| The sigh of relief |
[Sep. 30th, 2008|10:53 pm] |
I have just sent off a new book proposal to my agent. Pending his approval, it will be submitted to an editor at a big publisher tomorrow. Thursday at the latest.
The proposal is 57 pages long. I have worked harder on this project in the last couple weeks than anything I can recall since I was a college student, and wrote that damn analysis of Schoenberg's twelve-tone scale and its relationship to the nature of heroism in the opera Moses und Aaron.
Speaking of dudes named Aaron: I won't go into details about the book yet, save to say that what kept me going through the whole process was the talents of my illustrator, Aaron Bagley. How could I not persevere when he was sending me images like this to complement the text?
Fingers crossed... |
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| el toro vs. the crankiest man in show business |
[Sep. 24th, 2008|02:27 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  pleased | ] |
My KEXP session with Stephin Merritt of the Magnetic Fields is now up on NPR! Listen to the whole thing (rather than just the individual songs) and know the meaning of the word "uncomfortable." |
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| comme ci, comme ca |
[Sep. 24th, 2008|02:08 pm] |
I am delighted to read that boutique label Cherry Pop will be reissuing Marilyn's 1985 album Despite Straight Lines.
I am disappointed to learn that it will include neither "Pray For That Sunshine" (which Marilyn's website says was "withdrawn at the request of Marilyn" — huh?), nor his killer cover of Diana Ross' "I Ain't Been Licked." Guess I'm glad I bought the entire Marilyn 12-inch back catalog in PDX a few years ago after all. |
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| This is only a test... |
[Sep. 22nd, 2008|06:26 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | calm | ] |
I bought a new laptop today. I can't afford one, but my 2002 model was moving slower and slower, and even the simplest pages took ages to load (hence my reluctance to blog of late), so I took the plunge. I have a big potential project looming, and I couldn't afford to lose any more time waiting... waiting... waiting...
Naturally, since I don't hate "grownup stuff" — or going to University Village (where nobody seems to have heard the economy is on the brink yet) for that matter — enough, I decided to switch from PC to Mac. In an unprecedented move, setting up the new computer has thus far gone smoothly. I even transferred all my music files from one to the other without too much nail-biting.
Anyway, photos are next. In the meantime, I thought I'd take the new machine out for a spin on LJ. Please enjoy this shot of ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) m3warlord and I at our friend Jason's wedding this summer.
Hey, when are they gonna let us get married? Huh? |
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| From the archives |
[Sep. 20th, 2008|10:31 am] |
While trawling through old files yesterday, searching a long-buried interview transcript, I found the following photo of (from right to left) Donovan, Mark and I at GMP Seattle's Spring Fling garden party back in — cough, cough — 2003. Don't we look like we should be opening for Devendra Banhart?
Bored? Poke around those GMP archives for other scary photos of Mark and I from the first year of shindigs, including my still creepy "pretty, pretty mermaid" costume and our oh-so-gay roller disco-meets-Rollerball outfits from the "sports" party. |
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| "no editing" means no editing |
[Sep. 19th, 2008|01:43 pm] |
Take a picture of yourself right now.
Don't change your clothes. Don't fix your hair. Just take a picture.
Post that picture with no editing. (Except maybe to get the image size down to something reasonable. Don't go posting an eight megapixel image.)
Include these instructions.
What does this picture say about me? That I own a very needy puppy (not unsteady hands — it was a sneak attack), and that was still working in my bathrobe at 1:30 PM on a Friday. |
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| Careering |
[Sep. 5th, 2008|12:33 pm] |
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I just wrote a letter of recommendation for a sixteen year-old friend who is applying for a booking and promotions internship at The Vera Project. Nothing like extolling the professional merits of a high school junior to make a body feel, um, mature. Very mature. |
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| Bumbershoot 2008 - a brief photo recap |
[Sep. 2nd, 2008|11:57 am] |
Why do I brave the crowds at Seattle Center for Bumbershoot every year?
