San Francisco resident and occasional accordionist for the Magnetic Fields, appearing on 69 Love Songs and in concert; also a writer by trade who has published two adult novels, The Basic Eight (a tale of high school vengeance, the rage of teenage intellectuals, and scarcely requited love - 1999) and Watch Your Mouth (a self-proclaimed operatic incest horror comedy - 2000), as well as various magazine articles.

He often makes public appearances for the reclusive Lemony Snicket, author of the children's novels "A Series of Unfortunate Events."