I'll be taking part in a one-day writing conference on June 27, 2009, at USC, hosted by the Master of Professional Writing Program, where I teach. There will be workshops, seminars, panels, etc. Crack of dawn till after dark. Denis Johnson will be there. You can register online.

My friends the Rescues are playing at the Hotel Cafe on Saturday night, March 28th. 9 pm. 1623 1/2 N. Cahuenga, Los Angeles. A good idea to reserve tickets. They are awesome.

Need I say more? Hyla Matthews, brilliant, funny person, is doing a solo show at M Bar at 8 pm on Thursday night, March 26th. Go, go, go! M Bar is: 1253 Vine St., Los Angeles. For reservations call 323-856-0036.

I have a story about the artist Chris Burden, his art dealer Larry Gagosian, some $3 million dollars' worth of missing gold, and the financier Allen Stanford in the magazine this week.

My piece on the cell-phone-novel craze was selected for inclusion in "The Best Technology Writing 2009," edited by Steven "Everything Bad is Good for You" Johnson.