ABOVE: I Wanna Hate Crime Myself for all This Gayness. Luv ya guys! The wheel of Fortune turns and turns. Last night I had the pleasure of hanging with... let's call them "Ana Cristina" and "David Freer" (Real Names Changed to Protect the Innocent)... two of my favorite Earthlings and Dear Imaginary Readers,  WHO WON BIG ON WHEEL OF FORTUNE. This reminded me that other wonderful friends are also rocking it out there. Get ready for sappiness, but I truly believe that friends are what make us fortunate, so I want to celebrate the recent accomplishments of a few of my Dearest Imaginary Readers:


Awesome, thought-provoking writer/philosopher Ian Mathers just contributed to THE comprehensive "JOSS WHEDON", an essential book for anyone who's interested in pop culture criticism  or has been touched (in the good way) by Whedon's work, whether it was through "Buffy," "Angel," "Firefly," "The Astonishing X-Men," "Cabin in the Woods," "The Avengers," my well-defended "Dollhouse," or- why the heck not- "Toy Story" and "Speed."


Sweet Caroline Hagood (don't let her convince you otherwise) is the writer of the much mourned "Culture Sandwich" blog. She's currently an English PhD at Fordham University, where she works with literary magazine CURA, and has just published her first collection of poetry, "LUNATIC SPEAKS." You know this is a friend, so when I say that to my ears she is one of the most joyful, observant, penetrating minds toying around with the English language, you might think I'm biased. But I'm not. Friends can be wonderful and still write shitty poetry. Not the case with Caroline. If I hated her, I would still love her poems, because they move me, and I am rarely moved by modern poetry. She is truly a genius, and I don't know how she walks around with all that beauty in her head.


Last but not least, my biffle Vanessa Lopez (who's an editor with Random House) and ex-roomie Alex Segura (who currently does PR and Marketing for Archie Comics) somehow found time in their hectic lives to become one half of THE FAULKNER DETECTIVES. Their first EP, THE MODERN HANDSHAKE, has just been released. You can check it out at Amazon or Spotify! Their jangling, velvety undergroundy sound provided the soundtrack for this post. (My favorite? "New Blood"!)