So this evening, I'm writing a little short story about cats that study at universities and fly by attaching aerodynamic wings to their little old paws. (My defense: it's a birthday gift.) And what happens? My best friend and confidant Misha takes a dive from my sunny three story balcony. Probably chasing a bee, but that is no excuse. Neighbor buzzes the front door and tells me that he saw my cat go flying by. Between freaking out, calling vets and trying to figure out what to do I really drained myself. Someone (who was working a 14 hour day) calmed me down, then the freak out began all over again because the cat started acting strange. Hours and hundreds of dollars later, all is well, x-rayed cat is hurting but drugged up and owner/parents are sedated by exhaustion, sauteed spinach, white wine, chocolate chip cookies and organic milk.

Jonathan Ames has a new book out and was on Letterman tonight. The new season of Ali G starts this weekend and Sacha Baron Cohen is interviewed in Vanity Fair (illuminating) and Borak was on Conan tonight. Both were absolutely brilliant if a bit over the top. TV talk shows are not about subtlety. More Baron Cohen here.

I'm pitching stories to some different publications this month, got some good contacts right now. Editors seem to be less responsive this summer than usual. What the hell is going on?

Kiki Mercury, Jason Modernist and DJ D-Mack get praise for being inspirational, conversational but almost never confrontational this past weekend. I felt like I was in the smart kid club at a new school. I missed the Dome of Doom party but I ate great Indian food at Bahbi's, went to the Green Mill, Oak Street beach, a couple lame bars, ate those little asian samosas at Marshall Fields and had a totally new Chicago experience almost every hour. The Modernist party was a bit sparse while Direction wasn't so bad. I ended up playing a lot of '80s stuff. I also noticed my copy of Magic Bus is worn out, has no low end whatsoever. I'm working on getting the M's to play at Direction sometime soon.