Having married Mandy Moore, disbanded the Cardinals, and published a book all this year, Ryan Adams sums up his new and different life throroughly in this introductory paragraph to a recent interview:

My name is Ryan Adams. I am going deaf from Ménière’s Disease. I am 34. I am a recovering drunk and amphetamine addict. I am a visual artist first, a writer second, and I bang on guitars to sell my poetry to the dulled masses. I love, love, love donuts, skateboarding, my girlfriend, our dog, sunshine, Los Angeles, reading and daydreaming. I used to live in New York City for a long time. I fought like hell for the city when people left for Brooklyn and dumped every penny I could into the mission and the museums. I got shat on by the New York Times for long enough so I moved. I will always love David Letterman and 2nd Ave Deli forever.

I looked up Ménière’s Disease on Wikipedia and it doesn’t sound like fun: In addition to progressive hearing loss, sufferers also experience “periodic episodes of rotary vertigo or dizziness.” When Adams announced his temporary leave from music, I had no idea what was behind it. But this is serious. As far as leaving New York, however, dude should have just given in to Brooklyn.