FIRST OF ALL, a huge thanks to all who attended the group lit-fest I participated in last Sunday at Titlewave Books.

Whenever I do something like that, I pass out little questionnaires to the audience. Here are some of the responses to this most recent survey:

Favorite food/drink:

• Coca-Cola
• Dick’s chocolate milkshake
• China pavilion noodles
• Pizza
• Pasta
• Tacos
• Pop-Tarts
• Beer (3 votes)
• Wine
• Steak
• Cherries and cherry juice
• Mashed potatos at Jitterbug’s

Favorite historical era:

• 3000 B.C.
• Ancient Greece
• Early Roman empire
• Edo Japan
• 1850s
• 1880-1900
• 1920s
• 1950s
• 1960s
• Present-day
• “The next 20 years”

Favorite website:

• Soon.com
• Traderonline.com
• eBay
• Shortbuzz.com
• Suck.com

Favorite Pokemon character:

• Pikachu (3 votes)
• Dactril

Favorite word:

• “Goloudrina”
• “Wasibi”
• “Weird”
• “Ersatz”
• “Zap”
• “What?”
• “Awry”
• “Snacky cakes”
• “Fuck”
• “Aggressor”
• “Coochie”

What this decade should be called:

• “Of the absurd”
• “A waste”
• “Spiritless”
• “Hype”
• “Age of Porn”
• “Decoid”
• “The Ohs”
• “2-ot”
• “Double O”
• “Beat me now with a post”
• “Over”

My biggest (non-money) wish for the year:

• “Whip WTO off the map”
• “No Starbucks in Georgetown”
• “Stop rampant development”
• “To see Jimi cloned”
• “A dog”
• “To surf (try to at least)”
• “Finish a novel”
• “To leave”
• “A child”
• “The letter ‘L'”

I think the Experience Music Project building looks like:

• “An elephant fetus”
• “A great and colorful addition”
• “A pink marshmallow”
• “Shit”
• “A big pile of putrid, smelly shit”
• “The inner ear”
• “A ductile moment resisting frame”
• “The Blob with color”
• “The old building on Roy and Queen Anne Ave.”
• “Gaudy without a clue”
• “The next big demolition site”
• “My colon”

Favorite local band/musician:

• Sleater-Kinney
• Henry Cooper
• Vexed
• Modest Mouse
• Nightcaps
• Combo Craig
• Black Cat Orchestra
• Pat Suzuki
• Monty Banks
• Melvins
• TAD
• Artis the Spoonman
• The Drews

The Seattle music scene’s biggest legacy/lesson?:

• “It’s a Mafia gig”
• “1. Kurt Cobain. 2. Courtney Love”
• “Stay away from ‘hot’ shots”
• “Heroin is cool”
• “Don’t quit heroin and pick it up again”
• “Don’t take heroin while driving”
• “Eviction of the Colourbox club/condos rule”
• “Ripping down all the beautiful buildings”
• “Grunge, how quickly you can be forgotten”
• “Nothing is what it seems”
• “I moved here to be in a band”

How I’d preserve artist and low-income housing:

• “Freezing rents”
• “Prayer”
• “Call Paul Allen”
• “Apply to Microsoft for a ‘fund'”
• “Get them all jobs at Microsoft”
• “A smear campaign against tourism”
• “Kill the rich Californian real estate tycoons”
• “Put a kibbosh on developers”
• “My people”

What This Town Needs (other than construction projects):

• “More poetry readings”
• “More trees; less condos”
• “Giant green houses with rare flowers, etc.”
• “Less millionaires or wannabe millionaires”
• “No-yup zones”
• “More strip bars”
• “All-ages clubs for the kiddies” (2 votes)
• “Neighborhood produce stores”
• “A counter culture”
• “A recession”

MULTIPLE CHOICE PORTION

What should be done with Schell:

• Hold a recall election (3 votes)
• Let him finish out his term (6)
• I don’t care; I get a better deal at Arco anyway (4)

What should be done with Microsoft:

• Split it up (3)
• Leave it be (6)
• Let “me” run it (5)

What should be done with Ken Griffey Jr.:

• Trade him (7)
• Keep him (4)
• Sell him the team (3)

What I’d like in MISCmedia magazine:

• Arts coverage (12)
• Cartoons (11)
• Public forums (6)
• Fiction (6)
• Photography (4)
• Classified ads (5)
• Sports (3)
• Recipes (3)
• Porn (6)
• Travelogues (4)
• Quizzes (4)
• Puzzles (5)
• Fashion (3)
• Politics (5)
• Fun with words (5)
• Investment advice by naked men (5)

I’d pay for MISCmedia magazine:

• If I had to (7)
• If it were bigger and/or had color (1)
• If I got a free CD with it (1)
• Only if you paid me (1)

What I’d like on the MISCmedia website:

• Chat rooms (2)
• Streaming audio files (3)
• Online games (1)
• Surveys (4)
• Cool Web links (7)
• More chocolatey goodness (6)

TOMORROW: Confessions of a Microsoft refugee.

ELSEWHERE:

• As a former teenager in Corvallis, home of Oregon State University, I can attest that this Vonnegut excerpt always makes the girls in that particular town giggle in an endearingly faux-nervous manner….
• What do the French know about hip hop, anyway?…
• Why some songs just won’t leave your head alone….