Also, Astrology Zone live in Soho

Some serious news you can use—
My friend J. R. emailed me this hot tip last night:



Appearance of Susan Miller Next Month: September Apple Store, New York City, SoHo Store Saturday, September 13, 2008 3 PM - 4:30 PM Apple Store in SoHo 103 Prince Street New York City, NY 10012 Apple store in Soho: (212) 226-3126 (ask for Frank)

I will appear in the New York Soho Apple Store with my friend, astrologer / engineer Henry Seltzer who created this superb TimePassages™ astrology software for Mac or PC. This software will allow you to do your natal chart and find out all the planetary positions in place on the date of your birth and what they mean to you. It's fast and easy, written for laymen who are not professional astrologers. No need to look up complicated aspects in astrologic textbooks. Little dialog boxes, balloons, and longer reports pop up to explain all about your chart, as well as about upcoming transits. You can print them out and save them. TimePassages™ Software costs $39 and runs on the Mac (for OS X) and PCs. Join us for a free, interactive session at the Apple Store in SoHo, in New York. We will do the natal charts of those who volunteer in the audience, and even if you don't get chosen to have your chart shown on our big lecture screen, we will take dozens of questions from you. Also, I will stay afterward to say hello to each of you as well. Our appearances are always lively and always more like parties than lectures! For more information on Henry's TimePassages™ software for the Mac or PC, please click on this link: http://www.astrograph.com/purchase/astrologyzone.php

See you all there, seriously.

Notes from Denver, Tuesday

1. Watching the DNC on CSPAN is a totally different experience. You get to see all the speakers, no pundits, the happening tunes. This is serious business: "I'm So Excited" was so breathtaking, all the delegates were really letting loose, lobster hats and all. I really can't recommend this more.

2. Nydia Velazquez (D-NY, Brooklyn 12th District) is awesome—I've never seen her speak before. I am glad I've voted for her in the past few elections.

3. When they introduced Lilly Ledbetter (a plaintiff in a pay equity case in the Supreme Court) from Alabama, the intro was an instrumental version of Madonna's "Lucky Star". Does anyone know why? Following speaker Mark Warner, they played "The Power of Love".

4. Mark Warner is pretty great.

5. I want to go to the Democratic National Convention next year. Without commentary, it's as compelling as, like, the Oscars. I am sad I haven't been paying attention to politics since late in the primaries.

6. I enjoyed Bob Casey Jr.'s Pennsylvania shoutouts (Latrobe, anyone?). I do not enjoy his pro-life politics. He looks exactly like Bob Casey Sr.

7. The caption for Bill Clinton in the lengthy, SNL-referencing, Chelsea Clinton-narrated Hillary intro is "Hillary's Husband".

8. "Are You Gonna Go my Way", "You Really Got Me", "American Girl", "Smooth (Santana and Rob Thomas)".

9. Bill mouthed "he's good" to a neighbor off-screen after Brian Schweitzer's rousing speech. Bill is visibly fired up. Michelle is visibly fired up. Schweitzer may be the next Barack Obama in '12.

10. Deval Patrick strangely reminds me of Mike Bloomberg.

11. This is the best Hillary speech I've ever seen. Bill mouths "I love you" during Hillary's speech. Aw. Oh Hillary, I've missed you. I'm happy to see her again, even though she annoyed me during the last few months of the primaries. Hillary is awesome. I should have voted for her, she is a good leader. She gave the right speech. Finally, a few good McCain take-downs.

12. Do political conventioneers get plus ones?

Daddy's Girl

omfg
this song is really outta control. in preparation for a recent karaoke sessions i randomly downloaded some truck driving music i once heard at my friend j.'s store. check out this serious gem, "daddy's girl" by red sovine.

Basically, it's about a dude wanting a son, but getting a girl instead. but he actually loves her, even though she's a girl! the rousing chorus:

Daddy's Girl, Daddy's Girl,
I'm the center of Daddy's world.
I know I'm Daddy's number one,
For he loves me like I was his son.

He then provides some HILARIOUS anecdotes about tomboyin' with his daddy's girl. fishing! dodgers games! the daughter softens up the dad! finally, the daughter grows up and gets married but will always be a daddy's girl.

DEFINITELY more uplifting than the similar but obviously very different Nirvana classic "Been A Son" ie:
She should have died when she was born
She should have worn the crown of thorns
She should have been a son.

why oh why

- did i dream about buying a Zune at Rite-Aid two nights ago?

- am I unable to stop listening to this amazing and semi-instructional Lil Mo / Lil Kim song from five years ago called "10 Commandments" (link forthcoming here)? In which we get a taste of what "The Rules" would be like if it was written by Lil Kim? Results include "mad trips to Jaca" and your man at home every night, "cooking you a steaka". These are things I never knew I wanted, but I think I clearly do.



