TOM SHANNON – Los Angeles

I noticed the wonderful March 9th 1999 collection that Jack made, now ten years gone, on my bookshelf this weekend. This of course makes me even more nostalgic, thinking about all the years that have passed. This March 9th finds me a little unhappy; not terribly so: I am remarried after being with Nicole for nearly five years. She is a source of great joy and inspiration to me. We just got a dog, a rescue dog from the Glendale Humane Society, named “Lobo” (formerly “Snow Joe”), a four-year-old American Eskimo. Penny is still with us, the crazy bag-lady kitty, and she is still a handful; this weekend she walked through some shit and left poopy paw prints everywhere. We still live in beautiful Mount Washington in a little house we rent from our neighbor, nearly two years now. Still performing, taking classes, and teaching at bang. Why am I unhappy then? Work mostly. I guess I should be grateful to have a job; I know lots of people who need one badly. I just feel like I have not been supported properly. I worked (salaried) for several months at 50-60hrs/week to keep pace with the projects that we were taking on. I did not sleep very well. Things are changing. I hope it will be better next year. I am usually pretty happy in general; my baseline happiness is pretty good. Lately I have just been sour most of the time, living for the weekend, which slips past so quickly.