When I asked Sean for a selfie, he said, Can you run a picture of Warren Harding or something like that?

Welcome back to The Stranger. Who are you again? Where did you come from?
This is getting very Stanislavski.

This is not your first tour of duty at The Stranger. That's not really a question so much as a statement.
No, but speaking of which: happy Veteran's Day. I last worked at The Stranger nine years ago. I first worked here in 1996.

Albert Camus or Billy Joel?
Well, I didn't see Albert Camus with a 10-page profile in The New Yorker this week, so I'm going to have to say Billy Joel. That's an exemplary arts feature. Any story where you can be on a helicopter with your subject is a good day's work.

You're the Arts Editor, meaning you're overseeing all of The Stranger's arts and entertainment coverage, including film, theater, art, books, and music.
What about dance?

I stole this from Seans Twitter. Dont tell him!
  • I stole this from Sean's Twitter. Don't tell him!
What's the worst thing that's happened in the day and a half since you've been back?
The worst thing? My email was going to be snelson@thestranger.com, but the swift deployment of the time-honored ritual of a temper tantrum fixed that right up. Now I am, once again, as ever, sean@thestranger.com.

Useful information for publicists. What's your favorite way to have your ass kissed?
French. Evidemment.

You have 209 pieces of writing about movies in The Stranger's archives. What's your favorite film?
If pressed, upon compulsion? It's a tie between Chinatown and The 400 Blows. I was trying to think of something more clever, but that's the truth. Maybe I'd throw Performance in there somewhere, too.

Favorite piece of music?
Whenever someone asks what your favorite piece of music is, or mine anyway, what they're really asking is, "What's your favorite Beatles record?" So I'm just going to sidestep that and say the record that was most recently my favorite one to listen to more than once a day was the two EPs by Courtney Barnett. But that's just recently. You can't have a favorite record for long at my age.

Can I have your hair?
You're welcome to it.

After you left The Stranger, they installed fake grass in the park across the street. Are you responsible for that?
I am willing to take responsibility. Where's the fake grass? That's all fake? I'm not that outdoorsy, so I can't tell the difference.

What do you think day three will be like?
The days have already started to bleed together. But in the immortal words of Philip Larkin, "What are days?" I've worked at The Stranger enough times to know that Wednesday is still speedballs-in-the-stairwell-with-the-publisher day.