I had this funny pressure in my jaw which ebbed and swelled over the last few days, somewhat similar but probably unrelated to the pressure and aches that had plagued my nostrils and sinuses for the few days before that; the residue of my sickness. It varied from barely noticeable to more than mildly annoying. It started after I had eaten a bowl of this familia granola with really tough raisins. They were quite hard to chew and I felt for a long while after that the exhaustion of having chewed really hard. It started up again with a bagel a few days later. Alyssa asked about wisdom teeth, which I had been secretly wondering about but afraid to admit.

So, I accomplished only a small amount of the reading Thursday afternoon, just the rest of the Nuer, but nevertheless I decided to go off to Sharples with Ben and Alyssa, even though I was theoretically still supposed to meet with Roxanne in a few hours. I'm glad I went though, Sharples was quite the spectacle; total zoo, such as I haven't seen since screw last year. Of course the staff went all out, with tons of petits-fours, eclairs, strawberries, dessert fondue, little round tables in the center room and live flute/guitar muzak. Then there was the SVD massacree reenactment (which went down twice?) and the SAO auction. The auctioneer wasn't very good (or well-amplified) which was probably the reason that prices were so much lower this year. The highest was $75 for all of sixteen feet, whose performance-by-way-of-enticement was also difficult to hear over the tumult. Jocelyn, obscenely adorable with a little heart shirt, flower in hair, and holding Prof. Ghannam's cherubic little baby (whose cheeks were as pink as anything in the room), went for $40 to Matt Rubin. I might have bid on her if I'd had any money on me, but I kept my hands free of the whole affair and just enjoyed the show (unlike last year when I made a couple of timid, clandestine bids.) Michelle was there and delivered my two poems, poorly typed out on crisp red paper. Alex Edleson said he'd had a hand in part of each.

Came home and delivered Joel's (excellently rhymed - Blecherino and Cappucino - but not really metrical at all) and dashed right back off, to McCabe, late for Roxanne. It went fine anyway; she had done more of the reading than I did, but I ended up coming up with most of the questions and the structure for the discussion. She seems to have a decent handle on the stuff, so that should combine nicely with my bunch of pointed uncertainties. She typed it up, a bit simply, adding a vegan query (guess nobody is?) and sent it off. Back here, soon joined by Alyssa, with whom we selected titles for the Reality is Lubricated Special Valentine's Day Broadcast.

It was terrific (I thought); and we have a perfect all-encompassing love mixtape to show for it now, even with great cover art (a small size version of the poster.) It is to some extent a cobbling together of other love tapes I've made in the past, but with lots of good new additions, plus Alyssa's input. Only a few callers - Joel commending a transition, Branen praising the Moldy Peaches but unable to accept the tickets - but we had a full-on visit in the studio: from crazy-daisy Liz and her gruff Audio-Rescue-Squad gennelmun-friend (who didn't seem too happy to be there.) She offered me cookies from a tray downstairs, and he poked through the records library. We read the SCW ode to SRN on the air. Lots of good banter too; plus a couple fun mistakes. Anyway, here's what we played, as copied from our script-fonted playlist:

Oooweeoooh! Oooh! Oooh!
“Grandpa” Myron (Mike) “The Moose” Cantor - As Time Goes By

Blur - Tender
XTC - I’d Like That
Björk - Like Someone in Love
[flubbed announcement - mic set on cue] [radio silence]
Paul Simon - For Emily, Wherever I Will Find Her
[apology to the listenerhip, repeat of set rundown]

The Old 97’s - Question
The Beach Boys - God Only Knows
The Kinks - Everybody’s Gonna Be Happy

The Fairways - Close to Me
The Pixies - La La Love You

The Sam Cooke - Medley: Try a Little Tenderness/(I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons/You Send Me (live)
Prince - Kiss
[clarification from Alyssa about it being a song about sex]
Randy Newman - Falling in Love
[A n ODE to WSRN]
Joni Mitchell - A Case of You
Plastic Fantastic Machine - Love is Psychedelic
Jeff Magnum - I Love How You Love Me

Joe Jackson - Be My Number Two
R.E.M. - At My Most Beautiful
Pain - One-Legged Girl
[a little show here for people from Alyssa]
Kings Of Convenience - I Don’t Know What I Can Save You From
Pizzicato Five - Baby Love Child

The Moldy Peaches - Anyone Else But You
[apology to all the non-{Moldy Peaches Fans} in the audience]
The Aretha Franklin - I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)
Joe Henry - Scar
The Shins - New Slang (When You Notice the Stripes)

Buddy Holly - True Love Ways
The Yo La Tengo - The You Can Have it All
Jonathan Richman - When She Kisses Me
Ella Fitzgerald - Something’s Gotta Give
Chet Baker - My Funny Valentine
The Big Star - I’m In Love With A Girl
[Alyssa's declaration of love]

Nat King Cole - The Very Thought of You
Billy Bragg - Valentine’s Day is Over

Afterwards, we had a lovely little chat with Brigid-san, over an absolutely ridiculous Swarthmore College valentine/donation solicitating card. Checked mail again, to find the card from Becca, figuring the windows of her heart. And my first conversation (I think) with Jackie A., in parlors.

Well I don't believe in love
Until I'm in love.