I promised you forty straight days of blogging to close out 2007, and dudes, consider day one delivered. Although it has been a challenge. Computer hogs, a lack of wireless access, and non-stop jibba-jabba here at my mom’s house in Grand Rapids, Michigan, have derailed me all day long. And now I’m in a pumpkin pie coma.

And so sluggishly I say: As you will learn in the new epilogue for the paperback version of Perfect From Now On: How Indie Rock Saved My Life (to be published March 4, 2008), I claim full responsibility for My Bloody Valentine getting back together and potentially putting out an album of unreleased material. My long, rambling, chiding open letter to Kevin Shields imploring him to re-form MBV, pronto, obviously had the desired effect. Now if he’d only announce some American shows…

I am thankful for many things, most notably my ability to take two-hour naps every goddamn afternoon. But I’m also grateful that Simon & Schuster has — drum roll, please — agreed to publish my next book, THE OLD MAN AND THE SWAMP, which largely concerns the bizarre snake-hunting trip I recently took with my dad. Since I’m nowhere near finished with the manuscript, there’s no publication date (prediction: January 2010). I’m thinking that the word “pantaloons” should appear once in the finished book. Who’s with me?

Anyway, thirty-nine more posts to go in 2007. Here’s hoping that whatever you’re eating today — turkey, ToFurkey, TurDucKen or clams Casino — doesn’t have that day-old-sock taste.

WHY I’M ANGRY TODAY
I just got housed in Trivial Pursuit by three other teams. Final score: 6-3-2-0. I got zero pie pieces!