Tom & Alissa

The Yiddish Policemen’s Union - Michael Chabon
Really fun. This isn’t my favorite Chabon book (that would be Wonder Boys), and probably not Pullitzer-worthy like Kavalier & Clay, but it is a great read. It’s part alternate history (what if the Jewish nation had settled in Alaska during World War Two, as someone suggested?), part hardboiled Raymond-Chandler-style detective novel. [4/5]

Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality - Donald Miller
Well, I love this book. But this was a re-read. [4/5]

The Year of Magical Thinking - Joan Didion
Amazing, succinct, non-emotional yet heartbreaking account of the author’s husband’s death and her subsequent struggle with grief for the next year. The play is running on Broadway right now, starring Vanessa Redgrave, which made me interested in the book; it was well worth the read. [4/5]

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close - Jonathan Safran Foer
Was so happy to locate this in a bookstore full of lousy books in an airport in Chicago. Really, really great. It’s the story of a child who lost his father in 9/11 and is looking for answers; it’s really about a whole lot more, though - family and guilt and second chances. [5/5]

Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
Finally finished it! And it was one of the most lively “old” books I’ve ever read. One of the essayists in the footnotes said that Thackeray is the consummate satirist, and he’s totally right, but it’s so much fun to read. Technically, I “read” half of this on tape back in college, but the second half was over 400 pages so I think it counts as a whole book! [4/5]

Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides
Really and truly strange premise, but otherwise a highly recommended book. It’s the epic story of a Greek-American family (with some serious issues) told through the eyes of the eventual hermaphrodite offspring. And in the midst of all that is the story of America in the twentieth century, especially Detroit. And it did win a Pullitzer. But it’s not for the faint of heart or constitution. [5/5]

Proof - David Auburn
Well, I read it. Good, but I think I need to see it performed to get it. [3/5]

Me Talk Pretty One Day - David Sedaris
Oh, I loved this. David Sedaris’ brand of humor is exactly my style, and he’s just so funny. His rants come off gently, instead of angrily. And his observations of Americans abroad (himself included) had me trying to swallow my giggles on the train. [5/5]

Which brings me up to 41 books so far this year. With five months left in the year, I think I’m in good shape to hit my 50-book goal for this year. ;) I’m not going to “up” it, but I am going to make an effort to read more in the literary journals and the New Yorker than I have been.

Right now, I’m in the midst of White Teeth by Zadie Smith, Wonderful Town edited by David Remnick, and The Death and Life of Great American Cities by Jane Jacobs (which may take a while to finish).

And as always, I’m tracking my reading here.

I absolutely adore Wes Craven’s short from Paris Je T’aime:

Last night we went to Film Forum to see Metropolis, a silent film from 1927 (that was apparently Adolf Hitler’s favorite film). I didn’t bother to read about it before we went in, so I was royally confused for a bit; first I was thinking that it was a spoof on silent films made in the 70s (not sure why), and then I thought I remembered Tom saying it was a Nazi propaganda film (which he never said) and spent the rest of the movie trying to understand what it was propagandizing about. Whoops.

In any case, it’s one of those films I think you must see with a full cinema, or at the least, in a classroom. Certainly an achievement. Apparently there were more than 37,000 extras used, including 1,100 bald men. There’s a joke in there somewhere.

If it doesn’t rain tomorrow, I believe we may be going to a beach with friends. Love summer.

So, you’re probably wondering if we’re still alive. Indeed we are.

On Saturday night we went to the latest Zoae Series, which Tom was photographing. We were there very early and got home rather late to pack.

After church on Sunday, we headed to Port Authority (another gates-to-hell style location) and took a Greyhound bus to Atlantic City, where my grandparents met us and drove to Wildwood Crest. I grew up vacationing there with the whole family every summer, but because of travels, jobs, wedding, and the craziness of the last couple years, I hadn’t been there in a while. We had a really great time, visiting the beach, shopping in Cape May, eating on the waterfront, playing video games in the arcade, and essentially just soaking in the sun and relaxing. And we were happy to discover that it’s pretty cheap to get there from here; hopefully we can go for longer next year.

We took the train back on Tuesday and made it into town in time for the M.A. information session at Gallatin - there was a mix-up with the location and Tom ended up just going home and bringing our bags with him, while I went to hear what they had to say. The program is incredibly appealing to me; the freedom to structure my degree around my interests is such an exciting concept, full of possibilities. I wasn’t aware that they only accept about half their applicants. A little intimidating, but hopefully I have the chops for it.

