This joint is dusty and semi-abandoned, but I know a ghost occasionally haunts these halls. One emailed me last night telling me how sorry he was to read about my stroke, that he donated to my Go Fund Me, and asked me where to start with Paul Westerberg’s solo catalog.

Stereo/Mono and then Suicaine. Obvs.

I haven’t mentioned the stroke here because it didn’t occur to me until that email.

You see, I now have a super shitty thing in common with Slim Dunlap. I had a stroke in March. It sucks.

Zero stars for strokes. Do not recommend. The repercussions have been drastic and the recovery long. You can read all the depressing details on I Will Dare.

The worst part about having a stroke is it’s fucking expensive. I bought a $21,805.41 headache.

Because of the stroke my ability to work is limited, and because I’ve been a freelancer for fourteen years, no work = no money. I only invoiced $850 for all of July!

So, I need some help. If you’re able to throw a few bucks my way, I would be ever so grateful. If all you can afford is good vibes & a hearty “that sucks,” I’ll take it with gratitude!

All right, thank you, everybody feel alright? everybody happy?

Love you in the fall,
Jodi, Queen of the Underground

Wish me luck!

Okay, things seems to be shaking out okay. If you notice anything broken or particularly goofy, please let me know (jodi@iwilldare.com).

I am not Paul Westerberg. I am Jodi. I am sure Paul would love the fact that you like the way he sings eyes in Be My Darling. He’d also be thrilled that your cat says hi. However, I am not Paul Westerberg and therefore I cannot answer your questions regarding the release of 49:00, 5:05, or 3oclockreep on CD.

Keep on keeping on,
Jodi, queen of the underground, who is not Paul Westerberg

~~~~~~~~~
Dear Guitar Maker,

I am not Paul Westerberg. However, I am sure he’d love it if you sent me a handmade guitar.

Love you in the fall,
Jodi, queen of the underground, who is not Paul Westerberg

~~~~~~~~~
Dear Chris,

Thank you for not assuming I am Paul Westerberg. I truly appreciate it. However, I am not a man.

Sincerely,
Jodi, queen of the underground, who is not sporting a chain

~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Chris, Rob, Sid, Tommy, Bob, Kim, and Dopey,

Thank you for not assuming I am Paul Westerberg. I appreciate it. Also, I am sorry you missed the download of 49:00. That sucks. You should pay more attention. I am sure if you Googled hard enough you could find a download, somewhere.

Sincerely,
Jodi, queen of the underground, who is not Paul Westerberg

Sure, you say, just use the Google Checkout idiot. Riiggght. I tried that, about 93,183 times, and I kept getting a funky error.

Just buy it again, dumbass, you might say. I thought of that too, because, well it’s only $4. But then I remember that I don’t actually have a job and while it is only $4, I couldn’t make myself do it.

So I e-mailed TuneCore’s customer service begging them to cancel the stupid e-check order and allow me to buy it with my credit card. AND THEY DID!

Not only did they help me out, but after I had so many problems with Google Checkout they offered to help me out some more. Lucky for them (and double-plus lucky for me), I figured out how to get PayPal to use my damn debit card to let me get the songs RIGHT NOW. Because it’s been like 24 entire hours and I didn’t have them. I was going a little bit on the bonkers side of batshit insane. I am impatient if nothing else.

And in this digital age, I don’t think we often hear about the customer service wins. We always hear about the nightmares. But this, this was a win and I think TuneCore deserves some props for helping out a slightly-imbalanced Westernerd who needed a fix.

Now I am going to go listen to these songs on repeat and report back later, probably with lyrics.

1. Jay Taco’s weekly cracker review — this week the Wheat Thin, vile wafer of Satan or delicious, nutritious snack?
2. Update on our petition to get Our Man Paul on Live from Daryl’s House
3. Just more Hall & Oates content in general
4. Paul Westerberg: Vile wafer of Satan or delicious, nutritious snack
5. Sixteen different ways to spell nutricious and how none of them have anything to do with Paul Westerberg
6. Blasty’s weekly poetic waxing about Laurie Lindeen
7. This Week’s list of Paul Westerberg shout-outs by Craig Finn

See what I’m talking about?

Ugh. Okay it seems even after the upgrade the problem persists. I’m sorry. Apparently one must delete their browser cookies (it’s under your options > privacy) once you do that you should be able to login in again.

We’ll get you the link as soon as we get it. Or as soon as we get home and find it in our inbox. Really, you should go see the Batman movie it rocks. Or, if you’re like me, you should go sit in the Minnesota soupy air and drink beer and eat potato salad.

What I can promise is that I will stop referring to myself as We and that I’ll get you that link as soon as I possibly can.

On Friday I attended my friend Scooter’s wedding. To some of you, the name might ring a bell. I first met Scooter on the Man Without Ties Message Board and then I met him in the flesh at Liquor Lyle’s before the first Paul Westerberg Pantages show back in, hrm, 2004?

I wasn’t the only Westernerd to represent at Scooter’s wedding, there was a fistful of weirdos there. Which is kind of what got me to thinking. All those weirdos at that wedding, I first met them on that MWT Board. I loved posting and playing on MWT, it was a lot of fun and I bet I still hold the posting record at something ridiculous like 5,000 posts.

Being at Scooter’s wedding made me all message board nostalgic. And for a bit I contemplated just starting to post at MWT again. But then I got that pit in my stomach and I knew that I couldn’t go back there because to do so would be supporting censorship and other behaviors I don’t agree with.

So, instead, I added a forum right here to this Web site. Hell yes, your eyes do not deceive. Do I expect to recapture the magic of the old MWT days? Nah. I expect to have a message board that’s better and more fun.

Like I said, I am completely opposed to censorship. I believe in the whole marketplace of free ideas. I will not delete posts that I don’t agree with (however, I will freely delete spam with an abandon you have not yet witnessed). We’re grownups here and we should conduct ourselves as such. If you’re acting like a jackass, I will have no problem calling you out on your jackassery. I hope that you feel comfortable enough to do the same to me, or to any of the other weirdos who decide to post in the forum.

The forum will only be as fun, useful, entertaining as you make it. If you’ve never posted in a forum before, give it a try — who knows maybe next summer you’ll get to go to someone’s kickass wedding and get drunk with a bunch of friends while listening to a rockabilly band.

Love you in the fall,
I Will Dare and the rest of the Let it Be gang.

While I was there, I got my book signed, and then because I am a kind and gentle queen of the underground, I got another one signed for one lucky reader!

Woo to the hoo.

As you can see it’s an actual copy of All Over But the Shouting and not just a piece of paper that I had him sign in an attempt to fool all you.

The inscription is “Hey You, Remember singing iwilldare.com like we were headed for the promise land? Cheers, Jim Walsh.” It’s a riff on a Mad Ripple lyric from the song Homebodies (Don’t be careful with your love).

So what do you have to do to get this hot little number sent your way? Just leave a comment here telling us why you want the book or why you deserve the book or why you visit paulwestberg.net or why birds suddenly appear every time you are near.

Then we’ll put all the commenters names in a hat and draw one lucky winner.