Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! HOLY SHIT!
John Irving is going to be reading in Minneapolis on November 9th. JOHN FUCKING IRVING. Longtime darling ones will understand the absolute joy this moment has inspired in me.
I’m so excited that I have lost all sense of decency and decorum and spent 10 minutes babbling on [...]
September, 2009
30
Sep 09
Spazzing out
30
Sep 09
Things I have to do today even though I don’t want to
Put on pants
Update my resume
Also, I dreamt the other night that I went to prom with Justin Timberlake. Not as a goofy teenager, no I went to prom as a goofy thirty-seven year old. Also, I had a bob. Also, Justin kept trying to take pictures of us with his iPhone so he could tweet [...]
28
Sep 09
Weepy bookworm
This weekend I finished reading Everything Matters! by Ron Currie, Jr. It was the September pick for Rock & Roll Bookclub. It made me cry. It also made a male rock & roller who shall remain nameless to protect the identity of the sensitive fella cry. That made me feel better. I’ve been accused of [...]
27
Sep 09
I don’t want a new Jessica, and I definitely don’t want twin Junos
When I first heard the news that Diablo Cody was going to write and produce a movie based on my beloved Sweet Valley High books I was incredulous. My first thought was, “if she turns Jessica into Juno, I’m gonna have to cut a bitch.”
As Barrett so kindly pointed out on Facebook, Cody’s project is [...]
25
Sep 09
Questions Liam, age 4, asked on our 10-minute drive to SuperT
What does it mean to bow down before the one you serve?
Why did Michael Jackson love Stevie Wonder?
What is the name of this weird song? (Sir Duke)
Why is his name Stevie Wonder?
Where does he live?
Does Stevie Wonder go to Target?
Is he dirty or does he take a shower?
Will we see him at Target?
Do you [...]
24
Sep 09
We really do need to talk about Kevin
Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! You need to read We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver. It’s the kind of book that the minute you finish it, all you want to do is talk about it with someone.
I have to admit this novel languished on my bookshelf for years. I remember [...]
23
Sep 09
A classroom exchange
My new writing class is full of mouthy spitfires. If I only I could tongue kiss each of them, because I love mouthy spitfires (though of a few of them are interrupters which makes me want to elbow them in the ribs). Witness this exchange during a rather passionate discussion of Sarah Cole: A Type [...]
22
Sep 09
Sleeping single in a double bed
A partial inventory of things in my bed right now.
Me
Paco
Three pairs of glasses (one on my face and two backups)
Three pillows
Four partially read books
One book jacket sans book (Sag Harbor)
Three pencils and two pens
One issue of Tin House
Notebook
Tin of Burt’s Bees lip balm
Ear buds
Three pipe cleaners (for reasons I don’t understand the cats [...]
21
Sep 09
The equinox is bringing me down
The change of seasons is fucking with me. I love fall and usually spend much time rejoicing in the cooler weather and school supplies. But this year it’s just putting me on edge, making my skin greasy, and generally leaving me feeling unsatisfied.
I want to gnash my angry monkey teeth at the world and kick [...]
19
Sep 09
Shortcomings, a totally accurate title
The good thing about reading a mediocre graphic novel like Shortcomings is that it only wastes an hour or so of your life. So really, you can’t get too hopped up about it.
The story here centers around 30-something Bay-area denizen, Ben Tanaka. He’s a cranky, self-absorbed buzzkill of a character who denies that he [...]
18
Sep 09
If you won’t listen to me, will you at least listen to Oprah?
I’ve never really been personally invested in what book Oprah picks for her bookclub. Now I am. Not just because she picked a short story collection (yay!) but that she picked Uwem Akpan’s Say You’re One of Them
As some of you may recall, I had the honor of meeting Uwem and hanging out with him [...]
18
Sep 09
So thoughtful, it’s just what I want
This morning over breakfast (trail mix and juice for him, coffee for me) Nolan announced:
“For Christmas I am going to buy you with my own money an electric pencil sharpener and a t-shirt that says, ‘YOU ROCK!’.”
Of course now we’re arguing about music:
“Is this even Michael Jackson?” He asks, wrinkling his nose and brow.
“Uh, no,” [...]
14
Sep 09
I don’t care what you say singing along to ‘We Didn’t Start the Fire’ is fun
So I just got off the phone with a distraught Sister #3. Her ex is being a total asshole and she doesn’t have any money and well, it’s all the kind of problems that are stereotypical of a single mother. The kind of problems that make me so angry I cry because I don’t even [...]
12
Sep 09
Strange things are afoot at the Circle-K
So I made a big change in the look of ol’ I Will Dare. I am on the fence about this new super clean look. I can’t tell if it’s lean and sophisticated or sterile and soulless. It’s thin line and that line might just be the navigation. So I ask you, darling ones, what [...]
