A note FOUND by Casey Hunt in Boise, Idaho:

Dear Mrs. Trembly,

I will miss you a lot. I had an awesome time with you as my teacher. I wish you a Merry Christmas and lots of joy. I will miss seeing you around. I know you will be back. I will see you when you substitute for another teacher. I will always remember you. I have always loved you for real. The first time I saw you, I’ve always loved you from that point.

Sincerely,

Timothy

* * * * * * * * * * * *

What up y’all! Happy holidays from everyone at FOUND Magazine — we have always loved you for real.

Davy here, and I just wanted to share a little story with you. Back in 2002, when FOUND was first starting out, I got a phone call from a guy in Ozark, Alabama, named Woody Hilboldt. Woody, in his rich Southern accent, told me that his daughter Brandy had asked for a copy of FOUND Magazine for Christmas, but he wasn’t too Internet-savvy and wasn’t sure how to order online. I got his address, sent the magazine to him, and a few weeks later he sent me the $5 cash and a friendly note, letting me know how much his daughter had loved the gift. A year later, Woody called me again, and again I shipped him the latest issue of FOUND to give to his daughter. Now, a few years later, the phone call from Woody has become one of my favorite holiday rituals. We catch up for a few minutes, Woody tells me a couple of stories from his work as a county coroner, and then he asks me: “What do you got for me this year?” As I tell him about our latest books, magazines, and CDs, it’s kind of a way for me to review the year in my own mind and celebrate the new stuff we’ve put together here. And when I finish, Woody always says, “Well, it all sounds awesome — send me everything you’ve got, Brandy’s gonna love it!”

Last night I had the pleasure of talking to Woody again, and in the spirit of these phone calls with Woody, I want to share with you our new 2009 FOUND goodies. Remember, when you order FOUND gifts directly from our site, it goes a long way toward supporting our work here. Please consider giving as many FOUND gifts as you can this year! We always hear that FOUND is a huge hit with the folks who’ve received it from friends, loved ones, and adoring students like Timothy. Any FOUND stuff ordered by December 16th will be delivered before Christmas.

Our latest issue, FOUND #7, just came out a week ago and it’s our favorite issue yet, filled with a ton of brand new finds. The feedback has been incredible so far! And, as always, just five bucks! If you want to give a FOUND Seventh Heaven Pack with every FOUND Magazine (issues #1 through #7), get it for the low price of just $29; or, if you’d like to give a copy of FOUND to every one of your friends, pick up our special FOUND Double Dozen– it’s 24 copies of the latest issue for just $100, with free shipping! FOUND #7 is also on the shelves now at just about any bookstore in the U.S., along with all three FOUND books.

Speaking of, this spring we released our new FOUND book, Requiem for a Paper Bag, with fantastic FOUND tales from 67 of our favorite writers, musicians, filmmakers, artists — Miranda July, Andrew Bird, Devendra Banhart, Sarah Vowell, David Simon (The Wire), Jenji Kohan (Weeds), Seth Rogen, Dave Eggers, Kimya Dawson, Chuck D, our beloved friend Jim Carroll, and many, many more. With amazing cover art from the super-talented Michael Wartella, Requiem for a Paper Bag makes for a perfect holiday gift — Woody, a copy for Brandy is already on the way!

In our online FOUND bazaar, we’ve also got FOUND T-shirts, my This American Life CDs and Lone Surfer stories, and all kinds of other great stuff. Tickets are now available for the next performances of the wildly entertaining FOUND Play in NYC on January 8. We’ve had seven wonderful performances so far, and seven straight sold-out shows, so be sure to get your tix early! And don’t forget to check out Jason Bitner’s brand-new book Cassette From My Ex! Thank you so, so much for supporting us by giving the gift of FOUND this holiday season. The first time we saw you, we’ve always loved you from that point!

We wish you all a very Happy Holidays and lots of joy!

Davy & James, with Brande, Sarah, Al, Peter, Jason, Andy, and all the awesome substitutes at FOUND HQ

A little note FOUND by Nina Feldman in Niceville, FL:

How to Kiss
——————
–Keep my mouth clean
–I need to put deodorant on
–Take my time
–Easy does it
–Enjoyed it
–Be yourself
–Take charge
–Put feeling into it
–Wait for the right moment
–Feel a connection

* * * * * * * * * * * *

What up y’all?!

