No Obituaries for Dentists

November 19, 2009 by raronauer

Careful visitors to my site will notice that my banner comes from a sketch Christo made for The Gates. Careful chroniclers of my life will know that I was obsessed with the Gates. And now Jeanne-Claude, Christo’s wife and collaborator, is dead.

One of the reasons I was so into the Gates was this piece in the New Yorker, where Jeanne-Claude said,

I was not an artist when I married Christo, but I became one … If Christo had been a dentist, I would have become a dentist

I don’t have anything larger to say about that quote or this death, but I still think the Gates were pretty awesome.

Posted in Art, New York | 1 Comment »

In Which My Blog Becomes a Place for Pull Quotes from Classic Literature

November 18, 2009 by raronauer

Aficion means passion. An aficionado is one who is passionate about bull-fights. All the good bull-fighters stayed at Montoya’s hotel that is, those with aficion stayed there. …

We never talked for very long at a time. It was simply the pleasure of discovering what we each felt. Men would come in from distant towns and before they left Pamplona stop and talk for a few minutes with Montoya about bulls. These men were aficionados. Those who were aficionados could always get rooms even when the hotel was full. Montoya introduced me to some of them. They were always very polite at first, and it amused them very much that I should be an American. Somehow it was taken for granted that an American could not have aficion. … When they saw that I had aficion, and there was no password, no set questions that could bring it out, rather it was a sort of oral spiritual examination with questions always a little on the defensive and never apparent, there was this same embarrassed putting the hand on the should, or a “Buen hombre.” But nearly always there was the actual touching. It seemed as though they wanted to touch you to make it certain.

-The Sun Also Rises

To me, an aficion is something that makes you happy without help from anyone else. To me, that’s ice cream and running. (Writing and reading are both too fraught with disappointment to count as an aficion.) I feel very lucky that there are so many people in my life who have aficion; passionate people usually have interesting things to say.

The Sun Also Rises also served as a reminder (to me) to revisit this Madonna video.

Posted in Raronauer Recommends, Reading, aficion | Leave a Comment »

(Dirty) Blonde Redhead

October 30, 2009 by raronauer

Two months ago, after a cranky day, I went for a walk in my neighborhood and ended up at Unnamable Books on Vanderbilt. In some ways, opening a book store is more optimistic than writing a book. Anyway, I bought Beginner’s Greek, which had been recommended by The Times and after reading two pages, seemed like it would eventually be highly recommended by me. It was one of those gorgeous pre-fall days were the sun and the clouds are really working together, so I went to the park and started reading. After ten more pages, I knew how everything would happen. I was kind of annoyed, especially when I saw the discussion questions in the back. I love reading, but I hate when publishers encourage me to get drunk with friends and talk about obvious symbolism. And that day, I hit my breaking point with commercial literary fiction.

All of this was going to be related to the fact that I’ve been reading a lot of Flannery O’Conner lately. But I already blogged about that. The above paragraph came from Word document I keep called “maybe blog post.” What happens in this word document is that I write a paragraph, get frustrated with myself for wasting time rearranging each word instead of working on my book, and then I quit.

My life has been filled with frustrations lately. Fortunately, not frustrations involving clean water, but frustrations with my book. I’ve been doing it for almost two years now. And while working without feedback (or a boss) has mostly been fantastic, I’m at the end of my rope. See I don’t even have anyone to call me out for using a phrase like “end of my rope.” It’s hard.

I’m just exhausted with Raronauer’ed, The Novel. I’ve come to the point where I am incapable of considering the value of passive voice without a professional’s help. So for better or worse, what I’m working on now will be my last draft before looking for an agent.

I’m sure Junot Diaz is aware that he doesn’t use footnotes evenly in Brief, Wondrous Life. And Jeffrey Eugenides must know that the end of Middlesex is anti-climactic. And both of these guys spent like a decade on each of those books. But there’s only so much you can do before you start wandering around the city in the middle of the afternoon, looking for clothes a redhead would wear so you can go as a ginger for Halloween.

Posted in Narcissism, Raronauer'ed, The Novel, Writing | 1 Comment »

Flannery O’Connor Short Story Recipe

October 6, 2009 by raronauer

Start with 20-something son. Often an aspiring writer, visiting or returning from home after a failed run in a city. In favor of civil rights. Pair with a racist older relative, usually female. Include a gun or a heart condition. Don’t forget a black person. Heat for about twenty to thirty pages. Serve with a death at the end.

