i assure you, we're open: it's with a bit of trepidation that i announce vsl has opened its doors again after a good eight months of inactivity. tomorrow, i'll put up a 100 favorite albums list that i've cobbled together; a list that'll let newcomers know what this site is about, musically, and will have old-time devotees shaking their heads in contempt as they note both the predictable choices and also the regrettable additions.

for right now, i'll leave you with this. my nephew said this to me: "if you die, i'll tell (my sister) to dump (her boyfriend) and get someone like you." i replied with a sort of "awwwwwhmmmmmm," a mixture of the tenderness i felt initially and the disquiet that came over me the more i considered this.