Tonight, I am an indoor kid

I could be at a cabaret that features a lot of my friends tonight. My teaching partner Joe is doing a new piece with words and movement about JonBenet, and that's only one example of the awesome I'm missing.

There's a thing that happens when you live alone, and do a lot of your work at home, where you want to do everything that happens outside of your house -- take advantage of every single social opportunity that comes your way.

But there's something empowering about staying in every once in a while. There's a satisfaction in abstaining. Tonight, I've been listening to podcasts, doing the dishes . . . Got some Harpoon IPA, which feels homey since it can always be found at my parents' house. For the first time ever, I let iTunes Genius make a playlist for me (based on "Wildflowers" by Tom Petty. I've got that on while I cook for myself. And I'm really happy right now.

Also, the track my iTunes thinks is "Great Balls of Fire" is actually "Get Your Write On," the old Monkeys school closer, as sung by Laura McKenzie. You got nothing on McKenzie, Jerry Lee!

Here's the list Genius made me . . . At the price of letting Mac study my music collection, I think it's a pretty sweet toy.

Wildflowers -- Tom Petty
Learning To Fly -- Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
Ripple -- Grateful Dead
The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down -- The Band
And She Was -- Talking Heads
Ride the River -- JJ Cale & Eric Clapton
Squeeze Box -- The Who
Me & Bobby McGee -- Janis Joplin
Runnin Down A Dream -- Tom Petty
Touch Of Grey -- Grateful Dead
Your Life Is Now -- John Mellencamp
Stand By Me -- John Lennon
The Dark Of The Sun -- Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
Great Balls Of Fire -- Jerry Lee Lewis
Barstool Blues -- Neil Young & Crazy Horse
You Wreck Me -- Tom Petty
Someday Baby -- Bob Dylan
Ever Fallen In Love? -- The Buzzcocks
St. Stephen -- Grateful Dead
Between The Bars -- Elliott Smith
Magic Bus -- The Who
Beyond My Wildest Dreams -- Mark Knopfler & Emmylou Harris
Right In Time -- Lucinda Williams
Rockin' In The Free World -- Neil Young
Tuesday's Gone -- Lynyrd Skynyrd