New & Notable
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As you might already know, I am trying to make it through this entire 42-day tour without paying for a single hotel room. In many cities, I am lucky enough to have friends with couches or bedrooms to spare. But there remain a few cracks and some of these cracks I’ve been filling with www.globalfreeloaders.com. This is an online community who offer up free space in their homes or apartments to fellow travellers. In Pittsburgh, a wonderful journalist by the name of Violet Law arranged this extremely comfortable bed for me on the bottom floor of her apartment. Live cheap, I say.
Posted in New & Notable, Waystations | Leave a commentPittsburgh
I was especially excited to visit Pittsburgh because it was the first ‘virgin’ stop on my tour. It is exhilarating to visit a new city, to see the skyline and landscape for the first time. Pittsburgh completely awed me. There are houses that rise up along the slopes of the river banks, creating an European feel. The downtown is perched on the meeting point of the famous three rivers. People were unhesitatingly friendly. Joseph Beth is a great bookstore. And there was the Andy Warhol Museum. (This is a photo of the Jesus punching bags, my favourite installation.) In short, I could live in Pittsburgh, based on my 18 hours in the city.
The Vitamin of Champions
During the hard years in Paris, I experimented with all sorts of chemical solutions to my sleep-deprived state of chronic fatigue. Amazingly, the answer was an over-the-counter miracle called Pharmaton with its tidy combination of ‘Vitamines, Mineraux, Ginseng.’ When Sparkle visited me in Marseille and was suffering from a fractured bone leg, I fed her Pharmaton and she became a devotee too. In New York, a veteran of many chemicals tried one of my vitamin pills and asked for another the next night. What further proof do you need? On this trip, I take on of these midnight black horse pills 45 minutes before my gig and then let the warm soothing energy flow through me.
Posted in New & Notable, Waystations | Leave a commentThe Chapters Crisis
My reading in Washington was held at Chapters, a wonderful independent bookstore in downtown Washington run by Terri Merz and Steve Moyer. The store has just celebrated its 20th anniversary but there is great concern it won’t reach its 21st.
The store faces the challenges of all independents: a nearby Barnes & Noble, the deep discounts offered by online booksellers, and the dwindling audience for quality literature. To save the store, Terri and Steve are trying to turn it into a non-profit organization, a brilliant idea, but an idea that needs a lot of support. For the moment, they are hoping 1600 people will make $50 tax deductible donations to the store which will provide the financial base for the non-profit foundation. Thus far, more than 200 people have donated. What can you do to save this independent?
1) Become a donor by contacting Chapters at 202-737-5553
2) If you live in Washington DC, do all your holiday shopping at Chapters
3) Get involved in the Chapters community by volunteering to organize events and readings that will bring more people into the store.
I repeat here my mantra about bookstores. All are good, for a book is a noble item and to sell them is a noble endeavour. But independents are precious because they do the one thing the chains and internet sites don’t: they build communities. Independent bookstores are more often than not drop-in centres and social clubs. They provide help and advice and inspiration that you just can’t get from browsing an online bookseller. They need to be kept alive. Do your bit in Washington.
Posted in New & Notable, Waystations | Leave a commentLook who came to the reading …
From the deep and murky jungles of the Kilometer Zero past: the Barry sisters (Katerina and Jecca) with their friend Jay.
My agent’s birds …
When I come through Washington DC, I stay in the Arlington Wildlife Sanctuary. My agent, Kristin Lindstrom, and her husband Perry, have a collection of household fauna:
Elsie: An apple-loving dog who looked like a cow as a puppy.
Hugo: Much hairier and a little more Zen than Elsie, he was named after the French writer.
Peewee: A Senegal parrot, adopted from the Phoenix Landing shelter for abused and neglected birds.
Timmy: The newest arrival, he is a Timneh African grey parrot and is also a rescued bird.
Posted in New & Notable, Waystations | Leave a comment ← Older posts Newer posts →
