88. As Relaxed As A Mussel Sans Marinara.

7/13/25

L.W. Lillvik

Jul 13, 2025

Sunset Over The Bay From Our Balcony In Stone Harbor

Hi, Howareya?

Greetings from a weeklong reset with the family, in a beach town, on Seven Mile Island, at the bottom of New Jersey.

Pizza, flounder alla francese, Italian subs and cannolis warm the heart.

Book

If you saw and enjoyed (well, maybe “enjoy” is the wrong word) the 90’s Robert Crumb documentary you’ll definitely dig this.

I’m only a dabbler in comics but when I dabble I like them from the underground and Crumb was there from the start.

We get an unflinching view of his pathologies and how he translated them onto the page.

Much of his art has made me very uncomfortable and that’s (often) the point.

Much of his art has left me in awe as well, both from an aesthetic standpoint, and via the storytelling.

Unrelated, here’s a Crumb quote regarding Catholic schooling that really hit home.

Poem

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The Nightmares I’m Having 
At This Vacation Rental 
Are Sordid and Depraved

They’re violent.
Stabbings, beatings, impalings. 

They’re shameful. 
Cruelties, betrayals, infidelities.

Even the plastic 
Plants are dying. 

The banner behind 
The prop plane is blurry. 

The dark-winged gulls
Conspire and wait. 

My waking life
Is as relaxed

As a mussel 
Sans marinara.