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September 05, 2004

Venice Festival Highlights

Well, I wish I were in Venice right now instead of in my messy room in Roslindale, Massachusetts.

I'm living vicariously though emails from Gregg Araki and, tonight, the first review (from VARIETY) and press photographs on Yahoo! of Gregg, Brady Corbet, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. It seems the world premiere at the festival went over really well. If you want to read the Variety review, I think it'll be up for a little while at this Yahoo! site: Mysterious Skin

There are also some pictures here and there, and the occasional update on imdb.com... I'll also keep posting news as it happens.

In ten days, though, Michael and I will be off to Toronto for the festival there, so I will get to share some of this excitement. This will be the first time Michael will see the movie--I'm pretty sure, and more-than-pretty hopefully, that he'll like it. Plus he'll get to meet the boys and Mary Jane and other involved parties.

What's been happening here? A week or so ago, Michael was a fellow at the Bread Loaf conference, and I drove up there with our pal and fellow writer Christopher Castellani to visit him and other folks. I've never done one of these writers' retreat / conference type things, and I sort of had my apprehensions, but I wound up really loving the two days I spent there. I got foolishly smashed one evening (on about nine beers and one gin & tonic), and, possibly because these things don't mix well with Celexa and Wellbutrin, wound up only half-remembering the last two hours of the night. The following day, driving back through the gloriously beautiful mountains of Vermont, Michael informed me that I had been shouting really embarrassing things at a helpless young Southern boy. This made me want to fling myself out the window of the moving car.

For my birthday, 22 days early, Michael bought me a new tennis racquet.

Except for the 2 days I spent visiting M at Bread Loaf, my time was completely saturated by the OLYMPICS. I get this way every four years (well, really, every two, although the Winter Olympics don't quite snag me the way the Summer Olympics do). The human interest stories make me cry... I follow every word and breath of Bob Costas... I start exercising more, believing I'll one day be good enough at SOMETHING to qualify for some event (yeah, right). This year I was, like everyone else, obsessed with Michael Phelps, but I also fell in love with a bunch of non-American teams and athletes. As usual, I wish the networks would show a little more of the foreigners, but then again, I'm not sure when I'd find time to watch all of it. Anyway. Synchronized diving became one of my new favorite events. The final match between the Brazilian and Italian mens' volleyball teams was completely amazing. I love high jump. The interference / attack by that religious fanatic moron on Brazil's Vanderlei Lima was so shocking I couldn't speak for nearly an hour. I could go on and on. I can hardly wait for summer 2008.

I have finally finished my gargantuan freelance textbook writing project.

I owe about 150 people emails.

I think I'm now rooting for the twins Kami and Karli to win the Amazing Race.

I'm rereading Jeff Eugenides's THE VIRGIN SUICIDES because it's so damn good, and also the remainder of the uncollected Richard Yates short stories I haven't read before. I also just finished the FOUND MAGAZINE book, and I'm reading the brilliant surreal freak-out comics in the new Mark Beyer "Amy and Jordan" collection.

Finally: please... anyone reading this... go out there and urge people to learn the facts and vote against george bush.