The Iliad room

The Iliad room sounds like the Beatles: Rocky Raccoon, We Can Work It Out, the entirety of Rubber Soul. The Iliad room resounds with tapping: computer keys, fingers, feet. The Iliad room is huge in my 15-year-old mind. All my heroes populate the sofa, except the one lying under the composition table. He's close to recovery. We all think we are.

Nothing beats getting drunk with my best Fuckface the day before New Year's. Hallelujah!

But the great news is ...

Liz is bringing, among other goodies, pigs in a blanket for our New Year's party! Hot damn!

So this is what passes for conversation around here

ADAM (sounding very excited): I'm going to put peanut butter on a rice cake.
ME (lots of pig noises)
HIM: It's dinner. Suck my cock.

"We did shitloads of Candyland and Chutes and Ladders."

- My mom on childhood play. For some reason I found this funny.

All I Want

Listening to Toad the Wet Sprocket on internet radio. They were big when I was in college, and in fact were from Santa Barbara. My college roommate had an English professor who would every so often refer to "my son's band Toad."

I love those guys. I listened to them when I lived within blocks of the beach. I listened to them and got all morose while living in North Platte, Nebraska, a 22-year-old who couldn't figure out why the fuck she'd moved to Hicksville. I listen to them now, at 33, when I cook dinner in my kitchen in Berkeley, Calif.

I feel like I've learned a lot since I first heard "All I Want", but I don't feel older. Does that make sense?

RIP: Tatiana the Tiger

I've always hated zoos. I also despise little thugs who think it's cute to taunt animals. Needless to say, the San Francisco Zoo story really gets to me.

The only one I feel sorry for is the tiger.