Here I am. I’m in the process of changing web hosts and blogging systems, so there’s much behind-the-scenes renovation going on here at Rebel Prince. (Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!) I should have everything squared away sometime this week.
I just got back from the David Sedaris reading. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: this man is damn funny. He read a few stories: “Rooster at the Hitchin’ Post” (about his brother’s wedding; published in Esquire, September 2002); “The Ship Shape” (regarding a childhood summer cottage, to be published in The New Yorker this August); and a story on the theme of protest, originally written for This American Life. Go see him. Washington was his sixth stop on the first leg of his current tour, which takes him across the country and wraps up in L.A. at the end of this month.
A couple of bits gleaned from the Q&A: Ask for a translation. Publishers send him foreign-language versions of his books, which he doesn’t need or want, so he brings them on tour to give away. He explained this, and asked almost rhetorically, “Does anyone speak German?” A few people raised their hands, but the most frantic was a woman near the front of the audience. Mr. Sedaris walked downstage and gave her a copy of what looked like Me Talk Pretty One Day, or uh, Ich ein Tag sprechen hübsch. Returning to the mic, he deadpanned, “I never leave the podium.”
Also, he said that as a writer himself he recommends An Obedient Father by Akhil Sharma, a novel of corruption and survival in Delhi (Times review); and Talking Heads, a series of monologues currently in performance on Broadway. The latter was first written for the BBC in the 1980s, and is available as a book-on-tape, for you tapeworms. (Yeah, he started to say, “If you’re a tapeworm, you’ll like…” It took me a second.)
Hey, kids. I’m having trouble getting web access to my rebelprince.com e-mail account (tech people are working on it, I’m told), so I’ve set up a forward to a working address for now. If you’ve e-mailed me earlier today, you may want to re-send any messages. Grr. Thanks.
I’m very much considering a change of web host. Leave a comment if you have any recommendations.
Update: 3:56 p.m. E-mail problem solved. As you were, gentlemen. I’m still open to web host advice, though. And thoughts on Blogger vs. Movable Type, as well.
Tonight browsing through eBay—always an activity fraught with temptations—I thought I was going to start building my heretofore hypothetical antique book collection, but perhaps it wasn’t meant to be, just yet. At literally the very last second, I was outbid on an 1889 Baedeker travel guide, Paris et ses environs. It includes a supplemental guide to that year’s World’s Fair, for which, it should be noted, the Eiffel Tower was completed. Oh well.
Next in my sights is another Baedeker, this one covering the U.S., published in 1893. It’s the first edition for this title, and from what I gather, the first of the guides to be originally published in English. The bids on it are already reaching out of my price range, but I’ll keep an eye on it in any case.
Phone Booth may have been last weekend’s biggest box-office draw, but that just means so many more people were walking out of theaters, asking themselves, “What was that exactly?”
I still hold Colin Farrell blameless, of course. For your consideration, my audio review:
Phone Booth: Save a buck or two (2:00, transcript)
Production note: earlier today I took the time to download and install Kazaa, mostly just to find Cake’s “Never There” for this audio post. I thought the song’s opening dial tone would be appropriate for a movie about being stuck in a phone booth; unfortunately it’s barely audible. Anyway, only later did I realize that “Never There” is on Prolonging the Magic, a CD that I already have. Doh.
I’m looking forward to Daylight Saving Time not only for the late-evening sunshine, but also the later sunrises, which we’ll have for a few weeks until the days grow longer as we approach summer. Lately I try to get up at 6 a.m. (see yesterday’s entry), and by then the sky is already bright. The daylight makes me think, “Oh well, it’s not that early anymore, so screw it, I’m going back to sleep.” Whereas, getting up while it’s still dark—without any extra effort on my part, mind you—at least conveys a sense of accomplishment. So, reminder (to those in most of North America): set your clocks forward one hour, preferably tomorrow night before you go to sleep, so as to avoid total disorientation.
Performance density. It always amazes me to think that on any given night, there are dozens (hundreds?) of plays, concerts, and other performances simultaneously taking place in theaters throughout New York City. Par example: as of tomorrow night, three different productions of La Bohème (City Opera, the Met, and Baz’s Broadway).
Nota bene: the Times critic favors City Opera and says just to wait for the DVD of Baz’s version, but in a way, it’s already out. The original 1990 production he directed for the Australian Opera is available on DVD and video.
A blog by any other name. I’ll admit to being somewhat of a reactionary when it comes to new vocabulary. I tried for the longest time not to use the word “blog.” I thought, “It’s just an online diary or journal. Who needs a new word for that?” Well, I’d like to say for the record that I’ve since come around. To me, “blog” encompasses the process, the automation (and proliferation, democratization?) of web publishing—that is what’s new and justifies word coinage—than the actual genre of journal websites, which pre-date the blog phenomenon.
