| Whatever You Do, Don't Think About Gangsters |
[Mar. 14th, 2008|09:46 pm] |
I attended a deeply unironic Tupperware Party in The Bronx last Saturday, where I welcomed Diane back from her recent trip abroad; she and The Republican had gone to Hong Kong and Thailand for a couple of weeks. Now she was in a room full of gay men, Italian moms, babies and burpable cocktail shakers--nothing like being reincorporated into your host society at an event that's at least as disorienting as international travel.
* * *
Diane was able to visit Hong Kong Disneyland during her trip, and she tells me that their Space Mountain kicks our Space Mountain's ass. Indeed, the majority of our post-trip discussion related to this portion of her visit.
It's true, in my family we fetishize every potential travel destination in terms of its proximity to theme parks.
* * *
Last week, I had one of those awful days where the book was the only thing in my brain. Story ideas were bouncing around my skull like Lotto balls, but there was no winning number in sight—I finally forced myself to engage in a purgative screening of BLADE RUNNER, and take some time off from writing. Not for long, just a week. Even that was easier said than done: My choice of “leisure reads” included a book about organized crime in Hell's Kitchen, a book about criminal societies in Polish prisons, and a book about an NBA coach...who once worked undercover in the Mafia.
Still, I did what I could to get clear for a few days. I read BARRYMORE. I started reading some social anthropology books that, for once, had nothing to do with gangsters. Thankfully, I also had some brand-new writing assignments at work, not the least among them will become my first published book! Don't get too excited—it's a kids' guidebook to an online community for virtual pets. But it's money.
And if I play my cards right, pretty soon I'll be writing guidebooks for thirtysomething geeks who think they're Orcs.
You know, my people.
* * *
Tomorrow night the Brooklyn Family Theatre closes for good, with a little farewell show that Phill has been putting together. It's going to be serious. If I don't glue my contacts in, they will surely wash away. |
|
|
good