Jens, Day Two. In Brooklyn.

"oh take me some place decent, where we meet up with your friends, where the people are pleasant, where the music never ends"

Sweetest opening act ever.

Jens.











Mingling after the show. (That's Joe's little head in the background.)









Not above hugging his fans.

Joe made brunch. Aimee came over and we ate on the roof.

too harsh?

The publisher of the book I reviewed for Venus asked me to send her my review. Here's the correspondence:

Gili,

Thanks for this. Not an overwhelming success I can see but I am so completely in your debt for a real frank review!

Best,

M
****
M,

Thanks for responding. I can be a harsh critic, I know. I'm a fiction writer so as a reader, my expectations are generally very high.

Best,

Gili
****
Gili,

Good! Never change.

M
****


And here's pictures from my new haircut and hangout with Veronica. (I feel like I look just like my mom in the picture of me.)

my second review is up

my review. I don't know if I'm ever going to be good at this, since I don't like most books. Sigh.

p.s. Thanks, Denise for the amazing coconut tea. I haven't tried it yet because of the rats, but as soon as I do, you'll know.

p.p.s. finally saw Breathless. I thought it was pretty good. I didn't like that the woman had to be sexualized in order to be a writer even though I know that may be the reality. Plus, I thought if she's supposed to be sexy, she was kind of boring looking. As was the main guy. And the last twenty minutes seemed like a cop-out. I'm not sure I understand what the big hubaloo is all about, but still glad I saw it.

Breathless was worth it for these lines:
"It's sad to fall asleep. It separates people. Even when you're 'sleeping together,' you're all alone."

fine, how about something less serious?

When this arrives in the United States in November, should I spring for it? It's 75 dollars, but I could finally crack the code.


Meowlingual: Japanese Cat Translation Device

Meowlingual, much like the dog version Bowlingual, allows a cat owner to finally learn what their cat is trying to say to them.

So you take the Takara Tomy’s Meowlingual cat-langauge electronic interpretation device and hold it next to your cat as it meows. The palm-sized gadget will then interpret what your cats meows and purrs really mean.

The Meowlingual, coming this November, will run for about $75 and should be purrfect for all you cat lovers.

p.s. above is not a picture of cornelius. this is a picture of my princess:

my latest guess

I've been corresponding with a writer friend about why we have such high expectations of almost everything. One-third of me doesn't want to publish this because, at least in the moment, I am being honest. Two-thirds of me (or almost two-thirds) thinks this is another chance for me to try to connect. I'm no philosopher; handle me with care.

Here's my latest guess.

when we write, we are convinced that people will connect with us and we will finally have that real, true connection we are missing in our daily lives. but the real connection is between ourselves and the page, not between ourselves and the reader. that's really why we write: because we need to connect with our characters and this is how we plug into ourselves. we don't/won't get the gratification that we desire from our readers. the only way they live up to what we expect is by making them into characters that we can understand, or try to understand, and control, or try to control. often, wrestling with a character is easier than wrestling with a real person.

in the end, feeling understood by a real person feels nothing like writing. we want all of it: connection to "real" people and connection to our writing.


-movies in the last 48: Mask (I did it for Cher and Jens. Rocky Dennis!): A; The Heart of Me (super boring, but one or two good sex scenes): C; Stranger Than Fiction (Ellen made me): B
-I'm thinking about changing my blog name to "My Main Character" if it's available. Yes? No?
-song: The Opposite of Hallelujah by (you guessed it) Jens
-I'm also missing one of my Cher coasters. Eek.

Lazy Autumn Days

Spent the weekend in a vacuum with Joseph.

movies watched: Turkish Delight (B+), Strangers When We Meet (B-), and North By Northwest (A-).

reading: Twilight of the Superheroes by Deborah Eisenberg

Chuck E. Cheese in Astoria: Did you know that the founder of Chuck E. Cheese, Nolan Bushnell was also the founder of Atari? My latest story takes place at a setting largely based on the Chuck E. Cheese Restaurant of my youth. I finished a first draft and to celebrate, Joe and I thought we'd take a trip to the Astoria location, which boasts beer in addition to pizza.

Changes to C.E.C. include, but are not limited to:
1. Light. I remember fumbling around the C.E.C. in Florida, designed like a casino for children, just light enough to find the slot for my tokens.
2. The disappearance of Whac-A-Mole. That's right. You read that correctly. No more Whac-A-Mole. I asked an attendant where it was and he said, "We don't have that anymore." Had there been an incident, a death even?
3. A missing band. There used to be an entire animatronic band. Now Chuck E. Cheese stands alone on a miniature stage, his music drowned out by the stadium-size room full of families and new video games. (Luckily there's still Skee Ball.)

NEVER RELIVE CHILDHOOD MEMORIES.

Things I keep forgetting to mention:
1. I saw Jade from America's Next Top Model, buying jewelry on the street. Best celebrity sighting ever! She's scary in real life, too.
2. I got new boots, but I think they shrank in the rain.
3. Phillip Lopate read this past Friday. The man is adorable.

(note about pictures: see? my roof is gigantic and amazing!)