Every day for more than two years, West Seattle's Danny Bland wrote a haiku. Three lines—five syllables, seven syllables, and five syllables. Danny Bland wired his writing mind to this traditional Japanese format and took it on an all-night drive west from Tucson to Long Beach. For 30 years, Bland has roamed as a writer and musician, playing in the bands Catt Butt and the Dwarves. He's also logged miles as road manager for the Supersuckers, the Gutter Twins, and Dave Alvin. Bland's haiku is raw, playful, and spiteful at times. This isn't your frog-in-a-tranquil-pond haiku. This is the blood smudged on the wall in a back room, or the teeth marks from someone you barely knew. On September 23, Sub Pop is releasing a collection of Bland's haiku writing called I Apologize in Advance for the Awful Things I'm Gonna Do. The 120-page, full-color paperback designed by Victor Krummenacher (Camper Van Beethoven) features photographs from the Afghan Whigs' Greg Dulli and calligraphy from Exene Cervenka. The Bland/Dulli combination takes a moment and picks its lock. It's up to the reader to finish the story or let it sit there, longing. Bland's first novel, In Case We Die, was published this past June by Fantagraphics. Mr. Bland spoke from the French Quarter in New Orleans.

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