation. And sarcasm doesn't always work. But woo boy, Karen was about to call the manager on you, Chuck. Crisis averted! You get to keep your job.
For the record, I adore puns too.
HI Joseph, you remember that? haha Even after I "went undercover" (changed picture and identity)? HIs comment seemed oddly "forceful," and its not as if I never read any "offensive" words penned by Chuck before, but you're right, it's not always easy to capture intentions online. It's not one of my strengths.
Anyway, we have Chuck's blessing to joke away so let's give him what he asked for. He also requested a little "roasting," so I have whiled away the afternoon in that vein (it's 6.8 degrees Farenheit today here in Planet Canada, before the wind, incidentally).
See you in joke/ribbing land!
PS I almost got kicked out of his first online seminar too! hahaha So I figured it was inevitable. But we're all theoretically older and wiser now. I think Chuck is a senior citizen (in case he's reading this).
Wait...he did an online seminar? When? And about what?
PS Chuck seems to be desperate for things to do, seeing that he offered me another necklace. Maybe you could set your flamethrower on FULL and see what he offers you! hahaha
Oh man, you're suggesting that I go hard and just roast Chuck until he gives me something. LOL!
Usually all my comments have been nice and friendly. It's time to turn up the heat >;)
OK last retort.. I was saddened in late fall to have to end the chapter of my fandom after 15 years, but with today's turn of events, you've been reinstated as "just another fan" of my humour. ;) I'll let you know when I start my own Humour substack page! I can give you a discount! signed "Jew-hair girl"
Last word.
I would reply "Amen to that!" but it would be fun if our truce lasted a whole day.
Awwww. I'm a seamstress and have cheap, stretchy, red fabric. Let's do this Sir! lol
Please remember to include a hidden pocket on this dress to store a notebook. Chuck will be grateful lol
I've gotta get those measurements Honey!
Why does this say it was published January 8th in my email? Also, I just applied for an internship at NPR today — slowly following your footsteps. Keep one eye open, Chuck.
Fingers crossed.
The only rational solution to not finding the red dress photo... is to create a new one.
That's what I'm saying. Thank you for tearing apart your office for us. lol. I'm a seamstress with access to a large amount of red stretchy fabric. Sky's the limit Sir!
Yeah, no. Not gonna happen.
What if someone sweetened the deal with a brand-spanking new state quarter of a state of your choice?
*grins*
That's just crazy talk Joseph...
"Pure. Logic."
We don't know that he wasn't wearing the red dress when he took the photo of the photo though.
The world's dopiest celebrity encounter story
After seeing Parker Posey in a play, I was walking down the sidewalk with her coming in the opposite direction and we wound up doing the thing where we each tried to get out of each other's way and wound up doing an awkward pantomime.
I annoyed Parker Posey. That's it.
At this same party, I introduced her to Monica Drake, and Parker dragged Monica all over the place, and Monica was thrilled.
Here's a shout-out to Chuck's luscious hair. I can picture Chuck standing in front of the mirror just stylizing and then when it's all said and done, doing the finger guns at himself.
Also...dangit, no red dress photo :(
Mr. Palahniuk finger guns for the win! That needs it's own short story.
And the luscious slowness of the bathtub drain clogged with long hairs.
And the strange cab driver taking me to JKF in New York while berating me, "You are Jew! You have Jew hair!" That was a long cab ride...
When I was in the 4th grade, my teacher Ms. Merola took out a small lined piece of paper and placed it on my desk in front of me. Then she handed me a pencil. And she forced me to write the pronoun "I" in capital letters until it filled the entire page. My small hand cramped up by the end. But before that moment, I would always write with the lowercase i. Maybe I was a slow learner and didn't know it had to be capitalized, or maybe this habit came from a deeper issue. I don't know.
In "Consider This" you talk about how switching to third person can communicate a kind of self-loathing or disassociation. I was wondering if I wrote a story in which the narrator used the lowercase "i" when referring to herself, would that also denote some self-loathing too?
Also...did you like how I included a little anecdote? Haha
Hell, try it. I once used search/replace to substitute an exclamation mark for every period. That story suddenly had an amazing sense of triteness but excitement. It was exhausting to read. That said, do the experiment.
I’d much rather see Chuck in Tyler’s chenille robe with the coffee cups on it from “Fight Club.” Would love to know what happened to that nostalgia grabber. I still want one. Actually— what happened to all the costumes from it?! Things that keep me up at night as I chase the rabbit down the hole of all things, Shirley Jackson. It’s Chuck’s fault—- but, I’m sinisterly thankful.
In development, the film's costumer found a hand-knit sweater with a perfect depiction of a box of Ritz crackers. He built the concept that Tyler Durden would only wear clothes branded with products. But when Fox went to each company and asked for clearance to use product images on the clothes, everyone including Ritz Crackers said, "Our product? In a film about anarchy?" It was a resounding "NO" from every direction.
😳🙈🙊💸
Unrelated but I honestly need to get back to writing basics. Do you have any advice on spending time in scene. Most of my work feels like a long monologue of someone narrating their life. How do I pull the reader back into the moment rather than a birds eye view?
First, know what's the purpose of the scene? What's the little machine supposed to accomplish? Too often, if you don't know your goal you'll start writing and get nowhere. Even if you know only the first small bit, write that. Once the first bit is executed your mind is freed to imagine the next.
Thanks
Is it just me or the color black makes Chuck a kinda guy you don't wanna mess with, while in white makes him look super nice.
Don't let him fool you. Underneath that white shirt, is probably another black shirt ;)
I don't know. I can only see as far as my eye can see but, I always believed you'll never truly know what a person is like until you travel together, beyond the 40 road sign. Beyond familiarity.
The black shirt suits him best by the way.
In a Steve Jobs way... Half my shirts are white, Brooks Brothers dress shirts. And half are black T's.
Gerry found a loophole in the first rule of fight club by wearing it instead of talking about it!
So do you still hate taking pictures?
(shrug) Photos are a necessary evil in the phone age. So I try to have a gimmick that will make the photos more than people-looking-at-camera. To date the worst gimmick was fake mugs of beer to hold, and masses of Mardi Gras beads to put around our necks. Those beads snapped in everyone's hair, and it was torture.
So I outlasted you in the photo-hating discipline. Another feather in my cap! I have been making the odd exception over the years though. But good for you for modernizing your "image". Maybe just crop those Mardi Gras pix and use them on your book covers.
I have a photo of us where the gimmick was to face off as though we were about to fight. It's a fierce photo, full of macho posturing (you were signing copies of Fight Club 2 at a comic book shop just north of LA) but what I remember about that day was how the ferocity of the pose and the clenched fists completely counterbalanced how personable and approachable you were. You threw me off by being genuinely interested in every single person you met, which I didn't expect a couple of hours into a signing event. Thank you for being patient, kind, and friendly - and for one of the coolest damn photos I have in my collection.
Very cool