Lo

Great friends, good food, animals and tow--followed by a Doobinin gig at Rockwood....could I ask for a better day to kick-start the summer?

I just finished The First Man by Camus, which was one of the most poignant, beautiful books I've ever read. I haven't felt the need to openly cry over a book in ages. LT: 0 Camus: 1

After he died in a car accident, his family found the manuscript, along with notes and sections completely crossed out. His wife did not want it published and until her death, his children agreed. After they read it and thought about it more, they decided to go ahead and publish it to give his readers more insight into his life. When I started reading it, I felt a sort of disloyalty because as many of you know, I have struggled with letting certain things from people I have known who have died being brought out for public consumption. What I have learned from being allowed to read such a beautiful book, is that in the end, all that matters is that the original material should not be edited or retouched. It should be left as is--which is exactly what this book was to really honor that person and their wishes.

There are footnotes throughout the entire book, noting things like "illegible word" or "sentence ends here." The last section of the book are his notes--which mostly contain random facts and beautiful ramblings for thoughts on how some sections should be rewritten. It ends with two letters--which were so beautiful and humbling--I feel lucky that I was able to read them and peek inside this iconic writer's inner life.

The First Man is a semi-autobiography about Camus childhood in Algiers and the struggle he felt while growing up in poverty and the hope and passion he had for life because of it. It is an amazing book and I highly recommend it.

Case in point:
"...today he felt life, youth people slipping away from him, without being able to hold on to any of them, left with the blind hope that this obscure force that for so many years had raised him above the daily routine, nourished him unstintingly, and had been equal to the most difficult circumstances--that, as it had with endless generosity given him reason to live, it would also give him reason to grow old and die without rebellion."

Go read this book now!

Spring will always get me. I miss the days of running around and having no responsibilities--and having my biggest problem be what guy I was going to go after...

 

Ahh youth.

 

 

KT once told me about someone she met that enjoyed talking to. She asked him for a list of 5 books she should read in her lifetime. She enjoyed the list. I loved that idea so I am asking you, dear friends, what 5 books would you tell me I must read before I leave this earth? Comment back please!

If I could only bring 5 books with me on a desert island and/or to my death bed, this would be my list*

*subject to change at any time and I am cheating by throwing in a 6th so I can get my poetry in there too

Anything by Edith Wharton is amazing. I love her to pieces. Her stories of Old New York are timeless but this one is pure magic.

*Sigh* He is one of my favorite authors, dead or living, hands down. I'm sad though because I've read everything--including his short stories, autobiography and magazine articles so I may have to reread this again soon for another fix

My generation's "Unbearable Lightness of Being" (just cheated again!) Hilarious and poignant--and love the diagrams (pre-Eggers)

Ok. This is a kids book. But this is not for the faint of heart. One of my first real-life (and not Hollywood) crushes was Mr. Loffler--my 4th grade teacher who read this out loud to us every day after lunch. One chapter a day. As we got towards towards the end, he started crying and tearing up so much that he couldn't finish the book and it became a home work assignment. When I finished it at home, I had to sleep downstairs on the couch, next to my parents room and with my dog right at my feet for quite a while. I cried like a baby over this book for a good week. I don't know if a book has effected me that much since.

Thus began my Lethem fetish.

Book of Poetry: Tie (extra cheating)

A line from "The Victims" to entice you--it's really powerful--all the poems are:

"Now I pass the bums in doorways,
the white slugs of their bodies gleaming through slits in their
suits of compressed silt,
the stained flippers of their hands,
the underwater fire of their eyes, ships gone down with the lanterns lit,
and I wonder who took it and took from them in silence
until they had given it all away and had nothing left but this"

I don't believe this fella requires an introduction.

A few weeks ago, I went with my friend Jill to pick out a dog at the Brooklyn branch of the NYC Center for Animal Control. My heart broke into a million pieces and I highly doubt it will ever recover. Ladies and gentleman, this is no ASPCA. This is the lowest of the low. Dogs, Cats and Rabbits are shoved into tiny cages, no blankets, no toys, a bowl of water and little hope.

After 7 days of being posted, if no one adopts or claims them, off they go to Animal Heaven. 20,000-30,000 adoptable, healthy dogs are euthanized every year in NYC alone because of overcrowding. I don't even want to know what the total number of animals (including cats, rabbits, etc.) is. The whole thing is truly wretched.

I haven't been able to stop thinking about them. I have to do something to help. I've decided to give as many animals as possible a little trinket to play with or a nice place to snuggle while they are in the shelter system.

This is where you come in.

Every month, I'll be collecting gently used blankets, towels and new toys for any of the above animal types and will be dropping them off at the Brooklyn branch. I will be donating at least $25.00/month or more to the cause and will personally drop off anything I collect.It's not a lot but at least it's something.

If you are interested in helping, please comment back and I will email you with my mailing address so you can send whatever you would like to donate. I will post pictures or a note from a NYACC rep to prove that it's all going to this new cause I'm on.

I'm calling this initiative the Furbaby Blanket Fund and will be creating a separate blog to post updates.

Thanks for reading this--and thank you in advance for any blanket, towel, toy or donation you send.

I was very happily surprised and delighted to find out that there is a new blog in the New York Times Online edition called Measure For Measure, which gives songwriters the chance to share their songwriting process. A description of the blog reads "With music now available with a single, offhand click, it's easy to forget that songs are not born whole, polished and ready to play. They are created by artists who draw on some combination of craft, skill and inspiration. In the coming weeks, the contributors to this blog -- all accomplished songwriters -- will pull back the curtain on the creative process as they write about their work on a songs in the making."

Thank you New York Times!

To make this discovery even more amazing--one of my favorites of late, the wonderful, talented and magical Andrew Bird, will be detailing his process as he records his new album (which I cannot wait for). The first post went up yesterday. It really touched me. His album Armchair Apocrypha is one I have listened to a lot over the last 6 months--and it's really helped get me through a lot of hard times. I love his voice and think he's pretty unclassifiable. It's pretty incredible to get the inside scoop. The story he wrote of, in regards to the forthcoming "Oh No" is funny and poignant--just like his music.

Big shout out to the NYT and Mr. Bird himself for participating. I will be looking forward to all the other postings. Roseanne Cash, Darrell Brown and Suzanne Vega will also be writing.

Without further ado, a live performance from Coachella 2007:

I cannot resist posting more pics of my new little boy Ollie. Enjoy!

My amazingly talented and resourceful friend Michelle (aka Mushy because she is just that) recently realized her dream. She opened a beautiful store in Hollywood, steps away from her house. It is beautiful! She has always been great at picking out pieces for friends homes and realized that she loved decorating. After trips to Thailand and lots of happy clients, the space opened up and she grabbed it. It is just gorgeous!

I am so happy for her. I am also lucky to know her. Not only does she do decorating but is a trained masseuse and healer. She has impacted my life in so many positive ways.

The next time you are in L.A., pay her a visit. You won't walk away empty handed--but the great thing about her prices is that you won't walk away broke either.

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