Zoe liked Foster the People and grooved on dad's shoulders.
This morning we are all tired. We'll see how much energy we have for the rest of the ACL weekend. Tonight has some of the best acts but I don't know if the munchkins can handle two days in a row.
It was our first outdoor festival with kids and we definitely learned a lot. And there were about 100 things that went well, better than we could have expected. But we were also plain lucky that the kids and fate conspired with us so we all had a good time. Nate and I are both a little bit nervous about our luck holding for another jaunt out to Zilker Park.
I Tweeted about two recent temporary obsessions today and I wanted to write more about them. I go through these phases. I get enthralled with someone or something for a few days and then move on to something else. F. Scott Fitzerald, Anna Wintour, Shirley Maclaine, and Andy Warhol are some recent examples. These interests don’t make any logical sense. I will happen upon something and it catches my attention for a little while, that’s all. Some people would call that Something Shiny Disorder.
My most recent T.O.s are Jean-Michele Basquiat and Bill Cunningham. I was watching an Andy Warhol documentary and that led me to Basquiat. I then watched Julian Schnabel’s movie, Basquiat, and a documentary about Jean-Michel (both available on instant Netflix streaming and probably a few other places). I was intrigued by how he was plugged in to so many different communities in New York: visual arts, music, filmmaking. He ran with a crew who all seemed to believe that whatever they wanted to do, they could do. (Which also reminded me of Patti Smith’s memoir, Kids—is this disjointed enough for you yet?)
Earlier today at work, I was listening to some Ted Talks. This is one of my favorite things to do, to have something inspirational on in the background when I’m writing or editing. You get some pretty amazing cross-pollination that way.
I wish I could travel to New York and buy Bill a cup of coffee. But he seems pretty shy and would probably turn me down. I love how he has followed his obsession—fashion, beauty—and has given himself permission to document all the people and things he’s seen. (He calls it record keeping.) He doesn’t do this to get rich and he is not a celebrity whore. One of his favorite people to photograph is an executive assistant. He’s just doing his thing. He focuses on what draws his eye, whatever and whoever that is. And he said something that really resonated with me, along the lines of "If you don't take money, they can't tell you what to do.”
All of the people I’ve mentioned in this post have inspired me. Will these people or ideas come through in my work some way? Maybe. Sometimes inspiration is just that—a breath of fresh air. I admire that all three of these people tried/are trying to follow their own paths in making their art.
(Another random aside: Sugar’s column is about this same topic this week: “You’re asking me if it’s okay to be you. You want me to give you permission to write your truth with honesty and heart because doing so scares the living crap out of you. I’m here not only to give you permission, but also to say that you must. There is no other way.”)
I’ve been thinking a lot about what I do for a living, because I write for work, but I also write other things that I do not get paid for. And I will continue to create those things, regardless of whether or not I ever make money from them. And inspiration for that work comes from all sorts of places, from Sugar, from Bill, from Basquiat, from life. For instance:
·Years ago a friend told me about her father, who would go for walks in his neighborhood with a rolled up dishtowel around his head as a sweatband and a pack of smokes rolled into his t-shirt. I didn’t know what I would do with this, but I knew I would use this image somewhere, someday.
·I felt conflicted telling my daughter about Santa Claus. No matter how harmless I thought the tradition, no matter how much I actually enjoy the holiday, I just could not get the story out of my mouth. It wouldn’t come.
·I saw a guy who looks like Santa Claus here in Austin and someone told me he works at Rockefeller Center during the holiday.
All three of these things came together in a short story. You never know where the temporary obsessions and random bits will turn up in your work, but if you give them time and space, they can grow.
I have the Santa story out on submission to a few literary journals. I hope it finds a home. Yesterday I saw Santa again, at the grocery store. I’m taking this as a sign that it will.
It's interesting...in many ways I'm now living the life I wanted when I was younger. Two kids, girl and boy. Husband, house, dog. It's good to remember to be grateful when you've been lucky and gotten what you've asked for.
