a rosy-fingered dawn in Toastville

Things are beginning to take shape, roll forward. Steve and I are nearly done with the first Montana & McDeviltoast song "Punishment Horse," a Devo-esque tune with a catchy chorus melody. When we were at the Ilove show at the Southgate House, people asked if we were performing, which was flattering after such an absence. And dammit, had we known about it we could have done a Hogscraper tune in homage. Meadoe did a Haywards song, and Lumens did my favorite Afghan Whigs. I got to see Chocolate Horse reprise their Michael McDonald personas from the 80's show and do "Taking It to the Streets." Crazy costumes and throwing food; the ghosts of Fudgie and Fufu were beaming. Well, perhaps just Fudgie.

Lisa told me that David spoke highly of me and was sad I was going to China, which was reassuring. To that I answered, "Well, he could have picked up the phone and said it to me." Another bit of closure and justification before my birthday. A couple people came up to me and told me they enjoyed reading my journals. Seems my readership is more vast than I realized. It's both flattering and a little eerie.

Last night, Steve, Gabe and I went down to Cooper's on Main to sing karaoke. It was a blast. Their selection kicks ass and at the beginning of the night it was none too crowded, so we got to sing about five times. I believe it may be our new Shirley's for Sunday nights. I did all new first-time songs including Muse "Time is Running Out," Radiohead's "Paranoid Android" (which I was absolutely stunned they had) Queen's "Bicycle Race," and David Bowie's "Space Oddity."

Monday and Tuesday I'm going to be working on a commercial for MTV's VMAs as a production assistant, which means I'll be shoveling sand for the mock-beach. I had run into Molly at Lite Brite and she got me hooked up with the PA gigs again. The bad news is the pay won't arrive for about a month, a check-in-the-mail type of deal, but at least I won't feel idle and useless.

I emailed Rose about teaching again this September (just in case things really go pants in Cincinnati) and in her cute broken English wrote:

Hello,Willis (just like class 8) Very glad to hear from you.It is summer vocation now.I relax myself at home.I came to school this morning and found your E-mail.I am very happy to have you work with us.But I have to ask Principal Shen.He is now studying in Naijing.Tomorrow I will go to Hainan Island.I won't be back until 14th of this month.Would you please wait for my answer? Rose

Adorable. Even if nothing comes out of it, it's making me feel better to have that "out." If I did another stint in China I would be able to save more money this time around. I wouldn't travel as much and wouldn't accumulate so many presents. Could I go back after only such a short time in the states? Certainly. I'd have Rhys and Jeni to hang with, as well as the new teachers in Haimen. Another year of teaching experience would beef up my resume, and I would learn a lot more Chinese. This is a back-up plan, and one reliant on whether things just absolutely don't work out here. In a week or two I might have a better idea about things. Giving myself options helps.