I find myself in the lobby of The Arlington Hotel.

JFK and Al Capone have found themselves here too.

It is creepy nostalgia at its best.

Alright, this is the coolest thing. The elevators here, of which one is still operated by a human, all have clock looking things above them. They turn as the elevator moves marking the floor of the lift. So, essentially, I can sit here in the lobby and tell which floor people go to.

There is nothing as nostalgic as the plumbing. This morning the sink wouldn’t drain, the toilet wouldn’t flush, and the shower wouldn’t turn on all at once. The fire-starter electrical fixtures take a close second. The rooms have 81/2 by 11 dimmer switch plates with knobs proportionally as large. Very dramatic and absurd.

Mineral spirits and a massage might be in my future. This is one place you are supposed to drink the water. They say don’t eat the ice though.

For those of you following my every music whim, the new James McMurtry CD came out today, tax day. Just Us Kids has been previewed for several weeks on myspace and from what I hear, I like. I haven’t gotten around to downloading my copy yet at emusic.com but hope to tomorrow or at least by the time we head back up the hill.

I am beyond jealous of my true heart attending the Counting Crows with Lucas, Aaron, and Diane tomorrow night at Liberty Hall. Who would have ever believed the CC’s would be playing Liberty. With any luck I will get to Little Rock tomorrow night to see Chris Knight.

I would rather see him.

I really want to see the Crows though.

I might stay here.

I will keep you posted.

www.LitTunes.com is translated: http://www.kindsein.com/es/25/7/593/

G

Or is it Blaine Younger?

It seems our friend Aaron Traffas has been a bit of a blogging machine of late. Maybe he is a Massey and will never quit. If this is the blogging championship, he will surely throw a bearing and spark the field afire, ruining his chances of ever matching the G blog.

I am happy to report I too was watching KU dismantle, uh, Memphis on Monday…in Lawrence…and yes, I was one 45,000 people on Mass Street at midnight. Spectacular. If I had even minimal photo editing skills I would send some grist captured through the lens of my camera that night. I am sure you can YouTube it for hours.

Speaking of that colossal time suck, I spent most of the afternoon working and listening to a Scott Miller show on there. Neat stuff. Check out Scott Miller Studio 865.

“My old man could be your dad’s old man/ he lied about his age so he could fight Japan…”

If you get a chance, check out “The Calm” by a friend of mine down here at www.myspace.com/jivetownjimmy

Sad. Depressing. Beautfiul.

I realize this has turned into a rambling of sorts. Sorry for you linear types out there. For the spastic-random, you should be right with me.

Heading to Hot, Hot, Hot Springs tomorrow for a three day writing retreat. I am responsible. Scary.

Better get back to work.

“The reflection keeps me facing the other way.”

G

While the title of this post is heard often as a reference to the university where I teach, today I write from Washington D.C.

I have just finished the National Writing Project’s Spring Meeting which included, amongst other things, visits to the offices of senators and representatives from Arkansas.

That was most enjoyable. There were a lot of people in the buildings who seemed pretty stressed and overwhelmed. The young people stood out to me as well. I am certain most of the country runs on the very handsome and beautiful shoulders of the twenty-something crowd. Vibrant and alive indeed.

We were here asking for continued funding for the National Writing Project, which, for those of you keeping score at home, is the largest and longest teacher professional development program in the history of the United States. We have a pretty easy sell but a necessary one too.

In the vein of the writing project, I thought it would be good to write. I have a few stories as I always do.

Certainly, the highlight of the trip played out on stage last night. Teller from Penn and Teller is the co-director and co-creator of Macbeth at the Folger’s Library Theatre here in Washington. I was so fortunate to happen into a ticket yesterday to this otherwise sold out show and am going to try to go back tonight and fight my way into the door.

It was fabulous. The typical Shakespearean elements of sex and violence were futher stimulated by ghosts, magic, sex, violence, and enough fake blood to require the stage to be hosed after the show. Gory.

Magical illusions, rapping witches, and arm breaking realistic enough to send several little kids shrieking out of the theatre should give you a taste of what I witnessed last night. No cameras were allowed, however, so I am not able to share but words.

We had more meetings today and I fly back tomorrow. I have another story of the sad type to relate but it will have to wait as I have to leave this post.

Hope all is well. Thanks to those who joined us, both in person and online, last Saturday at Bobby T’s. It was a glorious reunion.

Chris