flashingreds...
days of wine and booze
(2004-04-27, 11:47 a.m.)
The post-party letdown dissipated Sunday evening after the first nap I�ve had in a good month. Never was a nap so tasty and beloved as that nap.

It was a fine weekend.

Some damned fool (or maybe two) paid good, honest money for my paintings on opening night. It�s such a strange feeling to create something, as a complete and utter amateur, one who hasn�t had an art class since 8th grade, to put it up for public scrutiny and to put a price on it. I�m glad I didn�t see the buyers carrying either of them away, as I�d likely have tried to talk them out of their purchase, thus negating the whole point of a benefit art show.

My mom stopped by the show on her way home from work Friday. I was probably around the corner having a cocktail, but Coach met her and showed her the paintings. She called later to tell me she�d liked the red one (um, the sacrilegious one, Mom?), but that she�d been worried that Father would be upset if she spent $30 on art. She meant well, and I�m relieved she didn�t buy either of them.

The show was magnificent. Art flew off the walls and tables and out the door. Every day when I went over, I noticed new pieces I�d never seen before. Holes were filled as fast as people carried things away. Some of my very favorite pieces hadn�t sold as of Sunday afternoon, when I was last there, but I somehow (poverty) resisted the urge to spend $750 on the most amazing glass bowl I�ve ever seen in my life. My purchases are lovely, though I�m not quite sure where the American Sucker and the rusted shovel head with the green, femur-like handle will live. The former will go in the interior hallway, somewhere, and the latter must, I think, live in the bedroom, since it�s rather, uh, phallic. I need a digital camera. And a drill.

We did manage to see two films at Ebertfest, after all. My boss was leaving town on vacation, so she dropped off their festival passes and bequeathed her reserved seats. Ralph and I met up to see People I Know, which was followed by a conversation with Dan Algrant, the director, and Bobby Zarem, a legendary NY publicist. Oh, and Al Pacino phoned from his home in LA to chat, as well. Lovely film. And we stayed for Werner Herzog�s Invincible, plus the conversation with Herzog afterward, which I confess I enjoyed much more than the movie. I don�t think Ralph agreed, but we were too weary by 1:30 am to do much more than stumble silently out of the theater. Of course I still had to walk over to the mother ship to close out the tab I left from Friday night. I ordered dinner to go, paid up, and had a lovely walk home in the rain.

These days of (too much) wine and booze were lovely, and now I�m relieved to catch a moment of relaxation.

Anyone heard the new Loretta Lynn album? I�m curious about the Jack White effect.

Jenny reminds me this morning of a forthcoming May book/CD release, As Smart As We Are, for which literary giants like Dave Eggers, Rick Moody and Jonathan Lethem have contributed lyrics. Hey, Viggo Mortensen blurbed it. What more do you need?