UP LATE

It's 1:46 a.m. Still up. Not really doing much though. I wrote a bit, but I worked a lot today and my eyes are kinda blurry. But my mind seems to be awake. I could write about all sorts of world events, but that would require thinking and I don't want any of that right now.

I'm excited to announce I am going to San Francisco next week -- on someone else's dime! That's right, Jim Hall is taking this show on the road. I am meeting my cousin and we are gonna party. I hope to chow down on all sorts of vegan food and maybe smoke a lil SF herb. I hear their stuff is pretty good. I'll be the judge of that.

I caught some of that presidential debate last night. Boy, are we fucked.
"Who you gonna vote for?"
"Geez, I don't know. I'm thinking robot zombie number one."
"But robot zombie number two is just as good."
"Yeah, I guess you're right. They're both pretty good at being robot zombies. It's a tough call."
"Well, they are the cream of the crop. No one avoids answering questions like they do."
"Don't forget their near equal ability to have lots of words come out of their mouths without actually saying anything."
"Duh. That's my favorite part."

I gotta be honest...the Democractic candidates are boring, but their spouses are where it's at. First, we got Bill Clinton. He's a thump-pointing party on wheels. And then there's Michelle Obama. Pardon my French, but va va voom. For a potential first lady, she's pretty hot. So let's see...four more years of Bill of four years of presidential eye candy? Ugh. This isn't easy. I'm gonna flip a coin. Heads, Bill. Tails, Michelle.

Speaking of Obama (OBAMA! or Obama's a long legged mack daddy!), did anyone catch the video of World's Second Biggest Asshole (and the award for World's Biggest Asshole goes to...George W. Bush) William Dean Singleton calling Obama "Obama bin Laden." To his face? This guy's in charge of the Associated Press. Wow. Here's linky link if you are interested in seeing why the state of American journalism is as potent as my dead grandfather's dick. http://youtube.com/watch?v=7Zy08STIQwM

I almost never, ever, ever, ever re-read books. There are just far too many out there to waste my time reading something I've ever read. That being said, I picked up John Fante's West of Rome last night thinking it would be a good way to kill a few minutes. A few hours later and I was done. That's the second time this year I've re-read one of his books. The first was Ask the Dust. Reading Fante the first time changed my life. I know how lame that sounds, but it's true. Reading him a second time is just as exhilarating for different reasons. It gives me hope and the promise of a better future for my writing. He re-sets my meter, shows me which way is up and reminds me what real writing is. If anyone reading this wants to talk Fante, shoot me an email. I can go on for days.

When I started this blog, I posted some poems. They got zero response, so I stopped. But now I see people are searching the Internets for them. So I'm gonna throw so more back up and see what sticks. Maybe even a slice of a short story or two. I'm working hard on a few things at Casa de Hall. Perhaps it's high time to release some of these to the world. But only if you're good.

I've also got a killer interview with Greg Ginn that I'll be posting sooner than later. That's such a lame cliche. Who the hell invented sooner than later? I'd love to try to do something later than sooner. That'll be my thing. Jim Hall, the man who gets things done later than sooner. Maybe I'll print that on my business card.

Lakers in the playoffs! Number one seed! Here comes Denver! Too many exclamation points! Prediction...Lakers whoop on Denver real bad. Five games if the Nuggets are lucky.

This weekend is the Long Beach Grand Prix. That means lots of annoying "vrooooooom" noises for the next few days. I never understood the race until I saw it in person. It's actually much more exciting than I thought. Last year I went a week early to catch the trials. I didn't have time this year. Oh well. If anyone reading this is going down there, look for me. I'll be the guy standing at Pine and Ocean too cheap to buy a ticket looking down at the cars as they fly past me.

Scary news to report...There are talks of me teaching a few classes at Southern California community colleges. Maybe I shouldn't say that for fear of jinxing it. As frightening as that sounds, I will be very excited and honored if I get these positions. But I'm not holding my breath. For now, it's just talk.

Sunday is stoner Christmas. I'd better re-fill.

What else can I say? Oh, howzabout Italy Fuck Beach?

And I'm out.