I'm going on vacation tomorrow (I'm going to New York City, to break into public television). And since I consider myself the lone advocate for "things people mean to do, but never really get around to" here on Blogtown, here's a coupla things I'd hate for you not to feel guilty about not doing this week:

LIBRARY SALE!: Thurs-Fri, fill up a bag of books for only $10. Bag provided. Title Wave Bookstore, 216 NE Knott

SOLO FEST: I haven't been, but the buzz is decent on Portland Story Theater's solo festival Singelehandedly, which features solo performers from a variety of disciplines, and continues this weekend.

DEFUNKT: defunkt theatre opens a new show this weekend, Cooler. Even if I don't always love their work, I love that defunkt exists here in Portland; they attempt plays so weird most other companies wouldn't touch 'em. This weekend, they open their last show under the co-artistic direction of Frances Binder and company founder James Moore. I've been assured the company will continue in their absence, however, with a 2009/10 season dedicated to exploring the works of Neil Simon (oh, that was only funny to me. this is why we take vacations!).

BOOKS: Writer and NPR commentator Andrei Codrescu’s The Posthuman Dada Guide initially struck me as hilariously pretentious, but it's growing on me—Codrescu takes a ranging, chatty look at the artistic and social movements of the 20th century, framed as an imagined chess game between Tristan Tarza and Vladimir Lenin. Powell’s City of Books, 1005 W Burnside, 228-4651, Thurs 7:30 pm