Nancy Rommelmann

Starfucker? PYRAMIDDD? Starfucker? PYRAMIDD?

You want to hear how cool Ryan Biornstad [blue vest], singer/guitarist/keyboardist of the band PYRAMIDD, formerly Starfucker, and current barista at Ristretto Roasters is? I worked with him ALL YESTERDAY MORNING, the day there was an article about his band changing its name ON THE FRONT PAGE OF THE NEWSPAPER [note: for reasons unknown, NOT on the Oregonian website yet], and he said not one word about it, not one little peep. Whereas when I have an article on the front page of the paper, I ANNOUNCE IT WITH GREAT FREQUENCY, while trying to appear humble as I BREAK OUT THE BASS DRUM and (boom!) once again slip in that I have an article on the front page of the motherfucking paper!

Ryan didn't say a word.

Anyway, the band is great and getting very successful (not that this equals success but: one of their songs is now running on a Target commercial; yeah, you know you've heard it), and they really did run into trouble when called Starfucker, people not writing about them or booking them. I think this is idiotic, but it was a fact. Ryan and I talked about it a bunch of times; talked about his impatience with having to come up with a new name. Not that he was opposed, just, there were so many other things he'd rather be doing.

Including going on tour again next month, this time in Europe. We adore Ryan, adore adore adore. Yay PYRAMIDD or whatever you're called xxx

Secrets of Adulthood

My friend Gretchen Rubin's new book, The Happiness Project, is available for pre-order. I haven't spent a lot of time on her Happiness Project website, but each time I do, I either nod my head; think what a wonderful thing she's doing; cry, recommit to what it is I'm trying to do, or all of the above. It all seems so simple, doesn't it?

Gretchen likes lists. So do I. One of hers, below.

Here are my Secrets of Adulthood. Although these items may not seem particularly profound, each one was a revelation when I finally figured it out:

The days are long, but the years are short.

Someplace, keep an empty shelf.

Turning the computer on and off a few times often fixes a glitch.

It's okay to ask for help.

You can choose what you do; you can't choose what you LIKE to do.

Happiness doesn't always make you feel happy.

What you do EVERY DAY matters more than what you do ONCE IN A WHILE.

You don't have to be good at everything.

Soap and water removes most stains.

It's important to be nice to EVERYONE.

You know as much as most people.

Over-the-counter medicines are very effective.

Eat better, eat less, exercise more.

What's fun for other people may not be fun for you -- and vice versa.

People actually prefer that you buy wedding gifts off their registry.

Houseplants and photo albums are a lot of trouble.

If you're not failing, you're not trying hard enough.

No deposit, no return.

On Humility

Lifted whole cloth from Jackie Danicki's site. Alice's wisdom matches my own experience; may I have the patience to live it:

             On Humility

Is there any possible argument that some of us, being ill-educated in certain areas, should simply back off and be humble? I find myself less and less inclined to keep up with the ins and outs of politics, for instance. I know comparatively nothing about several major religions, and am totally uninterested in anything but the most popular, gripping science. So I won’t be attacking any of those groups. In general, if you’re criticising any enormous group of millions of people (Americans, Jews, Blacks, Gays, Theists) your generalisations are probably going to be (a) a waste of time and (b) superficial. The wrong focus, I would say.

-Alice Bachini-Smith

Profile of a Defense Attorney

Hi! Remember me? I remember you, and fondly, and think about you more than you know, and how remiss I have been. I have no good excuse, but for work, and travel for work, and making travel plans for Panama, and Tulsa. Oh, and I do have swine flu right now, which might cut me a little break.

Anyway.

As readers know, I have been writing for some time about Amanda Jo Stott-Smith, the mother accused of forcing her two young children off the Sellwood Bridge here in Portland on May 23. I am in the process of putting together a book about this incident, and the people I have come into contact with, by design and though kismet, is extraordinary. One of whom I've pursued, spent a great deal of time with and will spend more time with, is Stott-Smith's defense attorney Kenneth Hadley, whose only clients are those facing the death penalty. Some job, huh? While I know Hadley will have good deal more room in the book, in the meantime, I have written a profile of him for the Oregonian. It runs tomorrow, cover of the Sunday Metro section, which, as my editor said, is the second-best piece of real estate in the paper, after Sunday A1.

Throw Pillow Fight

Are you watching reason.tv? You should be. I particularly enjoyed this interior design segment, if mostly for the fetching way with which Nick Gillespie spruces up his couch. And while my brother insists self-praise is no praise, I am proud enough to mention I have a feature in an upcoming issue of reason magazine.

The Dissidents' War: Michael Totten Interviews Tom Ricks

One thing I love about being in Portland is meeting all the writers that pass through on book tour. Amongst my pals Michael Totten, Joel Millman (staff reporter for the Wall Street Journal) and myself, one of us is sure to know or have communicated with or write in the same arena as or want to meet so badly the writer says, "Sure!", and we all wind up having drinks, before or after their readings at Powell's.

Such was the case last week, when Tom Ricks was in town. Ricks, formerly with the Washington Post, is the author of Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq, and most recently, The Gamble. We sat in a bar near Powell's for 90 minutes before he read, talking mostly about the Middle East, but also a little about ancient Rome, the history of which Ricks' has been reading as a reward to himself for finishing the book, but the length of which is driving his editor batty.

"I think," said Ricks, "he'd rather see me writing."

Michael had a chance to interview Ricks, said interview of which appears here.