I know I'm being very one track minded here, but how can you not just adore Loretta Lynn after you read this article?

Van Lear Rose is out today, guys... and I HIGHLY recommend it. It's Loretta Lynn produced by Jack White. And it's gonna be one of the best albums you'll hear this year, I promise.

I'm given to hyperbole when I like something. I know this about myself.

But... I just finished what will undoubtedly be the best book I will have read at the end of this year. The Rule of Four by Ian Caldwell & Dustin Thomason has completely blown me away. Imagine if Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code had a bit more of the style and intelligence of Donna Tartt or Umberto Eco. I've mentioned before that I love literary thrillers that center around mysteries concealed in books or works of art and this book is a masterpiece of this subgenre. But, the authors remember that a great mystery is well served by two things these types of books often lack - great characters and a satisfying ending. And, boy, does this book deliver in both of these areas.

I'm not much on relating plot, so if you want to know a bit more, you can follow the link to the two reviews on the B&N page. What you need to know from me is that I adore this book. I think it has huge potential and I'm going to be handselling the hell out of it to people this year. And right now, I'm floating around on one of those "book highs" that are oh so rare...

Oh... and I'm booked for New York... May 21st through 25th... who's buying me a drink?

Reason #417 that I love New Orleans...

I was just giving my dog a bath in the backyard when suddenly I heard a jazz band getting louder by the moment. I ran to the front of my house, just in time to join most of my neighbors at the street, to find a jazz band and a procession of people dancing in the street past my house to it. Think Jazz Funeral, but not so... um... dead peoply...

Shit like that makes me seriously happy...

I got the coolest fucking present in the mail today from my beloved ex, Dave... a t-shirt with the symbol for el Chapulan Colorado on it!!! Straight from the Republica Dominica! And the tag says the shirt was "Hecho en Colombia"... hee...

If you love the Bumblebee Guy on The Simpsons... well, this is the real stuff...

BWAH HAH HAH!!! omg... i love me some Mark....

Ok, people... i need votes... i'm planning a May vacation and I really wanna go to New York City, mainly so I can shop at H&M, but I'm not too sure how much I'm gonna like the city, cuz I've never been. I also really wanna visit all of my friends in San Francisco, a city that I know I love...

so...

am I crazy to think that I can fit both of them into a vacation?? Say, a day flying... three days in NYC... another day for flying... and four or so days in SF, before flying home?

Input please...

OMG, y'all... Prince is good again. Newflux has the track "Cinnamon Girl" off of his new album, Musicology, posted and it's gooood. While, you're there, get the Tiga track too... it's some fierce dancefloor filler...