Adam Kellner is Somewhere:

Above: a photo of Adam shortly before his disappearance



Above: video Adam's family has compiled including news footage and vital information re his disappearance from the family's Stevenson Ranch, California home

Thirty-five year-old Adam Kellner helped his ailing stepfather to bed, then vanished. That was two and a half years ago. I just interviewed Adam's mother, Sherrill Britton, for The Nervous Breakdown re her son's possible whereabouts and the horror that shrouds her life:

http://www.thenervousbreakdown.com/ldremousis/2010/06/adam-kellner-is-somewhere/

Mischief abounds!

Tomorrow through Friday, I will be frolicking with my dear friend, Kate, in town from San Francisco, and our itinerary is kinda spectacular.

And as if in honor of her arrival, Top Pot just created a new lemon-glaze old fashioned.

This gets good.

A year ago today:

Henry 1998-2009

In recent months, I've sardonically taken to referring to my home as "The Mausoleum". (If I weren't sardonic, I'd be suicidal.) When I moved here in September 2007, TJ, Elvis (his beloved and goofy cat), Lulu, Xander, Henry (my beloved and goofy rabbits) and I were alive, quite obviously. By May 2010, 20 months later, I was the only still left. (I might be scared of tempting fate, but having lived through the past eight months and three weeks, you're going to have to come after me with Kryptonite before I flinch.)

The pets, despite being spectacularly healthy, were each quite old and he and I knew the inevitable was approaching. If I live another 50 years, however, I'm still going to wish he were here. Quite lucky to have so many gifts from him and his things he kept here. Luckiest of all, of course, to have boundless memories of the two of us.

Here's to taking on more and more deadlines and to completing the novel; the first I'm doing now and the second I'm honing in on. "Knock wood", as he would say. And "When, not if."

Tweets from the past week (minus re-tweets and replies):

Monday, June 21st:

8:47 a.m. Pens, toothbrushes, razors. #ThingsThatShouldBeRecyclable

8:56 a.m. I'd love to go Robin Hood on #TonyHayward, steal his yacht & donate it to those whose lives have been upended by the #BPdisaster.

4:02 p.m. If there's a global shortage of Chico's summer apparel, it's b/c my neighbors seem to be hording it. #whygodwhy

Tuesday, June 22nd:

4:35 p.m. #McChrystal's lack of foresight is like that of Girls Gone Wild co-eds. What did he think was going to happen?

Wednesday, June 23rd:

7:21 a.m. #JoeBarton is sending #McChrystal a fruit basket right now.

9:21 a.m. My new Seattle Weekly feature on the whimsical & hook-laden Horace Pickett is out now: http://bit.ly/aBwf0Y

6:58 p.m. Why is it the least interesting people are always afraid I'm going to write about them?

Thursday, June 24th:

9:49 a.m. My hairstylist only works two days a week b/c she just had a kid & my back-up stylist is on maternity leave. #BabiesRuinEverything

6:37 p.m. Breaks my heart to enter the once thriving Steve's Broadway News and find it, yet again, empty. #CapitolHill #Seattle

6:41 p.m. I've written for KOMO4.com's Capitol Hill blog the past few months. Here's my latest post: http://bit.ly/9zrA61

Friday, June 25th:

7:55 a.m. The great thing about #iPhone owners is that they don't talk about it all the time. Oh, wait.

8:38 a.m. The gardening service downstairs is using some loud plant-destroying machinery that's making my home reek of gasoline. This ends well.

10:26 a.m. #FF: @DavidCornDC, @Single_Shot, @thejoelstein, @mental_floss, @RebeccaSkloot, @afpakchannel, @Dr_Todd_Boyd, & of course, @swreverb

2:48 p.m. @jadewalker is as kind as pizza is tasty. Reminded again how lucky I am she's my friend.

2:57 p.m. Can't tell if the couple across the street is engaged in a murderous row or an afternoon romp. #OpenWindowWeather

Saturday, June 26th:

9:06 a.m. If you own and ignite fireworks on June 26th, what exactly in your life is worth celebrating?

10:05 a.m. Re my previous tweet, I'd forgotten today is Pride Day! So yeah, everyone, carry on igniting stuff.

Sunday, June 27th:

9:56 a.m. Watched "Spinal Tap" for the first time in years & among other things, it made me miss Bruno Kirby. "'Yes I Can' if Frank says I can."

1:25 p.m. Just read Sen. Byrd is "seriously ill". Am I an asshole for thinking, "Oh, shit. Another Democrat's seat up for grabs"?

