The Queue
I'm torn. I know that I would profit from rereading the first five volumes of Scott Pilgrim—Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life, … vs. the World, … & the Infinite Sadness, … Gets It Together, & … vs. the Universe—before seeing the film Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, but all I want to read is Defend the Realm. I'd thought that I'd want to take breaks, want to get away from that non-fiction behemoth every now and again, but I don't; I wish I had much more time to spend on recreational reading, because I want to spend more time on Defend the Realm. But Defend the Realm isn't going anywhere and Scott Pilgrim is time sensitive. I really should brush up on my O'Malley before seeing the film, for which I have high hopes. (Let's hope Edgar Wright doesn't turn out to be a huge disappointment like the wretched Simon Pegg.)

Project PANDORA
On Friday, 30 April, The Loose Ties played at their usual venue, Woobie's Bar & Nightlife; 'twas the farewell show before going on summer hiatus (most, if not all, of the members are college kids). I miss them and am eager for their return. The night was most notable, however, for its echo of what had happened two months hence. On 26 February, in that selfsame Woobie's seeing those selfsame Loose Ties, I'd become reacquainted with my old cohort Lord Luck & met his charming ladylove, Amy. In a feat of bravado that would have been impossible for the Mike of years gone by, I met, danced with, and requested the privilege of squiring about town Amy's sister, Stephanie. (Wayback Machine. It's a great post from top to bottom, but for our purposes the most important bits are the first mention of Stephanie in "Project MERCATOR" and then all of "Project PANDORA.") Back on 30 April, Amy threw her arms around me in a hug as soon as she saw me at the bar; too late, I tried to caution her that I was covered in sweat from skanking to The Loose Ties, but she paid me no mind. As soon as she released me, before I had the chance to say anything else, she launched into a tirade about how foolish her sister had been to pass up my offer. Amy said that she'd argued with Stephanie that I was a "great guy," that Stephanie was making a mistake in not going out with me. For all my naïveté, I have a nasty, suspicious mind, always questing for signs of treachery or deceit; so, I cannot vouch for the veracity of Amy's tale. She might have been feeding me a cock-and-bull story, trying to soothe my presumably bruised ego, but my sense is that that's not the case. My impression of Amy is that she's kind, but first and foremost a straight shooter, a believer that sometimes you've got to be cruel to be kind. I think she can be taken at her word. In which case, Project PANDORA has generated so much good will that's its encouraging volunteerism. Neat! An interesting post script to a night that was already marked down as a triumph for PANDORA.

The Rebel Black Dot Song of the Day
Fountains of Wayne, "Traffic and Weather" from Traffic and Weather (T.L.A.M.)

Commentary:

"… I like those shorts,
I've never seen 'em before.
I'd like 'em even more
Lyin' on my bedroom floor."