After a 6 week absence from the blogebrity ranks (not a big loss since Matt is the real star here) I am back in blog form. A lot of people think that big life changes (in my case a kid) makes you all introspective and self-aware. I can confidently say that I am the same knucklehead that I was before, and I don't foresee much change in the future. I can say that the month of May was a bit surreal. I turned 35, ra After a 6 week absence from the blogebrity ranks (not a big loss since Matt is the real star here) I am back in blog form. A lot of people think that big life changes (in my case a kid) makes you all introspective and self-aware. I can confidently say that I am the same knucklehead that I was before, and I don’t foresee much change in the future. I can say that the month of May was a bit surreal. I turned 35, raised $12.5 million and my wife had a baby that we named Kiki Moon. I can only hope that the name makes her an artist/musician/writer and not an exotic dancer. As far as I know the father’s only real responsibility is to keep female children off the stripper pole.During this time I had absolutely no interest in blogging or writing. I did however read lots of books: Books I read: After Dark-Haruki Murakami Murakami has been one of my all time favorite authors since Karen bought me The Elephant Vanishes back in 1995. His writing has an ethereal quality that I can read over and over. Admittedly this was not my favorite book but the writing is just so good I have already read it twice. Inspector Imanishi Investigates-Seicho Matsumoto I’m a sucker for short sentences plus I like detective novels in foreign countries…they provide the escapist fantasies I so desire. My fave in this category is probably All she was worth by Miyuki Miyabe…a detective with a bad limp? You get me every time. At Risk-Stella Rimington Don’t bother Hooking Up-Tom Wolfe Don’t bother Ask the Dust and Wait Until Spring, Bandini-John Fante Fante is somewhat unknown. I first came across his stuff in a Charles Bukowski interview and it’s clear that the influence is heavy (Arturo Bandini is Fante’s Henry Chinaski.) Just like Buk, I can read the Fante stuff over and over. The writing is so simple and strong and so hard to achieve. The Catastrophist-Lawrence Douglas This book started out great, reminded of A Conspiracy of Tall Men, which I later realized I found to be a disappointment, just like this book, which I have to say in the end was a total dud. It started out strong with a good story line but ended with a pathetic whimper and a failed attempt at a clever ending. Totally lame. Sayonara Bar-Susan Barker I haven’t finished this yet so I will reserve judgment but it’s a cross between several Murakami books and Bangkok 8. Music: From iTunes: Tony Williams Lifetime Collection On CD: Unsane-Visqueen, Queens of the Stone Age-Era Vulgaris Open Source