Sunday, April 29, 2007

One Sentence Sunday, #1

She felt his lips press against her skin, one of the few places on his sturdy, grown-up body that wasn’t covered in thick brown fur.

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

When I Go

My friend Meg had the smarts to tell people what she had done to ensure that after she had died, (Did she know it was coming soon? Had she sensed something?) we would do what she wanted, nothing less, nothing more. She wrote it all down in an envelope, and she told her sister where to find the envelope. We did everything she asked. And it was beautiful. I recently read this article by Joan again, in which she lays out the Terry Schiavo debacle, and wonders just who has the right to decide what makes a life worth living.

So.

I don't want there to be any confusion. Here's what to do when I go. It's quite simple, really.

1) Give away everything that science/medicine/organ people might want. Eyes, spleen, kidney, liver, collectible first editions, etc.

2) Cremate the rest of me. Then share me. Let everyone take a tablespoon.

3) Scatter me around; I want to be in a bunch of different places. Choose the places yourself. Pick a place because I liked to sit there, or you think I would have liked to sit there. Or pick a place that you would like to visit, so that when you want to think of me, you can visit that place. Or when you visit that place, you think of me.

4) Gather everybody in whatever geographical locales are easiest. Have a party. Everyone tell stories. Tell bad jokes. Tell good ones. Make jokes about me being a control freak. About my grumpiness. About my affinity for mail waiting to be sent. Play music.

5) Eat. Eat lavishly. Eat yourself sick and tired. Be ridiculous in your menu planning. Have it catered by the best. Or have everyone cook. Have french fries. Have tiny boursin and avocado sandwiches. Have manchego and quince paste. Have fried baby artichokes with lemon sauce. Have something with flour tortillas. Have gay-sounding ice cream flavors.

That's it.

Thursday, April 19, 2007

Excitement!

This evening, Kip and Cheryl and I are off to see Patty Griffin at the Beacon Theater. One of my favorite musicians in one of my favorite venues!

Coming up: birthday dinners for Robert and Andrea, my friend Mark from Melbourne is coming to stay with me a for a few days, and then Kip is off to Atlantis in the Bahamas with his brother for a long weekend. Add in all these meetings and ticket tracking for GLAMOK!, the upcoming Circus Amok benefit on May 21, and sheesh, when does a guy have a moment to relax?

My agent emailed with another round of rejections--which is actually good news, or at least I can take a positive perspective on it--because two years ago, I was rejected by nobody. Nobody had even read the novel, and the feedback I'm getting isn't totally horrible, though nobody's clammoring down my door offering me a contract.

Still, I whittle away slowly on this new monster. One word at a time.

Witold and I saw The Reaping, which was, in some ways, the best movie I've seen since December. I knew exactly what I was buying a ticket for: satanic cults, biblical ridiculousness, cliched plot twists, and Hilary Swank giving the Look Of Wonder a lot. (PS, Laura Dern totally has the Look Of Wonder trademarked.) Thus, it was great.

And I just ran into Stephen Daldry on the street corner. He's in pre-production on The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay.

Monday, April 16, 2007

Shut Up & Sing

On March 10, 2003, Natalie Maines, lead singer for the Dixie Chicks, said to a London concert audience: "Just so you know, we’re on the good side with y’all. We do not want this war, this violence, and we’re ashamed that the President of the United States is from Texas." The quote was abbreviated, printed first in The Guardian, taken up by the AP, and thus subsequently set off a thoroughly ridiculous media firestorm.

Shut Up and Sing is a fascinating documentary feature directed by Barbara Kopple and Cecilia Peck, which follows the Dixie Chicks through "The Incident," as the Chicks themselves refer to it, the aftermath, and later the recording and promotion of their newest record, "Taking the Long Way." Run, don't walk, to your local video store, or to your Netflix queue, and see the movie.

There's a lot of husbands and babies in the movie, a lot of Simon Renshaw, the Chicks' manager, shouting for them to put a baby down and get on stage, a lot of hair and make-up, writing and re-writing lyrics, structuring their musical arrangements, and so forth. There's also, perhaps more interestingly, a lot of discussion about their careers. They are very career-minded ladies. I guess it surprised me--I fell for the patina of their music, maybe--to see that they're ambitious, calculating businesswomen with clear goals and high standards.

The movie has big emotional impact--especially for me since I'm a big fan--following Maines down the arena corridor in Dallas, at the performance which followed a credible death threat. She doesn't address it dirrectly in the film, but the show goes on. The indirect repercussions of the threats are felt throughout the band, and fiddle-player Martie Maguire later breaks down when discussing how hard it might be on Maines. "If she came to me today and wanted to quit..." she says.

It's a shame the film can't end with the 2007 Grammy Awards, in which the Dixie Chick's sweep every category that they're nominated for--five in total--after having been vilified in the music industry to such a degree.

Of course, what you take away from the movie in the end, is what huge effect a few words can have, and how fragile Freedom of Speech actually is in America--when the speech is contrary to the popular opinion.

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

More Magical Thinking

I've been reading all the reviews of Joan's play, The Year of Magical Thinking. I actually pretty much agree with all of them. Even the ones who focus on the failings of the production--and I think there are several large failings--tend to get the bigger idea, and none of them are completely offended, for example, as they were with The Pirate Queen. Ben Brantley started out his review of that show by saying: "Many and exhausting are the physical activities that occupy the long hours of “The Pirate Queen,” the loud and restless musical that opened last night at the Hilton Theater." He later referred to the "stage-bruising" choreography.

Ms. Redgrave, the consensus seems to be, is the wrong actor for the part. The subject matter makes a book, not a play. Grief is a personal journey, and doesn't make for theatrical pathos. Though we can't imagine why it wouldn't.

Brantley called "Magical Thinking" "arresting yet ultimately frustrating." He's right. Oh well. What can you do?

Wednesday, April 04, 2007

Save the Date!


Circus Amok is hosting a fantabulous, extravagentistic, glamourlicious, glittertastic benefit at PS122 on Monday, May 21, 2007.

Mistress of Ceremonies, Carmelita Tropicana!

Performances by Justin Bond, Peggy Shaw, Basil Twist,
The Dazzle Dancers, Julie Atlas Muz, and the Swiss Misses!

Live music by The Circus Amok Band!

Silent Auction featuring work and goodies by Inner Princess,
Nautica, Babeland, Liz Bear, Town Shop, Birkram Yoga LES,
Mikey’s HookUp & more, more, more.

Run for your Lives!

Buy tickets HERE.