Neil got more than a few holiday wishes, look at this beautiful pile-up from an elementary school in Pico Rivera, California. a mini-styling kit came from Ying Jin in Brooklyn, for our favorite on-the-go author, with the most delicate of cards: Neil gets all manner of books sent to him, on widely varying subjects, from all points on the globe. He can't read them all, nor can he promise to. The old adage springs to mind, "you can't judge a book by its cover"-- however in this case, this new book by Rhys Thomas, sure looks interesting, holiday red & made to look old & beat-up, I plan on reading it before sending it on. Hope that's ok, Boss! and not only did the folks at The Onion send over a coffee-table beauty, they attached a 50 cent coupon for Neil's use at Joe's Cold Beverages. (I tell you, I hunted for the cents symbol on my MacBook, nope, don't see one): I made many trips to my local postoffice, sending out the little shiny green envelopes of love. I forgot how much I loved to make jewelry, thanks to all of you who ordered! And the Bengals thank you too. Many of you forgot to use your five dollar off code, it is still good until December 31st, just enter: happy_kitty when you go to check out. Look at this great photo Neil took while holding the Jim Lee 100 Words print: we had a couple shipping misshaps, but they seem to mostly be reaching destinations, everything has been shipped out now, and after the 20th, I can't positively guarantee arrival for Christmas. I do try to keep the shipping charge low, while finding pretty packing material to perk up my postal carriers...Let me know how your experience goes. There is a review section, which I have noticed Neil reads with interest from time to time. I post all reviews, good and bad, because he does like to know how things are going.

We got a spectacular letter yesterday from one Rick Woolford, and our Fabulous Lorraine blogs it in her hilarious styleHERE speaking of FabLo, I can reveal her holiday gift (not any sort of dustbin or calculator!!) to be tickets for her and Maddy to see the ever-surprising Lady Gaga. They have to travel for the show, but I feel they will have some sort of tea-fueled adventure in January.... a G-rated Thelma & Louise adventure without the the car scene, ok, maybe scrap that analogy...

At any rate, I went to Vegas to visit Drew, who is working on Gaga's tour. I am doing some of the dates, working the VIP fan club ticketing, which is an event onto itself. Her fans, or "monsters" are amazingly creative, look at this necklace: her show does not disappoint: here is a picture of a very-tired looking boyfriend, the crew is working triple-time to keep up with the daily changes: Miss AFP did a fantastic little ukelele song about herself, Gaga & Madonna, in response to what sounds like many conversations with Neil, but it seems to have been removed, hmmmm I wonder why? I have to wind this up, but I must say, I went to the Cher show at the Colosseum in Caesar's Palace, she dropped my jaw, it was one of the best shows, and I have seen many shows. My friend Steve runs her lighting deck, and Cher, in her unmistakeable style told him, he could light a toilet and make it look glamorous. He got me a great seat, thank you Steve! no cameras allowed, and I am glad, it meant I gave her my full attention, which she deserved. last thing I will say, Vegas is a funny place, not my favorite, but it grows on a girl. I rarely gamble, but I saw this Alien slotmachine at the airport as I was flying home, I bet my one dollar and won 8.98. The payout lady said, who wants pennies, and gave me the full nine dollars...I believe 2010 will be one lucky year!

All lit up like Christmas in July, it sits on the edge of a big warehouse lot. Marked only by a big Old Style sign, it brought to mind my dear old roommate Geo. Since it took me an entire three passes to park my boat-sized rental (I am used to driving baby little Ghosty) I didn’t pause long enough to get a photo of the outside. Jason Bitner, mastermind of the book, greeted me in the crowd, a confident master of the ceremony, decked in plaid. He kicked off the event with a radio show he had taped on Chicago Public Radio, which featured a discussion of the art of making a mixtape. An important question came up, whether this art is lost forever in light of electronic Genius mixes or will it experience a revival? Obviously, it has evolved. “nothing says longing better than a mixtape...” he got the idea for the book when he came across a suitcase full of cassettes that he had hung on to, with no ready means to play them. I still have a good size collection of tapes too, like him, i felt they were perfect compact “memory holders”, However, I retained my cassette player. There are tapes of my father telling me stories of his life in Greece, and mixes that I made in the old days, mixes for new love or heartache or to mark a certain time, like a tattoo. Cyn was the president of perfectly blended mixes, while I was famous for cutting off midsong, Nancye would go ballastic over my abrupt DJ style... each tape still resounds with a time from my life. “when a tape breaks, it’s a tragedy” says Jason, and he was right. Remember that crushed feeling while attempting to spool the wounded crinkly magnetic strip with a sharpened pencil back on the reel, only to have it stutter and woo on playback. (I also recall the pure magic of burning my first CD, a real landmark!) Jason called a panel of “experts” up to the stage, and they were hilarious in their memories of the do’s and don’t of mixtaping. The cleverest response of the evening was one panelist saying he would woo a girl by going to the thrift shop and buying up to fifteen “cass-singles” and taping over each one with Velvet Underground’s “I heard her call my name” and then paying a pizza man to deliver them to her house. Whether this was based in fact, i can’t be sure, but sure it stirred my heart. The recollection of waiting for a certain song on the radio to tape it, fingers paused over the record & play buttons, Jason likened it to our generations “walking four miles uphill barefoot in the snow”-- “We actually had to reach out our arms and wait...” (you kids today with your iTunes) When my tape cover was shown, the lady panelist mentioned that they had a section in her record store of spooky music, and that my tape looked like it would be full of this spooky music...Jason asked me what was the first song on the tape. I admitted to the packed house that I didn’t recall, but that he could check in the book...he did...”I put a spell on you” by Screaming Jay Hawkins. The night ended with a clever story told in post-it notes by Arthur Jones, the lost innocence of a cassette-expectation falling short. if you want to get the book, which features 60 tales of the tape by Claudia "Magnetic Fields" Gonson, Rick Moody, me and 57 others-- go HERE I am back home now, Neil's birthday was this week, and he got some presents in the mail, warm presents. these toasty mittens were made by Kate from Maryland, she says they are "for cold mornings in the gazebo.." and she offers to make miss AFP her own pair if she wishes: this came for Neil in an orange Doc Martens boots box, and while I didn't measure it, Ally from Montana claims this handknit Dr. Who-esque scarf is 20 feet long. It is beautiful in so many colors: Nat from Minnesota sends @neilhimself a beautiful bottle of honey mead: that's about it from the treehouse, tonight we are going to revisit the stomping grounds of my youth, the Rainbow on Sunset strip-- Jozie is leaving this weekend, and we are going to have an evening of it. Drew is working on the Lady Gaga rehearsals so I think it will be girls night. Those reports will be up on the furrytiger blog...