Pat forwards the unfortunate news that the universe is not mint green after all. He says this "makes more sense." My question is, do either of them make sense?

Thanks anyway, Patrick!

Hey folks--my pal Gia is coming to town tomorrow, so likely I won't update anything here--nor get e-mail--for about a week. Yeah, I know, you're devastated. For God's sake get over it. But I do care, honest. Here's something fun to do while I'm away:

Dress George Bush

Don't forget I love you, you little muffin.

Here's an important public service message for you (thanks, Brian):

Please...click here

On a related note, I want the world to know that Marilyn Manson loves his kitty cat.

My affection for Marilyn Manson has always been linked to my obsession with Hanson. They both hit the heights of their mainstream popularity at the same time, more or less, and each band was posited in the press as anti- the other band. This all came to a head with reports in the spring of 1998 that there would be a Hanson/Manson collaboration on the South Park Chef Aid soundtrack album, which was in the works at the time. I loved the idea, it would be the perfect thing for both of them. According to most sources, it was Manson who got cold feet and scuttled the deal.

In interviews, Manson dismissed Hanson as happy music for happy people--while MM, of course, represented precisely the opposite. Taylor Hanson retorted that Manson was "actually more of an actor." Still, the comments going both directions were fairly good-natured; I like to think that they too were amused by the paradox of their back-to-back popularity.

And now, again, they are poised to burst back upon the scene at the same time. Both are hard at work on albums in Los Angeles studios, after a long break since their last commercially-disappointing releases. I am crossing fingers that both records will come out near the same time, and both bring waves of renewed vigor to both careers. Now, more than ever, the world needs Marilyn Hanson!

I took my first proactive step in finding a job in over nine months of unemployment--I called a temp agency yesterday. They were very friendly, but it sounded like they get a lot of calls like mine. They said they have quite a backlog now (because everyone in New York City is looking for a job) so it may be a little while before they can call me, but I could go ahead and FAX them my resume. I haven't sent the FAX, because I have some tweaking to do on the resume yet. I intend to get that taken care of by the end of the week. Then Gia comes to visit for a week, so maybe they won't call me until after she leaves (if, indeed they call at all...)

I realized today that I've never really had to work at finding a job before. I've had periods of sending in resumes, but often I knew, or suspected, that the jobs for which I was applying weren't really right. And, as expected, I never heard anything from them. However, when I saw an ad for a job I eventually got (or after someone told me about it), I just knew it was the right job. So the whole process of applying and interviewing was relatively stress-free, because somehow I just knew it would work out. My last two jobs in Seattle were like that, but then again I got them during economic boom years (1995 and 1997). When I was going through my work file recently, I saw the resume I sent in for the Matchmaker, and it was a laughable disaster. I was so worried about getting it on one page I put it in a really tiny font, and you could hardly read it. The cover letter had a typo, and was about three times longer than a cover letter should be. Yet I got the job. I think that's why I'm being so lackadaisical about this whole process. I feel, perhaps foolishly, that when it comes time that I REALLY want a job, or really NEED a job, I will find a way to make it happen. It may take longer than I've been used to (because, again, there are no jobs here. None. Really.) But it will happen.

Just not today! :)

Weird sort of coincidence...

I was just watching Michael Moore's series "The Awful Truth" on DVD, the first season, 1999. I have owned this set for a while, but hadn't watched most of the episodes before. I decided to finally get to them this evening, since I'm quite happy to have a DVD player again. Well, in one sequence (Episode 11), Michael interviews a bunch of New Yorkers to try to find a better husband for Hillary Rodham Clinton. One of the seven or eight men he interviews is a handsome, youngish fireman. I notice that behind him, the two fire trucks are labeled "40" and "35." With a chill I remembered an article in the March 2002 issue of Vanity Fair which tells a moving tale of a Manhattan fire station which lost all but one of its men that were on duty the morning of September 11. It was engine company 40, ladder 35. I picked up my copy of Vanity Fair, and turned to the page which shows a photo of each of the 12 men lost that day. Unmistakably, the guy chuckling onscreen about a perfect date with the first lady consisting of satin sheets and Viagra is Steve Mercado. His face is smiling on page 258 of Vanity Fair, and he's dead.

I wonder if Michael Moore knows?