My poppets, my pigsnies, my peacocks~ I've returned from my foray to the north to find you all in a fettle of frenzined friskiness. And over what? Nothing. The earth starts trembling and all of a sudden people fret. Humans. I'm beginning to not trust anyone. An example of why not: When my friend heard that I was going up North to do what I do best -drink hot chocolate in some random diner in a strange city while reading a book until I get up the energy to wander around until I find some bookstore in which to plunder- she told me to come stay with her so she could show me "scenic" New Jersey. I figured that since she was going to be performing miracles that she should at least be dressed for the part. Thus, I asked her to be donned in a blazer with gold fringes, a hat, and have a monkey on her shoulder. Ok, so I would have settled for the monkey to be the one in the suit. Alas, it did not matter. There was no suit! There was no monkey! There was no Scenic New Jersey! Perhaps the "natural beauty" which she kept referrring to was simply herself. She might qualify but since she is 9 inches shorter and all I ever see of her is the top of her head - I wouldn't know. Now, rejected and disappointed I turn to Sinister for solace. However, I suppose I should be careful about what I write since my friend admitted that this summer she looked up my name on google and came across my posts to the list. She though it was a literary book list of some sort. (It would be easy to mistake. If she read "b&s" as "BS", she probably was expecting something to do with Joseph Heller. The hack.) She then confessed that each Wednesday night when she had to work late she would read my posts because it was like having me in the room with her.* I hope hers isn't the only office I'm sneaking into late at night. I'm trying to cultivate a "reputation" here. LOVELY LISTENS FOR LAURA LLEW-A-THON 2001: Yes! I returned to find I've already received two generous donations of mix tapes in which to help me recover from my stark winter of musical starvation. What a great start (hint hint) with my first sinister mix tape ever which had a Beastie Boys song on it! Excellent. It was the lovely & sweet of heart Emily Wilska who provided that. I listened to it on my morning commute and so far it's such a wonderful mix. Thank you kindly Miss Emily. I appreciate it so!!! The second one I have yet to atune my ear for. I would thank the provider of this but the generous donor is tweaking the enigma knob by remaining anonymous. I'm still grateful though. I know you all want to participate in helping me amass a mix tape collection which will at least allow me to have new tunes to listen to on my roadtrips. (Well, that is if it doesn't end up as Pinefox's tape who got wedged beneath some books taunting me the whole trip because I couldn't reach it to listen to it. The pain!) I'm the little orphan of pop roaming aimlessly from state to state. Yes, I realize that with such past entries of *Melt In Your Mouth And Not In Your Hand Mm Mm Matthew Molnar's Disco Groove Set* and *Billzebub Harris's mix of poetry readings by Wallace Stevens & Robert Frost interdispersed by rollicking country tunes* one could be intimidated but I promise that each contribution will get the delicate and complete attention of yours truly. Act Now! (well except for Keanu Reeves. I've given up hope that he will ever be able to manage that verb.) I have a question for you Brits (Perk up now. Usually, I just have mockery and funny imitations of you). I just read that the London Underground installed new vending machines in its South Kensington station in January where for a pound you can buy a short story (including one written by Parker though I don't know which one) that is a perfect read, being under a half hour read, for a commute. Is anyone familiar with this and if it is at all successful? It seems like a cool idea anyway. Or at least less scary than the new Library Hotel in Manhattan Hotel where each floor is organized by the Dewey Decimal system. Every one is dedicated to one a major category and then each room fits into the overall theme. Evidently, the most requested one is the Erotic Literature Room. Quick, Pookie, pluck that Peacock room before its becomes unavailable! Thinking of Dorothy Parker - and really when aren't you - I recall Archel quoting her in the news flash of: Men seldom make passes At girls who wear glasses Here! Here! My recently bespectaled face can surely attest to that one. I must say that I'm getting tired of the cop out compliment of, "they make you look more intelligent." Since when did the presence of glasses make anyone look stupid? With the exception of a picture I have of my friend wearing lensless crooked glasses while licking a road in Acadia National Park in Maine, I can't really say that I've known anyone to look as a moron while wearing them. So why do people say it? Will you realize that was a rhetorical question? (Depends on if you're wearing glasses or not, I bet) Archel, more recently, commented on the book "Princess Bride." Rah! I always wished I had read that one before I had seen the book though both are delightful in a light hearted way. I still haven't replaced my copy which I gave away in exchange for a book which the other person said I would "just love." Tom Robbins' "Skinny Legs and All" which I didn't love. I didn't even like it! It was stretching to be witty and amusing and different and fell flat on its can of beans main character's butt. However, I just restocked Princess Bride & this edition has the first chapter of the long-lost sequel, Buttercup's Baby. Oooohh Aaaaahhh. If you remember seeing the movie and liking it but don't remember the movie clearly, DON'T watch it again. Simply give a shout out to me - I'll send you the book. I won't even make you send me a bad Robbins book in return. Laura 'meeting all of your laura llew needs since 1977' *Abby, if by chance you are reading this I'm merely teasing. Your home is pretty and the top of your head is one of the loveliest I've ever seen. Plus, you're an ace hostess indulging me in all the geeky literary things that only library or bookshop girls could properly appreciate. ???? - Lawerence the Milkman Milkkesen just whispered to me that he thinks the Pixies complete B-Sides are being released in the UK this week. Does anyone know if/when its coming out in the US? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail sinister@missprint.org. To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to majordomo@missprint.org. WWW: http://www.missprint.org/sinister +-+ "sinsietr is a bit freaky" - stuart david, looper +-+ +-+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" "peculiarly deranged fanbase" +-+ +-+ "pasty-faced vegan geeks... and we LOST!" - NME April 2000 +-+ +-+ "frighteningly named Sinister List organisation" - NME May 2000 +-+ +-+ Nee, nee mun pish, chan pai dee kwa +-+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+