p.s. Hey. Please join today's little celebration of awesome writer and d.l. Tony O'Neill's transfiguration into Cherie Currie's ghost in whatever way you see fit. Thanks, everyone, and congrats to you, Tony. Tomorrow the two day-long Self-Portrait Day: My Brush with Fame will start unspooling here. Me, I'm full-fledged sick. A cold, I'd guess. Persistent cough, scratchy throat, stuffed up head, fuzzy mind, runny nose, achy limbs. Sounds like a cold, right? It sucks, very needless to say. My LA pad is a house of sickness at the moment. D.l. Jesse Hudson is crashing here at the moment during his LA trip, and he's gone down sick too, and my roommate/ buddy Joel Westendorf has a nagging case of pink eye as well. Be glad you're not here. It's been planned for a few days that I wouldn't be doing a full-fledged, interactive p.s. tomorrow due to my needing to spend tomorrow morning away from home doing some taxes-related meeting and accounting, but, considering my current state, the little break will probably be the best thing for all concerned. So, tomorrow you'll get the first SPD day and a general hello style p.s., and then I'll catch up your comments from today and tomorrow on Saturday just before I head back to Paris. I feel like shit, and I kind of guarantee that my half of our conversation is going to really suck and 'vague out', but here we go. ** Tim Jones-Yelvington, Hey, Tim. Thanks a lot. I think you're going to AWP and doing an event there, right? I hope that goes really well. ** Ben Brooks, Hey, Ben. My pleasure and total honor, man. Really excited for your new one. Take care. ** Dungan, Hey, Sean. If I can get my energy up a bit, I'll try to gather the ingredients for that soup formula and make Joel cook it. It sounds pretty tasty regardless. Yeah, sickness has me, and what can one do? If we don't talk, it was really good to see you, man, even the little we managed. I hope the writing goes very well, and don't forget where to send it when and if you feel like it. ** Tomkendall, Thanks, Tom. Best of luck excising your cold as well. 'Ed the Happy Clown', yes! 'David Boring' too. And of course the Corrigan. ** Alex Rose, I've been avoiding the reviews and buzz about the Burzum so I can own it. Your big up is the first report I've read, and it's a boon. I was going to debut it today, and maybe sickness and it are a good combo, but maybe I'll wait. Thanks, Alex. ** David, The census paranoia is bizarre. Unless we got a special one or something, there are like four questions, all about as non-evasive as questions can get. (more below) ** David Ehrenstein, 'Hothead Paisan' is fantastic! Diane Dimassa is kind of a god. Nice FaBlogs, David. ** Misanthrope, I got it, but thanks for trying to ward it off. Just a cold, I think. Just 'praying' it eases up before my flight. Zicam Rapid Melts, huh? I'm game, okay. That PiL is not PiL. You know that, right? It's Lydon plus a bunch of hired guns, a couple of whom played on the later, lesser PiL albums. If it was the Levene and Wobble line-up, I'd almost for sure go. I'll read your updated story as soon as I deserve it again. ** Bill, Hey, Bill. Yeah, I just hope to be sort of better enough by the time I get on that plane, basically. The remainder of my trip is kind of in ruins now, I fear. You leave in a week? Dude, you need to get your stuff together. Don't worry about the blog. It'll figure a way through the thicket or lack of thicket or whatever, but your offer is kindness incarnate. ** No more teenagekicks, Hey, Mark. Are you fully back into continuing and finishing the novel now? Well, yeah, a week from today for that post would work magnificently. Thank you, man. Awfully kind. ** Steevee, That account transfer problem thing is weird. Thanks for the Runaways film review. That sounds like what I would have figured. I'll have to wait and see if it if and when it comes to Paris. Not sure if The Runaways are known there at all. ** Creative Massacre, As a fellow shitty day sufferer for at least somewhat different reasons, short and sweet is A-okay. I'll try to write more to you next time too. ** Justin, No, I missed 'South Park' last night, darn it. I was out using the last my declining energies. I'll catch a rerun or the online, on-site replay. ** Sypha, I guess it's cold season? Is it? Does that explain it? I so rarely get sick. Jet lagged, yes, sick, not so much. I hope you evade your parents' cold, but I'll have your back if you don't. ** Inthemostpeculiarway, Hey. I got sick, so, yeah. I like all of Tim Burton's movies to one degree or another, except for 'Planet of the Apes', obviously, but the only ones I really like are 'Ed Wood', 'Mars Attacks', and 'Sweeney Todd'. Glad to hear Bendy was less weird and more blond. I'm pretty sure you're right about Wuthering Heights. If I had a song of yesterday, it probably was this long track by Boys Noize that was playing in the bookstore I was in last night. Imaginative German-like post-trance-like electronic thing. I don't know its name, though. It's on the new album or something. I'd better get to my day since I'm fading away. My day: I felt sicker as the day progressed, but I sort of muscled through it, I guess. Jesse and I had a coffee with this guy Scott Bradley, who is a Facebook friend of both of ours, and Amy Wallace, who is pretty well known as the editor of this series called 'Book of Lists', most recently 'The Book of Lists Horror', which she co-edited with Scott. She's also his girlfriend and the daughter of the famous writer Irving Wallace. The visit was really nice, and it turns out they live literally across the street from my LA apartment. Then Joel, Jesse, and I watched John Waters' 'Serial Mom', which is one of my favorite films, and which Jesse hadn't seen before, and it was sublime. Then Jesse and I had dinner with the masterful writer, actor, publisher, and on and on and d.l. Ken Baumann at Mexico City. That was splendid on both the company and culinary fronts, and then we walked down to Skylight Books and browsed until I started feeling a little too sick to continue, whereupon we parted ways. Then Joel, Jesse, and I watched 'Hamlet 2', which Joel likes a bunch