NEW MUSIC!!!

Confession: I have downloaded over fifty mp3s in the past week. Ninety nine percent of them were free on amazon's daily deal page, but one had to be obtained perhaps not legally? Only because it is so freaking awesome? I'll be playing it for my Title I students? Is that ok now? What if I volunteer in a hospital every week? Does that negate the stealing?

Anyhoo, this song was playing in the background of some online wedding photography website that my new friend Emily Shmemily was looking at, and it instantly transported me to a green shady meadow with popsicles and cloud pictures and colorful and slightly out of focus pictures taken on a Leica camera. I've been listening to it for the past fifteen minutes.

Empire of the Sun - Walking on a Dream

the summer of michael jackson

That was the summer of 1963 - when everybody called me Baby, and it didn't occur to me to mind. That was before President Kennedy was shot, before the Beatles came, when I couldn't wait to join the Peace Corps, and I thought I'd never find a guy as great as my dad. That was the summer we went to Kellerman's.

This summer has felt a little bit Dirty Dancing to me. Radio stations have been playing Michael Jackson and Jackson 5 on frequent rotation, and the hot days of 2009 have melted a bit into the hot days of 1964 and 1971 and 1982 and 1991. Blasting oldies and disco out your car window has never been this cool. Michael has been re-embraced, with the nostalgia usually reserved for poodle skirts and letterman jackets. Gone is the creepy ghost who was not safe around kids. In his place is a cultural icon who broke down racial barriers and changed the history of music. This is the Michael Jackson of 1992, before the sexual abuse allegations, before he was more white than black, before he was reduced to a tabloid has-been. This is the Michael Jackson with stringy, shoulder length hair, with mocha skin, with shiny jackets and shortened black dancing pants, with contagious stage energy and a overwhelming desire to fix the world. You can see him on memorial and tribute pages around the internet and at newsstands. This is the Michael Jackson of 2009, remembered with reverence and humanity.

I have been a constant Michael Jackson fan, ever since my brother won the Dangerous album (cassette) at a Bar Mitvah party. (See here, here, here, here, and here.) I wasn't very depressed when he died or anything, because I don't know him personally and I was not holding my breath for another We Are The World or Thriller moment. His glory days are truly behind him.

I was just blasting my Jackson 5 CD while getting ready for a date, and my windows are wide open in the stuffy August heat. A neighbor I've never spoken to came by to introduce herself because she was sitting in her living room, rocking out to my tunes. She was so jazzed to hear "Mikey" that she just had to find out who was this other fan in the building!? We laughed, because it's cool to like him now.

I mean really, how can you not smile when you hear his sweet little boy voice confidently confiding, "I'll be there."

the most wonderful time

All of a sudden, I have ten thousand things on my to-do list. It's a big shock that la-la summerland is ending and it's back to work for me. I can barely concentrate because of how many tabs are open on my computer, but this is how I work best. I'll multitask the shit out of the weekend and then welcome, kids!

The current administration is so fucking awesome:

A million followers – nice. What would you like to see more of from this feed? Photos? Quotes? Cowbell? Tell us @whitehouse

I was so shocked I nearly dropped the Bible I was using to help me masturbate into my gun.

Sometimes Huffington Post is hilarious.

...aussie observations

Aussies don't chew a lot of gum. There are only about 4 flavor choices at any given convenience store. It does not get much better at grocery stores. A popular flavor here is blueberry, which I am eager to try.

Seriously, everyone is white. White with blue eyes and blondish hair. There are very few people with black hair, and even fewer black or brown people. In Sydney, there were many Asians, but up north not so much beyond the tourists.

They do not use paper towels here, unless you are in a really fancy establishment. Most bathrooms use air dryers. This is only useful if you don't want to waste paper or if your jeans and tennis shoes are soaked from the rain. Otherwise, it dries out your hands and takes a lot of time.

The canned tuna selection at the grocery store is incredible. They sell as much tuna here as we do chips in the US. Tuna comes already flavored in little pop top cans, so you can take a piece of bread and a can for lunch and be all set to go. Some flavors include: sun dried tomato and onion, lemon pepper, thai red curry, sweet corn and mayonnaise.

team jacob

Thank god I am finally done with all of the Twilight books and can get on with my life. I am happy to report that the saga ended satisfyingly, with enough to give me warm thoughts as I fall into bed and no doubt stumble around half asleep tomorrow at work. I have put in about forty man hours with those babies and half of them were at night. I recommend them wholeheartedly to everyone, but just don't start reading until you have emptied your week of children or gainful employment.


I haven't read this much in ever, and I really feel like a better person. I'm talking about the ten books I read over the month plus I was in Australia, plus the four gargantuan vampire novels here in LA. I have overflowing bookcases at home and at work, but for some reason I end up watching movies more than reading. Let this be a sign!