Above all else, I want you to discover Reigning Sound. Time Bomb High School is back in heavy rotation chez flashingreds. Perfect little pop gems. Just buy it. I think they�re presently touring with The Hives, but that�s neither here nor there. Just buy it. Also in favor? The Minus Five�s Down with Wilco. I was resisting, put off by the blatant ploy to cash in on the Wilco name, but I hereby announce my approval. It mellows in the middle, yet goes nicely after Reigning Sound to yield something aside from the usual morose, broken-hearted fare.

Yes, the shock of spring is waning with each sunburn. This isn�t to say the introspection is over, simply that it, too, is working back down to a somewhat normal level. I�ve loudly proclaimed my intention of moving to town this summer�one of those rash decisions made after years of internal stalemate. And now it must happen. I�ve made one call. You can�t possibly know how huge this is.

I want to shed these long pants and covered toes for the season.

(A Langhorne Slim CD appeared in my mailbox at lunch. Low tech, but fun.)

I want to rave about the films I saw at Roger Ebert�s Overlooked Film Festival, but in retrospect, I don�t know if I loved the films before the panel discussions, or if the fondness grew in hearing young directors/actors talking about the film. I do know that the films I end up seeing are things I�d never rent to watch at home. I would recognize they�re going to be hard and troubling, and if there isn�t anyone to talk to afterward, well, there�s a fear of ending up alone on the red wine path. That said, everyone in Chicagoland must see Charlotte Sometimes, which opens at Water Tower Place Friday (May 2). The actors and the director are so earnest and honest.

Yes. Well. More later, but for now, I�m off. No work tomorrow, just an idle afternoon of chat and such with the Kate.