Okay, so this is where you start to find out what a weird person I am. I have been obsessively listening to the Broadway cast album of The Music Man for the last three days or so. Don't ask me what brought this on, because I'm not sure.

It's great music, though -- and interesting. The piano lesson with "Goodnight, My Someone," the barbershop layered with "Lida Rose" as well as "Pick A Little, Talk A Little" ("He left River City the library building, but he left all the books to her!" . . . hee). Great stuff.

This is all not to mention the fact that when I was in high school, a guy I knew wrote in my yearbook, "You still mystify, puzzle, and confuse me." If he didn't get it from "Sincere" ("Your apprehensions confuse me, dear, puzzle and mystify . . .") then it's a lovely coincidence. And if he did, then it's one of those bittersweet things that's almost too lovely to contemplate. "How sweet that mem'ry, how long ago . . . "

As the cheerleaders at my high school would have said . . . who rocks the house? Wendy rocks the house.

I'm a little tardy in recommending this, but Shack's Bitch Panic entry on the apocalypse cracked me up.

Go read Kim's weblog. Kim's weblog is probably my favorite. It's hard to say what makes a blog good, but Kim's? Is.

I think I'm probably going to do the Blogathon. It'll get things going with a bang. I'll let you know when I know what charity I'm going to work for. I might go with Doctors Without Borders, but I might go for the Public Interest Law Project at my old law school, if they're eligible. Or maybe for my high school. Are they eligible? Hmm, research will be required.

I gulped down the eight books in this girl detective series in four days. No, really. Okay, I was on vacation, but still. They're puffy and addictive and yeah, they all ran together a little bit, and I admit that she's a little passive about her love life (it has a "whoever shows up, that's who I screw" quality at times), but I was anxious enough to read them all that I pulled off the interstate in Portland on my way back down from vacation in Maine to the airport in Boston, just so I could find a Borders and get number five, having bought the other seven in the preceding two days, and not wanting to have to jump to six in the airport without reading five first.

I was on vacation. Shut up.

Shack's American Idol recaps are in fine form over at TWoP. What a glorious train wreck that thing is. And what a glorious job of recapping it. I particularly enjoy Simon, complete with bitchy cruelty -- because what fun is reality television without at least a little bit of bitchy cruelty?

In happier news, um . . . hee. Those are some nice-looking bachelors they picked this year.

Don't forget to write to NPR and tell them that this is a complete load of crap. Linking prohibited, my ass. They should have led with the groveling apology for their complete idiocy, and now that they've been put in their place, they ought to be fucking hanging their heads in shame, the idiots. The fact that they haven't yet backed off completely indicates that that organization is NOT what it wants people to think it is, and it is NOT what I thought it was. What a sad, sad day. Not a penny from me, ever.

Enjoyed an HBO documentary called American Standoff last night. It's by a filmmaker named Kristi Jacobson, but was also produced by Barbara Kopple, who did the downright stunning American Dream. They're both strike movies -- American Standoff is about the Teamsters' striking Overnite Transportation, and American Dream is about the Hormel strike in Austin, Minnesota. Austin still has the scars from the P-9 strike -- see the movie, really, because it's wonderful. Standoff is very good as well, but Dream is an absolute classic. No heroes, no villains. Just a lot of people hurting.

Have I mentioned that I host this baby at Verve Hosting? They've been oodles of fun so far, so give them a big kiss. They have a supremely easy interface to work with, I personally feel.

Merciful heavens, Sars delivers with some spooky consistency. I love this one about her uncle. Sniff, laugh, nod, smile with warm recognition . . . she's the bomb.

If you've never read The Smoking Gun's archive of musician contract riders, go do it right now. Seriously. There is no greater laugh.

Next up: License plates that read, "Proud to Be Boring." That's really the only option we have, now that we've heard this.

If you miss Newton's Apple or Bill Nye the Science Guy, try PBS's lovely and silly Dragonfly TV. It's oodles of fun, and I would think so even if one of the hosts weren't a personal friend.

It has arrived . . . the first Bachelorettes in Alaska recap. Hee. If you're looking for summer dreck, you won't want to miss this opportunity.