I started work on Wednesday morning and so far it’s been good. I have a great set-up, the people are nice, the location is great, and most importantly, the coffee machine makes great coffee (in stark contrast to life at the good ol’ B of A). I’m trying to settle into my duties, but it’s making sense to me. I’ve never really had such a sense of fitting into a job before. There’s a learning curve, but at least I know that I can do this. It fits with my talents. And Tom has been incredibly supportive through the whole thing, which makes such a difference.

So anyhow, I’m back on the map and ready to go. How are you?

It’s my last day at this job, and I’m about to call into my last meeting. I feel like I should be much more geared up, but I’m not really. I don’t think it’s sunk in yet. Right now I just keep thinking that I never have to go above 14th street again, if I don’t want to. :)

I’ve been here for two years and a month, and my life is almost entirely different now than it was then. In some ways, this job has been the one constant for those years; relationships, friendships, churches, roommates, ideas, beliefs, philosophies have all changed, gone, deepened, sharpened, or matured. And of course, my family has changed completely. Dad was diagnosed with leukemia when I’d only been here a month, and I found out about his relapse sitting right here at this desk. And I’ve worked here longer than I’ve even known Tom. There’s nothing untouched in my life, but I’m much older and I know much more about myself and have the courage to pursue life, rather than existence.

So, in a bit, I’ll turn in my badges, corporate cards, laptop, blackberry, and access cards, and walk out the door into an entirely different existence for which I’m well-suited. I’m really grateful for this experience, but I’m really excited about where I’m headed.

As Anne would say, it’s “an epoch in my life”.

New Yorkers, take note: Over the Rhine and Rosie Thomas in concert together on October 26!

Thanks, Dana Gioia.

(He spoke on a similar subject at the 2006 IAM Conference; it was very helpful in forming opinions on the role of artists in society and proactive pursuit of life.)

via Brewing Culture

If you know us as New Yorkers (rather than from our past, or whatever), you know that we love throwing dinner parties; we have managed to cram up to ten people in our 200 square foot living area that has neither tables nor chairs for some lovely conversation, poetry readings, movies, or whatever else we decide is the theme. All you really need for a good dinner party is lots of food, wine, and water; a lot of tea lights lit all over the room; moderately regulated temperature (open the windows in the winter); and an Iron & Wine album playing in the background.

I think our best meals for lots of company have been waffles (we provide waffles and butter; everyone else brings the whipped cream, chocolate, maple syrup, peaches, strawberries, or whatever else is in season), Mexican (our seis de Mayo party - we provide meat, everyone else brings a tomato, some lettuce, sour cream, cheese, tortillas, guacamole, and we had so many bags of tortilla chips that we only just finished them and gallons of gazpacho), and Tom’s famous maple glazed porkchops with bourbon buttered apples for smaller groups.

Once you take the scariness out of throwing a party, it’s so fun - people don’t really care if your whole house is scrubbed sparkling clean and you use the finest china, as long as you feed them something edible and engineer the guest list so people enjoy themselves. The best hospitality - and the kind that makes guests most comfortable - lies not in presenting a perfect face, but in being genuinely you . . . with good food.

So the point of this entry is that our friend Angela, who was instrumental in our meeting/marrying and at whose apartment we’ve enjoyed many a fine dinner party, has posted some recipes for a dinner party for ten. Enjoy.

People have been calling and emailing about the explosion in midtown to make sure we’re ok - so yes, we are. But it’s pretty tragic.

The blast, near 41st Street and Lexington Avenue, raised fears of terrorism, but officials were quick to dismiss that possibility. “There is no reason to believe this is anything other than a failure of our infrastructure,” Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said.

Thanks, Mayor, I feel better now. :)

We didn’t hear about it until about 8:30 last night, when Tom’s dad called both our phones and left a message to the effect of “just wanting to make sure you’re ok, with everything that’s happening in New York”. I freaked out (we hadn’t heard anything, but we were in Brooklyn - buildings could fall or a bomb could go off and we potentially would have no idea) but managed to hit a news website.

I was thinking about the explosion as I was riding the subway this morning, wondering if we really are in a dangerous place . . . but then I realized that people routinely die in car accidents all over the place. At some point, we realize that we have to trust God that he puts us in specific places for specific reasons and He is sovereign over the outcome; otherwise, I don’t know how anyone would live without getting ulcers from fear and worry!

So anyhow, we’re fine, but it’s still a sad happening.

