Sorry about the grump factor back there. I get edgy sometimes. This is what happens when your younger brother has over 300 Friendsters, making yourself and your 168 Friendsters feel sub-par. I am the older brother of the life of the party. No matter what I do, he does it more extreme and in a more balls-out fashion. The fact that I am the quiet one should send a distress signal to actual quiet ones all over. I could act all crazy and stuff, but then everybody would just be like "He just wants to get attention like his brother does." But, dude, I was here first! I taught him how to be crazy. He just picked up the crazy ball I gave him and ran with it like Carl Lewis or some shit. I dunno. I think I'm getting all maudlin at the twilight of my long dark twenties.

On the bright side, after many months plus a year, I finally put my Buddy Christ on the dashboard of my car. I don't care if it rains or freezes... I took a look at the bedroom tonight to get perspective on how it looks with dry paint, and I'm stoked. A couple of places where you can tell that it needs that last coat, but otherwise, bee-ooty-ful. Now, what the hell color for the living room, for Pete's sake? Was commencing work for a 1996-themed mix cd for a dear friend, when I wondered if I could get away with that, since we didn't have mix cds back in 1996. I think all laws of space and time require me to cease-and-desist until such time as this mix becomes a cassette. Email me your thoughts on the subject... TheCrazyPablo@aol.com

speaking of 1996...Ain't My Lookout by the Grifters is now playing, and man, I'd forgotten how rawk this was. They were the Kings of Memphis to me back then. "Fate has only one thing in mind."

rock it like it's 1996 and indie-rock is having its last stand, like the brave fighters at the Alamo Rent-A-Car versus Santana's evil scourge. But don't forget that Davy Crockett actually SURRENDERED, and was killed anyway. He DID NOT fight to the death at the Alamo, as had been suggested. Thus making Jim Bowie the only useful member of the Original Alamo Thirteen. No basement, indeed. That one is for you, Sergei.

Since nobody is banging my door or returning phone calls, Sergei gets his wish -- I update this lousy thing. Hi, I am off every-other weekend. There are entire weeks that go by when I don't see any of my friends. This sucks. Many of my friends are busy, and I accept that. My problem is those lazy friends, who don't have 5 million things to do, but don't even make an effort to find me when I'm NOT working, which seems to be a rare night lately. I mean, sure, hang out with your best friend down the block, who you see EVERY night, because he/she/it doesn't work a 7pm-7am shift every other night of the week. Bah! Whatever. I'll go it alone. If you want me, you can find me left of center, off in the dark. And I think I'll be carrying the cell phone. I'll be in the Huntington area tonight...at kickball, etc. Promised Lisa at Barnes & Noble a visit. Hope everyone has a goood night. If I hear you stayed at home doing nothing instead of calling me, I will be disappointed in you. Didn't you hate it when your folks said that to you? I'm outta here....

S-a-t-u-r-d-a-y night! Not only is it worth it to catch Come Down every time they play near your time zone, but it's even better when you use that as an excuse to take off work! They were frickin' amazing yet again! Another new song added to the live set = another winner all the way. Nicole's new old drum kit sounded phenomenal. Tom's new bass rig is sweet and lowdown. Scott's still a sexy mofo with the guitar mojo, workin' it with the e-bow. And Mark sweetly singing while swinging his red tambourine. Ahhh...so goood! Misheard lyric of the night - during "You Are Not A Song" - "I am a cynic, duh..." Actual words: "I am a sitting duck." Right up there with "Excuse me while I kiss this guy."

And to top off the sweetness, I've now got a Come Down tee shirt to add to my Clothesbyshows collection. If the J-Ro phenomena ever wanes, I will start billing myself as "King Clothesbyshows." This lifestyle, the whole wearing shirts bought almost exclusively at rock concerts (except for my "Jesus Christ. Period." shirt I got at the thrift store and the Tokyo shirt my ex-aunt gave me when she returned from a business trip to Japan) is so noticeable, even people who barely know me are aware of it. The other night at work, i was wearing the boss Bubba's Chicken & Waffles shirt that Dawn bought me, and Rebecca was like "What's on the back of that shirt?" So I turned around and explained it to her, and then she said "Ah! I was wondering why you were wearing an American Eagle shirt." No respect, I tell ya.

Went with Charlie and Dawn. Drove into the city and got there about 6:30, and walked around trying to figure out where to eat. Related the classic "I'm not in the mood for burgers" story. We inevitably arrived at the Dojo on St. Mark's...Dawn and I knew we would. Had the Shrimp Yakusoba. It was exactly what I wanted, and I had never had it before. So frickin' delicious. After dinner, we were accosted by some obnoxious banjo-busking hobo-punks -- whom, of course, I actually knew. We then made our way to the Mercury Lounge, where we were greeted by many friends, including Sergei, Jackie, Sean, Karen, Joe, and several other friendly people whose web-identities are unknown to me.

Left the show early, before Homesick For Space played, just because I am old and was kinda tired of standing around. Dawn had to work early anyway. So no harm, no foul. Said our goodbyes and hit the highway. After dropping Dawn off, Charlie and I stopped at the Millennium Diner to see if Larissa was there. She was, and so just after the food was delivered to our table, she dropped by to say hi, and then told us about the dream she had with me in it. I think the funniest part is that she said that at some point, the kissing just stopped and then I was like a mannequin or something. There was blushing involved. I dunno.

To cap off the night, after parting ways with Charlie and our hours of bullshitting, I came home to type this out and listen to the boss mix cd Dawn made for me. Thank you, Dawn. I love it, I do. I know I'm intimidating to make mixes for, but of the 19 tracks, I only own a few of them, and even the track by the band I am not crazy about on here is good. I'm almost done with the second straight listen. That's an honor few people's mixes get from me.

n.p. Brand New - The Boy Who Blocked His Own Shot (a title like that is like my autobiography)