Recent Cool Things

In no particular order:

I got hired permanently at my new job and I feel competent for the first time in a very long time.

Still working on "The Tower," my personal short story over at my "Fainting in Coils" blog.

Bought an iPod Nano. It's a pretty purple color. My first post-unemployment splurge.

I saw Bob Dylan in concert for the first time at Stateline, NV in South Lake Tahoe. He was smokin'. Oh, and Willie Nelson was there too. Willie looked good, sounded great. John Mellenkamp was NOT at Stateline.

I just downloaded a boot of said Dylan concert and I'm listening to it now. The sound quality is outstanding!

I'm going to see Bob again in October when he plays at the Greek Theater in Berkeley.

I went kayaking for the first time on beautiful Lake Tahoe with my good friend, L.T. Because of her efforts we crammed a bunch of stuff in two short days. Kayaking was heavenly!

Still going to my writing group at least once a week (usually twice a week).

Started swimming again.

Saw a retrospective of Richard Avedon photographs at SFMOMA, including a dozen from his "In the American West," my favorite portraits of all time.

Saw an amazing play last week "August: Osage County." It won the 2008 Tony award for best play and the 2008 Pulitzer. It's about the disintegration of a screwed up family who comes together when the father goes missing. The play was 3.5 hours but the time flew by. Tragic, emotionally draining, and funny as hell. I'm so glad I saw it even though I was late for work the next day.

I'm almost done reading "Chronicles Volume One" by Bob Dylan and am really enjoying it. Bob's a good writer and the writing is warm and intimate. The best parts are his discussions about songwriting and the creative process in general.

I saw my favorite actor, Song Kang-Ho, in the new Korean movie "Thirst" about a priest who becomes a vampire. I've seen it twice so far and may see it again as long as it's still playing in the theaters. Sigh. Doesn't he look gorgeous in this picture?