And speaking of blog phenomena, there are those contagious surveys. Here’s one I selectively do, the Friday Five:
1. How many houses/apartments have you lived in throughout your life?
Three. Daly City, Calif. (we moved from one part of town to another in the late 1980s), and currently Washington, D.C. More if you count four different dorms over four years of college. And actually, more than that if you count the three months in 1997 when I lived and worked in the Philippines. There I stayed in an apartment, then a house, with the other embassy interns. It wasn’t Real World, if you’re wondering. There was so little drama. Although, I did come out to the others during our weekend in Baguio.
2. Which was your favorite and why?
Regular readers will know. Definitely the Bay Area. It’s home.
3. Do you find moving house more exciting or stressful? Why?
Moving is somewhat exciting. It’s the actual planning that’s stressful. And the annoying little tasks can be annoying: setting up phone service and electricity and all that.
4. What’s more important, location or price?
Since I don’t have a car right now, location is key. It would be impractical for me to move out into the boonies (or even just away from the Metro) solely for the savings.
5. What features does your dream house have (pool, spa bath, big yard, etc.)?
Ah, so many. But I’ll distill it down to two words: walk-in closets. Well, okay, I also have a thing for recessed lighting. And crown molding. It’s the little things.
By the way, I’ve come across a similar, but more involved, French questionnaire series, called “Mercredix,” which combines the French words “Wednesday” and “ten.” Cool.
The last word. On the Stanford alumni e-mailing list, I saw an address that ended in @menloventures.com. What does it say about me that my eye-brain synapses immediately read “men love adventures,” and not the complete (and correct) “menlo ventures”? Natural mistake, right? Ah, the mind.
To do this weekend: file tax returns (argh), do laundry (argh again), catch up on accumulating Netflix rentals, see Bend It Like Beckham and Phone Booth (at the Uptown, fancy!), check out Cherry Blossom parade (I’ll try to take pictures), go to Ticketplace for discount ticket to Fred Hersch, attend said performance… eat and sleep, as needed. Whew.
The last last word. Really, I promise. Seriously. The last. Back to the Google referrals. Check this out. Now, should I be more worried that (a) someone out there is looking for this stuff, or that (b) my site comes up first? (As of this writing.) And with that, have a great weekend, kids.
The Gate‘s Mark Morford slices and dices Lawrence v. Texas and the whole sodomy issue better and a lot funnier than I can. Full text here.
More gorgeous weather in D.C.! Not a cloud in the sky, the view from my office window is crystal-clear. I want to get out of here. Bah, it’s only 4:30 pm, and since I came into work this morning afternoon at an incredibly late hour, I may have to be here for quite a while longer.
Apparently I’m not listening to my body. The daily conversation usually goes something like this:
Jeff’s Body (JB): Hey. It’s 3 am. Turn off the computer. Go to sleep.
Jeff: Wait, wait, one more blog… and there’s gotta be something on TV, right?
JB: Nuh uh. We’re going to sleep. Now.
Jeff: [konk] Zzz…[Alarm clock buzzes. It’s 6 am.]
Jeff: [reaches over and turns off alarm in one graceful, semi-conscious Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon-like move] Grr, I have to get up.
JB: Are you kidding me?!
Jeff: C’mon, I have plenty of time. Take a shower, cook breakfast, chill with Matt and Katie, all that.
JB: Girl, you know that ain’t happenin’. You are getting eight hours of sleep whether you like or not. Mmm-kay? [bitch-slaps Jeff into unconsciousness]
Jeff: Zzz…[Jeff wakes. He looks at clock. It’s 10 am.]
Jeff: Aaagghh!
JB: You never learn, do you.
Anyway. I just got a corporate e-mail about the local adult kickball league. I’m sure there are people out there nostalgic for their elementary-school recesses and P.E. classes spent playing kickball. I am not one of them.
IM. You M. Last night I downloaded and installed Trillian, a kind of meta-instant-messaging application that lets you log in and manage multiple IM systems (even multiple usernames) at once. We’ll see if I keep using it. It takes a lot of getting used to. But, if anything, the default sounds are cooler than that creaky door on AIM.
TV notes. Must See TV is all new tonight. By the way, the W&G website now has a section called “In the Closet,” which answers the question, “Who are they wearing?” Examples: Grace’s wedding gown from earlier this season was designed by Vera Wang, and Will sometimes wears Prada or Dolce & Gabbana. Sigh.
Also tonight there’s a new Frontline entitled “Blair’s War,” covering Tony Blair’s political predicament vis-Ã -vis Iraq.
Update: 6:45 p.m. Doesn’t the Mall look pretty at dusk? The perspective and the sheer enormity of these buildings are deceptive; so, ambitious walkers beware: the distance from the Lincoln Memorial (bottom right) to the Capitol (center left) is actually about two miles.
