Valentine’s Perfect 10
Tuesday, February 13th, 2007
1) Josh Gosfield’s Saint of the Month, Saint Angie (pictured here), of the World Famous Pontani Sisters, burlesque revolutionaries.
2) Stephen Elliott’s story in Salon on Kink, the SF-based palace of porn.
3) A love story that’s a road story: Elizabeth Koch’s bold multi-part, multi-layered series on SMITH, The World Tour Compatibility Test.
4) Meeting Koch in person, tonight, February 13, the night before Valentine’s Day at SMITH and Sutra Lounge’s “Exorcise Your Ex” party, a night of writing, reading, drinking, and dancing on. It goes from 7-10pm. Bring your laptop (charged) or journal and come write and play with us. We’ll have lots of drink specials. And if it snows? Even more drink specials. Trust us.
5) Love is a Mixed Tape, a new memoir by Rob Sheffield about the 22 mixed tapes that defined his love and his “noisy, juicy, sparkly life” with his wife, Renée Crist, who died suddenly from a pulmonary embolism in 1997.
6) Love Lost Readings an evening of anti-Valentine’s stories presented by 826NYC with Jonathan Ames, Starlee Kine, Leo Allen, and Andy Selsberg, contributor to The Believer and GQ. It’s free and takes place at the Altoids Chocolate Shoppe at 350 Bleecker St. in NYC.
7) Love, the album of remixed Beatles songs that came out last year. It was a monster hit. I was skeptical. Then someone played it at a dinner party this past weekend and I realized: it’s amazing.
The Greatest American Love Story Ever. From This American Life’s archived What Is This Thing Called Love episode, Sarah Vowell’s segment on June Carter and Johnny Cash.
9) Je Te Veux by Erik Satie, as played by pennehk on YouTube.
10) And then there’s this.
My wife Sari & I went to the “Love Lost” readings sponsored by 826NYC, and it was awesome! We’re always looking for alternative ways to spend Valentine’s Day, avoiding the prix-fixe dinners and pre-programmed romance accoutrements, and “Love Lost” was the perfect thing. Not only were all four readers (particularly Leo Allen and Jonathan Ames) on-target and funny, but it was a really classy event, with complimentary wine, beer, and coffee beverages; delicious red velvet cupcakes topped with chocolate-covered Altoids; and a gift bag for every attendant.
And, dudes, what is wrong with you? There were 8 women for every man. A great singles scene, if you’d thought to take advantage of it.