Xin Chao!

That means hello in Vietnamese, which is what they speak here in Vietnam, which is where I’ve been living for the past 21 months.

The original plan was succinct: after romantic life stabilized and inspiration ran dry, a foreign land would spur the creative spirit, I’d write my opus in exile, and SWLLC would return with fury and vengeance (and maybe electric guitars) in mid 2007.

More time has passed than expected – life in Vietnam isn’t very existentially challenging – and SWLLC is limping through the dog days of the Bush presidency (our first practice was the first day after George W. Bush’s inauguration).. I can’t predict what an Obama presidency will bring from a larger, national/global perspective, but I do believe that the traditional first 100 days of the new Administration will be productive ones for the LLC.

Hope is on the way.

Misha

7up

These are the gap-toothed years, when the ascap tooth fairy leaves quarterly statements under our pillows, rewards for the little bits of “anodyne” and “spaghetti streetwalker” that play largely unnoticed in the living rooms of Swedes and Italians and Mexicans.

What I mean to say is that we’re 7 years old, that this is the time that you pat us on the head and ask, “So Speechwriters LLC, what do you want to be when you grow up?” Do we want to be firemen? Veterinarians? Corporate financiers or chief technology officers?

When we grow up we will be rockstars. Here’s our 1st grade talent show:

Misha Dave