Packing is happening in the bedroom, and everything except money-exchange has happened, so it must mean that I'm just a few hours away from a month's holiday in Vietnam (and also that I'm talking to you guys instead of helping with the packing).

I'm presumably going to be dark until November, though for all I know internet access is ubiquitous and cheap in Saigon the way it is everywhere else these days. But more to the point, as much as I love you guys and value your company, it'll be good to get away from eight or nine hours a day on the computer and actually, you know, hang out in the real world, and a very interesting part of it too.

I'll definitely check email every once in a while, so use johninsaigon@yahoo.com.au between now and the end of October.

I suppose most people already know, but just to make it official, I'm on the road for the next ten days on the great East Coast Swing.

I'll be checking email, but will probably only peek at Natter and Bitches while I'm gone.

I'll be back in SF Oct. 9th.

Note to Elena: I recieved the tapes. Thank you so very much. They just made a crappy day the best day ever, as I just discovered I made a C on my first paper, and took an exam that I was completely unprepared for and probably made a C on that as well. Which is the sliver of optimism I have left talking.

Thanks, dear.

Can I get a Woo, followed by a Hoo, and then some vibes?

I got the second interview for the job with the Thursday 1st interview followed by blood sugar crash. Tomorrow a.m., 9:30 PDT.

I am back in Boston after the whirlwind BreakFist In America tour. Special thanks to Brenda M. and Bridget S. who put us up in their Milwaukee & Minneapolis homes, and to Rio who showed up at our short, but concentrated (extra-clenched?) 30 minute set in Chicago. I've got lots of stories to tell, but first I have more than a few hours of TV to catch up on, and thousands of posts to skip and skim.

Also, I'm willing to host an Angel Premiere viewing at Chez Theremin with Very Special Guest David S. this coming Sunday. Unless someone else has already offered? Email me if innerested.

Closing on my co-op is set for October 8 at 3pm.

I was just offered, and accepted my position as a Records Analyst I. This means I am getting, for the first time in four years, medical and dental benefits, paid vacation and sick days, and a significant raise. (Though I won't see any or much of the raise, due to the mointain of deductions that follow from being a full employee.)

Wooo! I say! and Hoo!

I'm! Going! To! Read! At! This! Function in New York, offa the Writers House at Penn. NYCistas, maaaaybe we could meet.....

The official email:

As most of you know, the writers, critics, students, faculty, and contemporary artists who form the Writers House community, and who gather at 3805 Locust Walk on Penn's campus in Philadelphia, each year create more than 300 programs - readings, spoken-word performances, lectures, seminars, workshops, manuscript exchanges, exhibits, radio programs, and live worldwide webcasts. Now it is our great pleasure to announce a Kelly Writers House program in New York, and we wish to invite you to join us. "WRITERS HOUSE NEW YORK" will take place on Thursday, November 7, 2002, beginning at 7 PM, at the Meisel Gallery in Soho, 141 Prince Street.

Join us for a reception, followed by readings by, and conversations with, a wide range of Writers House-affiliated writers. The writers you will meet are eminent and emerging, all innovative and exciting, working in various genres. We know you will enjoy the program. Please RSVP before October 20, by sending an email message to whnov7@english.upenn.edu or by leaving a voicemail message at (215) 573-9479.

I finally got a new, working email address. It's sa (at) bluezfire.org, for future notice. Profile addy will be changed accordingly.