And before that...

Do you know why I love Paul Newman, and always will? Because on the jar of spaghetti sauce I just opened, I noticed that on the label it says "An intimate companion your pasta will never forget - (signed) Paul Newman"

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Life has been eventful lately.. plenty to write about, but I don't know if I want to talk about it with strangers. There have been some sad and upsetting things and some really wonderful, or at least fun things. I want to go over them all but most of it would feel weird to talk about. I wonder if I'm growing out of this practice of singing my life.

Well, I will say that I saw Juno last Sunday open for Rainer Maria and Unwound, and it was pretty excellent. It wasn't quite the same as seeing them in Arlington (and nothing really is) but it was great to see them, and great to hear the songs, and great to be among friends. It's been great to be among friends a lot lately, and as a result I'm steadily falling in love with L.A. And I'm glad for that, as I didn't want to ruin my record of loving every city I've lived in. Do you have the new Juno record yet? You should get it. Also, get the Certainly, Sir EP. Also, if you're not offended by porn (or if you're only offended by really bad porn) go read this kid's journal about trying to break into (for purposes of repair) the L.A. porn industry. I met him a week or so ago, I went over to buy some tapes from him in person to save on shipping, and also because it seemed like... you know how a meal always tastes better when you know the cook? Anyway, he's a really interesting person and a good writer (and if you want to buy stuff from him that's not really porn, write him and ask him to sell you his comic book... it's genuinely good.)

If you're in the Philadelphia area or close enough to get there for something worthwhile, can I really really really strongly recommend that you go to the ICA and see Margaret Kilgallen's and Jim Houser's and Claire Rojas' and Chris Johansen's work there while it's up. This is actually delving into the upsetting thing but Margaret died recently, under some really sad circumstances, and I believe there's going to be a memorial service at the ICA on the 28th of this month, and I encourage you to attend. Especially if you're a woman. I am excited by Margaret's work -- she was an intensely talented person and even better, a very female person, feminine and strong and kind -- and I think women especially can take something beautiful away from spending an afternoon looking at her installation. It's an incredibly sad loss to the world. I hope you'll take some time to go.