NickS writes: just stumbled on this, and it's a fantastic interview (I already liked Guy Clark, but I have a special fondness for people who are assertively introverted in public professions):

I remember seeing you and Lyle play one time at the Vick Theater in Chicago. It was you and Lyle and John Hiatt and Joe Ely, and it seems like John Prine was there, too ...

...

[Laughs] Yeah, it was fun doing those shows, but I don't think I'd like a steady diet of that, because travelling with those guys ... well, Lyle and Joe, they like to play just every night. I mean, bang-bang-bang-bang-bang. I like playing and then taking a day off to get to the next gig, playing every other day maybe, because usually its just me and Verlon Thompson driving. But they're into that bus thing, and if you're paying for the bus already, you might as well drive to Poughkeepsie, N.Y. from Colorado overnight, that kind of shit. I don't like that.

That was the first of those songwriter-in-the-round shows I ever saw ...

Yeah, but we did it before that. I remember how it started ... Marlboro, when they could still advertise, started supporting that tour. I can't remember exactly how it went, but I think we had just done it as a one-off here in Nashville, and I guess it seemed so successful that the Marlboro people wanted to use us as their shills, you know. So they took us and talked about how, you know, "this is how you discuss cigarettes with the media, because you're going to get interviewed, and they're going to bring up, you know, 'what about all this hoopla about smoking and stuff?' ..." They taught me how to dodge questions in an interview; like, it was real slick, how to get around whatever it was that they were asking you that you didn't want to say. I mean, it was an interesting experience. [Chuckles]

Well I guess you were able to put that training to use in later interviews ... such as this one, perhaps.

Yeah, right! Well, if you feel like I'm steering you in another direction, it's just because it's the only way I can do these things.

I don't care, I just need to know some of those tricks myself, in case somebody wants to talk to me! I'm always looking for ways around telling the truth.

Heebie's take: The whole interview is really sweet. Also, I've never heard the song Since His Penis Came Between Us before. (Song begins at roughly 1:10.)

A student of mine kept struggling to stay awake during class, even though she likes the math, and it reminded me so much of myself that I chatted her up about it. She told me she has "intrusive sleep" and that it's an ADHD thing.

1. Yes, this is totally popsci, or tiktoksci, but what an apt term.
2. Anything google-able looks like either crank science or "we are so far from being able to say anything definitive that you should probably drop this right now."

Nevertheless, boy do I find that phrase satisfying. I started falling asleep in class in middle school, and never stopped, and I hate it so much. It seemed to have very little to do with how interesting I found the material. (Also while driving or watching movies. I often have to pull over abruptly if I'm on my own and find a quick parking lot to doze off in.) Generally within 10-15 minutes, I'll spontaneously wake up and feel wide awake again.

The other day, I had to attend a meeting as a faculty representative to the committee that hears our new benefits update for the next year and gives our input. I woke up to my colleague saying, "What about you, Heebie? From a family perspective?" I still have no idea whether I was cleverly masking my sleep and she was sincerely wanting my perspective, or if she was being a jerk and trying to prod me into paying attention. I mumbled something about there being so many factors that it's hard to say.

Mossy Character writes: Out with the Thais, in with the Malawians.
(Meanwhile, in Oman.)

Heebie's take: Well this is complex.

I know obviously Texas is terrible for women's rights. I don't feel like being told, "Well, I mean, what were you expecting?" You can know everything is terrible and still be furious when it plays out in a terrible way. (And all the normal caveats about how at least this woman had the means to get out of state.)

I don't know how to sit in this mess without fantasizing of a plausible path forward for the state, but I also don't know how to connect the dots for the voters. It's quite a pickle.

1. I need some new podcast recommendations, please and thank you. Nothing too stressful.

2. Who here gets motion sick? I want someone to try these and report back.

3. Tis the season for consumerism, so if you've got something exciting to share, I'd click on it.

4. Sure, make it a catch-all for books and movies and shows, too. I will say: I felt like everyone was raving about Tom Lake, and Jammies and I listened to the first 3/4ths and just...paused. It's not bad, exactly, but I don't get the hype.