This is a clip from Todd Haynes new movie ‘I’m Not There,’ a riff on Bob Dylan’s biography, where Bob is played by six different characters throughout the film to represent the different phases of his life, as producer Christine Vachon put it, “The film is going be inspired by Dylan’s music and his ability to re-create and re-imagine himself time and time again.” In this scene Cate Blanchett proves herself to be one of the greatest actors of our time. Other people already knew this, but I’m just now being convinced. She is WONDERFUL in this role!

Some recent favorites from other Flickr photographers:

Click on the image to go to my photostream . . . the individual photos are linked from there.

As you can tell, I’m really into still life.

This is among the best publicity stunts I’ve ever seen. (via Jeffrey Overstreet)

It is raining so furiously out there that the rain actually soaked through both my boots and my umbrella in the two blocks from home to the subway. Needless to say, did not go running this morning. I feel sorry for everyone that’s inevitably going to be stranded in Queens, as seems to happen most of the time when it rains really hard. This is the only time when I half-miss having a car; I stayed much drier when I drove everywhere. (Although, now I recall that my car actually leaked and I would have huge puddles in the foot area of all the seats. That wasn’t fun.)

We went to Midsummer Night’s Swing again last night and unexpectedly caught the Slow Dancing video installation piece on the facade of the New York State Theater. It was amazing! We just stood and watched it for almost an hour; apparently it runs until 1:00 am.

Looks like we’re heading to south Jersey this weekend to visit my grandparents. I don’t start work until Wednesday, so it’s an unexpected long weekend. After much hemming and hawing, we decided it’s probably best to just take the bus to Atlantic City (under 3 hours) and get picked up there. I am not fond of buses as a method of long-distance transportation, since they’re subject to traffic much more than trains, but this is really the only option. I haven’t been to my grandparents’ place in Wildwood since the summer before my junior year in college, but I spent at least a week every summer there when I was growing up, so this will be fun. We’re looking forward to it.

I keep trying to quote this to people because I love the image Raymond Chandler paints, but he put it so much better that I’ll just post it here for everyone to read:

He was still out when I got back. I unlocked the door, dragged him into the house, shut the door. He was beginning to gasp now. I switched a lamp on. His eyes fluttered open and focused on me slowly.

I bent down, keeping out of the way of his knees and said: “Keep quiet or you’ll get the same and more of it. Just lie quiet and hold your breath. Hold it until you can’t hold it any longer and then tell yourself that you have to breathe, that you’re black in the face, that your eyeballs are popping out, and that you’re going to breathe right now, but that you’re sitting strapped in the chair in the clean little gas chamber up in San Quentin and when you take that breath you’re fighting with all your soul not to take it, it won’t be air you’ll get, it will be cyanide fumes. And that’s what they call humane execution in our state now.”

Also, Tom got home late last night, and it is so good to have him back.

Don’t ever let anyone tell you otherwise: marriage is fantastically fun.

Tom was in a car on the way to Michigan as I was flying home from Chicago on Thursday, so I likely flew over him; in any case, I got home late on Thursday night and worked from home on Friday, which ended with an art show at a friend’s apartment in Williamsburg. I am almost never in Williamsburg and forgot that the L train is sporadic, and ended up taking a car home. Felt posh.

Saturday I went out for a while to Carey’s to meet up with some other artistic women and showed a handful of my prints. (Consensus: my style is “capturing grace”. I like that.)

Yesterday I arrived at church, where I was the reader for the Scripture before the sermon. I hadn’t checked out the verses ahead of time, so when I turned to the back of the bulletin to check it out, this is what I saw:

Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. When he built a city, he called the name of the city after the name of his son, Enoch. To Enoch was born Irad, and Irad fathered Mehujael, and Mehujael fathered Methushael, and Methushael fathered Lamech. And Lamech took two wives. The name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah. Adah bore Jabal; he was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock. His brother’s name was Jubal; he was the father of all those who play the lyre and pipe. Zillah also bore Tubal-cain; he was the forger of all instruments of bronze and iron. The sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah.

And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and called his name Seth, for she said, “God has appointed for me another offspring instead of Abel, for Cain killed him.” To Seth also a son was born, and he called his name Enosh. At that time people began to call upon the name of the LORD.

When Enosh had lived 90 years, he fathered Kenan. Enosh lived after he fathered Kenan 815 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Enosh were 905 years, and he died. When Kenan had lived 70 years, he fathered Mahalalel. Kenan lived after he fathered Mahalalel 840 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Kenan were 910 years, and he died. When Mahalalel had lived 65 years, he fathered Jared. Mahalalel lived after he fathered Jared 830 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Mahalalel were 895 years, and he died. When Jared had lived 162 years he fathered Enoch. Jared lived after he fathered Enoch 800 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Jared were 962 years, and he died. When Enoch had lived 65 years, he fathered Methuselah. Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Enoch were 365 years. Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.

