Fortuna Faveat... may fortune favor us

Shannon smells like teen spirit!

Please join me in celebrating the birth of my younger sister, Shannon. She turns 20 years old today! That’s right, no longer a teenager. To celebrate, we shall all bask in the glory of her grunge youth. Doesn’t she look straight out of Seattle, circa 1992? Classic. Hoch sol Sie leben, dreimal hoch, hoch hoch hoch! You can leave your birthday well-wishes for her in the comments section.

The weather in Kansas has turned towards the coveted chill of late fall. The wind has whipped most leaves out of the trees, creating agnostic whirling dervishes all across the lawns. It makes me want to curl up in a window with a mug of hot tea and watch the dance of the dead leaves…and now I’ve got the perfect soundtrack to do just that.

Over the past few days, I’ve been on a reconnection binge with old friends and that turned up a great find from my friend and ethnic Kansan Alex Kissel. As you know, I am fond of pointing you in the direction of my friends that busy themselves by creating things for the rest of us to enjoy. His band, The Resurrectionists, has a new album entitled Here Hope Flows Like Blood From the Nose. It has been described as being “for those who prefer their Americana with a side order of strangeness,” and while that seems apt, I prefer to simply call it “American Gothic”. At least that’s how it will be labeled in my music collection once my CD arrives.

It has hints of Sixteen Horsepower and Tom Waits, but these guys hoe their own road. Listen to “Jersey Devil” below and imagine your nose filled with the scent of burning leaves and blowing flurries. Then, check out more tracks on their MySpace page. If you are lucky enough to be in the Boston area tomorrow night (Saturday, November 22), they are playing at The Lizard Lounge in Cambridge. I highly recommend checking them out, live, loud, or preferably both.

My friend Nate had the good fortune of being in Grant Park last Tuesday evening. He scored a ticket and made his way through the throngs to bear witness to history. He is a gifted writer and precisely the kind of person we all want witnessing history as it unfolds. Take a look at his experience.

My friend (and former student) Nathan Rodriguez has a measured and well-written look at the VP debate over at the Talking Points Memo Cafe. Support another Kansan who is out there thinking and writing, won’t you?

I have an anonymous friend who has commented here under the name “Perhaps a sample of one was too small…“. He is a loan officer at a local bank and had this breaking news to report shortly after the House of Representatives passed (and Bush signed) the Bailout today:

I have been face deep in the awfulness of work and didn’t realize the bailout (complete with enough pork to feed the gentiles of this world for a decade) had passed. But things are starting to make sense.

I couldn’t figure out why, but about an hour ago money started flying from the teller drawers and shooting from my disk drive. Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth (or be too concerned with the textbook definition of “theft”) I immediately scooped some up, bought 20 Alt-A mortgages, packaged them, sold them for 3 times what they’re worth, and borrowed against my future earnings. Mortimer, we’re back!!!Anonymous
Loan Officer

I’ve pointed out my good friend Joel’s poetry before and he is at it again. This time, Joel has three pieces published in the October issue of the North Carolina regional mag, The Blotter. Check out the entire mag at their site, or you can download a PDF of the October issue. Keep up the good work, Joel!

My friend Simran has a great post about offshore drilling over at The Huffington Post. She brings hard facts to the whirling dervish that is Sarah Palin’s “reform”, a welcome change from the political dreck and inarticulate acceptance that the mainstream media keeps circulating for public consumption. Head over there and keep the conversation going! Keep up the good work, Sim!

My good friend Joel has one of his poems, “He was from Wisconsin“, published in the current issue of the webzine Zygote In My Coffee. Remember his name, folks. There is a deep well of greatness there.

My cousin Kat (yes, with a “K”! Way to fact-check, NPR!) is a doctoral student at UCLA and, evidently, a folklorist! She was interviewed for a piece on American Idol by NPR’s Kim Masters. It aired yesterday morning and you can listen to the story here. Way to go, Kat! Keep up the excellent opining! Perhaps one day soon I can get you to start writing a column here?

Kevin, rocking the fancy coat!

Please join me in celebrating the birth of my younger brother, Kevin. He turns 24 years old today and has decided it is time to graduate (so he can go to grad school)! He is putting on his fancy coat and heading out. Hoch sol Sie leben, dreimal hoch, hoch hoch hoch!

You can leave your birthday well-wishes for him in the comments section.