Wow. I just caught Katie Crown doing standup, and it was remarkably painful to watch. Cursory googling is all the expected good press, but I'm scared that if I click on a youtube link of her other material, it will be the same screechy awkward sort of stuff she just handed over on BBCA, which wasn't offering a particularly high or apparently stressful bar.

Pumpkin is resting against my foot, snoring. It tickles.

Speaking of standup, today is the last day of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival (one of the highlights of living here, really). Last night Biyi and I saw one of Australia's best-known comedians, Wil Anderson (host of the Gruen Transfer). It was the funniest show I've seen in maybe fifteen years (since I saw the Irish comedian Ed Byrne explaining the plot of Cosi Fan Tutti).

Example: he recounted how he's no longer invited to the Logies (Australia's equivalent of the Emmys, and if you ever want to understand just how small Australia is compared to the US, compare the two). He went a couple of times, got in trouble each time, so now he doesn't go, "partly my choice but mostly their choice." One of the occasions when he did go, one of the headline acts was John Mayer. This was around the time Mayer gave the interview to Playboy. Wil Anderson tweeted:

"In front row for John Mayer. I may not take home gold logie but now have herpes."

There was something of a media furore about all this, the odd act of pearl-clutching and such ("COMEDIAN MAKES JOKE ON TWITTER"). One journo called him for an interview about it, and asked, in breathless tones, "Why did you say John Mayer had herpes?" Wil was fed up with it all by then, and replied,

"LOOK, I was DRUNK, ok?! ...I couldn't remember how to spell 'syphilis'!"

Good, very funny show.

I heard Wil Anderson on a podcast here and he was hilarious.

I've found him to be one of the most consistently funny comedians on the circuit. His latest show certainly didn't disappoint.

Hey, I am going to be in San Diego in early June--wanna come down? Cass and I are doing the Wild Animal park, or whatever they are calling it these days.

Yes! Come down and we'll all pretend to get educated but mostly make heart-eyes while also getting educated.

Having been on Hec's tour, I can say that there will be a lot of happy LA folk out there today.

It was fun! And well received. I got to talk to a woman who saw the rare production of Waits' Alice at BAM, which she said was a transformative experience for her. Cool!

Less cool, driving to LA yesterday and driving back today. So bleary on I-5 at the 3/4 mark, but then pulled over for gas and to pop in a new Harry Potter disc and was able grind it out.

Six hours on the road just makes my hips so sore, though.

But I'm home again and Matilda waited up for me.

Oof, that is a lot of driving, but sounds like an excellent trip overall!

Did we know about this tumblr? [link]

That tumblr could have been made for me.

E.L. Konigsburg died today. So sad.

Aw man, that is sad. I loved pretty much everything I ever read by her.

Hec, I'm glad the tour went well! And glad you're home again.

We did yard work yesterday! I'm unreasonably excited about this. I've never done any yard work or gardening anywhere I've lived, but I'm really happy to finally have a chance to pretty up our yard here. We weeded and mulched for an hour and a half, and Rosie played in the yard and possibly ate a wee bit of dirt (it's good for her, right?) and got to touch an earthworm. We also bought a few flowers and herb plants but didn't get to plant them -- that will happen later today. It's just a tiny strip in front of our little front porch/patio thing, but I'm looking forward to seeing how it looks and how well the plants do. We're having a bunch of family in town for Rose's birthday later this week, so I'm especially glad to have this done before they arrive.