Cooler than You: Stupid Things I Say and Do

It's funny the things we remember, and how we remember them.  A decade ago I remember getting the email for my first book.  It was about this time of year, and Tanfer--my co-editor--wrote me with nothing more than "Yes! Yes! Yes!" It was our first book each and together.  We were younger then, that's for sure.  Ironically, I think I'm slightly smaller now . . . Usually, that proverbial comparison goes the other way.  That meander aside, I remember culling those pages, corresponding with the authors, doing the next to final press review of the chapters at a professor's house in Port Jeff, and in September and October I did the index in Virginia.  I had left NY, and I was in Virginia on a Visting hire.  My parents were delighted to have me around, even when I sat on the couch eating Kit Kats ticking off index terms and numbers.  There was a sense of hope and happiness then.  In the middle of those ticking numbers, I picked up a couple of p...

In March of 1996, very close to the date now, I sat in a subway car enviously and frightfully starring at the people around me.  I was baffled that the cars were so full, I was frustrated that I couldn't get a seat or fully grab the knack of hanging on while standing, I was tired from "touring" the city for days, and I was a dreamer.  I remember a thirty-something blond sitting across from me, and she sat with her legs crossed, her briefcase on her arm, and her body language spoke of ease, comfort, and familiarity.  Several college students--as tags on their packs attested--loudly discussed notes for an upcoming exam (fittingly, it was a performing arts crew from NYU) as the train chugged along underground.  A man leaned on one of the poles and read his folded newspaper; he had the "subway fold" that is common to the old school crew who still read the paper version of the Times.  Then, then that blond pulled out a book and casually began to read.  I let out...

I haven't posted much lately because I've been busy with the new semester and finishing the first book. In the next few weeks I'll be sure to post loads of stuff, but this is what I got a draft of today . . . And yes, folks, we are all about the self promotion. Buy our book. Expand your mind. Bring us enough royalties to buy a cup of coffee. Oh, I might be biased because my name is on here, and I took the cover photo, but I think it looks absolutely gorgeous !

So I spent the day helping a friend submit his dissertation to the graduate school, and let's just say I was soooo very happy to know that three formatting notes were changed since I submitted the first week of April. Humph. A notice on the website would be have been nice. Oh well. All done. He now has his SBU tie, like I have my SBU scarf. Now . . .I finalize my book manuscript. Three weeks to deadline. But, look what came in today . . . I heart my purple glasses. I do not heart manuscript submission. I am tired, and I will party like it is 1999 when all is complete.

This past January my Dad and I were perusing cheap bookstores in Chester, VA. Before I tell you about the bookstore, you should know that we had just come from JcPenneys. While there I used my trusty camera phone to take photos of some hideous prom dresses. They were white, with about twelve yards of white tulle, and they had black and gray sequins on them. I won’t post that photo here because I am sure that many a sixteen year old thought they were the coolest thing since sliced bread to wear to the prom. Now, for that bookstore . . . Dad and I went into a discount bookstore, and while perusing I came across what I can only call the dumbest book I have ever seen. Seriously. Now, if you need a book on how to be a sex goddess I personally think that you need to get out more. You know, there are these delightful places called BARS that anyone can be a goddess at. If you are low on self-esteem just walk into a trashy honky tonk. Drunk ...