city things

So far, on my vacation in the city:

*I've watched one of the best films of the year, Headless Woman
*Biked to Astoria for brunch with Kim at Ovelia
*Written three-out-of-four syllabi (Jim, I will email you copies of my syllabi once I've finished editing them.)
*Visited the rooftop farm two buildings down from Joe's apartment

*And...


taken a break from planning with two other teachers for some collective anxiety-release bowling at Gutter.


Kasey at bowl.


As usual, I lost all four games; I don't think I allow myself to be the bowling champion I truly am.


Joseph won three and Kasey won one.

What will happen next? Nobody knows.

The Skinny: A Guide to Lightweight Reading

Kim requested a list of books that are both literary and light-weight (thin) for commuting purposes. Her complaint about reading fiction on the subway is that the books she loves are too heavy and hard to handle when she has a cup of coffee in one hand and she's holding onto the pole with the other.

Well, Kim, to this I say, "No more excuses!"

I took a glance at my bookshelves and here's what I found. (Feel free to add more suggestions.)

1. Two or Three Things I Know for Sure (Allison)
2. Giovanni's Room (Baldwin)
3. The Palace Thief (Canin)
4. Emporer of the Air (Canin)
5. Breakfast at Tiffany's (Capote)
6. What We Talk About When We Talk About Love (Carver)
7. Will You Please Be Quiet, Please? (Carver)
8. Woman Hollering Creek (Cisneros)
9. The House on Mango Street (Cisneros)
10. Slow Man (Coetzee)
11. Disgrace (Coetzee)
12. Drown (Diaz)
13. The Safety of Objects (A.M. Homes)
14. Jesus' Son (Denis Johnson)
15. The Nimrod Flipout (Etgar Keret)
16. Interpreter of Maladies (Jhumpa Lahiri)
17. So Long, See You Tomorrow (William Maxwell)
18. Member of the Wedding (McCullers)
19. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (McCullers)
20. The Ballad of the Sad Cafe (McCullers)
21. First Love, Last Rites (McEwan)
22. The Cement Garden (McEwan)
23. The Comfort of Strangers (McEwan)
24. Bluest Eye (Morrison)
25. Lives of Girls and Women (Munro)
26. Vintage Munro (Munro)
27. The Boy (Murr)
28. Cool for You (Myles)
29. Talking in Bed (Nelson)
30. The Diving Pool (Ogawa)
31. Later the Same Day (Paley)
32. A Sport and a Pastime (Salter)
33. Civilwarland in Bad Decline (Saunders)
34. Pastoralia (Saunders)
35. Rat Bohemia (Schulman)
36. Taking Care (Williams)
37. The Night in Question (Wolff)
38. The Death of Sweet Mister (Woodrell)
39. A Room of One's Own (Woolf)
40. To the Lighthouse (Woolf)
41. Three Guineas (Woolf)
42. Eleven Kinds of Loneliness (Yates)

My Third Bookslut Column is Up... And Kim's View of Lake George

Check out my interview with Ed Devereux, owner of Unabridged in Chicago.

Or click on the article from the front page.

How is it that I take a billion pictures a day and Kim hardly takes any ever, and her pictures are so much better than my own? What am I doing wrong?

On our trip, Kim and I discussed how taking pictures is a lot like fiction: you mold and create the reality you wish to project.


Seriously, I forgot how much I love to drive. This trip called for: Twizzlers, root beer, and major time behind the wheel.


Oh, hi. I'm the cutest hotel in the world.


The sign said, "Senior Citizens." I headed in the other direction, but almost lost Kim to the old people.


All that nature and tranquility made me a little A.D.D.


Turns out our favorite restaurant of the trip, Jake's Round Up in Glens Falls had a giant horse (EEEK) out front. All the servers gathered around our table to debate the best ice cream place around. We decided to try the top two choices.


We've known each other for something like sixteen years. Kim thinks we have nothing in common. Somehow, we managed to enjoy hours of the same music in the car. And how could we not unite over Delilah After Dark?


This might have been the home of the creator of Crisco. Gay men everywhere thank you.


More creepy amusement park fun.


My favorite part of the boat cruise, the beautiful and mysterious Dome Island.


Driving back into Manhattan, Kim coped with our return to civilization by snapping pics out of the moon-roof.

"So put me on a highway/And show me a sign/And take it to the limit one more time."

Take my breath away.


Lake George.


The Flamingo Resort: our weekend getaway.




Lake George has dew!


Kim did most of the organizing.


I did most of the taking pictures of myself while Kim organized.




Our rental car smelled funny. Then we got an air freshener and it smelled like we were driving inside of a Strawberry Shortcake Doll.




Best Oreo Flurry I've ever had.


Frighteningly close to reenacters at some historical fort near Vermont.






Rampant with rainbows.




Boat cruise around Lake George.






Creepy Magical Cheap-Ass Amusement Park.

apparently nobody can COME OUT and play

Joseph Gordon-Levitt is not gay. This should be good news, but I think I would respect him more if he could be a bit more fluid with his sexuality. After researching with Riva and coming up with unhelpful information like this, I took matters into my own hands and went to a credible source who knows J G-L personally.