Genesis 4:17-22; Genesis 4:25-26; Genesis 5:9-27

Lucky me, huh? Thankfully, we spent a fair amount of my junior high curriculum studying Genesis and I was able to fake my way through it.

And after church was brunch, and then I ran an obscene amount of errands on the way home, winding up with a horrendous line-waiting experience at the Brooklyn Target (which I’m pretty sure is on the outskirts of hell - you’ve never seen a Target like this). But so cheap.

I did score a Bodum iced tea jug and a teapot with a built-in infuser at Crate & Barrel with a forgotten gift card. Love Christmas in July.

This is my last week at the Bank. Strange.

It’s finally official, so I can tell you - next week is my last week at the Bank!

I have a new job, working at a university as a tech writer and editor. It promises to be very interesting, diverse work, involving everything from writing and editing to designing and a little light web coding. The job is perfectly tailored for me, and it will provide the funds for me to go to graduate school.

It’s been a long road here, so I’m very excited! My first day is July 25. I can’t wait to start this next chapter in my life.

I weigh in on Evan Almighty. (I’m the second opinion.)

Tetris has broken free of its old Nintendo cartridge and entered the real world! As their tagline states, “Take Tetris to the next dimension.” I think that’s pretty funny. Still, it’s worth seeing in action, so here’s a video of a father and son playing. Check it out.

I thought I’d be all industrious and prepared and fly out to Chicago the night before my meetings (I’ve been known to do day trips there), but my 7:03pm is now scheduled to leave at 11:45pm. Oh, fun times, this.

Yes, I’m actually in LaGuardia. Impressed?

‘ello, poppets.

I desperately needed unwinding on Friday night, and Netflix had graciously complied, so we watched Harry Potter 1 and 2. You may or may not be surprised to discover that I have neither read nor seen any Harry Potter-related books & films, and I only have the most basic understanding of the concept, so it was actually quite enjoyable for me. I don’t really understand what all the controversy was about, but then again, I seem to find myself saying that a lot lately.

We spent most of the weekend in New Jersey with Tom’s family, and then yesterday we hung out with the Walkers (all three) and played a lot of Spades. I’m not half bad. I excelled at poker the one time I played; I guess I’m a good liar? Or perhaps I have incredible control over my exterior reactions. At least in card games.

I am heading to our Chicago offices tomorrow night and will be there until Thursday night; Tom’s planning to go to Michigan with his family on Thursday and be there until Sunday. So we won’t really see each other at all this week. But, as usual, I have more than enough to occupy myself, including the second disc of the first season of Arrested Development and the first disc of the first season of Six Feet Under. Plus, traveling to Chicago always takes it out of me. Miserable airports on both ends.

I am reading The Year of Magical Thinking, by Joan Didion, and I’m amazed. I can relate so much. Her writing is pristine and detailed and balanced and sad.

More of my photos from our Boston trip are here.

Read the web supplement to my interview with Anne Dayton & May Vanderbilt in the summer issue of Radiant, and here for the extended review.

Though the Wednesday holiday threw me off, I’m glad tomorrow is Friday.

On Tuesday night, we went to Midsummer Night’s Swing and danced the night away, quite literally. It was great fun. We’re not great dancers, but we’re not shabby, either. I did wear the wrong shoes, though, and subsequently have had the great pleasure of having blisters on both the top AND bottom of my feet. Still, we’ll return. That has to be one of the most fun events in the NYC summer.

Yesterday my mom was in town to see Les Miserables with some friends, so we had lunch with her beforehand, then came home. I had an article to write (which I did, successfully, and not badly). And we weren’t sure if the rain would hold off, but it did, so we went to a rooftop party in Brooklyn Heights and watched the fireworks - which were spectacular, and directly in our view, as the rooftop was just off the Promenade and the fireworks were over the East River.

Back to the grindstone today; haircut and then an art show tonight, and possibly more swing tomorrow, then out to Jersey on Saturday. I have to go to Chicago next week for work (Tuesday night through Thursday night). So we’re busy, as usual.

Lastly, some of my pictures from our trip are slowly going up on Flickr. Click below to see them.

My article about Flannery O’Connor is in this week’s Radiant e-newsletter - if you’re not a subscriber, you can read it here.

