Today's illustrious band:

The Dark Side of Nice

Brought to you by Sarah Vowell, writer and frequent contributor to NPR's "This American Life," in her new book The Partly Cloudy Patriot. I'm a big fan of Ms. V, with whom I share an '80s childhood and a stint in the high school marching band, so I'll let this comment from a review in Salon.com speak for me:

"Her grim funniness makes reading her prose addictive, especially if you've never quite been able to cram yourself into the American dream. Recalling her own second-grade self in a piece about selling antique maps in San Francisco, she writes, 'I think the reason I wasn't cut out to be a good map seller or a good Californian had something to do with the fact that I dressed up as Wednesday Addams for Halloween that year. 'The Addams Family' and 'The Munsters' shows, where roses were grown for their thorns and pretty blondes were pitied as monsters, were on TV every afternoon after school when I was a little kid. Throw in three Pentecostal church services a week where they preached that the Antichrist would be a sunny, smooth, all-American charmer, and you have the makings of an insular worldview. Namely, a sneaking suspicion that there's always a dark side of nice.'"

If you get a chance, log on to the "This American Life" web site, www.thislife.org, and do a search for Sarah Vowell. Click on the programs that match your search and listen to her squeaky voice online. This super-cool use of technology is especially appropriate since Vowell considers herself a huge nerd and would undoubtedly think it's pretty rad herself.

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Service saga update: Keith the heating/air conditioning service rep actually did appear at my house last night, not just on time, but early! In person he seemed like a decent enough guy and told me a story about the tension at his house over his daughter's unauthorized purchase of a rottweiler puppy.

After a brief checkup, he diagnosed my central unit as having a blown fan relay — kudos to Señor Editor for figuring this out days ago without even seeing the thing. Keith did not, of course, have a replacement part on hand for my particular machine. He hopes to get ahold of the supplier early this morning, as the supplier only comes to town once a week, on Fridays, and that's tomorrow. Hopefully the part will arrive tomorrow and the replacement can get done in the next few days. It'll mean another lunch hour loitering around the house, but what the heck. I need to get this done before it gets cold around here. The nights are already a little sharper 'round the edges.