Cal Ripken is My Hero I just got back from Bottom of the Hill where my friend's band eE was playing. They were pretty cool, but very different from the jangly indie-pop that I love. The first band, Electro Group, was fun, but the second band, The Cave-Ins, played this wretched country-ish stuff that was so bad that I made a b-line for the smoking lounge... ...where I met this girl Nathalie. She asked me for a cigarette and I agreed to give her one in exchange for her name. We talked for a bit, and she seems really sweet. She asked me to check out her paintings, which are showing at a place pretty close to my house. Later on I saw her with a boyfriend-ish figure, but I'll go see her paintings, sign the guest book, and leave a cute message with my phone number. With any luck, this will make me 0 for 4. And like Cal Ripken in 1995, my relentless pursuit of the streak continues.