See five star-studded reasons after the jump! ( Read more... ) |
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| While in Austin, MN... |
[Aug. 15th, 2008|07:45 pm] |
Be sure to visit the Spam Museum:
That was on Day #3 — many adventures since then. Full report upon my return to Seattle on Tuesday! |
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| Till dessert do us part |
[Aug. 10th, 2008|08:45 pm] |
For all my complaining, there are some things I enjoy about weddings. Such as seeing my friends from the twilight world of rock, in completely different contexts. Like Rachel Flotard of Visqueen, shown here saying "Don't you dare..." as I snap a photo of her exiting the dessert station.
My "husband" could not resist the make-yr-own sundae bar either! ("Putting fruit on ice cream makes it healthy!")
I leave on a week-long, cross-country road trip tomorrow morning. I am counting on my peeps to keep tabs on m3warlord until I return next Monday, m'kay? |
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| Dress Your Family in Navy Blue and Bow Ties |
[Aug. 1st, 2008|09:24 am] |
A dear friend of mine is getting married next weekend. I am serving as best man. At the insistence of m3warlord, I agreed to purchase a new suit for the event. So on Tuesday, we marched downtown. We were going to Men's Warehouse, but there was a big SALE sign in the window at Brooks Brothers, so we went there instead.
I hate shopping for clothes. Nothing turns me into a petulant 8-year-old faster than buying new clothing. Especially "church clothes." But my beloved is very good at it, so that takes out much of the sting. He quickly pulled a navy blue suit off the rack. I balked at the color, but Mark seems to think that, with my silver hair and rimless glasses, I look like a Republican Senator. And a navy blue suit would only enhance that.
Fine. They measured me for the alterations. I bought a new shirt and belt, too. Lastly, the groom had requested I try and find a green tie, to complement his. Mark sorted through all the ties, and came up with five. The best match was a bow tie. I despise bow ties. As David Sedaris writes in When You Are Engulfed In Flames: "A bow tie announces to the world that you can no longer get an erection."* But it really did look better than any of the other options, so I relented. Now I'll look like a Republican Senator who sells popcorn.
As I left Brooks Brothers much poorer than I entered, I was pouting. Mark said, "At least now you have a nice suit to wear to your brother's wedding next year." Cheered, I whipped out my phone and speed-dialed Little Brother. Left a message about the great navy blue Brooks Brothers suit I'd just purchased, and how good I would look at his wedding.
He called back a few minutes later. Seems his bride already decided what the groomsmen are wearing: BLACK suits. He just hadn't had a chance to tell me. So I get to go through all this again in the spring. Nifty. Did I mention his wedding is in freakin' Arizona? Airfare for two, hotel, gift, new black suit... there goes another couple thousand dollars.
And straight people wonder why the gays get so bitchy about the whole wedding issue? When Mark and I are finally able to tie the knot (legally, in our state of residence) I'm going to insist on having the ceremony at the summit of Mount Rainer, and making my brother—in his capacity as best man—wear hot pink and bright orange. With a bolo tie.
* I do not suffer from this particular problem. But there's no tasteful way to let the other guests know that, now is there? |
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[Jul. 31st, 2008|10:48 am] |
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My feature on Dolly Parton — another think piece, a la my George Michael one — is up now at SF Weekly. Dig the great Chris Whetzel illustration, too! |
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| Let's talk about... |
[Jul. 27th, 2008|01:44 pm] |
I knew that my snarky opinions on dating were included in this book — because the author is my BFF Judy. But imagine my surprise when I was in Half-Price Books recently, and discovered I am also featured in this one. Eek! I'd totally forgotten I'd participated in a Nerve.com survey piece — at the behest of Ed from Grizzly Bear, no less — back in the day.
How odd. I have no concerns about my Mother stumbling across my "Sex Advice From..." ramblings on the Internet. But via the remainder tables? That's a little more disquieting. (Probably because that's where experience has taught her to look for my own books.) |
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| just one of those gays |
[Jul. 26th, 2008|11:56 am] |
You know you're That Kind Of Gay when you spend a summer Saturday morning conducting a detailed study of the respective musical merits of Kay Thompson and Frances Faye. Strictly for fun. |
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| Gay Pride's what you make it |
[Jul. 1st, 2008|10:04 am] |
I only dipped my toe in Gay Pride Day festivities this year, but upon reflection, I realize that last week offered a neat summary of my gay experience, lo these past 25 years.