We got good news, good news, and good news, so we’ll start with the good news — ‘FOUND #7: Feel A Connection’ is here! A gigantic semi trailer just pulled up to our FOUND warehouse and unloaded 3 tons of piping-hot magazines, ready to be sent to your mailbox. This is absolutely our favorite issue yet, with hundreds of brand-new dazzling finds packed inside, plus interviews with all-star finders Rachel Maddow of MSNBC, filmmaker Ramin Bahrani, and a remarkable soul who we predict you will all soon learn to love named Willis Earl Beal. We can’t wait to get the new issue into your hands!

The magazine will be available first, in the coming week to ten days, at a couple dozen of our favorite indie stores around the country. Then soon after, it will be available at pretty much every bookstore in the country, big and small. Just keep your mouth clean and ask for it! You can also be the first on your block to get hold of FOUND #7 by ordering a copy right now through the FOUND Store. Your orders through the FOUND site go a long, long way in helping to keep the magazine going strong. So be yourself, wait for the right moment, take charge and, one way or another, get your hands on FOUND #7!

More good news: If you want to celebrate the release of the brand-new issue with us, roll to Ann Arbor, Michigan the weekend of December 11th and 12th! On Friday, December 11th, FOUND’s Davy Rothbart will share FOUND magic and mayhem at two special back-to-back shows, joined by folk legend Seth Bernard and sweet soul singer Esther Rose. And on Saturday, December 12th at the Elks’ Lodge, Tree Town’s underground crown jewel, join Davy and the FOUND team for a wild dance party — everyone who attends gets a free copy of FOUND #7! For more info, check out the FOUND Events page.

And finally, the good news– the FOUND Seventh Heaven Holiday Pack is here! If you’re looking for an amazing holiday gift for friends and family, this is for you: FOUND #1-#7 for only $29! Every year we offer all of the existing FOUND magazines in one bundle, and every year we get a ton of post-holiday emails from people saying that the Holiday Pack was the best gift they gave that year. Don’t forget to check out the books we’ve got in the FOUND Bookstore, too! If you’re not sure How To Kiss, be warned that once you give FOUND magazines and books out as gifts, you’re sure to quickly get a whole lot of practice.

All right, Happy Thanksgiving everybody, and thanks for all the wonderful finds that have been pouring in … we appreciate each and every find and we Feel A Connection with every one of you in the FOUND family!

Peace, love, and large respect–

Davy & James, with Peter, Sarah, Brande, Jason, Al, Andy, Chris, and all the FOUND crew that needs to put deodorant on here at FOUND HQ

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Where to find FOUND #7 before everyone else gets it!

*California*

Northtown Books
957 H St.
Arcata, CA 95501
707-822-2834

Skylight Books
1818 N. Vermont
Los Angeles, CA 90027
323-660-1175

Green Apple Books
506 Clement St.
San Francisco, CA 94118
415-387-2272

Smoke Signals
2223 Polk St.
San Francisco, CA 94109
415-292-6025

Bookshop Santa Cruz
1520 Pacific Ave.
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
831-423-0900

