Melissa Giannini

At the risk of throwing away tens of thousands of dollars spent on my journalism education, which taught me how to be an objective observer of my surroundings, I have to say: I AM SO ABSURDLY EXCITED ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED LAST TUESDAY!!!!!

I smiled so hard that night I think I might have permanently contorted my face.

But as always, good news comes tempered with bad, and as the glow subsides, we’re reminded that things are still really, really messed up. Maybe I truly am fair and balanced. And maybe my expensive journalism degree was kind of hanging in the balance anyway.

Or maybe it’s just that some friends of friends have died recently, and times are hard, and all I feel like doing anymore is giving everyone I love — and everyone I don’t love and everyone walking by on the street — a sloppy-laughing-crying-contorted-face hug that expresses all the joy and sorrow and anxiety that consumes us at this hyper-atypical moment in time. This is the closest thing I can find digitally. Karen Dalton singing “It Hurts Me Too” to a car graveyard:

Nathaniel Mayer, RIP

And this is old news at this point, but I’m psyched that the Gories are reuniting for a couple shows next summer. Apologies for this roller-coaster of a post. But holy crap. The Gories!!!