For instance, Wednesday night, Mark and I went to see The Swedish Housewife's "Everything but the Kitchen Sink (or Not)" anniversary cabaret at the Triple Door. The performers included star turns by Waxie Moon (in a number inspired by Myra Breckenridge), glamour dyke Miss Indigo Blue, Dina Martina, and a sneak peek at El Vez's work-in-progress about John Sex.
Thursday morning, I got up early to interview Matmos via phone. Drew and Martin were frolicking a beach in Ravenna, Italy, improvising with the drummer from Liars and trying not to get whiplash from cruising all the tanned, shirtless boys. Martin mentioned that he and Drew had just celebrated 17 years together, and when I brought up the gay marriage question, his answer included this bon mot:
"It's a bad business, marriage. Look around, people — do you really want to be like them? I don't want that. [Marriage] is a flawed institution. Ask any child of divorce. This whole business of signing a contact where, when you break up with your partner, you have to engage a lawyer? It's bad enough breaking up without engaging a lawyer, too."
Friday, duly inspired by its brief mention in Tearing Down the Wall of Sound: The Rise and Fall of Phil Spector, I purchased a second-hand copy of "A Woman's Story" by Cher. Don't look for it on any of those Best Of CDs you have squirreled away. This tawdry 1974 Spector production for his short lived Warner Bros. imprint vanished upon release — although apparently not before a young Marc Almond got his girlie mitts on a copy:
Sunday, as Mark already recounted on The Slog, we dipped our toe in the official Pride festivities. But for me, the high point of the day was coming home and listening to Larry Rose (who, happily, we'd run into at the parade) and "Larry's Lounge" on KEXP. His set included Hidden Cameras, The Magnetic Fields, Le Tigre, "All The Young Dudes," a really sweet song by Stew from the Negro Problem called "Ken" (about how Barbie's date would much rather be bumping uglies with G.I.Joe), and other Pride-inspired selections. He even dropped "Another Thought" by Arthur Russell, an artist we both adore.
Larry's show sort of summed up what I want from Gay Pride — and life in general. He didn't go hog wild and do an ALL-GAY, ALL-DAY set. He just amped up the homo-philia, without pushing it into the red, and was vocally "out" in a public forum, and shared his joy (and his talent) with the rest of us while doing it.
I definitely prefer Pride downtown, but my one regret about it leaving Volunteer Park is that if it were still up here, Sunday afternoon would have meant lots of queer foot traffic past our home. It would have been easy and fun to set up the grill and the portable turntable, whipped up some margaritas and slapped on my favorite Peter Allen and Sylvester albums, and had our own alternative mini-Pride party right on the porch. (No cover!) |
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| Help me, music nerds! |
[Jun. 30th, 2008|10:46 am] |
My dear friend Elisabeth is writing a magazine piece on the trend of indie acts doing Top 40 pop songs — and the opposite, when shiny MTV regulars tackle punk or underground fare. But for all the Flaming Lips and Jose Gonzales versions of Kylie hits, she's having trouble coming up with good examples of Pop Stars dipping a toe into the alt-rock catalog, a la Sugababes doing Arctic Monkeys (or, God help us, that godawful Paul Young version of "Love Will Tear Us Apart" back in the day). Is there something as galling as Abigail's Hi-NRG version of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" that we're overlooking?
So... who has examples they'd like to share with the class? Let the comments begin! |
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| cuchi-cuchi |
[Jun. 24th, 2008|03:55 pm] |
My Charo feature for SF Weekly has hit the streets and Internets. |
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[Jun. 23rd, 2008|10:30 am] |
One of the many things I enjoy about getting older: The house looks nicer the day after you entertain company than the day before.
Would that the college kids two doors down from us could say the same. Some industrious homeless person could've made a mint harvesting their lawn for empty cans and bottles this weekend. |
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