- has it taken me so long to realize that watching really good fireworks in a quiet rural place accompanied by the sound of engines revving in the distance is a near-spiritual experience, resulting in a feeling that approximates being touched by god in some way?

Dogs of L.A.

The canyon air is like a breath of fresh L.A.
Liz Phair: "Dogs of L.A."

It is sunny and 77 degrees with 44% humidity. I woke up around 7:15, listened to a few songs from Rumours as I dressed and stretched. I ran along the waterfront in an oversized Harvard t-shirt from a Goodwill in downtown Brooklyn, listening to Lil' Kim sing about Fulton Street. I can now run far, pain-free, with my newfound lung capacity.

I continued my faux L.A. morning post-shower in some weird extreme outfit I decided to inhabit. Black jersey, plunging neckline, strappy sandals, Forever 21 amulet. A red tie-dyed fringed suede bag. Chipped manicured nails, iced coffee, sunglasses. Rachel Zoe Courtney Love Mary-Kate Stevie Nicks Grey Gardens Italian funeral + witchy. I liked it. I looked like I did voodoo or something. For the first time this morning I realized that maybe one day I'll become one of those crazy old Patti Smith type women. There is a certain comfort in looking a little crazy. Based on the looks I was getting, I had to remove most of my accessories by the time I got to my work neighborhood.

In L.A. none of this would seem strange. Hippies, celebrities, Santa Ana winds, Scientologists and cults in general, the piercing sound of perpetual traffic, Chinatown. When I was last there, I saw people walking around Silverlake wearing those hair bands years before they made any appearance whatsoever on our Eastern shores. I once read the book Ask the Dust and I've never thought about L.A. the same way since. A city that had always seemed plastic, past-less, was now grounded in a Depression-era historical reality. It had, in effect, become a real place.

Liz Phair: "Go West"

Liz Phair is from Chicago, but for a period of time she lived in L.A. She won't talk about what she did out there (maybe by now she has). I like the songs on Whip-Smart about L.A. — hazy, sinister, broken, and vaguely lazy-sounding. "Go West" is the best one — about leaving her life and moving to L.A., I think. I highly relate to this song re: my life 2 years ago:

"Take off the parking brake
Go coasting into a different state
And I'm not looking forward to missing you
But I must have something better to do
I've got to tear my life apart
And go west, young man"

When I learned about Manifest Destiny in high school I finally started to understand this song, why people have been starting over ever westward for as long as we can remember. Looking back after my own "Go West" experience — although "west" was just south 2 hours to Philadelphia — I think this is one of my favorite songs of all time. In Escape from New York mode, "Go West," nestled between "Going to California" and "Midnight Train to Georgia," let me believe for a little while that when shit gets rough, maybe fleeing is a viable solution.

Jonasing for a Beating

It's Jonas Bros Week where I work.

Apparently, one should never underestimate the lung capacity of a pre-pubescent female who may, at any minute, catch a glimpse (across the street and through a second-floor window) of her maybe future-husband (at least until the next album). I am on the 37th floor, in the back of the building, and can hear the screaming streaming strong from 10am to 4pm. It's only Day 2 and I am willing to jump off the building if it means they will be silenced.

Also, Jonas Bros (personalities combined) + better haircuts + 10 years in age = my dream man.

Stop Smoking Forever, Week 8

Sunday marks the 8th week of my foray into the nonsmoking lifestyle. A few weeks ago, I went off the patch and it was majorly exciting. These days, quitting smoking has begun to represent not only a physical but also developmental achievement.



My friend F. recently told me that I've always been a "tumultuous" girl, which is hard to argue with. The last few years (actually the last five) have been particularly tumultuous, but things have really quieted down recently. So on some level I've been realizing that perhaps cigarette smoking was one of the few remaining self-destructive behaviors from my youth that I've held onto. There was a time when I was much younger when I didn't associate smoking with recurring financial woes, an accelerated march towards death, poor health and rapid mood swings. As I got older, I realized that I had developed some habits I couldn't control that were acting as a buffer against some of the more positive growth spurts in my life. Maybe, like Ms. Nicks, I have always been a storm, but at some point it becomes an exhausting way to live.

But now this too is under control, one of the last stinging remnants of my formerly messy self. Things are on a seriously positive upswing, and as more and more of the unhealthy thinking and behaviors I've fallen into are eliminated, I am seeing some weird patches of sun through that crazy sky. I think this has been one of the most important decisions I have made, at least in the last year. Overcoming a physical addiction definitely makes most other changes seem more manageable.

Why is Astrology Zone right every time?

How does she know?

"Eclipses open paths, but they also take things away, so if you lost a source of income last February, you may now agree to a new job or deal this month. All eclipses have a second act, and never reveal all at one time. Be patient - something good is coming."