No, and yet: yes.

In news of the bad: Stephen Hawking is very sick (sad). People in this country can't seem to stop committing murder-suicide (look, if you are cowardly enough to take your own life, fine, but you have no right to make that same decision on behalf of others. no murdering your family, please). It is over 90 degrees here today; i am not ready for summer yet.

Late-night vignette:
Sometimes Nat and i go shopping around midnight at the supermarket near our apartment, because there are less (idiots) people that way. The other night, we came across a scuffed-up cell phone lying near the back parking lot. We almost kept walking, but Nat picked it up and realized that it was still working. Not 50 feet further, i spied a girl's thong (purple, in case you were wondering) lying on the ground. Things began to seem weird. Were these two items somehow connected? Had something bad just happened to someone back here? After a few minutes' research (/snooping), Nat realized that the phone belonged to one of the young men who work at Von's. Sample text message the phone received: so ur on cart duty? It also seemed likely that the thong had probably fallen out of some girl's bag, as we realized it was lying right outside of the tanning salon nearby. Whew!
So we returned the phone inside, and later in the checkout line we came across the kid who it belonged to, bagging groceries. He appeared to be stoned out of his gourd, and could hardly believe that we had found it, because he didn't even know he had dropped it! Whoooaaa, man. It was pretty cute. He said he had probably lost it while he was–sshhh!–"taking a nap" real quick out back on his break. Mmmm-hmmm, a nap. Gotcha. Right-o, my friend. The funniest part was, he stage-whispered this to us in direct earshot of the woman who was ringing us up, who also happened to be the only other Von's employee around. So i'm not sure if he was trying to hide it from her, or announce it to her. Either way, she didn't seem particularly moved by this utterance.

In news of the good: There are scores of these guys flying around at dusk these days... They are hawk moths, or sphinx moths; commonly called "hummingbird moths", and if you've ever encountered one in real life you'd understand why. The first time Nat and i saw them was at the beach near sunset, flitting like crazy around the night-blooming jasmine bushes that grew along the path near the coast. We had never seen such tiny, robust hummingbirds, and had certainly never seen them flying around at this time of day, or in such a manner! True, they were fast, but they flew in such short, tiny bursts, and almost in a clumsy, or bumbling way... upon closer inspection (which was difficult, because these things can move!) we realized that they were not birds at all, but rather giant moths! It was truly remarkable. If you ride your bike around dusk in these parts, prepare to be hit in the face by more than one of these hefty insects. Not fun. I've never had to deal with a swarm of locusts, but this is sort of how i always imagined it.

And i think i mentioned this earlier, but PJ Harvey and John Parish are touring the U.S. right now, in support of their new album. i'd previously thought that i would not be attending this tour, but now i'm realizing that to miss this much talent in one room would be truly ridiculous. i mean, Polly Jean is amazing! And playing Dance Hall At Louse Point again the other night as i was making dinner sort of blew me away all over again... apparently your memory can play tricks on you ;) i had remembered it as a sort of stale and dragging album, but in reality it packs a powerful punch. i am so excited to see them in Los Angeles, even though it means i will have to miss the Found Magazine tour :( i guess June 20th is a popular day for Must Sees.

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My latest mission: to track down a copy of the x-ray that was taken of my 'shattered' elbow joint at age 7. i feel a strong pull to see this, for some reason. Seems like i am attempting some sort of anthropological research into my childhood, and i crave the Artifacts. i would also like to find a copy of the graduating class photo from 8th grade, Albany Middle School. My family wasn't really one of those that buys the school photos (at least, not past the elementary school years), but i did see this via one of my friends at the time, and boy was it a gem! If i remember correctly, i was fighting tooth and nail to not participate in this photograph, but the principal of the school literally dragged me out to the bleachers. In the final shot, i am turning my head completely to the side, hiding behind my hair. It's fucking genius, and i need to have proof of this. But where to begin? Hmm.

Your mission, should you choose to accept: Send someone a letter. Or just a postcard. Or a newspaper clipping that you think they might like. Or a fortune from a fortune cookie, or a collage, or a pressed flower, but good grief– just bridge the gap and say hello to someone. Honestly, it takes less effort than you may think, and who doesn't like receiving a good old-fashioned, real piece of snail mail? No one, that's who. Go ahead, make someone's day. You might just end up making your own while you're at it.