I haven’t recounted many movies we’ve seen recently, simply because it’s been too many and we’ve been too gone.

But we watched a bunch this weekend I wanted to mention:

Ratatouille - We saw it Friday night in a Brooklyn theater full of children, which is the only good way to see a Pixar film. But this was spectacular. They’ve reached a whole new level over there at Pixar. We went to a party on Saturday night and enthused with half the people there, who’d also seen it and loved it. I don’t want, or need, to say too much - just go see it. Well worth it. And the short that precedes it is great fun and nothing like that scary bouncing rabbit/deer thing in the last film.

The Devil Wears Prada - I’ve seen this far more times than I will admit, but Tom hadn’t seen it at all, so we watched it. And to my relief, he liked it.

You Kill Me - This is not getting a lot of press, but it’s great fun. In short, it’s about a hit man in Buffalo, NY who is sent to San Francisco by his “family” to clean up and go to AA meetings, because his drinking problem is interfering with his work. It’s funny and quirky and it actually works, and avoids the obvious opportunities for gratuitous anything. And it stars Ben Kingsley, Tea Leoni, and Luke Wilson. I don’t know if it’s playing outside of art-house cinema (it’s an IFC film, but we saw it at the Angelika). But if you can see it, do. It’s very funny.

Minority Report - A re-watch for both of us. But good fun was had by all.

Ciao for now. Big announcements forthcoming, I think. (No, I’m not pregnant.)

I have a short interview and book review in Radiant this month - check it out.

I have been busy, so there are many more articles in scattered venues forthcoming!

Another good month.

The Corrections - Jonathan Franzen
As you know if you have read my blog before or been around me recently, I can’t rave enough about this book. It is superb, gripping, transgressive, detailed, distasteful, exhilarating, heartbreaking, a punch in the gut and a breeze to the soul. I don’t know much about Franzen or his background, but I think he’s hit the nail on the head when it comes to human nature and human behavior. Plus, it turns out to subtly be a retelling of the prodigal son (which I’d like to believe Franzen intended, but P.T. Anderson has proved that you don’t need to know Bible stories to tell them). It’s not a book that everyone will like, but for those who are wiling, it’s well worth the read. [5/5]

The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald
What can I say? One of the best. I’m thoroughly convinced I was born in the wrong decade. I missed reading this in high school, so it was my first time. Glad I did. [5/5]

A Grace Disguised - Jerry L. Sittser
My pastor and his wife from the church I grew up in gave me this book when my father died in August; it’s quite good. The author lost his daughter, his wife, and his mother in a car accident and was left to raise his other children. Though it gets somewhat repetitive, I think it’s a worthy book on facing grief. [3/5]

The Writing Life - Annie Dillard
I think this pretty much defines “prose poem”. I’ve actually never read any of her other books, but this was great. Totally different from Stephen King’s book on writing (which I read earlier this year), as you might imagine; full of metaphor and word pictures. Good for writers. And it’s short. [4/5]

Wayside School is Falling Down - Louis Sachar
Book #2. I love these books. I remember this one more distinctly than the first. [3/5]

A Widow for One Year - John Irving
I rarely hate books, but I hated this one. I know Irving is a well-respected author and this book was a NY Times bestseller, but I can’t imagine why. All the characters are annoying, flat, and boring, the story goes on WAY too long and has completely superfluous inserts and characters, and I truly hated the writing (in my humble opinion, italics shouldn’t be used in novels except in dialogue and then only sparingly; Irving writes like a Victorian). Plus it seemed gratuitously graphic. I may still try A Prayer for Owen Meany, but it will take quite a while for me to get there. The one benefit of reading this book is that I now feel okay about despising the work of a decorated author. [1/5]

A History of Love - Nicole Krauss
This followed A Widow for One Year and so it seemed Pullitzer-worthy; however, I think it really is a good book. It’s short and innovative and very sweetly told; the writing is good, capturing the voices of the narrators, and the structure of the storytelling is balanced enough that it really works. It’s also short, which makes it a good summer book. I’ll read anything she writes. [4/5]

I’m in the middle of three books right now: The Yiddish Policeman’s Union by Michael Chabon, which I am enjoying; The Death and Life of Great American Cities by Jane Jacobs, a book about urban planning which manages to be simultaneously highly instructive and entertaining; and Wonderful Town edited by David Remnick, a collection of short stories about NYC from the New Yorker. I’ll finish all of them shortly and hopefully read The Year of Magical Thinking (Joan Didion) this month; more, if I have time.

Books to date: 33