Gratitude in CDMX

Punks, a parade, and pumpkin pie

Greetings from Mexico City!

I don’t know how to explain three jam-packed days in Mexico City in the few hours before I have to pack and head to the airport again. I don’t even know how I got here.

When we arrived at Tijuana International Airport on Saturday night, the airline was asking for volunteers to take a later flight. Since we knew we were arriving at our hotel too early to check in, we volunteered. (This, by the way, is the secret sauce for travel: maximizing flight credits, hotel points, loyalty rewards, credit card travel perks, AAA discounts, etc.) We arrived in Mexico City twelve hours after we left the house, sleep-deprived, and a little out of our minds.

When we arrived at our hotel, our room still wasn’t ready on account of the hotel being full of people who were in town for the Corona Capital music festival. No problem. We were also going to the festival so off we went. The festival was held at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, which if you’re at all familiar with Repo Man, is somewhat amusing.

(That time I met one of the Rodriquez Brothers when I wrote about Repo Man for The Believer.)

But, alas, it was not to be. We got held up in traffic, the festival was massively disorganized, and we were stymied at will call because they couldn’t find my name in the database. We missed OFF! and we were so exhausted we decided to head back to the hotel.

On the way, we stopped off at a café and I had a slice of pumpkin pie, which was not only delicious but imbued with magical powers. Instead of sleeping for the next twelve hours I somehow stayed up and finished Part I of my novel-in-progress. (The same project that came to when I was here in July.) CDMX continues to be place of intense creativity for me.

On Monday morning we had breakfast with Keith Morris at his hotel, still the undisputed hardest working homie in punk, who has been doing double duty with OFF! and the Circle Jerks all year. Since I saw him in Sacramento a few weeks ago he’s been Ireland, the UK, and Spain. After playing in Guadalajara tonight OFF is going to Santiago, Buenos Aires, Montevideo, three dates in Brazil, Costa Rica, a NYE show in Long Beach, and then a January tour of Australia and New Zealand. I got tired just typing all that. Get yourself a ticket why don’t you?

Walking back to Roma we stopped for a parade marching down Avenida Passeo de la Reforma. It was the CXIII Anniversary Mexican Revolution. Army jeeps led the way for over 200 horses and Army trucks pulling floats. I love the frequency with which the city shuts down its busiest street for parades, processions, and just because.

I won’t bore you with a replay of all the cafes, cantinas, and churrerías we visited, but on Tuesday we looked at some incredible art, went to my favorite mariscos joint in the world, and met up with an international consortium of punker dunkers at Cafebrería el Péndulo. I feel so inspired right now and I’m grateful to be heading to Puerto Vallarta to spend a few days to relax and reflect.

Free shipping on signed books

In case you missed last week’s announcement, I’m offering free shipping on signed books. (For everyone who responded last week — thank you! I really appreciate the support.) Hit the link for details but here’s the deal: I’ll send any of my books anywhere in the US for free. All you have to do is tell me who you want the book inscribed to. I’ll start shipping when I return on Monday, November 27 until Wednesday, December 6 so why not send a book to your favorite punk rocker?

California Poet Laureate

My profile of Lee Herrick, which I referenced when I wrote about my trip to Davis earlier this month, is now up at the LA Times. I even mentioned the Redwoods.

I’m going to be talking to master of suspense Dean Koontz about his new novel next month. It’s hard to believe it’s been four years since I went to his house, which he has since sold. If there’s something you’d like me to ask him, let me know…

Hope your holiday is restful, radical, and/or revolutionary.
XO

If you’re new-ish here and you liked this newsletter you might also like my new novel Make It Stop, or the paperback edition of Corporate Rock Sucks: The Rise & Fall of SST Records, or my book with Bad Religion, or my book with Keith Morris. Message from the Underworld comes out every Wednesday and is always available for free, but paid subscribers also get Orca Alert! every Sunday. It’s a weekly round-up of links about art, culture, and science you may have missed while trying to avoid the shitty news of the day.