is the word 'diary' better than the word 'blog'? probably not.
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Things that keep me awake, Things that keep me from sleeping.
Things that keep me awake, Things that keep me from sleeping.
So I drove to Pittsfield on Saturday to see Eggers. The drive there was beautiful but Mapquest lied to me and so I arrived later than I thought. We were supposed to meet at 5, and of course as I was driving through the Berkshires I had no cell coverage. So at exactly the same time, the minute there was cell coverage, he and I were calling each other to say we were late because of Mapquest�s rotten lies. Then, once I got to Pittsfield I got lost, and apparently made a U-turn where no U-turn should be made. I figured that out because after I pulled over to call Dave to ask where the hotel was, I realized that I was BEING PULLED OVER. My pulling over had been pro-active, it seems. Johnny Law was aflashing his lights at me. Then I realized that I had never been pulled over before. Exciting! I said to Dave, who had just picked up his phone, �whoa, I am being pulled over by a cop right now. I�ll call you back.�
Anyway, Mr. Cop walked up to the car and asked whether I had seen the No U-Turn sign, and I responded, No, I�m sorry, I�m lost, etc. So he took my license and registration (both from California, which I assumed meant I was F�D!), and went and had a picnic in his car for about ten minutes. Then he came back and issued me a warning. What a very nice Mr. Cop! There I was wondering just how much money was going to be added to the bills I already can�t pay, and up walks Cop and makes my day.
Mr. Cop also showed me where the hotel was. So Dave and I hung out for awhile and then took an utterly frigid walk to the venue where he was doing a benefit reading for a local youth writing center. The directions to the venue lied as well, so we walked for much longer than either of us wanted to. He was all, �exactly why are we not in a car right now?� and I was like, �totally!�
The reading was great, as usual. Except that the Berkshire Music Hall is for some reason UNHEATED. I left my extra-warm boyfriend-parka on the whole time but was still not quite warm enough, given that I was sitting still for 2.5 hours.
Dave read my favorite series of letters written in the persona of a dog named Stephen. And some good stories, including one about what water feels like to the fishes. And some good lists. Then I read a book about genocide while he signed Eggers books for like 1,000 people. Then we went to an after-party at the youth writing center, where I ate like 1,000 mini-muffins. That was the first time I got to see close up that Dave is indeed now a Rock Star. By which I mean, he gets circled by groupie girls who somehow think they will succeed in seducing him, or, better yet, they hope that he will do the seducing and they will simply acquiesce. At one point one of them even came up and talked to him while I was standing there, and gave him a �what is SHE doing here?!� conspiratorial glance as if the two of them couldn�t wait to be alone.
As you know I�ve already dated rock stars so I am not easily shocked, nor am I deterred by conspiratorial glances, especially when I�m hanging out with married friends who aren�t looking for love. All this to say: Boy, was THAT entertaining! However I guess my fatigue was showing because three people spontaneously told me I looked tired. I said, �Actually, I�m just old.� Dave and I then took another frigid walk and then hung out at the hotel sports bar for a bit. I had a Pepsi and he had a beer, we discussed some of our varying writing projects, and then I said I really had to get on the road because I was exhausted and still had a 1.5 hour drive home. Normally I�m not exhausted at midnight, but I think the week�s lack of good sleep combined with being COLD for hours on end sped up my I�m-tired clock.
As I left Pittsfield I marveled at how lovely the light flakes of snow were as they slowly drifted to the ground. However, once I got up into the mountains a bit (in California we call them hills), those snowflakes tried to KILL me. I found myself on a rural highway without streetlights and bereft of other cars in a snowstorm in my European touring sedan without snowtires. I couldn�t see more than ten feet in front of me, and sometimes I wasn�t even sure where the road was. It was terrifying. But it did keep me awake.
On Sunday Heidi and I had brunch with Laura and Jen, who drove over from Albany just for brunch. We all ate a lot of food and had a good time. Then Heidi watched the whole Greg the Bunny series while I prepared some work for Monday. We then drove to Ashfield to have dinner with Eric and Cheryl. Cheryl bought a cute house in one of the hilltowns, and Eric has spent the last year renovating it, because he is a master carpenter and a good man. The last time I saw the house was in October. And this time there were whole walls and rooms in existence that had not been there before. And it looks beautiful. I�m jealous.
Dinner was fantastic, as was the company. Then we drove back to Amherst and slept, and in the middle of the night Heidi got up and sleepwalked and critiqued the contents of my refrigerator verbally, while sleeping. In the middle of the night I felt insanely angry about this, because I�ve been tired lately. I was all, to myself, enraged, �what is she DOING walking around TALKING in a DAYTIME VOICE in the MIDDLE of the FREAKING NIGHT?!� etc. For some reason I was really fixated on that �daytime voice� thing, as if maybe it would be more understandable if she were whispering to my refrigerator. But in the morning the rage was all gone, and all that was left was the funny.
I have since caught up with my sleep.
1:27 a.m. - February 24, 2005
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