That would be a good name for a band. Unfortunately it is only short for Girl Talk and Dan Deacon, two turntablist performers who master of ceremony’d a crowded, sweaty dance party at the Echoplex last weekend. Fun times. Dancing is awesome. Dancing with hundreds of sweaty Los Angelenos is also awesome.

Laura and Dennis dancin’ and sweatin’ it up.

I’m droppin’ ‘bows. (Dance lingo decoder not included in this post.)

P.S. If you ever read this — Thanks Dennis!

Here’s Tilly & the Wall’s entrance to the Slowdown stage tonight in Omaha. They were awesome. They looked like they were having a lot of fun. It’s so great when bands actually smile. Members of Tilly smile a lot. That is one of the great things about them. They played a bunch of great songs, the tap dancing was amazing (the number of tappers is growing…), the crowd was really into it — and the show was free! Can’t get much better than that.

Vincent Moon and his site has already gotten a lot of press and online buzz, but I felt the need to post this here too. Like many other things, I’ve been meaning to check out his site, and just finally got around to it. I’m glad that I did. It’s pretty exciting stuff.

The video below is part of his Take-away shows series, filming bands in long takes in natural settings playing their music. Au naturale, all live. Below is Grizzly Bear singing The Knife accapella in the streets. The Arcade Fire playing Neon Bible in an elevator is pretty awesome too. Other ones include Jens Lekman, Architecture in Helsinki, Tapes n Tapes, Beirut…a lot of great musicians. It’s a great idea and they’re fun to watch. It’s liberating to see these verite videos without the lighting and the effects and all that. These videos are better than like 97% of music videos.

Here is the first pillow that I made. Well, to be honest, I designed the pillow and chose the fabrics, pieced and glued them, and my mom did the sewing. So, she gets major props for that. I wish I knew how to sew. I once made a gym bag and a pillow in the shape of a large baseball bat, but that is pretty much the extent of it. So, I’m going to observe my mom and hopefully pick up some skills of my own.

This one went to Laura, as a very belated apartment-warming gift. This was just the start. I’m planning to make more. I already have the materials for one more, and the ideas for about four more. I just have to get my work ethic/discipline up to the speed of my mind; an ongoing task for me.

So, please let me know if any of you, dear readers, are interested in obtaining one of my unique, one-of-a-kind creations. Contact me and we’ll work out the details.

So I was wanting to subscribe to this thing called The Thing. It’s an awesome, creative idea. If you’re too lazy to have clicked on the link, basically you subscribe to getting 4 “everyday objects that incorporate text” by four different artists, sent to you over the course of a year in brown paper packaging. These things could be anything really, but most of all, they are a mystery. How fun!

So, back to the story. After months of deliberating (due to the costs and the fact that I had little to no money), I had finally decided to subscribe. I decided that it meant a lot to me and I could use part of my graduation money for something that, while frivolous in a way, would make me happier than anything I could possibly need (and most things that I want). Thus is the allure of art. No sooner than the day after I had decided to subscribe did I get an e-mail from the ever generous LHH with the subject of “i’m about to make your day.” I open it to read this (hope you don’t mind I’m posting this):

“I broke down and subscribed to something very exciting. you may be able to guess. It is for us to share, but your half of it (which you may choose) is a gift from me to you. The subscription will be delivered to you in Omaha, NE. I don’t know what’s gotten into me, but I just wanted to do it. hopefully you will receive installment #1 within the next few weeks. Hopefully it will inspire you.”

Well, I received it, I love it and I am inspired. Thank you, Laura! It is awesome. It felt like Christmas day to me, but without the annoyance of having to get up at 7 am. In addition to being overjoyed at finding such a large piece of mail for me on my front step (one of the most exciting things to have happen), I feel extremely lucky to have such thoughtful and generous friends like you. I’m feeling so fortunate and warm hearted that I have actually deliberated for the past 2 minutes about writing, “That is the true gift” after that last sentence. I’m serious. But I could only hear Sharon Stone saying it. So, I will keep it there as long as you all imagine her saying it (with a slight Southern twang).

Now, since I have created such a mystery over what is exactly in the tube, and I am failing to deliver the photographic goods due to my impatience with the computer taking forever to load one specific photo (really, the money shot) for some reason, you’ll have to go here to see The Thing. It’s like an online scavenger hunt. Enter the secret password and then scroll down to see something beautiful and vinyl.

A lot of exciting things have happened since I last posted. I went to L.A. I returned to Omaha. I made a pillow. I watched 24. I took photos. I finished watching Season 1 of 30 Rock. I watched the premiere of The Office. I laughed. I saw Clark Duke from Clark and Michael. I almost finished Eats, Shoots & Leaves by Lynne Truss. I read interesting articles on Leica cameras, a man with a rare and debilitating form of amnesia, and the woman who started Paper magazine. I tried on Clarks shoes and broke my other new shoes in.

I saw a lot of friends. I/we hung out. I/we danced. I/we listened to music. I/we ate a lot of good food. I/we had Pinkberry. I/we took walks with Rufus and went to the dog park. I hung out with Sylvia and Zelda. I could tell they missed me.

I am too exhausted, I think, to post many photos. However, I will leave you with a photo that gives off a feeling of L.A. as I feel it. You feel me?