Curses. My friend Brian has gotten me addicted to vintage clothes shopping on ebay. At the moment I'm on the hunt for a cloche hat, the kind which graced the heads of ladies in the paintings of Edward Hopper, such as Chop Suey. I'm waiting for a supposedly mod vinyl trenchcoat in the mail. Someone stop me.

This week's This American Life includes a profile of Jerry Springer, aka the talk show host and former mayor of Cincinnati. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I was blown away by his political speeches. They created a stirring of feeling inside which I rarely experience while listening to modern day politicians. I knew vaguely of his political career but I had no idea that he was such a gifted politician. I thought it was telling that even people who knew him from his talk show were caught in his spell as they listened to him talk, about how he immigrated to the States with his parents at the age of five after most of his family had been killed in the Holocaust, about how the rich should not be getting monstrous tax cuts and how this does little to help the economy or the poor. There was such raw passion in his voice, and what he said was poignant and appealed to common sense. He's a fascinating study of self-loathing. The revelation of his use of a prostitute while he was in office seems to have led to this downward spiral, resulting in his playing the foolish ringleader of a trash television circus. He doesn't seem to have forgiven himself for this public failing, even though, at least according to those interviewed on the show, everyone else forgave him and wanted him to continue to serve his community.

Song of the moment: "1979" by the Smashing Pumpkins. I can forgive Billy Corgan's bitchiness and egotism because he writes such damn good songs. This one is perfect for driving at night, and brings me back to aimless high school misadventures.