late late, and a long day: one conference call at 3 p.m. with Norman saying: come back to LA, focus your energies on the creative stuff, you don't need to be performing to such small audiences at these college shows when such Big Things are upcoming in the spring/summer, another conference call once we arrive in Columbus, this one involving more people saying we're essential and actually succeeding, some thousands of people are registering each time we're in a school newspaper, so... we may or may not be on the road for the next month. I may or may not be spending a bunch of time in NYC in April and May. I may or may not jump out this fifth-floor window with the madness of it all.

anyway, happy birthday to Steve, and it's onward and upward as we perform at Ohio State tomorrow. Howdy to mom and dad who drove three hours to Champaign-Urbana and three hours back all in one day to re-live Morrigan-day memories of being the primary audience for our show at U of I...

if I were in NYC I'd be writing more. bought books at the Strand (reports soon, two are already read) and wrote some stuff on the way out of town. I might post them after fixing them per GK's edits. but here's a quick one. they all seem to revolve around missing, missing...

when distance is distilled, what matters are atoms

the way if a car is moving faster than a bird
the bird appears simply to be levitating
I leave, though it only seems so --

the damp purse of my mouth
still kissing you goodnight, night and night,

the scent of lilacs everywhere breaking.

****

sigh. must sleep now. show in the a.m. arg.