Watching the VH1 tribute again now…and no apologies for the tears in my eyes.

— Last night: Poetry at the Ship, black metal at Ralph’s. Poetry very good, black metal fun but loud. Home again, home again, jiggity jig with the Big Ringing in the Ears.

— This morning: ears still ringing, but improving. Not helped, however, by continued presence of jackhammers on the street. Trapped in apartment because of equipment in road, so I can’t escape the noise by car. Grrr.

— Attempting to complete the 0.0 manuscript by next week…if the noise becomes less distracting, I might get it done earlier.

— Recording with Faro on Saturday night. Yay.

— Also realized last night that I am completely OK not attending NPS. Losing the chance to see good friends and hang out is exactly, completely mitigated by not having to do it in the context of NPS. See you in Charlotte, where the pleasure of camaraderie will be enhanced by the poetry and not hurt by it.

After Sam Teitel’s excellent feature at the Ship reading tonight, I went to the local “Metal Thursdays” show at Ralph’s. It’s organized by a friend of mine who comes out to all the local Duende shows, so thought I’d return the favor…

Saw two black metal bands, “Burial” (from Western MA) and “Covenance” (from Maryland). Both were really good. I’m not a big black metal fan, but you can tell when a band is good, and these guys were. Covenance, especially, were tight as hell and heavy — although (and I hate to say it) the lead singer bore an uncanny resemblance to J. Edgar Hoover, which was kind of disconcerting.

Unfortunately, I still can’t hear…so I’m going to have to watch the rest of the Who show I’m watching right now tomorrow, when the ringing stops…seems kinda ironic, eh?

More in the morning light…