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My first niece is one of my favorite people on the planet. When I was in high school I used to post things about her in my "livejournal", and once I even made a short movie of me and her set to the song "Memo To My Son" by Randy Newman. The anecdotes are endless. She's got beauty and brains. Reminds me of my other favorites.

My sister sent me a text today. I guess it's a picture of my niece's "facebook status" or something... 

Never mind that my name is misspelled.

Kind of bummed at the affirmation that I'll never get to touch...

Fuck it. I'm a grown man, grasping at straws.

John Oliver is using his new show on HBO to tackle broader news issues than are traditionally covered at "The Daily Show". He did a comprehensive piece on FIFA corruption. The religious metaphor is spot on. It reminded me of the good old days, when journalists were actually informative.

Click here to watch the piece.

On top of that, he even threw in a Kubrick reference.

I made a new acquaintance while practicing in the park on Friday. His name is Afrim, he is from Kosovo. He joined in kicking the soccer ball around with me for a while, then I gave him a ride back to his hostel as he was missing change for the bus. He's visiting the U.S. for a few months on a work exchange program while he's studying for his Master's degree in Law back in Kosovo. I took him to Coronado beach today. It was his first time in the ocean. At some point I was asking about his family and I asked if he and his family are Muslim. He said, "Yes. I am Muslim. This is not problem for you is it?" I laughed and said of course not. He has four sisters and I asked a few questions about what life is like in Kosovo for women.

Yesterday I went on a bike ride and listened to Adele's first album 19. It came out in 2008 but that's me, I'm usually several years behind. I figured I would give it a listen since she's well-respected and because she does a nice cover of Dylan's "Make You Feel My Love". It's a beautiful song, and one of the few Dylan songs that I think his version of is weak. Anyway, not a bad album. My favorite track is "Best For Last" I think. As I rode my bicycle and listened I saw a little girl in a purple dress digging into her lawn. Made me sad/nostalgic. I saw a woman walking up her driveway from the mailbox and had a Proustian recollection of riding bikes with Georgia, a most glorious little child with a heart and brain of gold. We used to ride our bikes up and down a hill in front of her house repeatedly, through sparse cotton floating from the trees. I took Georgia to a park once to play with a friend, another little girl that I've only dreamed of riding bikes with. The xylophone on Adele's song "First Love" was clanging in my ears.

"The storms are raging on the rolling sea,
and on the highway of regret.
The winds of change are blowing wild and free,
you ain't seen nothing like me yet.

I could make you happy, make your dreams come true.
No there's nothing that I wouldn't do.
Go to the ends of the earth for you,
to make you feel my love."

I was reading an article on NPR's website about the short works of the recently deceased, Nobel Prize-winning Colombian writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez. When I read the comments on the article I found this:

It made me laugh.

Going to bed lonely... I should be used to it by now, but it's one of the emptiest feelings in the world.

It's a rare opportunity to see Jeff Mangum/Neutral Milk Hotel in concert. But it's at the Hollywood Bowl.

I can't help but think that my insides would feel cut up into pieces as I approached that beautiful stadium by myself.