6:27 p.m. Wait a second, I think I detect a theme to the Dalai Lama's tweets.

Monday, June 28th, today:

9 hours ago Sen. Orrin Hatch is worried that if #ElenaKagan is confirmed, she and Sotomayor & Ginsberg are going to make abortions free & then go shopping.

8 hours ago Wish there were also confirmation hearings for barristas and editors. #SCOTUS

4 hours ago Girl on cell at Denny & Summit: "Sorry to inform you I'm moving to Alaska in 3 mo. I love you. Bye."

3 hours ago Why do couples w/ agonizing marriages want to see everyone else wed?

1 hour ago Re #BillClinton announcing it's possible to blow up the #oilspill, does anyone else hear him say it in Darrell Hammond's voice?

Tales from the neighborhood:

• My newest post for KOMO4.com's Capitol Hill blog:
  http://capitolhill.komonews.com/content/vivace-al-fresco-one-broadways-most-resilient-establishments
• QFC's Broadway pharmacy has now screwed up three of my prescriptions in two weeks, two of them in ways that were potentially disastrous. Getting the uneasy sense they're inspired by Joseph Mengele.
  
• Spotted this one on my way home from Thomas Street Park earlier tonight. Love the juxtaposition of Mary's welcoming arms and the placard's subtle menace:
  

Riz Rollins paints with music and...

...has long exemplified the vast knowledge and reverberating love of the very best DJs. Trent Moorman's new Q & A in the Stranger with the veteran Seattle spinner and scribe:

http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2010/06/24/riz-rollins-seattle-mystic

My new Seattle Weekly feature is here:

The whimsical and hook-laden Seattle-based band, Horace Pickett, plays Artopia this week! Touring in a Volvo, a giant stuffed tiger and a drunk guy shredding hundred dollar bills:

http://www.seattleweekly.com/2010-06-23/arts/dabbling-in-bliss-horace-pickett-s-dark-whimsical-and-hook-laden-tunes/

Perhaps unsurprisingly...

...it is easier to write for long periods of time when, unlike today, my nerve endings don't feel like someone took a cheese grater to them.

Cure or effective treatment, please.

Dad!

As I wrote elsewhere yesterday, my father taught me to respect everyone but that trust should be earned and that, also, he's the reason I swear a lot. (And so well.)

Dad, Mom, George and I had a relaxed and silly Fathers Day, capped off with dessert at the B&O, which only augmented the joy.

Of course, we don't get to choose our parents and I have some friends who are kind and wonderful despite the monsters they were saddled with. With each passing year, my brother and I feel increasingly lucky to have parents we would have picked if we'd had the option.

Dad says I'll always be his "little girl", but from the time I was just that, he believed I could conquer the world. He's one of the rare Greek men of his generation who nourished his daughter's intellectual and creative acumen as he did his son's. Plus, Dad taught me an effective batting stance and how to get spin on the ball when shooting free throws.

And while he will always try to order food not on the menu and remains convinced the Internet is a fad and this sometimes drives me a tad bonkers, I wouldn't change a goddamned thing.

Except, as with Mom, to confer immortality.

Just once...

...I'd like an editor to say, "Fuck it. If they don't know that word, they can look it up."

Sick of the lowest common denominator.

Christmas seems...

...both like yesterday and a lifetime ago.

Time is contorted this year.

Let's congratulate GOP Texas Congressman Joe Barton...

...for becoming the nation's most contemptible individual in the space of one hearing.

Rod Blagojevich and Sarah Palin jealously admire his efficiency.

Louis C.K. on lube, how Jimmy Carter might die and why the Pope is a pedophile. From last night's Daily Show:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Louis C.K.
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

"Mike Todd died in a plane crash and my father consoled Elizabeth Taylor with his penis."--Carrie Fisher

Sure, her recent work might benefit from tighter editing, but Carrie Fisher will always be in the pantheon as a writer and as an actress. In a characteristically hilarious new interview, she holds forth on her legacy; plans for her ongoing one-woman show, Wishful Drinking; her laugh-or-you'll-cry geneology; and Tea Baggers.

From Pop Eater:

http://www.popeater.com/2010/06/14/carrie-fisher-interview-tea-party-star-wars-wishful-drinking/

Side note: If you don't consider "Rosemary's Baby", the season #2 episode of "30 Rock" in which Fisher guest-starred to be the reason TV was invented, odds are good I don't like you much.

Orayne Williams:

Of the slew of horrific details surrounding the BP disaster, one of the most unsettling is the huge role human error played at each juncture. Even the most optimistic of us can't help but feel shaken by the enormity of the damage we, as a species, caused.

