Should Miss Ginny at ginny_mccoo call from Montreal, I hope that she'll introduce herself by saying, "Dr. de Guzman? C'est Dr. Ginny..." Or even..."Eduardo-kun? Genevieve ici."

Tonight makes two weeks since anyone has phoned or sent texts. I suppose I'm officially off the list of males that lovely wicked clever BRDYTW girls will drunk-dial. And there won't be Voices on the aether again. I have given up on that. No one to walk me through using the XHD, no one to be seductive and charming late at night.

I was thinking this evening of Matt Wagner's "Grendel" comix and graphic novels from the mid-1980s. Two of them--- "Grendel: Devil By The Deed" and "Grendel: Devil's Legacy" ---remain favourites of mine. The series overreached itself after "Devil's Legacy" and lost its focus, and Wagner's storylines worked best when the Pander Bros. were doing the art. But tonight I am thinking of Grendel--- Hunter Rose, the first Grendel was, there under the mask. All Art Deco in the first issues, then edgy punk-noir style in "Devil's Legacy". I'm amazed that no one has filmed "Devil By The Deed" yet. Better than "Watchmen"--- very much so. More mannered and stylish than "Dark Knight". And of course much darker and far less moralising. Yes, I know: I should've been writing my doctoral thesis. But Grendel and Hunter Rose were things that caught my fancy once upon a time--- how not? Art Deco and elegant darkness, after all...

No one has filmed "Devil By The Deed"--- more's the pity. And no one has filmed Elizabeth Bowen's "The Heat of the Day"--- one of those novels that seems perfect for a BBC mini-series. Bowen is one of those underrated novelists I'd recommend to Artemis at artemislives and Alessandra at bel_ebat. And of course Miss Ginny at ginny_mccoo should look at Bowen's "Death of the Heart".

A DVD of Bret Easton Ellis' "The Informers" arrived from Netflix today. I'm looking forward to it, even though the final cut of the film eliminated the vampire story arc--- which was the funniest part of the book. I'll just have to see what's left.

I must remind Miss Ginny at ginny_mccoo---- she is supposed to send me two more letters for a letter meme. And I need her advice on Lonely Planet guides: which ones should I get? Do I need a Lonely Planet Iran?

The girl who calls herself Charlotte J. Nolan at anatomyoflovers and sometimes at emigree... Yes, I know she has an Apple Lifestyle now and did Vanish without so much as a word last Halloween. But should she ever give up the Chelsea Waltz and call me again, there would need to be clear rules. I miss her voice, miss it dreadfully. But while I'd love to talk to her 'til late about books and ideas and films, I can't talk about anything in her daily life--- where she lives or what she's doing at university... I do miss her. I'm far too envious of her current life...and I feel far too inferior to her.

A certain girl with green eyes has a birthday on 6 September. She'll be twenty-two. Whatever happened--- I will send her a card. Even if she won't sing Neko Case to me on beach...

Two weeks without voices... I suppose that's something to get used to...