Wednesday, July 23, 2014

So Far, It's Been A Good Story


I am listening to this book these days and Matthew Quick is the man who wrote the book that the movie "Silver Linings Playbook" was based on and I am finding it most satisfactory. I wasn't sure I would because the blurb on the back of the audio-version case made it sound a bit depressing and perhaps too precious but there's something very dear and true and charming about it. I haven't reached the end yet and I know there are twists and turns I haven't figured out and it will be so much fun to see how they are maneuvered by such a skillful author.
If you see it in the library, pick it up. If you listen to audio books, it's a very good production.

I got on the Airbnb website last night and did a search for Asheville. Within a few hours, Lis and I had agreed on a place and I sent in a request to rent it and got an answer back right away and we are booked! It's a little apartment two blocks from Jessie's house which could hardly be more convenient but throw in the fact that it's right across the street from a Whole Foods and well...Asheville magic!
We can simply cross the road for our yogurt and fruit and coffee and beer and whatever else we might think we need for ourselves. I am getting so very excited. When I wrote the owner a little e-mail I told him that my friend and I were coming to Asheville to celebrate my 60th birthday with my daughter and her husband who live two blocks from the apartment and that we were very, very responsible and nice ladies.
I laughed to myself at how blue-haired that made us sound.
Sweet little old ladies.
Oh! How we shall toast each other on the porch of that apartment, how much fun we are going to have!
I wonder if Lis is going to bring her banjo. Or her guitar. Or both. I would love to hear her and Jessie and Vergil play music together. Maybe they can do a little tiny jamming, just for me. Oh, I know musicians. It will be for them but I will be the one to benefit. One of my favorite memories ever of a time that I spent with Lis was of a day and evening at Gatorbone where she and Lon live. They were rehearsing with their band and and doing some recording and as they worked, I was in the kitchen, listening to it all, making pizzas for them and reading the Sunday New York Times. It was a dream come true. I swear.
So. Maybe we can go over to Jessie and Vergil's or they can come to our apartment and I can make pizzas or tomato pies with the tomatoes that Jess and Vergil have in their garden now and they will play music and we will all have beer or wine or martinis or whatever, and as they play and sing I will stir and mix and knead and keep rhythm in the kitchen with my knife on the cutting board and just thinking about that makes my heart so very, very happy.
I would like that to happen.

Yes. I am feeling better about all of this birthday stuff. Sixty will be what sixty is, yes, and I may be a sweet old lady but as with all of us and books too, one simple blurb or glance at the cover will never give us the true, whole story of the heart and soul of the matter.
Someone once told me that a good story can take a lot of pages to tell.
I'm just going to keep turning the pages until I come to the end and what else can we do?

As Elvis Costello said, Every day I write the book.


11 comments:

  1. It all sounds so Grand! Can't wait.
    and thanks for the book recommendation.

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  2. see? two blocks from jesse and virgil! the story you're wiring is sweet indeed.

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  3. You are going to have so much fun! Asheville is wonderful (as you know). Thanks for the book rec. And I like what Angella said the most. Sweet story. Keep writing it.

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  4. A little old blue-haired lady you are not. As long as Keith is in the picture.

    Maybe he'll show up for your b'day too.

    Happy birthday, sweet naughty Mary!

    X Beth

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  5. I read, "The Good Luck of Right Now" in two sittings. It was one of those books that I did not want to end. The characters became my friends. To me, that is one of the things that makes a book great!

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  6. Yobobe- I am still shimmering with your news from today. And I finished the book and it was good.

    Stephanie- There's something about that hipster town...

    Angella- I know! Isn't it amazing?

    Ms. Vesuvius- Thank you, thank you! And may your book sail on angel-food-cake wings!
    I cant wait to read it!

    Beth Coyote- That last line made me just as happy as I could be. Thank you. From one naughty girl to another...

    Birdie- I loved Max. How could I not? What the fucking fuck, eh? The other characters were all lovely too. You are right. They became real.

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  7. I am so glad your plans are coming together. Now that the Asheville accommodations are sorted out, you can surely rest easier!

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  8. 60 is not the blue haired old biddy of the olden days! 60 is vibrant and daring, loving and caring, cooking and sharing!
    That reads like a hallmark card, doesn't it?!

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  9. That AirB&B is pretty neat. Glad that you will be so close to Jessie. Asheville is one cool town.

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Tell me, sweeties. Tell me what you think.