There has been much sardonic (and cathartic) humor online that we're near the tipping point and our extinction might be for the best. And I've had moments when I've agreed.

But the best among us keep me hopeful. Orayne Williams, a homeless and abandoned Brooklyn high school student who still graduated with honors, earned a college scholarship and plans to become a doctor, is one such example:

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/06/15/2010-06-15_untitled__college15m.html

We could all use a bit more Baxter:

Yesterday at Thomas St. Park in Seattle, 5:50 p.m. Baxter is nine weeks old and his owner told me it was the kitten's first day outside their apartment building. Yeah, I know, cat photos on the Internet, but whatever: Baxter is ridiculously sweet and preternaturally smart and a lovely counterbalance to a world sometimes teeming with crap.

Bemused detachment...

...is not only necessary at this stage but perhaps a key factor in getting one to the next.

Lucky:

It's hardly a secret this is the worst year of my life.

However, I'm so massively fucking grateful to so many for so much.

Last night was a kick and I'm glad I rallied despite feeling wobbly inside and out. Incredibly fortunate to have such perceptive, wickedly funny and kind friends.

An apropos of nothing, if you need a laugh and/or to feel superior, check out this guy because he'll fill both requirements:

http://gawker.com/5559349/finally-obamas-british-past-connected-to-scandalous-british-present

In six hours...

...I must be cogent and witty for a dinner party.

Right now, I feel like the bumblebee that just crashed against my bedroom window.

Still, I finished another chapter of final draft last night.

Onward.

The most recent findings re the XMRV retrovirus and CFIDS/CFS from a new Chicago Tribune feature:

Despite the depressing-as-fuck headline, it's encouraging that in recent years, the illness has finally been recognized as the pernicious, debilitating force it is. Mad props to my loved ones who have always understood this.

From yesterday's Chicago Tribune:

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2010-06-07/health/ct-met-chronic-fatigue--20100607_1_chronic-fatigue-syndrome-xmrv-autism

"Can you pick a favorite color from a thousand shades of gray?"--Joe Pernice, "Say Goodnight to the Lady" by the Pernice Brothers

Today's events have reached vast crevices and in some cases, been wholly inexplicable.

All one can do is keep writing.

In a world that is often...

...unfathomable, slipshod and erratic, some mornings it is best to reach for the blackberry truffles.

How Botswana's government and citizens successfully mobilized to contain the worst fall-out from AIDS:

While the news isn't click-your-heels great--tragically, one in four Botswanans is HIV-positive--it's hugely invigorating the country defied the World Health Organizations projections and is treating HIV rapidly and effectively.

From the Daily Beast:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-06-04/in-saturday-is-for-funerals-unity-dow-and-max-essex-show-how-botswana-beats-aids/

Defying the boundaries of logic and displaying the reasoning skills of single-cell organisms:

From yesterday's New York Times, "Before Oil Spill, It Was Unclear Who Was in Charge of Rig".

Excerpt:

"As a result, deepwater rigs operate under an ad hoc system of exceptions. The deeper the water, the further the exceptions stretch, not just from federal guidelines but also often from company policy."

More:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/06/us/06rig.html?hp

RIP, sir:

I'm not a huge sports nut, but John Wooden was a sage and his words resonate. A compilation:

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=5249709

Two birds; one stone:

Put BP in charge of detaining aid to Gaza and let the Israeli military oversee oil stoppage.

It's been a morning of hippie-wrangling:

I skew left, obviously, but find it incredibly irksome when those on the left condemn "Americans" as if our nation of 300 million individuals is a monolith or as if they, too, aren't American.

Also, it's imbecilic and self-defeating to abdicate the "American" moniker to the far right.

How we approach death...

...says everything about how we approach life.

As horrifyingly often as we read stories like these...

...do they ever become comprehensible?

A gunman has killed twelve in Cumbria (northwest England). One was his friend. The other 11 were strangers he shot randomly. There are 30 different crime scenes so far and he is still at large:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/england/10219655.stm

[Update at 7:15 p.m. PST. Friends, neighbors and acquaintances of the assailant, who has since killed himself, report he was an outwardly stable and affable man. No discernible motive so far:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/england/10216923.stm]

It's futile, of course...

...to think this way, but the wrong ones are dead.

Re the newly launched criminal probe:

BP's legal fees are going to top the Vatican's.

We should call it the BP oil...

..."eruption".

Referring to it as a "spill" at this point is like calling pneumonia a "cold".