*Indiana*

Boxcar Books
408 E. 6th St.
Bloomington, IN 47408
812-339-8710

Von’s Bookshop
315 W. State St.
West Lafayette, IN 47906
765-743-1915

*Illinois*

Chicago Comics
3244 N. Clark St.
Chicago, IL 60657
773-528-1983

Comix Revolution
606 Davis St.
Evanston, IL 60201
847-866-8659

Quimby’s Bookstore
1854 W. North Ave.
Chicago, IL 60622
773-342-0910

*Massachusetts*

Brookline Booksmith
279 Harvard St
Brookline, MA 02446
617-566-6660

Newbury Comics
332 Newbury St.
Boston, MA 02115
617.254.1666

New England Comics
316 Harvard St.
Brookline, MA 02446
617-566-0115

*Maryland*

Atomic Books
3620 Falls Rd.
Baltimore, MD 21211
410.662.4444

*Michigan*

Schuler Books & Music
1982 Grand River Ave.
Okemos, MI 48864
517-349-8840

FOUND Gallery
407 North Fifth Avenue
Ann Arbor, MI 48104
734-302-3060

Vault of Midnight
219 S Main St
Ann Arbor, MI 48104
734-998-1413

*Minnesota*

Big Brain Comics
1027 Washington Ave.
Minneapolis, MN 55415
612-338-4390

*North Carolina*

Downtown Books & Records
67 N. Lexington Ave.
Asheville, NC 28801
828.253.8654

*New York*

Dia Center for the Arts Bookshop
3 Beekman St.
Beacon, NY 12508
845-440-0100

Other Music
15 E 4th St.
New York, NY 10003
212-477-8150, ext. 3

St. Mark’s Bookshop
31 3rd Ave.
New York, NY 10003
212-260-7853

*Ohio*

Mac’s Backs Paperbacks
1820 Coventry Rd.
Cleveland Heights, OH 44118
216-321-2665

Wexner Center for the Arts Bookshop
1871 N. High St.
Columbus, OH 43210
614-292-1807

*Oregon*

Buyolympia.com
3925 N. Mississipi Ave.
Portland, OR 97227
800-856-3246

Powell’s Downtown
1005 W. Burnside
Portland, OR 97209
503-228-0540

*Pennsylvania*

Wooden Shoe Books & Records
704 South St.
Philadelphia, PA 19147
215-413-0999

Wolfgang Books
237 Bridge St. 2nd Floor
Phoenixville, PA 19460
610-410-5039

*Virginia*

Chop Suey Books
2913 W. Cary St.
Richmond, VA 23221
804.422.8066

*Washington DC*

Politics & Prose Bookstore
5015 Connecticut Ave. NW
Washington, D.C. 20008
202-364-1919

After 8 years of bringing FOUND magic and mayhem to North America and Europe, the FOUND Tour is finally heading Down Under in 2010. We’re looking for leads on cool spots in neat cities to bring our FOUND show. Want us to come to your town? Holla! Willing to help us set a show in your ‘hood? Drop us a line! Write for a newspaper or work for a radio show that might help spread word about our tour? Give us a shout! Got a friend who might be into organizing an event? Let us know! We promise an amazing time for all… we just need your help getting the tour together. All ideas and suggestions welcome! Please email us at info@foundmagazine.com

Longtime friend of FOUND Jim Carroll passed away last Friday, September 11th, in New York; we’re all deeply saddened here at FOUND HQ.

Jim has been a longtime inspiration and a generous supporter of our work and contributed many finds over the years, plucked up from New York City streets. He wrote a great essay about one of his all-time favorite finds for our new book, Requiem for a Paper Bag; we shared this story with audiences all around the country as we toured this spring and summer. Check it out below.

Our thoughts are with his family and his wide community of friends. Thanks for your words and music and spirit, Jim! If they got hoops in heaven, we know you dunkin’ on some fools.

—

INSIDE OUT
by Jim Carroll

Back in the day when I was playing rock n’ roll and touring a lot, we had this roadie from the Bay Area named Dennis. Dennis had a girlfriend in the Bay and she had a friend who I used to get together with when I was in town. One time, me and Dennis took his girlfriend and her friend to a spa. They kept saying they wanted to go to one, so we finally went and they did their thing while me and Dennis sat around looking at the clouds.

Then we happened to notice that one of the things they offered at this spa was colonics. This is the service where they pump water up your ass and you shit all this stuff out; the idea is that it’s cleansing for the body and the soul. It was expensive, maybe a hundred bucks, and I knew Dennis was short on cash, but we were there, and it seemed like the thing to do, so I threw down the money for both of us.

Once they’ve pumped the water into you, you let it all out over a fine mesh screen, a net of sorts, so all the liquid goes through and what’s left on the screen is whatever was inside you. The colonics experts don rubber gloves and sift through the debris and analyze it all — this is stuff from your lower bowel, which you usually wouldn’t be shitting out; it’s the shit that collects in you over time.

It was disgusting. The guy held up a piece of pork that he guessed had been in my system for three years. I couldn’t have been more grossed out or more fucking fascinated. Me and Dennis kept marveling at the whole notion that things could stay in your body for so long.

