Friday Morning Hodgepodge

Today's post is brought to you in part by a federal grant from the US government (I told them I was doing atomic bomb research... in truth, I'm just "the bomb"), as well as our brand new sponsor...

What is Panda With Cookie? Why, it's the one-stop solution for all your Holiday gift giving needs. The store is run by my good friend and mega-talented artist Lisa, all the stuff therein is hand-made, and you should buy lots of it because she is awesome and I said so. Also, I'm hoping if I generate tons of traffic for her via ZFS!, she'll hook me up with a free bag of her homemade candy corn. So, c'mon, help a brother get his sweets on. Shop at Panda With Cookie TODAY!!!

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Further Adventures in Job Hunting: A couple of days ago, I had a job interview for a clerical position at a marketing firm so hip and sleek and cutting-edge, I'm fairly certain it was from the future. Walking in, I felt like a dump truck trying to navigate through a sea of sporty Miatas that all wore trendy eyeglasses and talked about bands like they were best friends with the lead guitar player. That was bad enough, but the WORST part? The guy I interviewed with, who would be my boss were I to land the job... totally younger than me. And not like I was born in August and he was born in October. No, like I was born at the end of Jimmy Carter's Presidency and he was born during Ronald Reagan's SECOND term. It was like a slap in the face with a dick made of sadness. I mean, okay, I'm 28 year old... I get it that I'm at a point in my life where people I come into contact with are going to be younger than I am. It's a fact of life, sunrise, sunset, every rose has it's thorn, etc. I fine with all of that, particularly the off-topic Poison reference. But still, dudes. BUT STILL.

That shit made me feel like something an archaeologist would dig up and go, "hmmmm" at all studious and whatever before labeling me and putting me in a museum next to the cavemen and the dinosaur bones. C-dogicus Maximus... once proud and brave and able to quaff many beers at parties with a "toga" or "luau" theme. Now, sadly, he is extinct, or at least he's in bed before eleven because he gets cranky and sore if he doesn't get a full eight hours of sleep. Lame-o.

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If I may make a few musical suggestions for your Autumnal listening pleasure...

Scandinavian folk you should be enjoying

Tobias Froberg - He's like if Ryan Adams and Simon & Garfunkel got all smushed together in Sweden, but were shot through with a sense of humor so no one could get sick of their mutant-y form.

Ane Brun- She's perhaps the loveliest singer/songwriter I've ever seen. Like, if a real no-shit angel fell from Make-Believe Land clutching a guitar and said, "well, since I'm here, might as well sing a few songs I wrote." That's her, in a nutshell. I saw her play the other night and she did a cover of Alphaville's "Big in Japan." Can you imagine?!?! That, from a girl that looks like a heavenly creature with an accent that makes adorable stuffed animals kill themselves from inferiority issues.

Theresa Andersson- I'd never heard of her before Wednesday, but now I'm thinking about starting a religion based on her voice and what she does with it. She's got that kind of talent that makes you feel very small. Even if you're not a musician; if you're a writer, say, or a guy who makes artisanal cheeses. You listen to her do her crazy loop-pedal music with violins and drums and guitar and four-part harmonies ALL BY HERSELF and you go... fuck... my stories/cheeses are just piles of wet dirt now. I'm not kidding... to watch her perform is to bow your head and know in your heart that you've been bested in this world by one more talented than you. But in a way that's so good it's retarded.

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It's turning cold here in New York. All of a sudden, it's hoodie weather. Very exciting! Also, chilly. But they've turned the heat on in my building, so I no longer feel like a Swanson's dinner awaiting the microwave, and it's a welcome relief from the sweaty-crack humidity of the summer. No, I'm still not over that (me and heat get along poorly). I'm sure when it's like mid-February and a degree outside I'll be humming an entirely different tune but... for now... bring on the coolness and the leaves falling and the thick blankets, mugs of spiked cocoa, the World Series and all that Fall crap. Happy days indeed!!!