So Saturday, before going to the darkroom, I went to Coliseum.

That's the bookstore near my office, the bookstore that I've been going to for absolutely centuries, since I moved to this town nearly twenty years ago, and I walked by it on Monday and saw a big sign in the windows that said, "After 27 Years..." and I didn't have to read any further.

When it says how long they've been in business, you know that they're not going to be in business much longer. And I was right. They are closing and everything was 20% off.

I never managed to make it over there during the week, as they are only open until 9p, and I just missed it twice, so I decided to get up early and go over before going to the darkroom Saturday. And it worked out, because I waited long enough that it was 30% off!

I cut a fucking swath through that store, buying everything that I wanted even a little bit, ending up spending a huge amount, but saving over $100, so I was pleased, if poor.

I hope they really do move somewhere else, because it's one of the few independents left in NY, and that's something worth preserving.

Yesterday I mostly just kind of sat around and stared. After the donkeywork in the darkroom the day before, I didn't particularly want to move any more than blinking, and possibly the twitching of my thumb on the remote control.

I honestly don't think I can explain how happy my new pyjamas make me. They are so very soft and warm that if I could sit in my house wearing them for the rest of my life, it would be happier than every minute that came before.

Okay, maybe I am exaggerating, but they really are awfully comfy.

After the sitting and the staring and the blinking and the comfy pyjamas, we had Christmas!

And yes, I am quite aware that it was the 13th of January, thank you very much, there just hasn't been a moment since I have come home that I have been home at the same time as the children were awake!

not only that, though, it was also Molly's birthday, or it is today, at any rate, so we were doing the birthday thing. Festivity! Festivity and presents! And cake! Doesn't get much better than that.

We exchanged gifts, I got a t-shirt that says something funny on it, but I can't remember what and I'm not getting up to check just now (I'm tired and headachy), but believe you me, that was a very amusing t-shirt indeed. Also with the shirt, I got a drawing of a present that is coming--it looked like a vibrator, but it turned out to be a lava lamp. I love lava lamps, so I'm all happy about that.

But, "Is that all?" I asked. "Do you know how expensive a lava lamp is?" Cynthia answered. "Do you know how many people are in your family?" I answered back.

For her birthday, I got Molly a swell present, a children's gardening set from Restoration Hardware, which has a spade and a fork and an apron and all kinds of things, and they are for real gardening, not play. I knew she'd get a kick out of it, 'cause she loves helping John in the backyard.

The traditional birthday meltdown didn't actually happen this year, since she is now 6 years old and above such things, but it was partially provided by Bonnie instead, who is really the most peculiar child imaginable.

She has always been odd, always lived in a world nearby our own, but not the same at all. I thought that it would be different when she was talking more, and now she is talking fine, can carry on a conversation and everything, but she clearly just views and experiences things so differently that sometimes it really strikes me that this is the child who will end up doing something really original with her life. It's difficult to explain.

My favourite thing she said during the party, after scraping all of the icing off of the chocolate cake, was, "I don't want this brown stuff. I want some more cake!" "That is cake, for heaven's sake!" Afterwards I said to Cynthia, "That child calls chocolate cake 'brown stuff' and says she doesn't want it? What kind of three year old doesn't like chocolate cake! Are you certain she's your child?"

Cynthia expressed doubts.

After the party I was supposed to go into the city and see Roy Zimmerman play at a gig for promoters, but I was tired and I didn't feel that well, so I decided not to go. Then I decided that was silly and I'd go after all.

There were bunches of people playing, one of whom was Marc Maron, a stand-up that I like very much, so I decided to go to see just the two of them. Unfortunately, it took me forever to get into the city, there just were no vans, so I was running later than I would have liked.

I got to the Hilton hotel, where the promotional thingy was taking place--I wasn't entirely certain what was going on, but that's not unusual with me. I walked inside and the doorman asked to see my room key. I told him I was going upstairs to the Morgan Suite and that seemed to be good enough. I'm glad he knew what I was doing.

Anyway, when I got up there I figured it out, it was a marketing expo kind of thing, all of these promoters in all these little room showing their clients to bookers and so on, putting them through their paces like show horses.

I found the right room, which was right next to another room with a very noisy band playing, but they ended just as I walked up. I wasn't sure whether I should just walk in or what, but then the door opened and me and a couple of other people lurking there ran in. I stopped just inside to get my bearings, looked to the side, and there was Roy! He brightened and said hi, remembering my name and everything. Not too surprising, since we spent a whole day in each other's company just a couple of weeks ago, but I'm always impressed when anyone remembers me, because it's just as likely that I will have forgotten them.

I scurried up to the front and sat down directly behind my friend Jim and his friend just as the publicist was introducing Roy. Boy, do I have timing or what? There weren't that many people there, but it was the second set of the day, so hopefully there were more people earlier. She said that he had been hired by a TV station in Los Angeles to appear weekly on the programme and write an original satirical song about that week's news, which was great, but he was hired on September 10th and basically had yet to appear. We all went, "Oooohhh..."

Roy came onto the stage and said that when he had written the intro, he hadn't realized how pathetic it sounded. He made a couple of jokes about the celtic band that had been loudly playing in the next room, apparently all through poor Marc Maron's set, that fortunately it was over, and played his first song, " TMI," which is actually my favourite song off of his album, and a real crowd pleaser.

Then he sang a new song, one I've never heard before, and I don't have the lyrics exactly right, but it went something like, "What if I gave you the moon, what if I stole you a star, what if I told you how lovely you are, then would you let me finish a sente...no, I guess not." I howled like a monkey, I thought it was so funny. The rest of the audience did, too.

After this song, I noticed lots of female squealing in the back, which surprised me, because I didn't know that Joan was there! That is a joke. I think Joan probably gets too tongue-tied around Roy to squeal.

Then he sang Defenders of Marriage, also off the album, after making a few groan-worthy jokes that I really should have written down, but was too busy groaning. Not squealing, I want to make that perfectly clear! Then was another great new song, "Jerry Fallwell's God," which was mostly talking over a guitar riff, and started out, "Jerry Fallwell's God was standing at the elevator when I was talking about the party, so I basically had to invite him."

My favourite line was, "And he made the lame to walk, but they were my friends, so they were still lame. But they could walk!"

The last song was called "One World, One Bank," that unfortunately stuck in my head, but only a little bit of it, so I was walking down the street for blocks and blocks singing, "One world, one bank, one insurance provider, one big media conglomerate run by one megalomaniac for your safety and convenience!" over and over and over again.

They whole thing was excellent, but way too short, and I so wished that I had blown up the pictures of the recording session like I had meant to so that I could have given them to him, but that ship had sailed, so I just went back and hugged him and told him how good he was and split.

Hopefully, he will get some bookings on the east coast so that I can see him. I'd go to Boston or Philly, I'm not insisting on NY! But seeing as how well he went over in such a relatively empty room, I think that he must have impressed the professionals there. Especially, if they were the ones squealing, though I doubt that is so. If nothing else, they witnessed the SGQ (Squealing Girl Quotient) for themselves and hopefully will want some of that phenomena in their clubs.

If necessary, I'll promise to squeal myself, though that's really not my style. Anything to help out.

Today's horoscope:
Fun is in focus. Don't push yourself. Put off major efforts for another day; keep a playful attitude today.

One year ago today:
"Daddy, why is one man sad that the other man is sleeping?"

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Last Updated Sun 20 January 20:18:09 2002