The Raconteurs rock

Been meaning to deliver this not-so-new-anymore-news for some time. (Thanks to my good friend in the know — Tball, who shared the facts months ago. I know blog, smog!). Anyway, here's a link to the new Jack White side project, The Raconteurs, which also features Brendan Benson. The site has two songs and a video for the first single "Steady as She Goes." The song is great. UPDATE: After you enjoy that wonderfully designed site (just love the early-80s-type interface) you can slide over here to listen to BBC DJ Dermot O'Leary Saturday night broadcast featuring a live, in-studio spot from the band. Who says I'm always late with news? Enjoy.

And there was a dance ...

We were younger then. High school prom. She was beautiful even in one of those fluffy Jackie-O pink dresses that's sole purpose was to ensure teenage girls with particularly well-off parents didn't get pregnant after the prom. I was not as well-off, nor did I struggle to make the $80 payment on my basic tuxedo. Of course, the prom picture-taking was frightening. Two of us, dressed better than we would be on any other day save our (separate) wedding days. My arms curved around her waist in the most uncomfortable way, as if my parents were making me hug my sister after some long, drawn-out fight instead of holding on to someone I'd had a crush on for most of my life. But she was just as tense. The smile wrapped gently below her cheeks seemed disingenuous, which was hard to imagine for someone so sweet in all other aspects of life. There we stood, uncomfortably waiting, wrapped in each other's arms, under the sliver of an alumnium-foil-covered, cardboard-cutout moon, as close as we'd ever been, waiting for the photographer to give us one final cue before the flash froze this awkward moment in time.

FLASH

The photo now speaks volumes. The space between us grew as the night progressed. During the photo opportunity, the space measured maybe two inches, max. By the time the night was over, that space measured a lifetime. [ STAY TUNED ]

Something about the people you meet ...

I'm entranced by the novella I'm reading at the moment, "A Month in the Country" by J.L Carr. While there are many reasons to enjoy the feathery read, the story is most inviting due in part to my mental state as of late (and at 135 pages, it's been easy to pick up). The story follows a man close to my age who leaves the loud, manic streets of London to restore a medieval mural found recently at a church in a small English town. Simply written, the book has been a tremendous joy. But the theme of simplicity is what has caused the book to resonate. My life has been pretty loud lately (as if you hadn't noticed by the lack of blogging I've — or we've, if you follow the current theories of my multipersonality — done). Lots of stuff at work, very little time to myself and some family happenings from back home thrown in to the mix. For all the dissonance around me, this book takes me back to how I felt while reading Hemingway's "The Sun Also Rises." It's a treasure.

So, there's a passage that reminded me of people that have passed through my life and how at times I've treated them and that got me to thinking that this represents those dealings painfully well. And as much as I like the book, this passage made me hate it just as much.

"I never exchanged a word with the Colonel. He has no significance at all in what happened during my stay in Oxgodby. As far as I'm concerned he might just as well have gone round the corner and died. But that goes for most of us, doesn't it? We look blankly at each other. Here I am, here you are. What are we doing here? What do you suppose it's all about? Let's dream on. Yes, that's my Dad and Mum over there on the piano top. My eldest boy is on the mantelpiece. That cushion cover was embroidered by my cousin Sarah only a month before she passed on. I go to work at eight and come home at five-thirty. When I retire they'll give me a clock— with my name engraved on the back. Now you know all about me. Go away: I've forgotten you already."

We're back and all new-and-improved-like

Ok. So I wasn't going to promise much, but I can't help but say that in the coming weeks you'll be hearing much more from me. Needless to say, my sleeping patterns have cycled back to the insomnia side and I'm quickly growing tired of watching old episodes of Family Guy on Cartoon Network (OK. That's a lie. I'm not really tired of watching Family Guy!, but I'm running out of shows I haven't seen). Anyway, take a look around, you'll notice a new look to the site, another sign that my insomnia has returned. There will be more improvements, more diary-like entries and other stuff that will prove I haven't actually found a remedy to my sleepless nights. Damn seasons. Can't trust them. I mean look at what happened after I moved to the Bay area. For the last two weeks we've gotten freaking snow. We never get snow. Never. Oh well. It's only March. Spring's getting loaded as we speak. So on to a quick update. Since we last spoke I've: Seen Norm McDonald at the Improv. Skied Squaw Valley! at Lake Tahoe (there a story coming on this). Been promoted at work. Driven down Highway 1 from San Francisco to Santa Cruz. Got the news that two of my best friends are getting married (to each other). Gotten addicted to a new gadget (my Blackberry, there's another couple of stories there). Gotten two bad haircuts (and one good one). Saw all but one of the Oscar-nominated Best Picture films (story there). And now written one more blog entry than I have in the last four weeks. So there. Updated. Stay tuned, there's more to come.

Still MIA, but for now, a musical interlude

We here at eInsomnia continue to have some sort of bug in our updating software and have been unable to post solidly for some time. According to the government's recently released statement, the name of the worm that could be causing our system's malfunction is SLEEP. However, as the young, former-Weezer fans in line at the Spoon show would say, this is a quick "shout-out" to inform my loyal readers ( I know of at least TWO - Keep the comments coming! ) that I have in my possession my very own two-day pass to the 2006 Coachella Valley Music Festival!

Come on now. This is serious music muscle. The lineup includes Franz Ferdinand (I'm Your Villian), My Morning Jacket, Daft Punk, Wolf Parade, Tool, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Block Party, Coheed and Cambria, James Blunt, The Magic Numbers and much, much more.

By the way, check out an entire day of last year's show in two-minutes here.