Remembering the Fourth of July as if it had just happened this week.
Does anyone realize that it was only a few days ago we were wondering what to do with that Tuesday night?
What have we done to ourselves that reminiscing about THIS WEEK feels like really old news?
Living in Manhattan, one of the most spectacular things is that you have so many fireworks options. We have often been out of town for the fourth and gone to some charming village where they fire off five minutes of spectacular dandelion shapes sparkles in various glittery colors, but in general, while I still adore them and wouldn’t miss them for the world, standing outside in grass with mosquitoes and port-a-potties is not the best way to see fireworks.
Standing with your shoes on the pavement of the closed highway where only a week ago you were darting in and out of bad drivers in a car is a fantastic experience - everyone should do it once.
Of course the best thing is to hold hands with a loved one on a towel lying back on the hood of a car and your heads pillowed by leather jackets up against the windshield. But who has a car with a long front hood anymore?
This year, what magic. Some out-of-town cousins have a rental on the 40th floor of a downtown building - with an unobstructed view uptown, up the center of Manhattan.
We were lucky enough to get to stand in that window and for half an hour starting at 9pm, stare out at the blossoming skyline (not to mention the random illegal fireworks illuminating grocery stores and banks in a very perilous way) while we all thanked the world for firemen and asked each other whether this set of five explosions to the right or that one over there across the river might be the Macy’s fireworks.
And then the gigantic green statue of liberty appeared and someone said “was that there just a minute ago?” and someone else said “I think that’s a hologram” and then the coordinated salutations of four barges full of colorful explosions filled the horizon with synchronized lights.
But ah, fireworks are so very pretty. I was beside myself. Transported. Happy.
Writing News:
At last, here is the full version of the launch party! In related news, the videographer just turned 21!
That’s it for writing news this week. Watch the video! Buy the book!
Thank you to all of you who have written reviews or set up meetings so I can sign your book. It’s so fun!
My mother in law’s obituary is in the New York Times this weekend. I think the final version is nice - I worked hard to give her the accolades she deserved while also showing some of her personality.
Hug your loved ones.
Random Final Thought (since NATO is having a summit in Lithuania):
Exactly how thin is the border of a country?
I liked the weekly blog, as usual. While aware that you did not build off of the title, I do have some thoughts about "avoiding cliche." I think cliche is helpful to an extent, as we all think in patterns, and familiar groups of words help us read more efficiently. The problem with cliche is that it is boring to some, and we like to think of ourselves as the kinds of readers who can be bored. There is an elitism to thinking that a passage is cliche -- a healthy elitism, I think.
As a writer, I don't think one can or should make an effort to avoid cliche. If you try, you will probably fall into it! Cliche is a symptom of mediocre thinking, not a cause. But I don't think it's unavoidable. I don't that some writers are naturally original and others never so. I think the cure for cliche is probing more deeply.
the obituary about your mother-in-law is such a wonderful portrait- I repeat- you sound so much like her-all that energy and creativity-