accompanied by a photo of an old man dancing for his Alzheimers-stricken wife

January 30, 2005

“I couldn’t stay home alone,” Mr. Granger said. “My wife was my life. I just didn’t know that until she died.”

This is possibly the best article I’ve ever read in the Times, about cliques and outcasts and lunch-table romances in assisted living facilities.

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can you guess what my word of the day is?

January 30, 2005

I have previously expressed my love-in-the-penumbra of lust for Jon Stewart, and while that still holds true, as true as the day is long, I fear that Jon is slightly out of the penumbra of my reach.

I would like PJ Harvey to know that I would unreservedly go gay for her. Just FYI.

Also, PJ — your cover of “Satisfaction” was great until Bjork jumped in and started singing like a five year old.

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a little belated, but my bedroom is covered in magazines

January 29, 2005

Possibly the best headline ever, from neo-feminist mag Bust:

Bush Wins Man Date from God

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The Strand is the shizzle dizzle.

January 25, 2005

The Strand is on their shit. I wrote to them about sponsoring the bee with prizes, and they called me back within an hour and are sending over a dozen t-shirts and tote bags.

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spelling is so dreamy!

January 25, 2005

So, I’ve been doing some mad PR for the spelling bee, and we’ve been on NPR and listed in Time Out and the Sun and the Daily News and a bunch of other places.

At the bee last night, I asked where our new attendees had heard about us, and one group said “L Magazine.” I replied “Oh, great, I sent them a press release!”

My friend from the spelling bee (who shall remain nameless) was puzzled when she heard this. Now, L Magazine is that small, free publication you pick up from boxes on the street; it’s a hipster rag that covers the areas off the L train (E Village, LES, Williamsburg, etc.) However, my friend was confused because she was thinking of Elle magazine, a national fashion periodical for teenage girls. (“Jen sent a press release to Elle? And they wrote about the Williamsburg Spelling Bee? Next to the lip gloss reviews?”)

Once we got this worked out, I spent the rest of the evening claiming to have sent press releases to Cosmogirl, Teen People, and Tiger Beat.

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corporate lovesexy

January 24, 2005

Ha. Business 2.0 magazine interviewed Prince via email for an article called “Take Control of Your Intellectual Property,” and they printed his responses as he wrote them — for instance, “The industry is trying 2 change, but they r used 2 the old thinking.”

One of the best ways 2 succeed in the music business (IMHO) is 2 get ur spiritual base 2gether first.

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This is how I always shop for frames. You should see me at Bed, Bath and Beyond.

January 23, 2005


A new photo by Merkurios Redis.

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if you see a girl on the subway carting home printers…

January 23, 2005

I have an Epson Stylus C84 printer which originally cost $100, and came with a full set of ink cartridges. Replacing those ink cartridges retail costs something like $68 if I were to buy them all at once.

My printer, for whatever reason, possibly due to my use of non-Epson compatible cartridges, has stopped printing in color. It has therefore occurred to me that it might be superior to just buy a new printer altogether rather than try to replace this thing, and get new ink.

So then it occurred to me that I could maybe get a used printer, which, if it had ink, would totally be a steal.

After viewing the options on Craigslist, I think it would totally be cheaper to buy someone’s old printer every time I run out of ink than it would be to ever buy a new ink cartridge.

I’m just going to run around town buying $20 printers half-full of ink.

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girls of the CUNY system

January 22, 2005

When I left my grad school orientation program today, I was provided with a goody bag containing some printed material, a t-shirt, and some other items I didn’t bother to look through at the time. When I got home, I rifled through the bag and found a travel mug, a pen … and a subscription card for various magazines, including Playboy. It took me a minute to remember that I had purchased a boxing magazine in the subway station and tucked the magazine into my goody bag; I concluded that apparently Boxing Digest and Playboy share a target market, and the card had fallen out of Boxing Digest. But then I saw that the top of the card was advertising “student discounts”. So, I can get a deal on Playboy by virtue of my masters program!

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plodding and hacking to 160, drinking tea, blogging

January 21, 2005

I have been informed by those in authority that I will have a book-length work of fiction at 160 pages. As of tonight, I am at 134. That basically means two more short stories before I print everything out and proceed to get very drunk.

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it’s a good thing I can still get grits here in Harlem

January 20, 2005

Today’s news — I have sold my first-ever magazine article, and also, I had coffee with an old friend from high school who’s now an actor here in the city. We talked about things we missed about the South — for me, Southern food, and guys who bring around the car when it’s raining. He misses his personal space; apparently, people bump into him all the time on the street.

Mmmn, personal space.

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those French (again)

January 20, 2005

I learned today that the plural of “faux pas” is still “faux pas”, except when it’s plural, you pronounce the “s.”

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the surreality of the Beatles being embodied by French twins

January 17, 2005

Tonight I went to a Beatles’ cover album night at Arlene’s Grocery and saw one band perform all of Revolver, and another perform all of Let it Be. I was delighted when Jonathan Trachtenberg and then Nellie McKay were brought out as special guests.

A friend of mine (one of the titular French twins) was in the second band, the highlight of which was a heartbreaking (and unexpectedly swanky) version of “The Long and Winding Road.”

Weirdly, I’m up late writing a short story that happens to involve twins.

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I thought Howard Dean was in the house

January 16, 2005

I was checking in for the first session of my writing class today when I heard a bizarre, high-pitched shriek. And then a wail, and the noise of an adult man chirping!

The woman who was taking my payment looked nonplussed. She explained that the building also hosted an Apostolic church service for the deaf, and that the pastor was “very enthusiastic” and didn’t really realize (or care) that he was making those noises.

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seeking NPR recording or transcript

January 12, 2005

There were a number of attendees at the spelling bee who heard about it on NPR. This is awesome, as it is a result of my sending a press release to NPR.

Apparently, NPR actually sent someone to a previous spelling bee (the last one was in November), and had inside information on the bee. Undercover NPR reporters are extremely exciting! I mean, possibly not in bed, but at a spelling bee, yes.

I cannot, however, find a transcript or recording of the bit about the spelling bee. It doesn’t help that NYC is covered by no fewer than six NPR stations. My online searching is to no avail.

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