Cast Bio Entry

(June 22, 2001)

People are so wacky/wonderful. People have such...indescribable, really, is what people are. I have that list of online diaries that I read all the time, to the right? See it? (If it's not there it's because you're reading this in the future and I've changed Jungle Sweet Jungle's design. Just click around, they're there somewhere).

So who are these people? And why do I like them? In some cases, I have no frikkin' clue. In others, isn't it obvious? Well. You can skip this entry if you want, because all this is is me, having just laughed, scoffed, cried, empathized, or puzzled over each one of these journal-makers, now settin' right down and cross-referencing, for those Junglebunnies who don't know any of these people. This entry is guaranteed to piss off or embarrass. Maybe I'll delete it later.

From the (current) top.

NAME: Lisa.
STORY: Though this girl is connected in like, fifty different ways to friends of friends, I only put her face to her name because I went to see a play and she was in it. She sang good, played an ironic part somehow without an ounce of irony (she brashly took her PANTS right off, onstage. Blue panties, I recall), so it made me look at the program thingy. I said, "Wait, I know that name...isn't her husband in Ad's band? (Ad was also in the play. The band, now defunct, was called Permafrost. I was a fan.) At some point I found a link to her 'zine, which was called Danger Prone Daphne, through the Krebstar website. Danger Prone Daphne, and Lisa's "gripe site," were hysterical. The diary showed up later, but I don't remember how I found it. Prob'ly linked from the Gripe Site. After about a year, *I* started my own diary, too. So Lisa was my inspiration. Or put another way, if you're bored reading this right now, blame her.
GRIPE: Even though we have a lot in common, I don't really know Lisa socially. Just her diary. Like, we never hung out or anything. That's weird, I know. I don't know why that is, but there it is.

NAME: Jess.
STORY: I must've seen Jess out in clubs, oh, a hundred times before introducing myself to her. If you never clicked Jess' site, do that and look at her picture...isn't she cute? So of course I noticed her. I didn't even know she and Rick had a band. I started going to their shows. It's not like it was the best band in the world or anything, but I liked their stuff, enough to get both CDs. Jess can really sing. Bitch never even had to take voice lessons. Not fair, I know. So it was her Gripe Site that led me to Lisa's gripe site. See how it all links together?
GRIPE: Jess moved to LA just as we started talking more. I don't have a whole lot of FEMALE friends, and if I make any, they pretty much have to be smart-but-tough chicks like Jess. I just don't know any OTHER ones right now that, you know, like me back (see Lisa gripe above). I could see hanging out with Jess and making fun of other people's clothes. Now we just send emails with subject lines like "I suck."

NAME: Andre.
STORY: I absolutely cannot remember how I found Andre's website. I don't know him and never even emailed him. He likely has no idea a) that I exist on earth and b) that I link to Torrez.Org.
GRIPE: Andre doesn't update enough.

NAME: Cosmic Amanda.
STORY: There's a memory warp or something here. I think I must've looked at www.diarist.net to find other Massachusetts diaries. To see if any were about indie rock, maybe? I've clicked on a lot of those in there. But here's the weird part...since linking Amanda, I thought she lived on the west coast. I don't know why, I just did. Amanda writes about her job as a park ranger and her college radio station job and boys boys boys. One day she wrote about taking pictures of cut-out monkeys in Boston Common. I was like, "Amanda lives around HERE?" Then somehow, through clicking around her site, I realize the radio station is WMWM , and that we have a mutual acquaintance in Shilo McDonald , who also works at the station, hangs around the scene, manages Intelligent Records, and makes sure T Max doesn't blow up the ol' iMac over at Noise Headquarters.
GRIPE: None, really. She writes a fuckload, though. I'm always days and days behind in reading, and I have to read it all to catch up.

NAME: Westbye.
STORY: Brian showed up out of nowhere one day and started writing for The Noise. I really liked his stuff, had a great style. (At the time, the writing had gotten kind of crappy and I was so happy to see someone with good writing skills!). We talked on the phone and emailed a little, then met live...either at one of T Max's parties, or at the Beantown Zinetown. Brian is a pretty good damn friend. Not a lot of people know how to listen, for example, but he does.
GRIPE: Brian thinks everything is "ironic" and quotes the Alanis lyric. I mean all the time. I'm sure he does it now just to see if I'll laugh. Also, if you read his diary, you'll find the phrase "we starving musicians" at least once every entry or so. He just gets, like, real caught up in stuff.

NAME: Clump.
STORY: Definitely found via www.diarist.net. No, don't know 'er, never emailed, never spoke. Just wunna them thar mysterious cyber folk.
GRIPE: Like Andre, really bad at updating.

NAME: Squishy.
STORY: No clue on earth. Where did I find Squishy? Seriously, I wish I knew what I surfed and where I clicked to find her, because maybe there's more where she came from. Don't know her, either.
GRIPE: Absolutely 100% frighteningly pissed-off jealous of her lifestyle, looks, occupation, age, everything. How does SHE get to be a free-lance writer for money 'n shit? What's MY problem with the fuckin' corporate crap and having to explain the goddamn ink blots on my hand and red eyes the next day after the rock shows? FUCK!

NAME: Nanette.
STORY: I think I found Nanette by looking up "indie rock diary" or something. She seems cool.
GRIPE: Nanette writes a lot, but it's mostly about nothing. I can go days without reading Amplified to Rock and not miss anything. She's just so indie, though.

NAME: The Misanthropic Bitch.
STORY: Just a sort of notorious site.
GRIPE: None.

NAME: Wolf.
STORY: Well, what can I say about Wolf. His band is one of my favorite local bands, even though they broke up last winter. No dust gathers on my Slide CDs, let's put it that way. If he weren't such a diehard sports guy, he'd also be one of my secret crushes.
GRIPE: Ugh, the football and baseball. I could go all day without listening to that.

NAME: Lola.
STORY: Lifelong friend! Worth a whole entry, later.
GRIPE: Can't stop talking about being fat, even though she's not, and she gets mad when you tell her that she's not. It's just a Lola thing, gotta love it if you love her.

NAME: Slap & Tickle
STORY: I "met" S&T's author, Chris Lion, in a "virtual" way, through a friend of Lola's. The tandem friend, Keith, I actually met at Lola's wedding. Chris wasn't at the wedding, though. I don't think Lola even knows Chris. Chris is this flaming gay guy who lives in San Jose and works at Stanford. Slap & Tickle is fucking hysterical.
GRIPE: Terrible website, very infrequent updates!