Saturday, September 20, 2003

budding groupies
Today we headed to New York for an author appearance at the Borders on Wall Street. Who would bring us all charging in to the city? Todd Parr of course!

I had noticed in an email newsletter from Borders that Todd was coming to Manhattan. Our friend Alison saw it as well, and let us know, as she knows we are big fans. Todd was promoting his newest, The Family Book, which is typically splendid. Clara spent some evenings this week writing a book for Todd titled, "It's OK To Be an Author." She worked hard on it, and I really loved it. (See a sample page here where she refers to Todd's dog Bully.)

Our Timberlock friend Laurie Lowenthal met us at the 14th street PATH station, and took us through Union Square to her fabulous apartment (which is currently torn apart, getting new windows). We then all had a late breakfast at Mayrose and hopped on the subway to head down to Borders.

There were probably about 20 people gathered waiting for Todd to read--- fewer than I expected, but perhaps others were lured away by the perfect late summer day. Todd read several of his books, drew a picture of Otto, and answered questions. He was then extremely gracious signing autographs and drawing pictures. He made a big deal out of the book that Clara had made for him.

We browsed in the music section for a while; Ellie put on the headphones at a listening station, scanned a Cher CD, and started dancing in the aisle. Laurie and I exchanged CD recommendations while Mallary went downstairs to the register to pay for all the Todd Parr books we bought.

We had planned to take the ferry back to NJ from the World Financial Center, so that led us right past Ground Zero. This was the first time that we had visited, and we were surprised by how busy it was. There is basically a large city block surrounded by chain-link fence, with heavy machinery inside. There are memorial signs posted around the perimeter, and we saw fresh-cut flowers and burning memorial candles scattered around --- more than two years after the fall of the towers. I stood for a while trying to remember what the view was like before. We then walked over to the unexpectedly lovely World Financial Center Plaza on the Hudson before boarding the New York Waterway Ferry and wildly waving goodbye to Laurie.

The ride back to Hoboken was fun but very quick; we found the van and headed back to Westfield. At least for the time being: Mallary and I have bookclub tonight at Mary's Soho apartment, making this a rare Manhattan twofer day for us.
posted by Tom 5:01 PM

Monday, September 08, 2003

Joe Schmo
Mallary and I laughed so hard watching the Joe Schmo show. It is a takeoff on reality shows where all contestants are actors playing the part of a contestant (the veteran, the schemer, etc.) --- except one (Matt Kennedy Gould), who is unaware of what is going on. It is like watching a hilarious nightmare.

I want to go on the record before the second episode with Mallary's speculation that I think is accurate: Gould actually does know what is going on, and has in fact been clued in by the producers just like everyone else. If this turns out to be true, the joke will be on the audience. (There was a big clue in the first episode: one of Gould's actions was a big surprise, and they showed the reaction of a producer in the studio. Why would there be a camera on the producer, unless they knew what was about to happen?
posted by Tom 10:55 AM

Timeberlock report
I have posted a report from our Timberlock vacation. No pictures yet.
posted by Tom 10:55 AM