and which neither Jesse nor I had seen before, and I thought it was okay, although I couldn't help thinking of 'Waiting for Guffman' and 'Rushmore', which it resembles but greatly pales in comparison to, for me at least. But I was feeling crappy, so I probably wasn't the best audience. I barely made it through that before I hit the sack hoping I'd wake up well, but the opposite happened, obviously. Today is not going to be too exciting on my end, I'm pretty sure, but I'll let you know one way or another on Saturday, and, for now, here, take the reins of Thursday and run with it. ** L@rstonovich, The ticking is okay. Ticking is a nice sound. Anyway, awesome about the post, of course. The guy/d.l. doing poetry reviews for The Rumpus is Joseph (Goosey). I don't have his email address handy, but hopefully he'll see this and pass it along. ** Alec Niedenthal, Hi, Alec. Oh, if you can do a post, wonderful, and if not, no sweat, of course. A Nietzsche paper, yikes. I don't envy you, although I'm sure you'll nail it. Well, what would be the upside of taking that Maine boys' camp gig? Well, you'd be helping the boys, so that's a plus, obviously. Is that enough? Are there other pluses? If it's that or staying in Saratosa and getting a job, I guess the boys' camp wins, no? What about your writing? Could you get some writing done in Maine, do you think? That seems like an important consideration. ** Math, I like Philadelphia, do you? When I'm there, I always feel kind of okay about things for some reason. Oh, I'm sure I've got a battalion of defense mechanisms, but my head's too blurry to deconstruct my behavior at this very moment. I'll give it some longer term thought. But, yeah, sure, totally. Oh, it's nothing but nice and great that people were hoping I wouldn't get sick. I just feel bad for disappointing you all, ha ha. ** Little foal, Hi, man. Oh, fantastic about the guest post! Thank you so, so much! I'll go hunt through my mailbox for it. That's very kind of you, my friend. Hope the writing and chord learning went really, really well. ** Put The Lotion In The Basket, Oh, shit, I totally am your bitch now, aren't I? Treat me with kid gloves, please. I may write like a borderline murderer, but I ... what's that line ... break just like a little girl. Actually, I don't break like a little girl, as far as I know. Like a dam, maybe. Dude, long story sort of short, thank you for sending me another post. You really are a saintly soul. I hope your cold isn't as bad as mine. Love, respect, as always. ** David, I'm very glad you saw the light that is 'Fantastic Mr. Fox'. ** Jax, Jax! This is so trippy. When I was in the bookstore last night as mentioned above in my comment to Itmpw, I came across a copy of your 'Crossing Jordan' on the shelves, and I was talking and rhapsodizing about you to Jesse and Ken, who are recent enough d.l.s that they don't know you the way I know you, and now here you are. That's kind of weird if obviously awesome, right? Mm, I don't feel so great, I'm afraid. I'm pretty sure my sickness wasn't the muffin's fault. I don't know where the hell it came from. The Burton 'Alice' is not faithful to the book, no. If you take her, don't expect faithfulness, or I fear you will dislike the movie. I liked it, like I said, but it's basically just very Burton-esque froth. That's okay with me, but that's basically what it is. I haven't seen 'Katalin Varga'. Never heard of it before, in fact. I'll find it somewhere. I've missed 'A Prophet' so far, but everyone I know who's seen it recommends it. It was the big French movie of the year, won awards like crazy. Cool that you're still on the radio play. And that you're an Apple guy. Yury takes my iPhone away from me every day or two in order to download a bunch of apps onto it, most of which I don't even know I have. So far it's just for phone calls and a bit of web surfing and Skype calls for me. Really lovely to see you, my old and great pal! Gosh, a post would of course be amazing, if you don't mind and if it's easy. Love to you, Jack! ** Empty Frame, Yes, yes, and yes again about 'Fantastic Mr. Fox'. I haven't loved a movie this much in quite a long time. All that departure related emotion in your life sounds so rich. Sad, yeah, but do treasure the complicated flood. Nope, haven't seen 'Dead Man's Shoes', but it's on my to-find list now. Thanks, man. ** Paradigm, Well, hi, Scott! How terrific to see you, man! How have you been? Where are and/or have you been living? What projects are you working on these days? I'd love a catch up if you have the time and don't mind. Yeah, it's just really nice to see you! ** Trees, Hey! Oh, my camera is so bad. I apologize to you and to all the other bathing beauty d.l.s whom my lens downgraded. I've flipped through 'My Friend Dahmer'. The most interesting thing about it to me is how completely and embarrassingly nerdy/class clown-like Dahmer seems to have been in high school. I mean considering the cool, calm, evil, and collected vibe he gave off once he, err, got famous. That Day you're proposing sounds awesome to me, and plenty original. I'd love it if you can do it and don't mind. I do know Human Sexual Response, of course. Do you know Nervous Gender? If not, they were a crazed, good queer noise band mostly known in LA. Same goes for Screamers, although their legend seems to have spread beyond the city limits over the years. Anyway, yeah, that post would be great, and thank you. Ultra-best of luck on the thesis reading today. Are your advisors cool, I'm guessing? Let us/me know how that goes, okay? ** Paul Curran, You're sick too? High five on that front with surgical gloves, man. That jaw dislocation thing is eerie and must be awfully painful. Very poor her. And very good writing to you, man. ** Okay, I only made it through that by drinking a huge cup of coffee in one gulp about fifteen minutes ago. So if my latter comments are over-energetic seeming, that's why. Like I said, there'll just be a hello in the form of a p.s. tomorrow, and I'll talk to you fully again on Saturday. For now, dig the triple threat glory that is Tony O'Neill plus Cherie Currie plus The Runaways. Take care.