On a whim, I ordered a bunch of CDs tonight. Most of my order was the glorious music of my misspent youth, filling out my CD collection with stuff I used to own on vinyl or cassette. Among other things, I picked up two by The Fall, a few XTC albums, "Meet the Residents", some Bowie ("Aladdin Sane" and "Heros") and Eno's "Before & After Science". Listening to these is going to be a big college flashback for me.

The big splurge item of the night was the four-CD William S. Burroughs boxed set that I've been coveting for some time. Burroughs has always been my favorite of the Beats, ever since I read Naked Lunch when I was seventeen. I didn't know what the hell to make of it, but suddenly all of that SF crap I'd been digesting for years didn't seem so clever anymore.

Listening to Burroughs read is a pleasure in itself. I'd recommend the excellent "Call Me Burroughs" to any of the adventurous among you. In fact, I'll make you this guarantee: if you buy this album, and if you really hate it, I'll defray your cost by buying you three beers. (This offer is only valid if the request for the beer is made to me in person. You must be able to verbalize your reason for not liking it coherently. "It sucks", "It is boring" and "All he does is talk about weird stuff" are not acceptable reasons. All three beers must be consumed in one sitting. Void where prohibited.)