after a year and a half of these crack-of-dawn journeys i can affirm that no one is on the subway at this hour for a good reason. it's not like buses in san francisco, where the 7 AM'ers were like actively casting spells to pry open the gates of hell and accelerate the end of the world, but the collective ugh up in here is palpable. i do these abortion clinic escort shifts once a month and was considering going again next weekend so i'd feel okay about skipping april, when my schedule is tricksier than usual because we'll be in iceland for two weeks, but back-to-back daybreak shenanigans would be too much for me. i do appreciate the community i feel on mornings like this one, as we wait to hear what that trump appointee out in amarillo will rule about mailing mifepristone, and everyone is grateful to have like-minded, action-oriented company, but my seasoning as a human shield wears thin with overuse, and the catharsis of confrontation just gets corrosive in big doses.
on horse pills, we saw our, i don't know, sixth play of the year on thursday. it was love, set in a temporary housing center in england, and it was wonderful. in another month or so it will probably start feeling like too much to have two or three artsy nights out per week, but for now it's excellent. all of the new york city, right in the kisser, go ahead! tonight we're headed up to the philharmonic, and i will disco nap hard enough this afternoon that i definitely won't fall asleep in the middle of the program. it helps that i crammed in a tár viewing right before the oscars last week; cate blanchett is MSG for me when i don't have a taste for something on my own, though even her formidable work in i'm not there couldn't make me care about bob dylan. in a year in which michelle yeoh didn't win everything, CB would have won another oscar; instead she just floated around in a cocoon of louis vuitton ecosilk like the gracious technolympian she is. i doubt she was bothered.
both the editor and the freelancer who fact checked my draft have written to say how much they love my robot cat essay, which has been a real relief; i didn't want to make a big deal about how much it means to me, but as i've said, i'm trying to break their hearts. that feedback is nipping at me to plot out another weird passion project, but i'm not very good at premeditating those–certain kinds of writing are like throwing up. afterward you're usually able to piece together what happened to get you to that point and you're grateful to be on the other side, but it's generally an unhealthy thing to get into on purpose.
on intimate fluids, i gave blood for the first time in ages yesterday, and my iron levels were totally unremarkable. at last, i am iron woman! is it sobriety-related? did the random daily multivitamins some PR person mailed me work better than all the others i've tried? did the blood bank get so desperate that they relaxed their guidelines for this along with everything else (the cooling-off period for donations after tattoos is now just three months–or no months, if you get tattooed in new jersey)? i won't look a gift needle in the mouth, but i will start donating platelets as often as i can. getting to read for two hours while watching my blood cycle through a machine, then drinking cranberry juice and feeling smugly helpful without actually having to interact with anyone? delectable. if they brought back those little bags of cheez-its for the are-you-going-to-faint-or-what tables it would be perfect.
Showing posts with label theater. Show all posts
Showing posts with label theater. Show all posts
08.18.10
THUNDERTOME: ROUND 22
SURVIVOR: tree of smoke (denis johnson)*
CHALLENGER: in the woods (tana french)
this foreign thrillers thing is getting out of hand; sensing an opening after my talk of arnaldur indriðason's icelandic excellence and acceptance of the girl with the dragon tattoo, amazon has started recommending things like the indian bride (inspector sejer mysteries) and my friend megan passed me tana french's in the woods. the latter is set in knocknaree, a blustery green corner of ireland that's especially nice to read about when new york in august wants you dead, and full of good-looking dublin homicide detectives. call it a thoughtfully embellished procedural, a cross between inspector lewis** and the second season of the wire.*** one of said detectives, the unreliably-narratin' rob ryan (fond of telling us how much he lies and doesn't notice), grew up in knocknaree and suffered a mysterious trauma in the nearby woods; when a young girl's body is found there some twenty years later, he catches the case and extremely awkward conversations with locals ensue.
it's hard to talk about in the woods at length without spoiling something - megan told me i needed to read this first novel of french's because it introduces a better novel's main character, and the act of reading this one without sniffing around its sequel (the likeness) nearly killed me - but i will say that french has something of kazuo ishiguro (never let me go)'s knack for articulating relationships' emotional temperatures, which is a pleasant surprise in a genre more concerned with suspense than regular old non-stabby interpersonal tension. in the woods's b-plot is the story of rob's relationship with his female partner; its overall arc is somewhat predictable, but it's described beautifully. the a-plot, in turn, certainly does its job: while i've been suspended like a fly in the sap that is the remainder of our october issue here at the magazine and haven't had time to read at home, i was perhaps the only ticketholder who didn't mind waiting out the rain for sunday night's capeman performance in central park. i tucked myself under an eave at the delacorte, imagined myself in ireland, and was perfectly content.
THUNDERTOME: ROUND 22
SURVIVOR: tree of smoke (denis johnson)*
CHALLENGER: in the woods (tana french)
this foreign thrillers thing is getting out of hand; sensing an opening after my talk of arnaldur indriðason's icelandic excellence and acceptance of the girl with the dragon tattoo, amazon has started recommending things like the indian bride (inspector sejer mysteries) and my friend megan passed me tana french's in the woods. the latter is set in knocknaree, a blustery green corner of ireland that's especially nice to read about when new york in august wants you dead, and full of good-looking dublin homicide detectives. call it a thoughtfully embellished procedural, a cross between inspector lewis** and the second season of the wire.*** one of said detectives, the unreliably-narratin' rob ryan (fond of telling us how much he lies and doesn't notice), grew up in knocknaree and suffered a mysterious trauma in the nearby woods; when a young girl's body is found there some twenty years later, he catches the case and extremely awkward conversations with locals ensue.
it's hard to talk about in the woods at length without spoiling something - megan told me i needed to read this first novel of french's because it introduces a better novel's main character, and the act of reading this one without sniffing around its sequel (the likeness) nearly killed me - but i will say that french has something of kazuo ishiguro (never let me go)'s knack for articulating relationships' emotional temperatures, which is a pleasant surprise in a genre more concerned with suspense than regular old non-stabby interpersonal tension. in the woods's b-plot is the story of rob's relationship with his female partner; its overall arc is somewhat predictable, but it's described beautifully. the a-plot, in turn, certainly does its job: while i've been suspended like a fly in the sap that is the remainder of our october issue here at the magazine and haven't had time to read at home, i was perhaps the only ticketholder who didn't mind waiting out the rain for sunday night's capeman performance in central park. i tucked myself under an eave at the delacorte, imagined myself in ireland, and was perfectly content.
VICTOR: i'd rather have in the woods in my purse, but tree of smoke's still king of the shelf.
imaginary reading group discussion questions
01 wire-watchers, which was your favorite season?
02 what's your personal late-night-at-the-office record? i'm now at a quarter past midnight, but i'm stepping up for another go tonight, i think.
03 how was your weekend? i've missed you guys, what with the office eating my life.
*previous battle here.
**if you've spent time in oxford and aren't yet watching inspector lewis, incidentally, get on that.
***the best season, for my money.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)