...cracked Kevin Sampsell's longtime girlfriend, Barb, at Kevin's reading last night—right after Kevin proposed. After a reading from his new book A Common Pornography that included a slide show of family photos, Kevin pulled Barb onstage to pop the question. (She said yes.) It was romagical: The writer, publisher, and Powell's employee tearily proposing in front of a supportive hometown crowd of friends and fans, who then packed the bar across the street to celebrate the good news.

Kevin has done more to promote and foster Portland's literary culture than anyone else I can think of; Barb is a writer and comedian, and one of the organizers of Back Fence, PDX. They met, according to Kevin, when Barb contacted Kevin after reading a story he had up on the McSweeney's website—fittingly, a story from a chapbook that's also titled A Common Pornography. As far as public proposals go, it doesn't get much better than this one. (Kevin, nice work on noting that Barb was wearing the "boob-y dress" you like so much immediately before you proposed. Every little girl's dream!)

I said it last night, but: Congratulations, guys!