2002-09-05 - 2:27 p.m.

So I said my sorries to Jim Casey, pontooned around Clark Lake, bonfired with cousins and new cousins-in-law in Canada, ate jalapeno poppers for the first time, shaved with a razor for the first time since '99, wore my fresh new suit to compliments that I "clean up" well, found blocks crawling with prostitutes, heard that Neil left town for good (or two years), had Ann over to the house for a BBQ, found Larry and Colin suddenly living across the hall from one another, cruised the thrift scene, broke in my new white flip-flops, heard rumblings of a September 11 sit-down at a neutral location, got the first season of the Sopranos on DVD for my birthday, bought Dewar's duty-free and installed it in my parents' liquor cabinet, sank an 8 ball for once, heard Joe's surprisingly good mid-90s pop-punk tape culled solely from a CD wallet borrowed from my brother, got bumped up to business class, finally had the tomato soup at the Beach Bar, had at least four drinks five nights straight, drove a couple cars, dragged my family out to eat Indian food in Redford or maybe Livonia or Farmington Hills, ran into Fred the last night I was in town (after he'd already played his set at the Detroit Contemp), heard about five viable new catchphrases, and fell asleep in the cab that took me from Laguardia straight to work on Wednesday morning. That's right, it was one of my infamous trips back to Michigan! I'm back and I'm plum tuckered out.