Act natural

( Friday, Oct. 18, 2002 12:01 am )

>Hot young writers including me

After six days of critical mail drought, today I was greeted by an avalanche of email (my dad, Kelly, Schmitty) and regular mail (Uncle Peter's mom, March of Dimes address labels with my new address on them, and more mail from my new HMO). It never rains but it pours, ain't that the truth. I'm still awaiting a map of Pennsylvania, which I sent away for while I was up really late one night trying to figure out how to get to the Cottage by rail.

More importantly, tonight I hung out with my good friends Sarah Vowell and Zadie Smith, etc. Woo hoo. I am the coolest girl ever. I went (alone) to the 215 reading at the Free Lib. and it was very entertaining and quite funny (this guy, John Hodgman, hosting, was hilarious in that low-key absurdist way that I now associate with writers making personal appearances). Arthur Bradford looked just like his author photo; Sarah Vowell looked different (like if Rachel Dratch and Tina Fey had a baby, I decided). Did you know Zadie Smith goes to Harvard now? All things I learned during my literary evening hanging around with my superstar friends.

I spent a good amount of time before the big show began sitting in the auditorium gazing around me and twiddling my thumbs. I was very early because I no longer trust the trolley to run on time, yet tonight I could not swing my arms without hitting the 34. So I had some time to kill, watching people flow in. There was a guy two rows ahead of me who provided me with some entertainment because he had obviously taken seriously the ad copy for the festival, which promises literature for/by young people plus drinking, rock and roll, and the possibility of hooking up at the end of a night, and was trying to talk to the row of four undergrad girls sitting behind him. I watched in amazement as he started a conversation based around what the auditorium seats were made of. It actually worked for a while too. Then a couple plopped themselves next to me, making me very uncomfortable, especially after the girl (next to me) announced that she was feeling claustrophobic, like, partly for me to hear. After that I busied myself feeling mildly panicked (buzz from a pre-game beer worn off) and thinking about throwing up onto the annoying claustrophobia woman. But then the show started and all was cool and froody. I didn't stay after the reading to talk to any of the authors or have them sign my asscheeks because I never know what to say to people like that, or in fact people in general. I guess I won't be going to visit my new superstar friends in Manhattan anytime soon.

In other news, I think I'm going to get my hair cut again. I came to this decision while watching TV, because I saw a mouthwash commercial with a girl with short hair swishing and making faces for thirty seconds, and I want to get my hair like hers. I could not quite come up to mouthwash levels of cuteness, but I still have high hopes.

I would like to take this moment to thank my lucky stars once more for providing me with a city to live in and things to do on a Thursday night and for not making me live with my parents in the suburbs for the rest of my life. Thank you. This concludes my remarks for this evening.

<< - >>