terry gross is my hero

Yes, among other people, Terry Gross is my hero. She’s the host of Fresh Air on NPR—an interview-based show that explores writers, actors, musicians, politicians, historians, scientists, you name it. No matter who’s on the show—could be Dick Cheney, could be the lead singer of Fall Out Boy—it’s interesting. She gets right to the bottom of something and seems to coax forth surprising revelations from her interviewees. Deep and fundamental stuff, things maybe they didn’t even know about themselves until just now, when Terry somehow made them articulate it.

Now, I’ve done an interview or two in my time, but I cannot claim to be good at them. They’re unnerving and unquestioningly difficult, plus, there’s tons of research to be done so that you can truly explore the subject. People are often on the defensive, so lots of work goes into making them feel at ease, and so on and so forth. Anyway, Terry is the master.

Here are some recent snippets that I enjoyed. Um, enjoy!

"Monk": A New Look At An American Original : I'm not a jazz aficionado (or even a fan, really), but genius is genius....

Eugene Hütz, Gogol Bordello's Gypsy-Punk Hero: This guy is a bad ass, just watch Everything Is Illuminated.

Songs Of Survival And Reflection: "At The Cut": A conversation with Vic Chesnutt. I listened to this and felt like my life was easy and I had nothing to fucking complain about.

Wes Anderson Covers New Ground With "Mr. Fox": He's a strange comic puppet master and I am a huge fan. The Darjeeling Limited? A perfect movie.

Judd Apatow On The Alchemy Of "Funny People": Judd Apatow—this is what happens to nerds when they grow up.

The Art of Laying Around

It's wednesday morning, fiercely blue skies over an eye-watering northeast wind, and I'm as hyped as physically possible, sitting here in the basement of Nemo Design, Portland, Oregon, United States, Earth, Milky Way, Universe. Some things to report: I've been uncompromisingly lazy as of late. When not working, I do nothing. This weekend, I spent four hours straight just breathing in air.

Here's how Lance makes apple pie. The main ingredient—it's not apples, no, I'd say more accurately that the main ingredient is butter. Best pie ever.

My big sister is an artist. Did you know that? Here are some of my faves. Go here to see more and ... who knows? Maybe make a purchase? The holidays are coming, after all.

Me Too?

"June 30: Renée bakes a prune pie. An experiment. I read Burton on 'Heroical Love.' The days sail by with alarming speed; why this headlong descent into oblivion? What's the rush? Sinking comfortably into the sloth and decay of my middle middle age, I am brought up short nevertheless, now and then, by the alarming realization that all men, so far, have proved mortal. Me too?"

Five Morning Songs

Songs for Sunday, in bed, with a laptop to warm the legs.

1. Scott Walker, "30th Century Man" 2. The Magnetic Fields, "Torn Green Velvet Eyes" 3. Bob Dylan, "I Want You" 4. Cave Singers, "Cold Eye" 5. The Smith Westerns, "Be My Girl"

Wagon Wheels

Traveling is good for the soul. As is the drive from Reno to Mammoth Lakes. Three hours of rolling sagebrush, gnarled trees, and purple peaks. However, beware of the law enforcement. Although California had to issue IOUs for their tax returns this year, they have plenty of money to post highway patrol every ten miles on remote highways. But now that I think about it, that's how they make all their damn money. They made some off me! 65 mph in a 55 zone. Your welcome, Arnold! Don’t spend it all in one place.

Wheelies and linking turns with Fast, Welhausen, and Hamilton. It's great, you ride up on a chairlift and then slide down on the snow.

Mammoth is an active super volcano. You can smell the sulfur on the way up the gondola.

Joe Carlino made it his business to learn how to make caesars last time he was in Canada. Vodka, Clamato (tomato juice + clam juice), horse radish, etc etc ... I don't know what-all. Annie tried to get Joe to teach her, but he claims, "It's a lot of ingredients you havta just feel out ..." I took pleasure in the tangy deliciousness and tried not to think about the clam juice.

We lurked. We talked about how to do what we do better, and we made big plans. Lots more work coming down the pipeline. Lots more items to be put on a massive list and then crossed off.

The road back to Reno. More glassy mountain lakes with 14,000-footers off in the distance. More birds of prey on fence posts. More cops.