A Place for F(r)iends and the Means to an End

damNATION header by William Bowers

damNATION is a newly-created outlet for those who have, over the many years that humanity has been shackled and tormented by deviant robots and money-hungry humans alike, grown sick and tired of the now seemingly fast-dying trend known as Social Networking.

All in all, this is a simple creation for a singular purpose: to share with the world your horror stories, critiques, and the tales of the indirect destruction that these electronic portals to Hell and beyond have caused.

Find your saviour, if only for an hour or two.




Andrew | In Real Life | Forest Hill, MD USA

In the dim blue light of the laptop
playing some twinkly music
which would hopefully drown
the sounds of heavy breathing
and sweat hitting the pillowcase,

he traced her hips and shapes the shadows
made with his hands as if he were going to draw her,
scratch her legs into watercolor paper with charcoal.

And when the laptop failed to cover
the sound of shifting sheets and cracking bones
he listened to its symphony and nearly hummed along
as if it were part of that song
whose purpose was already defeated.

But he'd never draw those legs.
There were no more pages left in his sketchbook
and he'd quickly forget the tune he wanted so much to hum.

As soon as he realized this, he knew he'd have to be leaving soon.




Andrew | In Real Life | Forest Hill, MD USA

Don't let anything
sit in your car,
or life,
for too long to rot.

You'll be hard put
to find anything
that can get rid of the smell.

But then again,
you'll be just as hard put
to find anything
that will stay in your car,
or life,
as long as that one thing will.




Facebook Chat | Facebook | Green Bay, WI USA

Dear Teresa,
Why don't you try handling billions of packets on a site with millions of pages instantly? Yeah? Sound easy? Let me know how that works out for you.
Much love,
Facebook Chat




Ian | In Real Life | Gainesville, FL USA

The Philistines are coming! The Philistines are coming! If only Paul would have had the omniscient foresight to warn us against all this. The burgeoning bourgeoisie of American youth are some of the most bone chilling specimens of humanity I've yet to see. Bereft of any semblance of original thought, and armed with a self serving, conveniently amoral world view; these little anti-intellectuals are Guy Debourd's society of 'spectacle' incarnate. Ready to receive instruction, unquestioningly, from medias, tradition, and elected officials they did not vote for, nor can they name. They are an active electorate, however, as long as it pertains to 'democratically' pronouncing their faith in dancing celebrities, funniest home videos, and bringing back the McRib. They WILL be heard! and they WILL be loved...by their cellphone provider. In short, and as it pertains to their use of the internet, specifically, my good friend put it best when he said that "such social networking undermines the very premise of Darwin's survival of the fittest. Entities, like Facebook, are bringing weak gene pools together every day." Remember this as you watch them hi-jack your own beloved avenues of self expression, turning all that they grasp into kitsch with their inverted Midas touch.




Andrew | In Real Life | Forest Hill, MD USA

Come up soft
to the stop sign
and brake but not
because the law
says so
but because there are
cars coming from
both directions

And now I'm waiting
to turn left

It's fine
in the meantime
I'll just listen to music
air drum and tap my fingers
on the wheel
dwell on some thoughts
and let them sift through
the filter between my mind
and mouth

because I'm waiting
to turn left
and what the hell else is there to do

It's fine though
I'm in no rush
I mean I'd like to get
to where I'm going
but it's not an emergency
but I'm about done
with thinking about things
my mind is only really interesting
for about five minutes at a time before I start
remembering horrible truths about everything

and oh my god I just remembered
that I?m still waiting to turn left
where the hell are these cars coming from
and where do they really need to go this bad

seriously though
you are all just wasting gas
and time and listening to awful shit
that is rotting your mind
and you're all stupid enough
to turn the radio on anyway
I am not making generalizations
because I know this is what you are doing
especially that asshole with the Bush sticker
on his bumper who probably believes
that the trickle-down effect is effective
and he's probably listening to rich white men
talk about how black people smell funny
I am not making generalizations
I'm probably right
especially about that asshole
driving the Hummer
whose sole purpose in life
is to make sure his kids
don't grow up to be queers
and makes them play sports
they don't want to
and tells them to 'man up'
and 'quit being little bitches'
because clearly
crying is what women do
not men

and oh my god
I can turn left now
yes




Amanda | Facebook | Austin TX, USA

I set up my first social network account page about 3 months ago. I had just left a job that I had devoted two years of my life to, so naturally I thought keeping in touch with people would be a nice thing to do. Consequentially, I friended the people who I wanted to keep in touch with but found that I had absolutely nothing to say to them. In addition, I felt obligated to befriend all of the people that I despised from my previous job and vowed to never speak to again. It didn't stop there. I also befriended old high school friends who now live half way across the country. Yep, I now get invitations to their "parties" that I obviously cannot attend and wouldn't even if I lived 20 minutes away. Thank you, social networking, for making my old acquaintances even more awkward.




William | Facebook | Greenbay WI, USA

I remember, once, my friend had started talking to this girl and thought she was cute. I suggested she go out with her. I later got a message from the cute girl scorning my actions and everything about me and trying to start a fight. Weird.