raybear | You don't know how precious you are, you don't know how much I adore you.

Thanks to the that big fag

girlfiction for reminding me how much I love this Dar Williams song. I now have a new soundtrack for my morning.

Keep Right On Smiling

With Venus, the planet of love and relationships, in your sign, you are at least feeling a lot better about life. You are more magnetic and charismatic, so make the most of this. Mercury, the planet of communication and commerce, will turn retrograde on Tuesday, and at the same time Mars will move into Virgo. It is ironic that the moment you have most to say, and a whole list of administrative matters to clear up, you are going to face delays. But there is often a reason for everything, and sometimes our best-laid plans are helped along by unexpected obstacles. But you will have to carry on, regardless. The Sun in Leo trines Pluto on Thursday, and this encourages you to think deeply about your work and pay structure. This is the day when you will want something to change. You have put up with the situation for long enough. On Friday Venus trines Uranus, which puts you in the frame of mind for an adventure. You need some space to have fun, and be totally and utterly yourself. Go for it. Sunday is such a sweet day for dating, chatting, and messing around with your friends. Lots to get your teeth into!

Um, yeah, 'lots to get my teeth into'? That's not sexual. Also, I think it's funny this horoscope for next Sunday, since yesterday fit into that description pretty well.

In the continuing "I'm addicted to my bike and will keep talking about it" chronicles, I got up early yesterday and biked to temple. It's a lovely ride -- not too long, but long enough to get the blood pumping. The exhileration is both good and bad for sitting. Mostly good. Listening to my heart thump and blood rush sometimes keeps my mind more quiet. Yesterday I had two horrible sittings -- usually I'll have one good, one bad, and okay, I should not even be assigning these words that denote positive or negative judgment, but what I really mean is my mind was racing both times and I don't think I ever had more than a second of peace. But them's the breaks. Not every sitting is great, that's why they call it a practice, right? I still felt good afterwards and perhaps had more of a moment of zen on my bike going home. But not in the Daily Show way.

Last night I saw Dodie read at Myopic: she was fcking critic's choice in the Reader
San Francisco writer Dodie Bellamy's new collection Pink Steam (Suspect Thoughts Press) is billed as "fiction/essay/memoir" on the back jacket, but the copyright page states "This book is a work of fiction." Which is it? Who cares! Whatever it is, it's a blast. Bellamy, whose mind-bending 1998 novel, The Letters of Mina Harker, landed her on the sexy, pomo edge of the literary map, calls the book a "fractured autobiography." Its 22 previously published pieces, mostly set in San Francisco and Chicago (and Hammond, Indiana, where Bellamy grew up), include everything from erotic prose poems and reflections on failed relationships to cockeyed commentary on popular movies. Her characters are often outsiders looking for a place to fit in, looking for friends. But though sometimes sad or tragic, Pink Steam isn't a downer. Bellamy has a great sense of humor, and it's fun to sit in on her jaunts around Chicago: the hookers at the Golden Nugget, Carson Pirie Scott (the only place to buy White Shoulders perfume), the New Town porn shops, and films at Facets. My favorite piece is "Spew Forth," a hilarious story with scenes involving an "enlightened soul" from Venus, a holistic therapist, and some raunchy demon sex. That one's fiction for sure--I hope. Bellamy will read from Pink Steam at 7 PM on Sunday, August 8, at Myopic Books, 1564 N. Milwaukee, 773-862-4882.
--Jerome Ludwig

So this should help convince you all to come to the Finger next Sunday and see her read there.

It was sort of weird to see her in my town, out of context, but a good reading and I met some nice folks, some stranger than others. Afterwards I was feeling a bit socially awkward and overwhelmed and my ride was showing up eventually, so I left the after-reading drinks at the Pontiac to get a slurpee at 7Eleven and sat on the baseball diamond in the park and talked on the phone for nearly an hour, first to Chocolate Banana in L.A. (ok, her nickname is a little obscene, but it fits), then to ex-ex-QCL. Then Please Please Wait (who has a livejournal that he's keeping secret from me) picked me up and off we went downtown to the swanky queer club where I ate olives and drank free drinks and ripped a huge hole in my jeans giving a lapdance. The hole came in handy later.

I really need to finish this book review and send it today. Then I might just spend the rest of my day in boxers doing all my reading. Tomorrow I'm supposed to hear back from the job, so I appreciate any and all good supserstitious and positive energy from everyone. Thanks.