November 22, 2006
I Feel Bad About My Neck by Nora Ephron
I think some of I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman by Nora Ephron is lost on me. I don’t feel bad about my neck, I’ve got four grey hairs, and according to Ephron, I’m still in the heart of my bikini years, and so perhaps I miss what is most wise about her wisdom. I love her writing though, and I liked this book. It’s essential to note that I read it last evening in the bathtub. More essentially, however, I cared if it fell in. It didn’t and I think I’m going to lend it to my mother.
I read Ephron’s Collected Essays early this Fall, after reading her newest book being hyped by Heather Mallick and Jennifer Weiner. The new book is written in the same funny and conversational tone as the essays, with an emphasis on what it is to be a woman in her sixties. Obviously, Ephron feels bad about her neck. But she also reflects on marriage, parenthood, cooking, reading and living in New York. This book had a bit of the appeal of The Year of Magical Thinking, in that it is a glimpse into a pretty brilliant life (because I too want a five bedroom apartment in New York City).
Its lightness is deceptive, however, with an edge most apparent in the final essay “Considering the Alternative” about when your friends start dying and you stop skimping on bath oil. “On Maintenence” is an eye-opening treatise on beauty regimines. Ephron believes she was the only White House Intern JFK never made a pass at, and in fact during her tenure there, nobody even bothered to give her a chair. Oh, she’s funny and she’s got stories to tell. Sometimes I wish she’d tell them in a way that was less flip and throwaway, but such is the essay form we are working with here. I am looking forward to reading her novel and finding out how her voice translates into fiction, and I suspect I’ll come away satisfied.
November 22, 2006
Raise a glass for everyone
The unexciting thing is that our household is a bit ill, but we have to pretend we aren’t because there is too much to be done (and one of us has to go to work afterall). And that the next few weeks are coming on like an onslaught and I don’t feel well enough to ward them off. And that Homeland Security is now consulting with Horatio “Trigger Happy” Caine, but that actually is sort of funny. We like to keep track of how long it takes for an episode of CSI Miami to go off the rails. Last night it clocked in at about eleven minutes.
The exciting thing is that I got a haircut and I love it, and it is very short. And that Stuart’s birthday is on Thursday, so naturally I’ve got cake baking ahead of me. That my much adored PK is in town this weekend and we’ve got a lunch date Saturday. And that we’re just days away from it being appropriate to start playing Do They Know It’s Christmas. And most of all, that come New Years, we’ll have a Kate!
November 21, 2006
echolocation launch
You are invited to attend the launch of echolocation Issue 5, Thursday, November 23, 9:30pm at the Victory Cafe (581 Markham St., 2nd Floor) on this Thursday, November 23, from 9:30pm. This event is free. Snacks will be provided and readers will be reading, and one of those readers will be me.
November 19, 2006
After Words
Da Vinci Code was abandoned after thirty pages because it seemed too long and uncompelling to finish. If it were the last book on earth, however, I’d definitely read to the end. I am tired/hung over as to be incoherent. In this sort of mood, I giggle a lot and Stuart seems like a comedy genius. Because he is. We’ve had a brilliant whirlwind of a weekend and it was wonderful to be a part of it. Wedding was beautiful, bride was stunning, groom handsome, weather was fine, fun was had, company was nice, food was good, husband was danced with, party was excellent and indeed, the whole thing was a sweet dream and I’ll remember it for the rest of my life. There is nothing better than seeing your friend with somebody so perfect for her.
The only fairy tale element absent was the horse and buggy. Katie was forbidden one, because of P. Bernardo’s strictly early 90s wedding.
November 19, 2006
Happily Ever After
And it’s you and me and all of the people
and I don’t know why I can’t keep my eyes off you
November 17, 2006
Wedding Weekend
Here for five women writers revealing their inspiration. The Beatles mash themselves up. The danger of naming a character. Books banned in Iran. Etc.
This weekend I am reading The Da Vinci Code. It’s true, but only because I am going to be maniacally busy this weekend with some blocks of sitting around time and require a novel that won’t require too much concentration and that can be finished for Monday so I can read the books I have to read for school. The qualification is necessary. 8 billion readers can’t be wrong though. Or can they?
This weekend is brought to us by the Doering/Lui Nuptials, which I expect will usurp these as the wedding of the year. A three day extravaganza really, and if you’re looking for me I’ll be the one riding around in a limo wearing a floor-length gown. A floor-length gown that doesn’t exactly fit. Ah yes, my career as a bridesmaid begins this afternoon, straight through to Sunday. I’ll be back in the aftermath, probably with pictures.
November 17, 2006
Bewilderment
From the wonderful Interpreter of Maladies: “While the astronauts, heroes forever, spent mere hours on the moon, I have remained in this new world for nearly thirty years. I know that my achievement is quite ordinary. I am not the only man to seek his fortune far from home, and certainly I am not the first. Still, there are times I am bewildered by each mile I have traveled, each meal I have eaten, each person I have known, each room in which I have slept. As ordinary as it all appears, there are times when it is beyond my imagination.”
November 15, 2006
Read This
Now reading Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri, and it’s brilliant. I bought it at the Vic Book Sale, after Kim Dean picked it up and said, “Read this. It’s great.” I looked at the back, and a blurb by Amy Tan said, “Jhumpa Lahiri is the kind of writer who makes you want to grab the next person you see and say, ‘Read this!’. Indeed.
November 15, 2006
What I Found
~She is always delighted by the arrival of the post, though it ought to be routine by now because the postman comes each day at three. But no, she anticipates the tip tap of his shoes, the thunk in through the letterbox and the footsteps’ retreat. A bundle of ephemera waiting on the floor. There is always something, a stack of something.~
Oh, and what a stack. A package full of bookish goodness (stay tuned for reviews). A thank you note from Katie’s shower. Confirmation of our flights to England. And my penpal letter from Bronwyn, who wrote the letter just after learning we’d just booked our flights and so it all feels terribly real time. And my text-based treat from her: a clipping from the Sunday Times Magazine by Margaret Drabble about Sheffield, where she used to stomp (and in the Cathedral of which I once felt the presence of God while on a cheap daytrip).
November 14, 2006
What to know?
What to know? That my back aches from shelving all the books you brought back when you finished your paper on William Morris/ Charles Dickens/ Native Residential Schools/ Islam/ Urban Sprawl. That the Dog Accessory Store I pass every day has now gone out of business, which is proof to me that capitalism sometimes works. That the Bridesmaid Dress has been picked up from its second alterations and still doesn’t fit, but will do almost comfortably (and has only set me back $270. Remind me to buy a dress off the rack next time. They always fit right away). That Mr. Warbucks is proof that the American system works, and the Bolsheviks don’t want anybody to know that. That I am excited to read About Alice by Calvin Trillin when it comes out in December. I had my Scrabble Ass kicked Sunday night by Nina and Laryn, but then again I was reponsible for “rhubarb” (and I only had to cheat one tile to get it!). That it’s going to take a miracle to get done all that needs doing in the next month, and I’ll have to shake my hand once I’ve got through.