I’m trapped at home, waiting for the Verizon fairies to come to my house and magically install internet. That’s right; I am finally going to stop stealing from others and use my very own service.

So far this morning, besides learning about J G-L, I have started reading a new book (Voodoo Heart by Scott Snyder), launched into writing a new story, and discovered the perfect hotel for Kim and my weekend getaway in Lake George. I think I may have fallen in love with the woman at the front desk after she said in the sweetest little sing-song voice, “Let’s have a look-see.”

This weekend I saw two movies, both of which I left with mixed feelings:

Before I Forget is a French, gay movie about an older HIV-positive fellow, who hates life and wants to die. Two hours of suicidal depression does not make for an uplifting Friday night. However, the older, Canadian woman sitting next to me was a hoot. After the movie she decided we should go see something like Mama Mia to break free from the despair. I did not partake.

I had high hopes for The Edge of Heaven. My new boss raved and so have the reviews. I thought the characters were nice to look at and parts of the story kept my attention, but the tone felt inconsistent. The pacing moved at a hurry-up-and-wait speed.

What am I going to do all day? I need an art project.

This evening, Phillip and I are going to the Corner Shop Cafe.

Help needed: I want to get my new boss a small birthday gift by tomorrow. Suggestions are appreciated.

summer bursting in air

Tonight Kim and I had the opportunity to listen to one of my favorite contemporary authors, Ethan Canin read from his new book and speak about writing.

He's an excellent reader. He said, "I'm always hyper-conscious of boring people" because he hates being read to.


When asked which of his own books is his favorite, Canin said, "I'm sort of semi-humiliated by them all." He shouldn't be.

He mentioned his view of fiction, which is to "ask a lot of questions without giving any answers."


Kim and I strolled around the Upper West Side, and ended up passing by Central Park just as the New York Philharmonic was playing their finale. Fireworks lit up the summer sky.

Roots

According to some studies, "Queens is the most ethnically diverse 115 square miles on earth."

This morning, Astoria was visited by National Geographic and IBM for a genealogy project, a five-year endeavor "using DNA as a study tool to map how humankind populated the planet."


Along with hundreds of other neighborhood folks, Kim and I stood in line to participate in the project.


Helicopters with cameras circled above.


We had to swab the insides of our mouths. The samples will be sent to a lab and in October, the television crew will return to Queens to reveal the results of our genetic makeup. Unfortunately, women can only find out their matrilineal descent from this study. My father's family is much darker, and I would like to learn more about the origins of his side, but you need a Y-chromosome to access this information. Kim's father's side is interesting because her father's grandparents hid their Jewish identity. Additionally, some of her father's family may be buried right here in Queens.


We couldn't help ourselves; we (more than) consented to be on camera.


Dr. Spencer Wells, host and geneticist of The Genographic Project


The street fair was swarming with camera crews.


Dr. Wells, who is about as white as they come reddened over the course of the day. His next stop is Malaysia and I hope he remembers to wear sunscreen while he's there.


Each participant had a quick photography session. Here's Kim, hamming it up.


Am I famous yet?


Another amazing Sunday brunch, street fair, and bizarre adventure with Kim.

Missing person

I know I kind of disappeared this week.
Since I've returned from Boston, I've hit the ground running. My new job doesn't begin until this coming Tuesday, so I've had the week off.

Sadly, I haven't remembered to take my camera with me, so I'm recycling a picture from Providence.

Tuesday, Scott and I went to Harry's Water Taxi Bar. We reminisced about the Bay Area and we wondered if the difference between nostalgia and sentimentality is time.

Wednesday, I met up with Matt D. for after-work drinks (though I skipped the work part) at the No Idea Bar. I don't really drink very much, so I was a bit overwhelmed by the time I left and marched across town to meet Kim.

Kim organized dinner at a fancy-pantsy restaurant in Soho, Aqua Grill (I found it on yelp), to celebrate my graduation. We ate the finest of foods surrounded by the wealthiest, most privileged people. Kim was taken (as could be predicted) and I tried to let some of her easily pleased attitude rub off on me. We fell in love with the bread and the pan seared Alaskan halibut was pretty outstanding. Thank you, Kim!

Yesterday, I was stopped on the street in the West Village by the CBS Evening News to answer questions about a Free Bike Program in New York. I said that I thought it was a good idea and I talked about how much more bike-friendly other cities where I've lived have been: Amsterdam, San Francisco, and Minneapolis.

Speaking of bikes, this afternoon, Scott is going to help me pump up my tires for a ride around town.

Other good news is that I'm writing everyday. So far, I'm less than thrilled with the work, but I'm maintaining a schedule.

I believe that brings my blog up to speed.

Media report:
Best television discovery: Slings and Arrows
First attempt to read historical fiction: Charity Girl by Michael Lowenthal (my mentor)
Can't get enough of: Road to Ronderlin sung by Vetiver