Welcome to the pre-pre-holiday sale edition of my newsletter on the day we get an extra hour:
Besides the August pre-Season displays in every drug store (why? holidays make us need drugs?), consumer America was putting up Christmas trees on Halloween night in many NYC stores including Urban Outfitters. Something is fitting about the store name matching the task—they are pretending not to be outfitting themselves for the holidays the night before Halloween.
I am not a fan of far-too-pre-holiday planning. I can do without xmas carols in September. I hate fruitcake recipes in October (even though the things would probably last easily until 12 days after Christmas) and I 100% am against any Halloween decorating more than two weeks earlier (we have a birthday and an anniversary which need their own space). Anyway. I don’t begin to plan for Haloween until mid-October.
So.
I had to make all three of my Halloween outfits from things I had lying around the house this year because I refused to buy stuff when the Halloween store opened on September 15th across the street from my house…and when I returned four days before Halloween the store was stripped bare.
I think I did ok tho with my scissors and glue… my spousal unit and I went to the Poetry Brothel’s annual fundraising Masquerade.
And that was just Monday!
I also got to watch a Vincent Price movie marathon (The Three Tales of Nathaniel Hawthorn is fantastic over-the-top camp and much worthwhile if you have Amazon Prime)
On Wednesday I went to the opera to see the newest production of Peter Grimes. (I mean, the Met Opera is less than five miles up the street from me!!) My brilliant friend Emily Pulley shared a poetic re-interpretation of the plot, and I have to say, I almost lost the plot. (click here for the etymology of that weird phrase which, it turns out, does not mean “to laugh out loud” as I always thought, nor is it anything about a funeral plot, which could have been interesting.)
Right so then I had to get some work done. I mean….you can’t just do art all the time.
Are you following along? It’s now Friday. I went to two museums: the outrageously good exhibit of Edward Hopper’s work at the Whitney (there was also a set of original Tarot Cards drawn by an American artist)… and then on to the Rubin, which if you don’t know, is open Fridays until 10pm - with a DJ and food and drinks. Nine hours of museums.
In addition to that stuff, there has been burlesque shows, readings, and several movies. And meetings of course. And some coffees with friends. I ran into a woman I haven’t seen since the Lithuanian Writers’ Conference. We spent a day together. A nice PS to our bizarre origin story.
So yeah - it’s been a good week.
Writing? Why yes. Pen Parentis won another huge grant that I’ll share with you when I’m allowed (I really hate that you can’t tell people about good news when it happens)…. but I have occasionally been scribbling, too. And sending out. Here’s a tiny flash fiction piece.