But here’s the real killer of the thing: You know those little green plastic soldiers you can get a bag of for ninety-nine cents at the general store? Every kid has them. They come in different positions — one guy is a sniper on the ground, another is kneeling;  there’s also the officer with a pistol, the guy with binoculars, one guy with a machine gun, one with a bazooka. I used to play with them endlessly when I was a kid, whether I was outdoors or inside, creating little battlefields. All the kids I knew had a similar collection of Army guys. And invariably, someone would bite the head off of one of them by accident, and start chewing on it like they were chewing on anything, so every once in a while, naturally, you’d hear that so-and-so had swallowed one of the heads.

Well, at some point in his childhood, Dennis must have swallowed an Army guy whole, because that day at the spa while he was getting his colonic treatment, an entire U.S. soldier came out of his ass. We found it caught in his screen after he’d cleared out his insides. We couldn’t even tell what it was at first, but once they’d washed it off, we saw that it was a full-on plastic soldier — one of my favorites, actually — the sniper shimmying along on his belly.  It must have been inside him for over twenty years.

The most amazing thing about the whole scene, it seemed to me, was the way it redefined the phrase You are what you eat. Dennis was always a nice, quiet guy, but he got real fucking rowdy when he drank. He got up in people’s faces; he got in fights. Now it made sense — he’d had a soldier inside of him since the age of six.

The colonics guys at the spa were flabbergasted — they said they’d never seen anything like this before. They’d found talons, bones, and marbles, but never a plastic soldier. And the weird things is, Dennis seemed to grow mellower once that soldier was out of him. I’ve always loved picking up interesting stuff — letters, pictures, old books in an alley —  but that soldier, sopped with goop, caught in the mesh screen, and trying to wriggle away while keeping his rifle steady, was one of the best things I’ve ever found.

How’d you like to see your business, band, creative work, or DIY enterprise in the pages of FOUND Magazine? Please consider becoming a Sponsor for FOUND #7! You don’t need buckets of money, and you’ll have a chance to share your projects with an amazing group of people: the readers of FOUND. Our past sponsors — ranging from big businesses to the tiniest homegrown outfits — have been thrilled with the results, so if the idea of sharing your stuff with thousands upon thousands of super-awesome folks is appealing, simply drop us a quick note at info@foundmagazine.com and we’ll send you all the details!

THE QUEEN OF HAIGHT STREET

One of our very first shows in San Francisco was at a bar on Haight Street. Jason and I had just moved to California, and even though we knew the club kind of sucked, we were still excited.

When it was time for us to play, Jason was nowhere to be found — I looked for him in the basement, in the boys’ room, but it was like he’d been beamed into space. Finally, he appeared, and we played our show for three people: the bartender and the two friends we’d invited. It was a deflating end to weeks of excitement about the gig.

After the show I asked Jason where he’d been beforehand, as though his disappearing act was responsible for the disappearance of our audience as well. Jason told me he’d been out on Haight Street, chatting it up with a crowd of friendly bums and bag ladies

A while later I went outside to get some air and an old woman pushing a grocery cart filled with junk approached me.  She had tears in her eyes. She explained that she’d been hanging out in front of that club for years, listening to different bands play. “Usually it’s terrible and I go about my business,” she said. “But tonight, the music was so beautiful that I cried.” She said she would’ve paid to get in if she’d had the money, and I told her I would’ve made sure she’d gotten in, had I known she was standing outside listening.

“I want to give you something,” she said. She dug through her cart for a few minutes, tossing things over her shoulder like a mad scientist. At last, she produced a tiny purple crystal the size of a dime. “I found this years ago,” she said. “It’s very important to me — it’s my most prized possession — and I want you to have it and keep it with you wherever you play.”

I felt tears spring to life in my own eyes. The notion that our music had connected so powerfully with this woman stirred me deeply. I took the crystal, and thanked her again and again.

I still have it, of course. It’s the most valuable treasure I own.

I WAS ELEVEN YEARS OLD. Sure, I’d seen a Playboy before, and even Playboy had blown my mind. But I’d never seen anything hardcore — to any degree — before this particular day.

