With two days left until the election...

...Patty Murray and Dino Rossi, Washington State's senatorial candidates whose positions overlap not at all, are tied in polls at 47% to 47%. (It's axiomatic that King, Pierce and Snohomish Counties tilt heavily toward Murray but, of course, there's that pesky rest of the state.) The Tea Party, which I loathe, includes women to a greater degree than do Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, whose work I love and admire.

The person closest to me and I got drunk Election Night '08 and I think I might drink on Tuesday, but for entirely different reasons.

The Rally to Restore Sanity:

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Nostalgia is fruitless and the Nineties were fraught with their own complications...

...but it's astounding it was a mere decade ago we had reasonable expectations flights and elections would go off without a hitch.

From New York Magazine, "Dogs Looking Depressed in Their Halloween Costumes":

Photo slideshow of the annual Halloween dog costume extravaganza at Tompkins Park, with dogs looking understandably pissed off:

http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2010/10/dog_halloween_parade.html?%3Fmid=facebook_nymag#photo=1x67315

To each their own and all that, but I'd never dress up Thomas because he's already one of history's cutest creatures and it'd just be gilding the lily. Plus, as the pictorial demonstrates, dogs don't want to wear your grandfather's fedora.

Caroline Leavitt's new novel, Pictures of You:

I'll be writing more about this in at least one upcoming piece, but when Pictures of You by Caroline Leavitt (Girls in Trouble) is released January 25th, you'd be foolish to overlook it. Leavitt's is the best kind of literary fiction: vivid and warm and depicting a heightened reality while prompting one to read in lieu of eating or sleeping. I'm a slow reader (I remember nearly everything I read, but I imbibe it slowly) and I finished my advance copy in a few days. And sure, we're friends, but I'm close with dozens of writers and not all of them elicit this degree of enthusiasm. More on Leavitt's work:

http://www.carolineleavitt.com/

I still believe Anita Hill:

Debate has ensued whether Anita Hill should have publicly disclosed Ginny Thomas' voicemail.

Hill was right for three reasons:

1) It demonstrates the bizarrely contorted views of harassers and those who defend them.

2) She prevents Ginny from publicly relaying an untrue version of events.

3) Hill demonstrates nearly two decades later she is resolutely unapologetic because she did absolutely nothing wrong.

I've always deeply admired Anita Hill and my respect for her has grown.

My KUOW piece is archived online now:

Much thanks to the A Guide to Visitors producers. And in addition to emails from friends and family, I've received a few from strangers. Buoying when the Internet uses its powers for good.

My piece is archived in "Hour Six" and it's the fourth one in:

http://kuow.org/specials/aguidetovisitors.php

KUOW, 8:00 tonight:

I have a piece airing on KUOW 94.9 FM (Seattle's NPR affiliate) at 8:00 tonight. Part of the stellar A Guide to Visitors series.

Details:

http://kuow.org/program.php?id=21278

Finally:

A federal panel has urged changing Chronic Fatigue Syndrome's name to reflect the illness' serious and multi-systemic nature:

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Health/panel-pushes-chronic-fatigue-syndrome-change/story?id=11891485&page=1

I spent most of my twenties having people ask me, "So, are you tired all the time?" The above news is overdue and vindicating.

Sometimes it's almost too easy mocking Mitt Romney but...

...it doesn't make it any less fun.

The latest? The once and future GOP presidential candidate who spent $40 million of his own cash to come in third behind Mike Huckabee in the '08 race has made it a condition of his speaking engagement contract that hosts purchase several thousand copies of his new "book", No Apology:

http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2010/10/15/mitt_romney_book/index.html

Say what you will about John McCain and Rudy Giuliani, but you gotta like that by all accounts they consider Romney a pretty-boy, flip-flopping stuffed shirt.

All sides can agree on something after all.

Wishing the Chilean miners and their families all the best in the years ahead:

Everyone with a soul was moved by yesterday's astoundingly good news. Will things get a bit more complicated physically, psychologically and financially in the upcoming months? Undoubtedly. For now, though, it's glorious to revel in humanity at its best.

In context, this is de minimis, obviously, but my six-word memoir on the event was chosen by Smith Magazine as their Story of the Day:

http://www.smithmag.net/sixwords/

Permalink to the story:

http://www.smithmag.net/sixwords/story.php?did=154666

As always, thanks to editor Larry Smith and everyone at his eponymous mag for consistently generating compelling web content.

My TNB interview with Vanity Fair's Mike Sacks, who co-authored Sex: Our Bodies, Our Junk with...

...some of his friends who write for "The Daily Show", The Onion and for Conan O'Brien:

http://www.thenervousbreakdown.com/ldremousis/2010/10/mike-sacks-co-wrote-2010s-funniest-book-earned-jon-stewarts-praise-and-for-now-at-least-preserved-his-infant-daughters-mental-health/

OBOJ is like a bowl of pistachios: so tasty, you forget it's good for you. No mere "humor" book, it's brilliantly crafted and elicits the kind of laughs that might get you involuntarily committed.

Like everyone, I'm watching the Chilean mine workers' rescue and...

...it's impossible not to be moved by the courage and tenacity of all involved. Thinking of the miners, the rescuers, all of their families and everyone anywhere in the world who remains unable to walk free.

Dogs and donuts and, of course, the rock: my two newest Seattle Weekly features:

My interview with the eminently talented singer-songwriter, Shelby Earl:

http://www.seattleweekly.com/2010-10-06/music/donuts-and-dogs-with-shelby-earl/

And all about the Hattie's Hat line-up for the Reverb Festival:

http://www.seattleweekly.com/2010-10-06/music/hattie-s-hat/

These came out last Wednesday but for obvious reasons, I didn't post them. The tete a tete with Earl was a total kick and I really enjoyed covering the Hattie's Hat roster. Skipped the festival on Saturday--again, for obvious reasons--but have heard swell reports.

Under the circumstances, things are as good as can be.

A year ago today...

...TJ's body was found.

An elderly man on a fixed income lived in TJ's building for decades. For 10 years, the man couldn't cover rent. TJ paid the remainder so the man could forgo assisted living and stay in his home. TJ never told anyone except me.

It's worth sharing now.

(As I did at his memorial last year.)

My interview with Kurt B. Reighley, author of the wholly engaging and critically lauded new book...

...United States of Americana went up earlier tonight at The Nervous Breakdown:

http://www.thenervousbreakdown.com/ldremousis/2010/10/kurt-b-reighley-author-of-united-states-of-americana-makes-you-want-make-things/

Of the dozens of folks I've interviewed, Reighley is among my favorites. Our culture is a better place for his work. And he's got a killer recipe for homemade pickles, rendering most books the poorer for lacking one.