i read about the afterlife but i never really lived.

so, after...omg, probably more than a year of it sitting, neglected, on my bookshelf, i finally read middlesex. holy hell, that book was amazing. i'm killing time while i wait for my laundry, so i'm typing this on my phone so i can't link or include any kind of excerpt, but it's about a hermaphrodite who's raised as a girl, until at 14 years old she finds out that biologically, she's technically male. it's fascinating and heartbreaking and sweet. even better than her story, tho, is the way the book goes back three generations in her family, to follow what happened, the specific cocktail of genes and luck and destiny that made calliope (now known as just cal) who she is. i HIGHLY recommend it.

in related news, the new entertainment weekly is all about "new classics." basically, works from the last 25 years which are already/will be considered classics in years to come. most of what they list was cool with me. pulp fiction, the simpsons, the sopranos, memento, eternal sunshine of the spotless mind, a million little pieces - in general, i thought the lists were very decent.

however! they had a reader poll asking people their favorite author. jk rowling had 46%. what! i mean, i looooove the HP series, i really do. but...46%?!? do that many people *really* think that, or do most people not read enough to have any other answer? the next highest was stephen king, with 30%, followed by, iirc, john grisham with 10%. i shouldn't be surprised - all three of them are huge-selling authors, so it makes total sense that they would top a poll like this. i still find it really blah, tho. maybe it's my fault. i'm not snobby about most things (clearly, as bandom and american idol are all i fucking talk about), but i just...i mean, BOOKS! i generally steer clear of really commercial fiction. i like books that win awards and shit. i can't imagine naming john grisham as my favorite author when people like michael chabon or alice sebold or chuck palhaniuk (or so many others) exist. and those are not obscure authors! gah.[/pointless semi-pretentious rant]

eta: disclaimer - if any of the above are your favorite author, please don't hate me! i mean, my favorite band is fall out boy, ok? i am clearly in no position to judge, lol.

livin' in a gangsta's paradise.

omg, so i need to be leaving my house but i HAD to share this. i was just in my car and i turned on the radio, and the local station is having their summerfest thing today, at which i am missing both bshorty AND metro station because i fail at life. D:

but that's not the point! so ace young is also there, and when i turned on the radio in the car they were interviewing him. and he told a story about hanging out with blake at the hotel last night, and the fire alarm goes off at like 3:30 in the morning. and they don't care if they get burned alive, apparently, because they just stayed in the room and ignored it.

so a minute or two later, they get a knock on the door, and coolio(!), who is also performing today, asks if he can hang out with them, and he sits down and is kind of rocking in place like a little kid. it turns out he was doing, ahem, SOMETHING that set off the smoke alarm, so he was hiding with them.

/o\

i lolled. a lot.