transcanada

i bring you great tidings of -- er, nothing, actually, but here i am, nonetheless.

on my plane down from san francisco to palm springs yesterday (a continuing flight from seattle), i solved the age-old question, "how long can you talk about the weather before those nearby suffer a grand mal seizure as a result?" i had the great misfortune of sitting in front of two canucks and a wealthy seattle-ite (clad in -- what else -- tommy bahama, de rigeur desert nouveau riche attire which offers the wearer not only satorial resplendence but also an entire implied lifestyle projected for all the world to see!), who were not only loud, but blessed with an unending capacity for talking about the weather. not only did they discuss their own northwestern weather and the palm springs weather, but chicago weather, and philadelphia weather, and bahamian weather (this is where richie rich's kid is getting married, and also the locale to which he has purchased tickets for all of the wedding party, which occurred when his son approached him about it on a saturday afternoon on which he was feeling particularly agreeable and mellow).

lest i convey the sense that my trip north was a bust, let me assure you it was not and that i was hosted by the ever-gracious and talented nagwells. in fact, the only thing that saved me from murder at 32,000 feet was my reading material, an article by mrs. nagwell on a women-run butcher shop in bernal heights (one of my favorite sf hoods), with photos by mr. nagwell. i'm calling them 'the talent family' from now on.

some other tidbits:

*if you've ever wondered what the appeal of palm springs is, grab yourself a copy of julius shulman: palm springs. not only does he capture the essential wow-ness of palm springs' unparalled embarrassing architectural riches, but the scenery will blow your ever-loving mind as well.

*i'll never understand why country singers (alt- and otherwise) can't help theyselves from producing the shit out of everything. for instance, dolly parton's return to 'mainstream country' with her new album is a step in the entirely wrong direction, as far as i'm concerned. give me fiddles and banjoes any day. which brings me to tift merritt, who has a new album out called 'another country.' i listened to it this morning and it is just ok. way too slick, and her voice gets lost in the production. pull your hands away from the mixing panel already!

*after a particularly challenging day yesterday, i came home and curled up with my trusty dogs and the lesbians-do-the-craziest-things antics of the 'l-word' ladies. my oh my, that jennifer beals must be tired of feigning orgasm by now.

*aforementioned nagwells introduced me to david sedaris singing the oscar meyer weiner jingle in the style of billie holiday, and believe me, you haven't lived until you've heard this. unfortunately, i can't readily find it on the interweb, but trust me, it's worth your googling time.