This evening, I’m flying back to NYC and the east coast for a long stretch – all the way through December 2. I’m taking next week off and going down the shore to be in solitude – now that I live with roommates, I am in desperate need for some serious alone time, and a Jersey beach town in mid-November will suit me just fine – and then celebrating Thanksgiving in Philly. But first, this weekend, I will be celebrating love: Site Guy Brendan, the man who (literally) built this site with his (not literally) blood, sweat and tears (well, maybe the tears), is getting married to his longtime girlfriend, Liz.

Weddings are always special. It’s great when two people who are in love make a promise to spend the rest of their lives together, barring divorce. It’s even more special when a close, personal friend is getting married to someone that you know well. Over the years, I have watched Brendan and Liz grow together (in Brendan’s case, physically, especially around the gut) and getting to know Liz has been a true joy; I can say without exaggeration that she is cooler than at least 60% of my other friends’ girlfriends/wives. And now, after a long, long, long courtship, they’re finally (finally) tying the knot. I am honored that they have asked me to be a guest at their wedding, to witness their celebration of love, and to eat a lot of steak. On a personal level, I’m glad that Brendan and Liz are getting married now because I have been on medication and unable to drink for two weeks. The medication runs out on Saturday, the day of their wedding, so I am going to get absolutely shitcanned. Throw in the fact that this is a mini-reunion for me, since I haven’t seen many of my Boston-based friends who will be in attendance since July, and that I’m returning not only to my old city of NYC but to the very first neighborhood that I lived in when I moved to NYC (Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, where SGB is from) and boy…do we have a recipe for disaster.

(I mean, love – a recipe for love.)

At any rate, I will be bringing my camera and provided I am physically able to operate it, will be taking pictures and later posting them on here somehow. Of course, I won’t be able to ask SGB how to do this, as he’ll be on his honeymoon, so it may be a while. Whatever – I’ll figure it out. The important thing here is love and friendship. Love and friendship and the sweet, sweet taste of beer again after two long weeks without it. Wow. But if you have the time, please send Brendan some congratulations at brendan_at_jasonmulgrew.com. What a joyous time.

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Now that I think about it, I guess it is worth saying that if this here site somehow dies or goes away anytime over the next two weeks, it’ll come back eventually. Promise. Because even if calamity were to befall us, I don’t think Brendan’s going to rush to the nearest computer on his honeymoon to fix a problem. I don’t expect a problem – and as I said, I’m on vacation and with very limited internet next week anyway, so I will likely not post again until Thanksgiving week – but I’m just saying.

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About my little illness, I’ve learned an important lesson: do not fuck with athlete’s foot. See, I got a bit of athlete’s foot in July. Naturally, I did nothing about this. Then came August. Then came September. Then came October. It was in October that I noticed that my athlete’s foot had taken over my entire right foot and had spread to the left. Naturally, I did nothing about this. Then I went to Vegas, where I both drank and wore shoes almost 24 hours a day. Then I went to Philly for the Phillies win, where I both drank and wore shoes almost 24 hours a day. When in Philly, I noticed that certain parts of my body – my neck, armpits and hands – were getting pink and itchy. By the time I got back to LA, I noticed certain parts of my body – neck, armpits, chest, arms, hands, and parts of my legs and even my face – were now a color that I’d call “enflamed red” and were being eaten alive by something. Fearing that this enflamed red and itchiness would spread to and attack my penis, causing it to look like a red Jolly Rancher, I panicked and finally did something. After assuring my new doctor that no, I did not drink that much, I was put on extra strength antifungals and advised that if I did drink alcohol over the course of taking the medication, my eyeballs might turn yellow and my liver might fail. So there’s that.

But the good news: It’s getting better. We still have a little bit of irritation, but we’re down to a soft pink color and maybe only 10% of the original coverage (also, my bird was spared and, thankfully, was not attacked). I still have not drank, put on deodorant or even put in my contacts for almost two weeks, but the light…she is at the end of the tunnel. My goal is to be 100% clear for Brendan’s wedding Saturday and then, it’s on. So please send some good healing vibes my way, since having my liver fail would really put a damper on the wedding.

(Probably.)

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Thanks are due to:

1) All those who suggested music. I’m still working my way through your emails, but I set up a “reader recommendations” playlist when I started going through your recs, and that playlist now includes 276 songs. Apparently, many of you like Fleet of Foxes, Bon Iver, Kings of Leon and the Black Keys, by far the most popular suggestions. I’m intimately (wink wink) familiar with the last two, but don’t know much about the first two – yet. So thank you and keep them coming.

2) All those who signed up for the monthly email. Again, for better or worse, the days of me posting four times a week are gone. Now I that I live out here in LA, I just don’t have the time, between my much longer commute, greater work responsibilities and all the time I spend looking at NYC apartments on craigslist and planning my return to that great city. My goal is to steadily post twice a week and then once a month, starting next month, send out the monthly email, which will consist of a longer post that will not be otherwise found on the site (so if you want to read it, you gotta sign up). Of course, your email will not be shared with anyone yada yada yada.

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This is the part where I’m supposed to recommend new music, but honestly, I got nothing. Of course, I could recommend something – surely I can pick six songs out of my library to pimp out to you – but the whole point of Six Songs is to pimp songs that, at that very moment, are rocking my brains out. Since I’m still in the early stages of working my way through your recommendations, nothing’s rocking me just yet. And rather than force it, I’m going to take a pass this week. I will have a long, lonely time down the shore with just me and the computer (and a case or two of Guinness, a liter of vodka and a half-gallon of cranberry juice) ahead of me, so I’m sure I’ll have Six Songs ready to go when I get back.

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Finally, one quick note:

God,

Do you remember the whole “I win” thing? You know that was a joke, right? Because I don’t win. You do. Always. And no, I’m not just saying this because things have been going really well for me lately – the Phillies won the World Series; Obama is the next president; I got a very good review at work; I had a nice lil’ Glamour interview this week; I’ve been bumped up to first class the last three times I’ve flown, including tonight; etc – and I feel like I’m due for a come-uppance, perhaps in my plane plunging 35,000 feet from the sky over Omaha this evening. I just wanted to say thanks, praise You, and let You know that no matter what I write at 5:15 in the morning after the greatest night of my life, You win.

Here’s wishing me safe travels,
Jason

[Have a good weekend]