plague of ladybugs

i don't know where they're all coming from, but my sunny bay window is crawling with em. a few times a day i'll go around with a juice glass and piece of cardboard and do a round of capture-and-flick out an open window. i used to love ladybugs when i was little. collected them in jars and fingerpainted pictures of them obsessively. is this a sort of housewarming?

yesterday i took my car in for an oil change to the local volvo shop. as at almost every single volvo shop ever – and trust me, i know after four volvos and mechanics in six cities – the guys in the shop were very friendly and cool. they even offered loaner cars for free as long as you kept the tank reasonably topped up. so, off i went to run some errands in this solid, heavy, black 850, and i noticed a bumper sticker on the back. it featured a graphic of dubya with an appropriately stupid expression on his face, and it read: COKED-OUT DRAFT DODGERS FOR JESUS. thus begins my happy relationship with my new volvo shop.

aimee mann was interviewed on city arts & lectures the other night (unfortunately, you have to actually catch these shows when they're broadcast as they don't offer podcasts). i want to be her. no, no – if i ever got serious about music, i would want to sound like her. and she seemed like someone i would love to have a drink with, who was clever and funny and not apologizing for being bitter but making light of it. her interviewer (some dude) was sort of giggly and dumb about the whole thing and didn't know what she was talking about half the time, but i reckon i would've been in the same boat were i in his place. she's playing in boulder in december and i'll be gone. she's also playing at bimbo's in SF for two nights! go in my place, please please please!

bright, waning, almost-full moon tonight. beautiful.