"There's a little extra for a barley pop."

Tonight was a little scary. I was driving home from yet another job-scouting trip and my car took a massive twosie in the middle of the road. As a Pontiac police officer put it, my car just "kaput-ed" on me. I am grateful that I was able to inch into the turning lane, that I had a charged cell phone on my person, and that I am a AAA cardholder. THAT SAID, being stuck in a non-functioning automobile in the middle of a neighborhood with which I am not familiar, at night, with rain coming down, and too many news stories about violent crime in Pontiac-- it was a little too bad-horror-film for me. The towtruck driver, Mark, was friendly albeit really f-ing talkative. (On the real, I know more about Mark than I do about a few people who I've known for years...and my relationship with Mark had a 35-minute duration, maximum. Interesting tidbit: Mark holds four college degrees, served in covert ops for a while, was a cop for 6 years, and is no longer interested in a life that requires him to cut his hair. I'm generally a fan of Mark.) I have no idea what is wrong with the Cruiser-- as though I needed one more reason to yearn for residency in a city with awesome public transit. One last comment on my little excursion tonight-- apparently cops refer to beers as "barley pops". Colorful addition to the DKM lexicon, I think!

I made a visit to the recently renovated Bloomfield Township Public Library. Wowza. It is wonderful. I already cracked 2 of the books I borrowed, and at this point, I'm recommending both. One is a collection of feminist essays from Bitch Magazine-- it's called Bitchfest. After getting past Margaret Cho's disappointing foreward, there are some really enjoyable reads. The magazine is really a gem. Before I began reading it on a regular basis, I was afraid that it would be chockfull of ridiculous, militant feminist polemic-- I was pleasantly surprised to find some fantastic essays and a well-composed publication. Each issue centers around a broad theme, and each essay tackles that theme from a specific angle. My favorite essays are those that put popular culture on trial, and challenge the reader to see the diurnal from a more critical standpoint. Here's a spoiler: most of the contributors love Gilmore Girls and Tina Fey. So, I was a goner from the get-go!

The other book I'm reading is Life's a Campaign by Chris Matthews. I take issue with Matthews' interviewing style sometimes, but the book is enjoyable so far. It's like Dale Carnegie was transported into the modern day, got real, read a few issues of Vanity Fair, learned how to name-drop, and fell in love with American government. It's funny, though: instead of hearing Matthews' voice when I read each passage, I hear Josh Lyman's. [Note to reader: if you don't know who Josh Lyman is, please contact me immediately. And may God have mercy on your soul.]

I'll amend my opinions should either book take a turn for the boring or contrived. Off to bed I go-- *.