Red Nose

Heading Upstate

Well damn! The Habs just tied it up with 36 seconds left, and I do not like this turn of events AT ALL. I mean, Ovie does have a hat trick, but geez. Oh well -- on to overtime.

Wait a sec... WOOO! Ovie scored the winner in overtime! That's his fourth goal of the game and his 43rd of the season and a critical two points for my boys.

But hockey is not the subject of this entry. The subject of this entry is that I am going travelling up to Saratoga Springs, New York tomorrow to speak at Saratoga Reads! Winterfest. Saratoga Reads! is a very cool community program wherein the whole community, using the resources of Skidmore College, reads a novel and discusses it.

Well, wouldn't you just know it? The winning novel is Water for Elephants, the lovely circus novel by Sarah Gruen. My great good friend Phylise is on the board for Saratoga Reads! and knows of my sordid past. So... she invited me to come on up and speak and juggle (badly) and clown around at Border's for an hour or so. And, of course I agreed, because I am stupid always willing to help out a pal, especially when they pay my airfare, which is really cheap on Southwest.

Little did I know that the local media would leap all over the thought of a former clown coming up to speak, so I've had two interviews from local newspapers and I'll be going to a local radio station before the event to talk about whatever they want to talk about!

And! When I was talking to one of the reporters, he told me that he saw a big stack of my book at Borders, awaiting the hordes who will no doubt stampede the table to acquire a signed copy. Then, a traditional publisher will see the bestselling potential of my cheesy chicklit novel and then sales will skyrocket and I will have to kick back a substantial portion of my newly earned millions to Saratoga Reads!.

Well, if you're gonna hallucinate dream, dream big.

Go Out And Listen

Tonight I went to a book signing at a local Barnes and Noble. The book is by Dave Isay, and it's called Listening Is an Act of Love.

It's a collection of the interviews recorded for the StoryCorps project -- the same folks who recorded my interview with my Mom.

Dave's a fascinating guy, devoted to collecting an oral history of America. Not famous people, not wealthy people or politicians or scientists -- he wants to hear the stories of you and me, our parents and grandparents, and what life means to us. The book contains stories from the first 10,000 interviews. He played excepts from about half a dozen of the stories: funny ones, touching ones, infuriating ones.

He had a special guest there, a guy whose StoryCorps interview was selected for the book. He is one of the rare people who survived the destruction of the World Trade Center towers. He was on the 101st floor when the first plane hit, and he managed to get all the way down the stairs to safety. All through the other stories I managed to keep my shit together, but when he read his story -- especially the part when he gets home to his wife -- that did it. I had to wipe my eyes.

Dave kept saying that everyone needs to do this, that everyone should participate in whatever way possible. So when he asked for questions, I raised my hand and just said, "I did a StoryCorps interview with my 96-year old mother, and you're right; it's an amazing experience."

And that was all I could manage to croak out before I... well, sorta choked up.

Of course I bought the book. When I went up to get it signed, I asked him to sign it "To Anna and Mary" because I'm going to lend it to Mom to read. He added a little note "So glad you could be part of the StoryCorps project."

You could be, too. Grab a tape recorder, a notebook and a pen, go to a StoryCorps booth location with a friend, or a relative, or anyone. Ask questions, and listen. It's an amazing experience; it's an act of love.