“Honest Ed's no midwife... But the bargains he delivers are real babies!”

I really enjoy wearing stuff loved ones get for me. My favourite niece is currently making me a cardigan I plan on wearing eight days a week. And the other day I rocked a tie covered with golden lions a friend sent for my bday, paired with a set of vintage Met griffin cufflinks from my auntie.

When I was a kid I tried to convince her to listen to Ministry’s cover of Lay Lady Lay. Perhaps I should have gone with this one instead. She probably still wouldn’t have budged: we’re kind of a stubborn family. A friend just tried to convince me to come see a band called Soja. Her pitch? “They’re from Virginia and they’ve got sort of a reggae feel.”

Other listeners are more malleable. I went with a--ridiculously underrated--Elvis joint at karaoke on Saturday. The night’s host hates improvised* lyrics/stories, and I wasn't really playing to the audience (I followed “The Real Slim Shady” and “Don’t Stop Believing”) but my tirade against soapbox preachers, which focused on Brad and Angelina rumor-purveyors and went on to include the ipad and proroguing, was a still a hit.

*Great news re: Pizza Snack: they boys are improvising a pizza order & "snack" actually means jivetalking in Swedish (intentional double entendre?) I'll put up a transcript soon!