Dear Ira Glass,
You don't know me, and truly I don't know you, but you may count me among your legions of college-educated thirtysomething female fans. Though you no longer dampen my panties the way you did back in the late-late-nineties, I do acknowledge you as one of this era's great arbiters of taste and culture and I do listen to TAL as a free podcast, as the Austin area's broadcast is early Sunday morning and as much as I love your show, I do not rise early on Sundays. You might remember me as the girl who asked the question that got you in trouble with the Western Mass NAACP at your public reading there in 1999. I was not trying to cause you any grief. In fact, at the time I was trying to win the heart of the short bald man who drove you to the airport the following day. He did not return my adorations (though he did get me your autograph that night), but honestly, you and your show were secondary to me that night. Unrequited love stories are very boring, so I will stop on that tangent, though I will say that I sort of doubt that the Western Mass NAACP has much in the way of public grievances, though it would be irresponsible of me to claim that I can confirm this. At any rate, I belatedly apologize for causing you unintended unpleasantness.
The reason I am writing you an open letter on my blog that you will probably never read that is actually intended for the entertainment of my friends and other readers, is that I think you should know about Austin-area singer-songwriter Southpaw Jones. He had a record release show tonight and he was wearing a suit. The suit was grayish/darkish and his tie was very conservative. In his suit, with his glasses and polite haircut and Sunday school manners, he sort of looked like you. Southpaw is a very talented musician and writes folk songs that blend the best parts of Dylan with the wittiest parts of TMBG.
I think you would like his songs very much and should not only purchase his latest album (for sale on his website) but also consider playing one of this songs on TAL. It would be nice for Southpaw to have some national exposure that might lead to more work for him. He has blessed Austin with his amazing songs and he should be able to bless the whole country with them, too.
He also does some bitchin' Springsteen covers.
If you have any questions about Southpaw, or about Austin music in general, I am probably not the best person to answer them but I will do my best or refer you to more appropriate parties.
Thank you for your time and for your contributions to the zeitgeist. I will mumble about you to a disinterested young person when I am old.
All best,
Mo D.
P.S. I also apologize for being a lazy contributor to my local public radio station.
Posted by Zerd at July 30, 2008 12:12 AM