All and all, I'd say things have been going well here. My father's surgery was successful- he's up and walking around without pain for the first time in a very long while. Dave came to visit me for a few days, which was exciting. I took him downtown, which was really the first time I've ever explored that area of the city. Sad, I know. We wandered the area, checking out little shops and art galleries.

Then, we stumbled upon the greatest little secret ever- Eclectic Bookshop. The entire shop had to be smaller than my own bedroom, but it was stuffed from floor to cieling with rare books. I was so excited! I found Ferlinghetti's sequel to A Coney Island of the Mind, A Far Rockaway of the Heart, in HARDBACK for 4.98. Even my dad has never seen any of the Beats work in hardback before, so he understood why I bought it as a second copy.

I've been working for the past couple of weeks at a Courtyard by Marriott, which is a hotel chain, at the front desk. It's not really my cup of tea. I find it difficult to relate to my coworkers because they're nearing their forties and very few of them finished high school. I sympathize for them because while this is a summer gig for me, this is their life.

I'm in the process of burning all of my music onto CDs. It's quite an ordeal. My music library has grown to over 5,000 songs. I'm really trying to broaden the genre of music that I listen to which is mostly Indie rock/pop, but I'm trying to get into the older stuff. Suggestions?

I just found Neko Case (who also sings with The New Pornographers).