so that ellis reading was slightly less fun than the klosterman one mostly because ellis is more intense and less talkative and funny, but still it was a relief in a way to see that in person he isn’t some creepy maniac who might just be writing about the murders he truly wishes he could commit in real life. of course, reading my new signed copy of lunar park might sway my opinion more in the opposite direction since he wrote himself as the main character… but mostly i’m just hoping that i’m not as disappointed with it as dom said i would be. i take it as a bad sign though that the back cover of the dust jacket only has blurbs about his other books and not this one. is that supposed to convey a ‘you’ll just have to find out yourself!’ message of mystery, instead of a ‘no one really dug this book enough to praise it’ one? because if so, i am not yet convinced.

sunset junction was pretty enjoyable saturday, even if the first few hours were a bit hot and the first few bands a bit boring. i really like carnival atmospheres though because as jessica said, people are just walking around in good moods, not in a hurry, just enjoying the day. of course, another fun part was because as josh said, ‘there were some real freaky-deaky people out there’, which was even better. they ranged nicely from the sexy fashion do’s to the nearly nauseating fashion don’t’s, which made it all the more fun to just sit on a curb with a smoothie people-watching. the rilo kiley set was pretty good too even if we couldn’t see very well, and seeing the walkmen fumble amongst technical difficulties was pretty funny, especially when they singer threw his gum at the sound guy off stage right. not sure if he actually hit him or not but boy was he acting like a spoiled rockstar.

lastly: did anyone else subject themselves to the mtv video music awards last night? sure, the stage was the most elaborate and expensive looking thing in awards show history, but am i wrong in thinking that p. diddy — i’m sorry, just saying ‘diddy’ is somehow even more juvenile than his prior nickname, and i just can’t bring myself to do it — was also the most boring host in award show history? he’s constantly pausing like we’re hanging on his every word when in fact we’re sitting here wishing he would say ANYTHING funny, interesting, or even relevant. seriously, worst delivery ever, and i’m not even sure if they bothered giving him any jokes to work with. it was difficult for me to watch, and i had the help of tivo to make it seem shorter, which is sad. how could it possibly be that crappy? or am i just disconnected from today’s youth and pining for some of the 90’s craziness mtv award shows used to be famous for?