There have often been times that, while the arc of my life was spiraling downward, my day-to-day existence was good. Much of the middle period of grad school, for instance, operated that way: I wasn’t getting enough accomplished and was slowly losing much of what I valued about college-Dwight, but each day had its little pleasures—pizza for lunch on the picnic table outside my apartment, Johnny Bravo on TV, a beer with a lemon in it with my friends, etc…

Lately I’ve had the opposite problem: life is good, but my day-to-day existence has gotten incredibly exhausting and difficult. In January it was popped tires, in February two weeks of flu, and this month a bum tooth (now hopefully fixed). Plus, the same day I found out my supposed email-for-life is getting shut down, my phone died and killed a year’s worth of stored numbers. (Speaking of which, those who know me outside my Dwight nom de plume should please call me so I can get your numbers again, and email me at my firstname.lastname at Gmail from now on.) I’m idly wondering if others have had the same experience…

Happily, everyone’s favorite punk comic, Nothing Nice to Say, is back! In a more indie rock/emo vein, I’ve really been enjoying the humor and slow relationship growth in Questionable Content. Go read it from the start, even though the art started out terribly.

Do you like cute cartoons about cats? No? Are you sure?

I recommend everyone in the Baltimore-Washington area hit Center Stage. My parents have spoiled me with season subscriptions since I moved back to the area. CS puts on a wide variety of genres, do a lot for young writers (including at least one world premiere a year), and their programs are so great I can’t even look at those insipid and flimsy Playbill pamphlets other theatres hand out. I recently saw a rock musical adaptation of Two Gentlemen of Verona that was first done in the early 70s (with music by Galt MacDermot, the guy who did Hair). It was a wise way to handle what is, to paraphrase my Riverside Shakespeare, the Bard’s shittiest comedy. Since the adaptation was done during Vietnam, there’s some anti-war material as well; what’s scary is it seems like nothing has changed in 30 years. The nice surprise of the evening: realizing Kirsten Wyatt (who I saw as Little Sally in Urinetown) was in the cast.

Slint is one of those bands who put one album in the early 90s, broke up, and were subsequently canonized to the nth degree by college DJs. Now they’re reforming. I admit to knowing little about them, but just mentioning them will probably up Edward’s clicks, so I might as well contribute to the hype. If you care, go here.

You can tell it's spring and I’m dating because I’ve been playing a whole lot of dub and dancehall. (By comparison, spring ’04—nice weather, flirting—was all about girl-fronted synth-punk, and spring ’03—constant rain, no prospects—was an alt country extravaganza.) So today’s Track You Should Be Listening To Right Now has some beat to it. Daddy G (of Massive Attack) has put out a mix CD that’s a “Best of” of the chill Bristol UK sound (names to drop are Tricky, Portishead, and of course Massive Attack). The whole thing makes for a nice soundtrack to your day; I pick the Dubplate Mix of “Signs” by Badmarsh and Shri as one of the standout track. Accents, references to Babylon, heavy drums for groove, horns, and sirens—what’s not to love? (Listen to “Signs” here or request it here.)

Finally, I wish, I so wish, that I had received this as a student paper when I was teaching. It’s long, but if Atticus Finch could shoot that rabid dog, then you owe it to Scout and Jem to watch.