Carlos, Mir, and I put up all our new bookshelves over the past few days. Because, hey! I MOVED TO QUEENS!
Boy, those two were like SHELF SURGEONS, and I was like their DEVOTED NURSE.
“Scalpel!”
“Yes, Doctor.”
“Allen wrench!”
“Right here, Doctor.”
“Hammer!”
“On it, Doctor!”
“Thingy. Where’s that thingy…”
“THIS thingy?”
“EXACTLY THAT THINGY!”
I read the instructions out loud and separated out all the little pieces and handed them things at the right time. They did all the work. Often faster than I could read out the simple instruction.
HA! This is how I like to BUILD!
The house is the most INTERESTING shipwreck, but all the bones are in place to build a PALACE.
The wall of boxes is reduced by 2/3s. The furniture is shifted. A few more rooms to unpack, and art to remix and decide on. The conversation is fluid.
But today? Today we’re taking off, to be quiet and rested. Well, I AM ANYWAY. Hernandez and Mikiel are all like, “I’m gonna write novels!” and “I’m gonna devise theatre pieces!”
(This is Mir’s stage directing reel…)
My favorite thing Mir said today, so casually? “It’s always interesting to work with geniuses.”
HA! BECAUSE THAT’S HER LIFE NOW, THE HOT SHOT!
She has this TALENT, you see.
You don’t get into the graduate program for Directing at Columbia University unless you GOT IT. And she’s got IT tattooed in blue across her eyeballs! Of course, you can’t see it, because her eyes are blue.
So, here I am on Facebook. But all around me, ART is being done. Because I live amongst GENIUSES.
So, you know. THAT’S OKAY.
And now, I shall go back to watching Sondheim: A Celebration at Carnegie Hall.
That’s how I started my morning. This one’s killing me:
Also, on top of EVERYTHING???
Today is Will Alexander‘s BOOK RELEASE DAY for A Properly Unhaunted Place! O HAPPY DAY, WILL!
Last Saturday, the three of us went to see him on a panel at Books of Wonder, along with Tui Sutherland, and Sarah Darer Littman. That was so great!
My favorite thing Will said that day was, “Read widely and wildly.”
(Well, that’s what I REMEMBER, anyway. I didn’t have a notebook, and so couldn’t write down all the cool things everyone said. I only remembered THAT one because of the pleasing alliteration!)
But then, just now, on Facebook, he said–about reading aloud–“A book does need to breathe.”
And I can’t WAIT to “breathe” his new book aloud with Carlos on the couch! We’re going to take turns reading chapters to each other. Because… HAUNTED RENAISSANCE FESTIVALS FTW!!!
C.S.E. Cooney 