Joshua Thorin Messer

I meant to write about this long, long ago. I went to see Tricky @ “The Music Box at the Ford Theater” (not sure what that’s all about). Tricky put on a wonderful show, as expected. It was moving, entertaining, and inspiring.

But the opener We Are The World must not be missed if you have the opportunity to see them live. Now, I don’t know if I would pop in a CD alone at home and listen to it…but I will take every single chance I get to see them perform. It’s indescribable. It is madness. Sheer beauty. Deeply, deeply moving. Startling. Heart-rending. Spooky. Terrifying. Transcendent.

I liked them.

And it turns out they’re based just up the street in Echo Park. How cool is that?

I can only describe the music as “industrial” with a dollop of dancey. It reminded me of Front 242. I’ve heard the choreography (if that’s what it is…) described as “African”, the word I would use is “Haunting”. And I would swear the dancers have studied the Suzuki method. The one for actors, not the violin lessons for fetuses.

So the other day, I was making myself a “snack”: A cucumber, some cottage cheese, a little celery with peanut butter. And I got really, really excited when I remembered I had and could use the ‘good salt’:

I would link you to Le Saunier de Camargue’s website, but it’s a Flash monstrosity and I have my standards.

And I mean I got giddy-type excited. Like “jumping up and down and clapping” excited. For those that know me, this (being happy, also, demonstrating happiness) might strike you as absurdly out of character. It did me. But, I’ve been finding myself in all kinds of non-usual emotional states lately since I discovered my latest massive, massive internet crush: Ms. Havi Brooks and Selma. Who is fucking awesome. And from A2. And awesome. I wish I was the one who called her “human catnip” (and whoever beat me to it, you’re on my list, mister/miss/misses). So applying what I have learned in my short time quietly going mad with admiration for Havi and maniacally devouring every word she has written on her blog, I decided to allow it.

On a related note, WTF kind of a snack is a cucumber, cottage cheese, and celery? I can’t explain, but I kind of love it and again, I am going to allow it. To drink? The most awesome molecule ever. H₂O.

This movie is so exactly me I now want to cry a little bit.

via Coudal Partners

I just blogged to say I tweeted. ‘Nuff said.

Serendipity: Today, kottke.org noticed a couple of people thinking about what’s happened or going to happen to SE Michigan (A/K/A Detroit, apparently…)

Detroit doesn’t seem to have the required ingredients (being a place rich people want to live…) but maybe it could turn itself into a major tech hub?

Paul Graham’s advice to would-be startup hubs.

Paul doesn’t seem to think Detroit would have an easy time of it, but I can’t think of anything that would be easier to turn Michigan around. The investment would be almost entirely in brains, not in big depreciating machinery and the like.

I certainly think my home state needs to find something to do with itself besides the past strategy of “Make cars, only cars, and just cars”.

Moments ago, I awoke from an eight-year nightmare.

So this is about the coolest thing I’ve ever seen:

Yes, I’m a geek. But now I’m a geek novelist. Stick that in your pipe and smoke it.

Fuck you, literature. I just wrote a book in 30 days!

I win!

Now all I have to do is type everything up, flush everything out, and make it into a real book. But, I now have 50,000 words to work on perfecting and I didn’t before.

So fucking close. Techically, it’s day 30…but for me I’m still awake from day 29. Must rock out 5k or so tomorrow. Gonna have to take it in two shifts. And gonna have to not get totally fucked up on bourbon and stay up till 2am, I have a job and have to be in to work for 8am Monday…