Month: July 2008

Okay, so according to the Times, “Community leaders are keeping their eyes peeled in Greenwich Village, where burglaries in the Sixth Precinct have increased 26.2 percent. There have been 130 burglaries so far this year, 27 more than last year at this time.”

Beth, who lives on my floor, said there were signs on the street saying that they are breaking in via fire escapes. I have a fire escape outside my window. So what I did was put a lamp in the window, hoping that a thief is going to avoid the window that has a light shining out on him. Light from a pretty little art deco lamp that I bought at a store on Hudson Street about 30 years ago, a store which no longer exists, of course.

It doesn’t look very intimidating, does it?

I know Gev wasn’t the best dancer, and I didn’t expect him to win, but I did expect and hope that he would last longer. I enjoy watching Gev more than many of the dancers left, which isn’t meant as a slight against them. He’s just got something. I enjoy watching him more than the others even when he was messing up. There’s a passage in Pride and Prejudice that captures this seeming contradiction. Jane Austen is describing two characters who have just played the pianoforte. Gev is the Elizabeth:

“Mary had neither genius nor taste; and though vanity had given her application, it had given her likewise a pedantic air and conceited manner, which would have injured a higher degree of excellence than she had reached. Elizabeth, easy and unaffected, had been listened to with much more pleasure, though not playing half so well …”

Although I think Gev was better than “half so well.” There were times when his dancing was technically breathtaking and inventive. But there were other things that were new to him, and he didn’t have the training that most of the other top 10 have, so the point remains. For the perfect lament about Gev no longer being on the show, go here.

I’m putting together a presentation and a short movie for YouTube, and I’m trying to gather photographs that will illustrate what’s inside the book. I scanned a bunch of pictures when I was at the Rhine Research Center in 2006, but I need more. I’ve emailed the descendants of various people that are in the book to see if they have any to share, so we shall see. The Alexian Brothers in St. Louis generously sent me a picture of a hospital where an exorcism took place in 1949 (the building has since been torn down). So I’m off to a good start!

Here’s one of the pictures I scanned at the Rhine. It’s of Bill Davidson and the Bettys, Betty McMahan and Betty Humphrey (at a machine they built to roll dice, I believe). I love the expression on Betty McMahan’s face.

Excuse the language, I’m sorry, I talk like this, but Jesus-fucking-christ. I saw this picture of my friend Vivian, courtesy of Samba New York and look at those arm muscles! I work out and I’ve got nothing. Seriously, not even the hint of an arm muscle. I do it to keep healthy (see post title) and not because of how it makes me look, because working out hasn’t translated into nicely defined muscles for me. Damnit.

In keeping with the post title, I took this Well-O-Meter test, I can never resist a test that is supposed to tell you how great you life is, or how long you’re going to live. At one point it asks, “How many years have you lived alone since you were 25,” and I thought, that’s it. I’m a goner. I’m way past the how long you’re allowed to live alone threshold. Pick your coffin. But apparently I’m doing okay overall. My score was 8.96. I feel better now. I’m going to see Mama Mia! to celebrate. Maybe. It’s pretty hot out and I’m a delicate flower.

Just in case you haven’t heard, do not miss Joss Whedon’s Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog. Parts I and II are up now, and it’s wonderful and funny. From the Dr. Horrible website:

ONE WEEK ONLY! AN INTERNET MINISERIES EVENT!

“Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog” will be streamed, LIVE (that part’s not true), FREE (sadly, that part is) right on Drhorrible.com, in mid-July. Specifically:

ACT ONE (Wheee!) will go up Tuesday July 15th.

ACT TWO (OMG!) will go up Thursday July 17th.

ACT THREE (Denouement!) will go up Saturday July 19th.

All acts will stay up until midnight Sunday July 20th. Then they will vanish into the night, like a phantom (but not THE Phantom — that’s still playing. Like, everywhere.)

Neil Patrick Harris as Dr. Horrible, Nathan Fillion as Captain Hammer, Felicia Day as Penny.
Screenplay By: Joss Whedon, Maurissa Tancharoen, Jed Whedon, and Zack Whedon.
Directed By: Joss Whedon.
Produced By: David Burns, Michael Boretz, and Joss Whedon.