August 17, 2006

• one…more…day…to…vacation!

  Now I’m working insanely.  New books have been added for 12/28
  publication (so we can meet a goal of x number of books out there by
  year-end), and it’s madness.  I am now lead publicist for nine
  books being published that day.  Granted, four are reprints of old
  inspirational books that can be publicized as a group, and two are
  paperback reprints.  But one is also the David Lynch book.

  I had an awfully good time with my friend in Jersey, who I will call
  Patty for now because it’s easy to remember. I think Patty is a little
  depressed living in the ‘burbs.  For one thing, she hasn’t worked
  in nine years or more.  When she was about to go back to work
  several years ago, she came up pregnant for the second time at age 47
  (!!!), and now her son is 3-1/2.  Daughter is nine.  Patty,
  who for some time would not date a non-Jewish man (while I dated every
  color of the rainbow), married an Irish guy from Jersey who hates New
  York City with a passion.  Patty lived in Forest Hills all her
  life until she married her husband.  Forest Hills is a
  neighborhood in Queens, NY, which was a very nice Jewish middle-class
  neighborhood for a lot of years.  These days it’s very Russian,
  but Patty always lived among her own kind.  Well, anyway, where
  she lives now is really heavily Christian, which is weird for her, and
  really white, which I don’t think she minds but which I found
  bizarre.  It’s way the hell out of New York, and Patty won’t drive
  on highways (like a good city girl, she learned to drive really late
  and is nervous about driving that fast).  So she really only gets
  around locally.  Plus they are temporarily without a second car,
  so she now doesn’t get around much of anywhere without being driven.

  A lot of the other at-home moms around there get together in various
  ways, but it’s generally around things like scrapbooking or (shudder)
  bingo.  She is friendly with a couple of neighbor women with whom
  she goes to horror movies, which is also not Patty’s thing but more her
  thing than bingo or scrapbooking.  Her neighbors are just not as
  cool as Jannah or her neighbors, and I’m not sure what that’s about,
  just what the difference is.

  Patty was actually thrilled that I brought reefer, since she doesn’t
  know anyone there who smokes or how she’d ever get any.  (The kids
  were with their grandparents when I was visiting, so that wasn’t an
  issue.)  Her husband had a rather roller-coaster time with booze
  and drugs as a youth and quit them all, on his own, at age 21. 
  She said she probably hadn’t gotten high since the last time she got
  high with me, which might well have been my batchelorette party (we
  didn’t smoke at the wedding).  Also, we hadn’t visited since I
  started making jewelry, so I let her choose a ton of stuff; I think she
  ended up with three necklaces and maybe 15 pair of earrings.  (Her
  husband, predictably, gives her the sort of dinky-ass boring
  gold-and-diamond stuff that you get at Zales or whatever,
  mass-produced, you know the deal.  But she was really into my
  stuff and chose some pieces that were a bit wilder than I would have
  expected.)

  I did love hanging out with her; we were estranged for a couple of
  years between her wedding and mine, and since then haven’t seen too
  much of each other.  But really, we know each other so long and so
  well.  We’re very different kinds of people in a lot of ways, and
  I think at times I’ve dwelt heavily on the differences.  But now
  what I mostly feel is how much I love her and how comfortable I am with
  her.  I’ve known her almost 40 years and she’s the closest thing I
  have to a sister.

  We are finally, finally buying a fridge this weekend.  The plan is
  to go to Sears on Saturday and pick one out, then get it delivered one
  day next week, since we’re on vacation.  I miss cooking.  I
  really look forward to shopping and cooking.  I made a chicken
  dish at Patty’s on Friday night, and was surprised at how much I
  enjoyed making it and eating my own cooking and how impressed Patty
  was.  I guess she doesn’t cook from scratch too much.  Right
  now, our  fridge holds milk for about two days and says “I think I can” when it makes ice.

  I’m looking forward to making some jewelry next week.  Other plans
  include the beach, and seeing the Holmes Brothers on Thursday
  night.  I know the Holmeses from the early 80s, when they played
  at my favorite divey blues bar.  But unlike a lot of bands and
  musicians I “knew” from those days, they were really my friends,
  particularly Sherman.  When I got sober and stopped coming around
  the bar, Sherman was the only person from that scene who picked up a
  phone and called me. In the olden days, I used to carry the tip can
  around the bar for them.  Now, they’re so in demand
  internationally that they’re out of the country about 225 days a
  year.  They’re still amazingly talented, they were always tight,
  and I’m so very happy for their success.  Sherman’s about 70
  now.  It’s going to be good to see him; I invited him and Pinkie
  to my wedding, but he was away.

  It will be a laid-back week.  Can’t hardly wait. 

  Currently reading:  Lisey’s Story by Stephen King, to be published
  in October.  Ben snagged me a galley, bless his heart.

  • 10:52 pm
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