Saturday, August 28, 2010

Vegas-bound news, a reunion, a movie review and a song

I’ll be heading back to Las Vegas next Saturday and will be working virtually from home for two weeks. Not that I actually have a home—although I do have three house keys on my keychain—by “home,” I mean Mike’s. I can’t wait to see him.

The working virtually arrangement is a trial. If it goes well without any major kinks in technology or process, then I’m one step closer to securing this as a longer-term arrangement, which has been a twinkle in my eye for a while now. At any rate, my contract has been extended to the end of October, so if it doesn’t work out, I’ll just return to Vegas for good then.  You and I both know I don’t particularly care for the whole work scene—damn those women libbers!—but as jobs go, this is a good one, and in just a couple of months my beloved co-workers have become family. I’d love to have this gig continue, so keep your fingers crossed.

Also… I met up with three friends from high school Thursday night. I saw Crazy Guy and his wife about 15 years ago at our 20th reunion, Sporty Guy about a year after high school, and the last time I saw Nice Guy was probably at graduation.


Can you pick out Crazy Guy?

God bless them for saying I haven’t changed at all. And for not commenting on the 35 pounds I’ve gained since high school. But honestly, if I weighed 103 now, something would be horribly wrong. Plus now I have boobs, which you know I love to show off regardless of the fact that probably no one should be subjected to 52-year-old cleavage.

How did we get together? The power of Facebook! It was amazing—so wonderful to catch up.

Also… A pretty long (4500 word) excerpt from Bastard Husband: A Love Story has been accepted for an upcoming anthology, Oil and Water... and Other Things that Don't Mix. All proceeds from sales (ebook and print) will go directly to registered charities with an active role in helping to clean up the effects of the Gulf oil spill. I believe I’ve been to New Orleans a good 15 times, so I’m especially happy to be included in this project. Publication date is anticipated to be sometime next month; I’ll keep you posted.

Also… I saw the new Neil Young film, Trunk Show, last week with my son, Christopher. I’m happy to report that I didn’t have to shhhh any fellow moviegoers; evidently Neil Young fans are cultured enough to observe baseline manners of behavior. Jonathan Demme directed it, so you know it's beautifully made. The film is more rock and roll than his 2006 Heart of Gold. At some points, people in the theater were laughing out loud. Not that anything was funny--and they certainly weren't laughing at Neil Young--but because it was just so freakin' joyful to see him rocking out like that.

Finally...  For you Neil Young fans, I'll leave you with a song, "Feral Children," performed by The Blackwell Sinners (Christopher, Courtney, John Rice, and father Chris Blackwell).  It's just audio--no video.  Christopher wrote it and sings--you'll see Neil Young's influence for sure.



Should I be concerned that my son wrote a song with the lyrics
My parents, they could not raise me up
I was raised by a pack of wild wolves
They showed me how the land can be by home
Now this land I shall forever roam
Up top of the mountain
Is where I sit howling at the moon
NOTHING brings me more joy than watching my kids perform!

Today I'm driving up to the Adirondacks with Connor.  My sister Lori and her husband are camping up there.  You know I'm too Private Benjamin to camp, but I'm good for sitting around in the sun.  It's a gorgeous day.

Have a great weekend!

4 comments:

Fragrant Liar said...

Cool, working remotely (or remotely working) is a little dream of mine too, so congrats on the gig.

Very much a Neil Young influence that I hear in your son's song. Has that kind of haunting quality to it. How cool to see your kids in music.

Mike Dennis said...

Linda, when you come back to Las Vegas, will you be coming to the Henderson Writers Group meetings? You know, they had their final meeting in the Flamingo Library this past Monday, and from now on, the 2nd and 4th Mondays of every month, they'll be meeting at the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf on Maryland Parkway across from UNLV.

Hope to see you there.

Donna B. said...

I hope it all works out for you...job wise. Hope we can get together some time too. Congrats on BH being published in the anthology!

Anonymous said...

Congrats on the gig. I hope it works out!

Gotta love the power of FB. It's amazing how it draws us all together. I hadn't seen my elementary BFF since 4th grade and we hooked up this summer!