Or maybe it’s “New Friends and Good People” — I’ve added some new links to the Friends and Good People menu on the right (and down a little). But they’re all old friends. The friend and former colleague behind In No Particular Order had a link over here with a previous blog. And the fella behind Monster A Day has appeared in this list lots of times and is also behind Squad 19.

Even the completely new additions are the result of reconnecting with an old friend from high school. I know a few of you like to fish — check out Hemispheres Adventure Angling and AK Pro Beads, and let me know when you book your trip!

Because I have a few blood relatives out there who say they read this blog, but who never comment, I’m linking to Jacqui’s handy-dandy guide to commenting on blogs.* No longer should you fear to comment!

Feel free to follow Jacqui’s method to the letter. Practice on her site until you get really good at it and have the step-by-step instructions memorized. Then come back here and fire away!

*Also because it’s a funny read.

Speaking of chance encounters, I stumbled across a heretofore unknown blog by someone we know. Our mystery writer’s identity is hazy, and we’ve promised to keep it that way — but the voice is strong and lovely, and it would be a pity not to share!

So rather than hanging around here reading this, have a taste of Holy Guacamole, the newest addition to the Friends and Good People menu.

Warning: Almost none of you will care about this.

I dig Dwight Yoakam. My first year in Connecticut, when I grew tired of police sirens and amber skies at night, I bought “If There Was a Way” on cassette, stretched out underneath an elm on Old Campus, and pretended the squirrels nibbling my shoes were actually Dad’s little pack mule, Willy.

Nobody sounds mournful like Dwight, and he’s somehow cornered the market on balding, homely cool. Plus he appeared in the balcony at the White Stripes concert in Minneapolis a few years back. So he gets bonus points. Too bad he didn’t play that night …

Dwight’s got a great old song called “Coal Miner’s Prayer,” which I’ve loved for years now. Last year, when I started digging into Mike Doughty’s back catalog, I ran across his tune, “Sweet Lord in Heaven,” which is a great little song that seems to borrow heavily from “Coal Miner’s Prayer,” right down to the “sweet Lord in heaven” line. That’s what caught my attention.

Doughty mentions Sam Cooke and Ian Curtis in that song. Cooke I’d heard of; I had to look up Curtis. Which led me to Joy Division (the band for which Curtis was singer and lyricist prior to his suicide) and the point of this ramble.

I tracked down a used copy of Joy Division’s “Unknown Pleasures” disk on eBay and just listened to it (very casually) twice. Dark, brooding, and strangely beautiful. Reminds me of the slogan on the back of an old Soundgarden T-shirt: “Uneasy Listening.”

I was in kindergarten when this record was released, but it doesn’t sound dated to me. Do you music-heads know this band? Other recommendations?

“She wants me to write more, but she’s gonna kill me if I don’t shut down.”