Hey Jakey,

At around 11:30 tonight, you finally went to sleep. You're not feeling well, you have a runny nose and you're sneezing a lot. AND you were cranky as hell since the moment I walked in the door after work. Even when you're under the weather, you still manage to create much havoc, though.

Media check-in: Television

I'm trying like hell not to have a TV show every night. I think I may have it under control. The new TV season has just started, and this is how it's shaking out so far:

Monday: Kitchen Confidential
Wednesday: Lost
Thursday: Reunion, ER
Sunday: Desperate Housewives, Gray's Anatomy

Tivo-ing: Anything Anthony Bourdain (Cook's Tour, No Reservations), Martha

Okay, so... Anthony Bourdain? SEXY!!! Early this summer, I read your daddy's copies of "Kitchen Confidential" and "Cook's Tour" back-to-back. Then all of a sudden, this guy is everywhere. He's got the new show on the Travel Channel, I'm catching his old shows on Food Network, and now he's got his own sitcom, "Kitchen Confidential," inspired by the book. My kinda guy, he's a streetwise foodie who cusses and smokes and loves to travel. Big teeth, but hella sexy.

And Martha? Well, we go way back. I have every. single. issue. of Martha Stewart Living magazine from February of 1993 to the present. Yeah. They take up an entire closet. I have every book she's ever published. Sad really. But I love this woman and aspire to be her. I fail miserably, but that's beside the point. Without Martha in my life, I'd be absolutely chaotic, rather than just pleasantly disheveled. She's my domestic compass, my North Star, if you will. I'm still unsure about her new daytime TV show, however. She's a cold fish, and she says UMMMM a lot, but I'm not sure that I wouldn't come across the same way if I were to host a daily show.

Media check-in: Music

These are the CD's that I have bought in the past month or so. Not a lot, but each is getting pretty heavy rotation:

Nickel Creek "Why Must the Fire Die"
Son Volt "Okemah and the Melody of Riot"
Bastard Sons of Johnny Cash "Distance Between"
Bastard Sons of Johnny Cash "Mile Marker"
The Knitters "The Modern Sounds of the Knitters"
Johnny Hickman "Palmhenge"
Ryan Adams "Cold Roses"
Foo Fighters "In Your Honor"
Jeff Jones Band "Biscuits and Gravy" (Freebie. I, ahem, appropriated this one from F)

Media check-in: DVDs

Recently rented: Sahara, The Ring 2, Sin City

Recently bought: Lost Season 1, Schoolhouse Rock anthology (for you, natch...), Sideways, Reality Bites special edition, House of Flying Daggers, Son Volt Live in Austin, Lucinda Williams Live in Austin

Cheesy ringtones purchased for new cell phone:

Wilco "I Am Trying to Break Your Heart"
Bad Religion "Change of Ideas"
The Breeders "Last Splash"
Ryan Adams "I Love You New York"
Theme from the Magnificent Seven (currently using this one for incoming calls)
Theme from Close Encounters

Media check-in: Magazine subscriptions:

We have a gazillion magazines between your daddy and me. These are mine.

Star (gotta get my celebrity fix)
Wired (I tried to unsubscribe, these usually stay in the plastic until I eventually toss them)
Martha Stewart Living (see above entry under TV)
ReadyMade (the anti-Martha aesthetic)
No Depression (for all things alt.country, whatever that is)
Harp (my new all-time favorite magazine)
Entertainment Weekly (cuz I'm a deposed entertainment editor)
Saveur (see Wired)
Outside (some of the best magazine journalism out there)
Vanity Fair (ditto above)
Heirloom Gardener (I used to garden, then everything died)

Media check-in: Books:

Trying really hard to finish Douglas Preston's Tyrannosaour Canyon, trying to finish re-visiting Douglas Coupland's Generation X for an article I plan to write. Recently finished Greg Kot's Wilco bio and Jenny McCarthy's Baby Laughs (what a stinker...). Would like to re-read the new Harry Potter, cuz I devoured it too quickly the first time around (Oh Jake, you're gonna love Harry Potter...)

So, Jakey, when you look back on this period in your young life, and wonder what Momma was doing instead of taking care of you properly, above is a pretty detailed list. Blame the TV, blame the trashy magazines. Ha. Love you lots, hope you feel better.