things to do, but when to write?

No one is asking, let alone demanding, that you write. The world is not waiting with bated breath for your article or book. Whether or not you get a single word on paper, the sun will rise, the earth will spin, the universe will expand. Writing is forever and always a choice - your choice.
- Beth Mende Conny

"The world is not waiting"...but it should be.

Craziness, since we last spoke, from tennis courts on rooftops, expensive car parties, and photo shoots in the Hamptons to birthdays, reading, and rotating TV audiences. Oh, and there was writing somewhere, just not the type I wanted to be doing.

CityView Racquet Club is officially open (check out the post about my interview with Roman Prokes, tennis stringer to the stars, when I was last there - "rooftop tennis..."). A few weeks ago, I visited again for the ribbon-cutting ceremony, and the place looks every bit as much a racquet player's dream as they said it would. The grand opening party is in two weeks, and word is Regis Philbin and Justin Gimelstob are going to be there. Personally, I'm looking forward to the food, the courts, and finally getting to show Alex the place I've been talking about for almost a year =)

The next night, Alex and I attended a Lamborghini party at the Champion Motor Group Bentley-Lamborghini Long Island dealership in Jericho to celebrate the new Lamborghini showroom. There were some uber-expensive auctions going on, one of which included signed guitars by Esteban. We figured, since we already have Esteban guitars, and we didn't (at the time) have thousands of dollars to splurge on more expensive ones, we did one better -

Then taxes came soon after - done and done. Quickly followed by Easter, officially a month before Greaster this year, successfully yielding two celebrations for Alex and me.

Fast forwarding to the next week, I took my mom, her friend, Kathy, and my aunt (also affiliated with my mom...) to see the Rachael Ray Show. Much like The View, I ordered tickets a millenia ago and received a confirmation e-mail about two weeks before the show we had been selected to attend. Unlike The View, I wasn't stuck going by myself because all the women in my life who like this stuff bailed on me. Rather, I got the use of my four requested tickets this time around. I ended up learning some interesting things while I was there.

When a book is good enough, you can read while standing on line for an hour. I practically finished Fablehaven, all the while hearing bits and pieces of conversations going on around me. My mom's friend and aunt asked me what the book was about, and I explained. They looked lost when I was done, so I told them to read the book, and they, too, would understand.

Never paint walls bright orange. It will temporarily yield you unable to think straight and inevitably always remind you of Rachael Ray. Apparently, no one believes in plain banana muffins. I keep running into banana nut muffins, and at the studio was no different. I don't know which is stranger - that I can't find plain banana muffins or that I keep running into banana nut muffins. What else...the studio audience floor rotated, which was pretty cool. I've worked in TV production before and been to several shows, but the moving floor there was a definite first. Falafel burgers are tricky things. Let's just say, Rachael had some issues with the recipe and had to do several takes before we were all instructed to applaud and repeat after her, "Drain and dry!!" If you ever make falafel burgers, drain and dry the chic peas first. I'll remember that...next time I don't cook. When we were leaving, I saw her getting donuts from the Dunkin Donuts table set up there, and I thought again about those damn banana nut muffins we were offered over donuts. I also came to the conclusion, if and when I one day get to be the "face" of something, I want it to be Entenmann's. Every morning would be awesome. Or Pops cereal. Perhaps that's more breakfast appropriate.

We proceeded to spend a day in the city, which involved Indian food, churches, the Macy's flower show, and The Morgan Library & Museum, where we saw some of the most amazing photo portraits taken by Irving Penn, including shots of Truman Capote, Ingmar Bergman, Salvador Dali, and T. S. Eliot. If you get a chance, see "Close Encounters" before the exhibition closes next week.

Then of course came Alex's birthday - 27 handsome years old =)

As for writing, I finally finished my two articles for our Summer '08 issue - the interview with Tim Gunn (see "making it work...") and the article about CityView. Much rejoicing, all around. We also completed the photo shoot for the issue at a $3.2 million home out in East Hampton. For that much money, you get open spaces, a view of the harbor, a lot of windows, and no shades.

Check out my finalized headshots:

Now I have to work extensively on a conference presentation I am set to give in exactly one week. It's based on my thesis about Spanish Civil War films depicting children as the main protagonists. "Working on it" involves cutting down a 40-page paper into one of only 10-15 pages, creating a PowerPoint, and rehearsing.

And all the while, I keep asking, Chapter 2, Chapter 2 - where are you?

My cousin, hard at work on a paper of her own, once told me (or IMed me, rather), "I work best under pressure," which she thought about and followed up with, "Then again, I've only ever really worked under pressure."

So true, Anj, so true.