For some strange reason, my mom had signed me up to do a play in Chinatown, and I’d arrived early to the rehearsal. While I was waiting, I decided to take a little stroll around the Yun Sat-sen Gardens, which is this amazing Asian garden in Vancouver — it’s actually in a pretty dangerous neighborhood, but I didn’t know that at eleven.  So I was walking around, killing time, when I noticed a magazine lying mashed and crumpled on the ground. I moved closer and saw body parts — naked body parts. Holy shit! Even from one tiny glimpse, I could tell it was more explicit than anything I’d ever seen in my life.

I kept walking — literally, I didn’t even slow my pace. But when I reached the end of the block, something drew me back. I turned and walked by the magazine again, just to get one more glance. And then again. I began circling the thing like a shark — stealing little peeks at the pages on the ground. It had been raining all week so the magazine wasn’t just crumpled, it was soaking wet, too. I walked by it a fourth time and then, trying to act casual, bent down and snatched it up. It was just a big wet sopping mess; I shoved the whole thing in my jacket pocket. I didn’t look at it, just shoved it in there and went to my play rehearsal. Every ten or twenty minutes throughout the rehearsal, I sneaked over to my jacket to make sure that the hot, wet clump was still inside.

That night I went home and spread the magazine carefully on a towel to dry out. Then I stared. I couldn’t believe what I was looking at. It all seemed much more surgical than I’d ever imagined it would be. I mean, I saw the insides of body parts I had never even seen the outside of before. I was shocked at how explicit it was. “They’re just showing people having sex!” At that age sex is such an unattainable Holy Grail. To see it nonchalantly plastered all over this magazine was unbelievable to me. I used to look at these pages constantly. I don’t even think I jacked off at that point — I would go to my room and just stare.

You may not believe this, but I still look at porno from time to time. As you know, they have ads towards the back of porno magazines for phone-sex lines and shit like that. That original porno mag was so waterlogged, the ad pages in the back were, for the most part, the only ones undamaged enough to see. Well, I held onto that magazine for a very long time. Even after I got real porno — movies and whatnot — I still held onto that original find. I’m sure at some point my mom found the thing and threw it away. But believe me when I tell you this: there are literally the same exact ads in the back of magazines today as the ones in that soggy porno magazine I found fifteen years ago. Trust me, I’m an expert.

A reader weighs in on a note that never reached her …

“I was looking through the Found archives today trying to kill time before picking my daughter up from school, when I came across this one. When I saw it, my heart skipped because the handwriting looked so familiar, as well as the content and then I saw it was from Arizona and I’m almost sure I was the intended recipient of this.

I had left my ex shortly after our daughter was born because of a lot of physical and emotional abuse. He tried repeatedly to convince me that we should “work it out,” but I knew better because I had forgiven him before and he always did better for a month or two, then went right back to how he was. With a baby involved now, I couldn’t risk it any longer and refused.

He sent an e-mail, in an attempt to scare me or hurt me I guess, to Children’s Services telling them I was neglecting our child. They investigated and did nothing because there was no basis for the claims. I assumed it was him, but had no proof until he called me drunk in the middle of the night to brag about it and I hung up on him. It was the last time we ever spoke.

I allowed him to forfeit his parental rights and give up child support so he would no longer be in mine or my daughter’s lives because I feel he would only do more harm here than good.”

Thanks to FOUND superstar Karin Knape, FOUND Magazine is now available in several locations in Gothenburg, Sweden. Gothenburg friends - hurry over now to grab a copy before they’re gone! Also, FOUND’s Europe Tour will sweep through town in late October - stay tuned to the Events page for details.

Find FOUND at these spots in Gothenburg:

WHERKA
Street address: Nordenskiöldsgatan 7, 41309 Göteborg

VÄNDER SIG OM
Andra Långgatan 22
413 28 Göteborg

CD-CENTRALEN
Gothenburg Central Station

Join Found Magazine and our dear friend Frank Warren at PostSecret in supporting Hopeline, a national suicide prevention hotline (1-800-SUICIDE). Hopeline is a fantastic organization doing important work, so please check out the video and lend whatever support you can!