Today's site you should be reading is The Redhead Papers. I love everything Regina writes, although I have a special fondness for the stuff she writes about being unemployed. I know, it's really mean to get a lot of education out of somebody else's less-than-wonderful experiences, but I do. So there. (And yes, you can get all the ones I've gone for so far over at Damn Hell Ass Kings. It's not my fault they know where everything good is.

How sad is this? I mean, really, there's falling from celebrity, and then there's being in court over what a psychic owes you. I so specifically remember reading an interview with this guy in which he said that he intended to win the coveted quarter of an Oscar, and Emmy, a Tony, and a Grammy. Well, 0-for-4 ain't bad.

If you've never taken the Guess The Dictator Or Sitcom Character test, do it right now. In addition to taking it for a spin as the directions suggest, don't forget to try answering the questions as yourself and seeing what character it thinks you are. I have gotten Rhoda, That Girl, Ally McBeal, and Miss Piggy, depending on the day I take the test, which is . . . just about right, actually.

Today, on Things I Hate Myself For Liking: World's Wildest Police Videos. Oh, I know. It's wrong. It's very wrong. But as with Trading Spaces (I finally saw the moss wall!), my TiVo grabs me an episode almost every day, and I run it in the background while I write or make dinner, so I find myself running into the room every time that guy goes, "This criminal learned that you can't . . . run . . . from the LAW." And then another shirtless drunk gets his comeuppance. I can't get enough shirtless drunks getting their comeuppance.

Today's site you should be reading is Pop Culture Junk Mail. I don't know where she finds that stuff, but it's always good, and much less snotty than many weblogs. Also, she's a Twin Cities refugee.

Speaking of Minnesota connections, before there were blogs and journals and all that, there was Bulletin Board. Funny, touching, clever, and expertly moderated by its fabulous Control Voice, Bulletin Board has something every single day that's worth reading, and unlike blogs and boards and such, you can find people there who aren't computer types, which makes the population a little more diverse. Just check it out. Believe me, you'll be glad.

I'm addicted to this guy's critiques of other people's photography abilities. I have no idea why, except that he always tries to be encouraging, and he is an expert ad damning with faint praise. He says things like, "I think this is an interesting idea," which means he doesn't know how to tell you how ugly your cat is.

You know, as entertaining as he is, Jesse Ventura's angry-man routine can get just a little bit tiresome. Did I say a little? In short, he closed the governor's mansion to prove a point, and the staff that worked there didn't speak as cheerfully as he would have liked about what a brilliant move they thought it was, so now he's firing them. Yeah, the whole staff. Isn't he amusing?

In other news, my current addiction of choice is my Sony Clie, and the copious free software I can load onto it. With my new 128MB memory stick (woo!), there really is no limit to the evil I can do. I'm not saying I would actually read War and Peace on a two-by-two screen, but the point is that I could, if I really wanted to. I scour software here, and if you can't stand not having a Sony Clie for your very own, grab one here. If you haven't played Bejeweled yet, it's just as well. Like you really need more ways to waste time.

Today's site you should be reading? Pound. It's beyond marvelous. More like it in days to come, but start with that one. The juxtaposition of giggles and truth will knock you on your ass.

I am currently working my way through a stash of stuff I got from Sephora as a gift, and I now know what I'm going to do with all my money for the next thirty years instead of buying a house.

What in the hell is up with the weather, anyway? It's cold here again. AGAIN. I realize I shouldn't complain about the weather, what with its being the most trite thing you can possibly do and all, but . . . I'm doing it anyway. I've had enough with the chill. It's June. ENOUGH.

Another note: I saw The Importance of Being Earnest -- the one with Rupert Everett and Reese Witherspoon -- this weekend. It was good, although it felt a little labored at times. There's very little I wouldn't watch Rupert Everett do.

The newest thing in evil? Bachelorettes in Alaska. Read about it at TWoP -- Daniel's writing the recaps, and he slam-dunked Sports Night back in the day.

I had two court appearances today, and now I'm watching The Mole. It's been a long day.