Teaser Trailer

We never meant to hurt anyone. I don't think we did hurt anyone. Everyone who signed on knew what they were in for. They chose this; don't forget that. You don't know how important our work was to these people. They would have done anything.

There has been a lot of discussion, a lot of attention paid to whether or not what we did was right. But I think that question can only be answered by the people we were able to help, and there were dozens who recovered what was lost.

Memories are vast and strange, they often read like a foreign language, even to ourselves. Mapping and recording this part of the human experience is slow and sometimes painful, yes. And there is a learning curve, yes. At times we thought it was impossible. But we were wrong in that regard.

It is possible.

Could I have a glass of water? I'd appreciate it if you could turn the fan on too, please. It's warm in here, is it not? Well, no matter. Leave it then.

Regret

I think the Black Eyed Peas, who seem to be continually in earshot this summer, are the kind of band who you might enjoy for about two albums and then five years later, the entire consciousness of the nation wakes up and realizes that they've been acting like stroke-addled dunderheads, and they begin to laugh at the very notion.

At the Beach

Here we are in St. Augustine Beach. It has occured to me that everyone who reads this blog on a semi-regular basis--read: my mother, my brother, my boyfriend (sometimes)--are here with me. I'm here at the public library, using the computers for free. Next to me is a man, maybe mid-50s, buying a Swiss watch from their website, and on the other side, some people are buying something from Best Buy.

Mario is three computers down, looking serious and handsome.

Missing New York, but happy to be here, too. See you all soon.

Vacation.

I am off to St. Augustine Beach, Florida with my family and my boyfriend tomorrow. This morning we packed our luggage, bought dried fruit, nuts and sweets from Sahadi's, and I made my way back to Queens on the Subway in order to work a little bit on Yield, which I both did and didn't. The last few pages are impossible today, so frustrating that I am spreading them out over several hours, meddling with the bookshelves, the fridge, this blog even, anything to keep from sitting here and writing.

Somtimes I am completely undisciplined: I watch movies, turn over my Netflix queue, download music, write emails, play with the cats, nap, organize something, thumb through my favorite cookbook. But it somehow gets done.

And what I most love about living in New York, is that you can't wait to get out of the city, and then when you return, you're always so glad to be back.

A Way of Working

In 1982, Ms. Didion did a series for the New York Review about the American presence in El Salvador. I found an audio recording of her reading from one of those pieces in which she explains that for these pieces, she would "look at something." She would "see what there is, and read what there is to read, and think about it, and see where it takes you."

I love this idea.

Bleeding Fingers

I am nearing the end of my latest round of revisions to the manuscript. This round being that I am re-typing it into a fresh, clean Word document, editing and adding bits as I go along. No cut and paste for me. In my mind, I'm frosting a cake, smoothing the icing to create a seamless surface.

I was unsure of how this trick might work at first, but I have found that I know the book now better than I ever have. It has allowed me to re-learn it from the beginning, having all the previous revisions in my head. The last few months have been about blowing it apart and rearranging the pieces, and now it's finally being assembled.

A few steps closer...

New for 2006!

As my blog quickly descends into geekdom and away from literary thought, I present to you the new coaster, The Voyage, which is going up at Holiday World in Indiana. This coaster is creating lots of buzz in the coaster world, and could overtake a lot of the major coasters that are currently in operation.

The Voyage (okay, so the name is crap...it's part of a new Thanksgiving-themed land at Holiday World, so what can you do?) is a wooden coaster that will hold the record for the most airtime in the world, and it's a whopping 1.2 miles long

You can read all about The Voyage and see pictures here and if you really want to geek out, you can click here and view an POV video.

The Voyage is designed by The Gravity Group, LLC, a relatively new design firm (but with tons of experience behind them) and will be built by Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters, Inc.

Proof

A journalist/blogger was killed in Iraq today, which is unfortunately further proof of the power that words can have.

You can read about the story and the work Steven Vincent was doing all over the Web today, or at:

The Guardian

BBC News

Al Jazeera

A Note for Sarah in Chicago, Upon Moving to Her New Home.

Meanwhile, back in New York:

Backtracking

I started writing something for this blog this morning, relating my feelings and apprehensions about a future event that involves several other people. And I stopped, unsure of how to make it right.

Ms. Didion said "Writers are always selling somebody out." The quote is overused, of course; it is often misunderstood. It is sometimes assumed to mean that writers are always on the lookout for a story, the story, a subversive way to undercut your subject matter.

What she meant, however, is that no matter how close you are to the subject, no matter how elegant or respectful your intentions, your perspective on a series of events, or another person's experience is still your intractable perspective. You are always viewing the material from the outside; you are viewing it as just that: material.

I am better suited to writing fiction, where I can wrap the real events in layers of structure and character, mix plot with pacing to remove all traces of the veracity of the situation. I am not good at "reporting."