Here’s something that’s been bothering me for a few days. On Erlend Øye’s new album, there’s a song called “Every Party’s Got A Winner And A Loser.” And it’s probably my favorite song on the album, except there’s this one line: “one Jew that no one invited … “ And it’s been nagging at me for a while. What does this mean? Is Øye an anti-Semite? Are Norwegians naturally predisposed towards such attitudes? Is he Jewish, and making a self-deprecating comment? Is he just not that good with his English? Or maybe he just wants to describe a person who happens to be Jewish, who hasn’t been invited to the party. I need input. Seriously.

Jenn’s writing TA recently stated that Bright Lights, Big City was written by Brett Easton Ellis, and that Iowa City would soon be receiving a visit from humor writer “Andrew Sedaris.” Everyone gets a degree! Degrees on the house!

This is what I wrote in my journal ten years ago:

I got Sand In The Vaseline (Talking Heads’ Greatest Hits) this weekend. I love it! It’s tremendous. It has “Sax And Violins,” it has “This Must Be The Place.” Talking Heads are great because they’re like good friends, a neighborly-like band.

JP: I’ve thought about joining AA.
RANSOM: Really? What would be your higher power?
JP: Um … the Dharma?

At some point last night, sometime between watching “Adult Swim” with Jenn and drinking several pitchers of beer at the Deadwood with her and Ransom and Leah, something magical happened. I don’t know what it was, but this event made it possible for me to get a lump in my throat while listening to “Paper Bag” by Fiona Apple while Jenn drove us all home, going by the house on Melrose while sending Ransom home, propelling me into further snow-driven nostalgia and house-glancing recall. Neil called earlier that night and I loved the sound of his voice. If only everything could be this unusual without ridiculous drunkenness.