And please excuse the uninspired appearance, while I work on making it look nice.

LooWatt

I try to be environmentally responsible by shopping locally, bringing my own bags to the market, using my own water bottle and coffee mug, using public transportation etc., but when it comes to being good to the earth it’s sad to say that I don’t even come close to doing my part. Some immediate steps I could take? Composting our food waste and our dog’s waste (separately). Taking shorter showers (will I ever be able to do this?). Recycling textile (when old clothes aren’t fit for donation). Growing my own vegetables (I’m a bit worried about Williamsburg soil, though).

Being green isn’t easy, but it can definitely be fun and inspiring.

Check out the LooWatt:

Do you have any green tips or links?

Electric Literature

Electric Literature is my new favorite literary journal. I subscribed because they featured a  Jim Shepard short story in their first issue. Now I’m hooked on all things Electric —blog, stories, videos, events etc.!

Sure, you can get it in print; but why waste the paper (and this is coming from a physical book lover) when you can  subscribe to receive each issue as a PDF, on your iPhone (and probably other smart phones) and Kindle type device.

I appreciate  their videos, not only because they are lovely, but also because it’s an innovative way to promote short stories.

Here’s a video preview of Jim Shepard’s short story, Your Fate Hurtles Down at You:

* If you haven’t read Jim Shepard, do so immediately.  He is a brilliant writer and his latest collection is called Like You’d Understand, Anyway.

Greenwich Village, fall

This is the best part of autumn in New York City.

Disgrace

The film adaptation of Disgrace, one of my favorite J.M. Coetzee novels, has been released in New York. The book, a meditation on the cruelty of human nature, is equally horrifying and beautiful — painful to read but impossible to not. Starring Jon Malkovich, the film looks to be a very-close adaptation, and though I’m usually weary of these things, I’m very much looking forward to seeing this film.

Toody Cole

The story goes, Fred and Toody Cole didn’t begin playing music together until their son was a teenager — how badass is that? In 1987 they formed the Portland garage rock band, Dead Moon, which disbanded in 2006.

Fred and Toody

On Friday I saw their new band, Pierced Arrows, at the Mercury Lounge, and fell madly in love with Toody. She’s 61 with wild gray hair. She wears mom jeans and possesses an intoxicating combination of something very tough and something very soft that mesmerized me.

I’m going backwards and learning more about Dead Moon (which makes me feel like a bit of a phony, but better late than never). And I’ve been told that Pierced Arrows is essentially the same with more sophisticated songs. I heard a bit of twang in the music, which I loved. But others don’t agree.

Here’s a clip:

Pedro and Penelope

Last week I saw one of my idols, Pedro Almodóvar, at the New York Times TimesTalk series. He was in conversation with Penélope Cruz and interviewed by New York Times Magazine’s editor-at-large, Lynn Hirschberg. The experience of sitting several rows away from Almodóvar and listening to him speak was incredibly  surreal, as I’ve idolized the filmmaker since my early teens. I can’t and won’t sum up the evening here, as it wouldn’t do it justice. But I will give a highlight:

Though very intimidated, I knew that I had to ask him a question during the audience Q&A. I was most fearful of being a rambling idiot (as I’m very judgmental and impatient with other ramblers during Q&As). So I knew that whatever I said had to be concise, and that there absolutely needed to be a clear question at the end. Nauseous with fear, I walked up to the mic and asked the second audience question.

I said, I recently watched The Flower of My Secret (La flor de mi secreto), after not having seen it for some time, and was surprised to notice  that the plot of the last book in the movie is one of Volver‘s story lines. At the time of making The Flower of My Secret, did you know that you would use that plot in a future film. And if yes, is this something you often do?

Not a bad question. Light and insightful enough, without being too serious. I could have done better, but I could have done worse, as well. He hesitated a moment and whispered to his translator, all the while leaving me terrified that I had it all mixed up, either with the movie or the whole thing. But then he answered, saying that he often finds elements in one movie that become elements in another. For example, he said, there is a poster in the director’s office in Bad Education (La mala educación) that says “the ghost grandmother,” which inspired another story line in Volver.

Almodóvar’s new film, Broken Embraces (Los abrazos rotos), stars  Cruz.

Beth and Rowland in love

Maybe I shouldn’t admit this, but I cried during The Office wedding episode — knowing the whole time that getting  emotional during a sitcom might mean that there is something very wrong with me. In any case, I read in the New York Times Vows section today, about a couple who reunited after 70 years, and married.

“Rowland plans to live to be 100, so they have 16 passionate years ahead of them.”

It seemed like the right start to this blog.

Read the article here.