I just spent the past month reading all of Flannery O’Connor’s short stories. And despite this formula, I like her. Her characters aren’t neurotic. There are not trying to figure out their identity or get laid. Mostly, they’re just are selfish and ignorant. Usually, Hobbesian characters don’t appeal to me. But Flannery O’Conner isn’t trying to get our sympathy. She’s just pointing out a truth.

I especially recommend “A View of the Woods.”
 

Posted in Reading, Writers | Leave a Comment »

On The Other Side of the Avenue

September 18, 2009 by raronauer

For the past month, I’ve read more Craigslist than the New York Times. That’s right, I’m moving. If you don’t mind cats, aren’t around much, all your stuff can fit in your room and you don’t have a Divatitude, finding a place is easy. But for me, someone who hates cats and has a huge Divatitude, getting an apartment on the cheap near Prospect Park has been difficult.

In Crown Heights, I saw a place where the outgoing roommate wanted to sell the couch she kept in the living room. Now that’s bizarre, right? Why wouldn’t she just leave it or have the remaining roommate buy it off of her? But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that the two old roommates were scheming against the new one. The outgoing roommate didn’t want to give it away and the remaining roommate didn’t want to pay it. A mark from Craigslist would solve both of their problems by buying it. This didn’t seem like the beginning of a warm home to me.

Yesterday, I settled on a place on the Prospect Heights side of Washington Avenue. This is a huge relief to my subconscious, which has been dreaming about homelessness for the past month. For those who were curious, the cost of living in an apartment with a working buzzer and without teenagers smoking blunts in the stairwell is an extra $235 a month. And I’m finally at a point in my life where I’m willing to pay that price.

Posted in Brooklyn, Raronauer Living | Leave a Comment »

Last Dance

August 28, 2009 by raronauer

When I was 20, I had an internship at a literary agent. The job consisted of reading a paragraph of a proposal letter, writing no thanks, and sending it back in a SASE.

One day, the agent’s 10 year-old daughter came in because there was school was off and a day where mommy works was cheaper than a babysitter where mommy doesn’t work. I ended up doing a bit of unpaid (but resume building) child caring, and she asked me if I had a boyfriend. At almost any other time in my life, the answer would have been no, but as it happened, I had just started dating my college boyfriend. When I told her I did, and I was not above relishing in the jealousy of a 10 year-old.

I always thought weddings were some version of that sentiment. Flowers, a live band and thick cream paper were an expensive announcement to friends, coworkers and cousins that someone loved you. Of course, until last week, I only went to the weddings of cousins, and it’s hard to get all joyous in front of your Aunts.

On Sunday, I went to my first peer wedding. Based on Facebook, going to the weddings of friends seems a bit like prom, with all the fanciness and disregard for the local authority figures. I didn’t really know anyone outside of my date. But there was an open bar and the reception hall was kept at 60 degrees. Dancing like crazy was my only option.

Maybe it was the couple, my newness to weddings or how, as Gloria Estefan would have wanted, the rhythm got me, but for the first time, I saw weddings as more than a One Perfect Day multi-billion dollar industry. To bride, groom and their parents, the wedding was a day—and not a perfect one (there was rain)—to celebrate love and the unions of their families. The stuffed animal the groom used to propose to his wife was out on the dance floor, and no one thought that was anything but sweet.

I don’t think everyone can be as unself-conscious about their relationship, or even aspires to be. But for those who can, Mazel Tov.

Posted in Romance | 1 Comment »

I’ve Just Seen A Face

August 6, 2009 by raronauer

I woke up with that Beatles song in my head, which reminded me of “On Seeing the 100% Perfect Girl,” a Haruki Murakami’s short story which has been made into several YouTube shorts.

I love this story.

Something I don’t love is The Believers by Zoë Heller. Many publications and people have recommended the book, but it was my mom who went so far as to buy me a copy. Her basic endorsement was that she couldn’t put it down. And I can’t either. I started it yesterday, and I’m more than half way. More to the point, I took a local train to keep reading it. But I can’t recommend it the way I recommend “On Seeing The 100% Perfect Girl.” It’s silly to compare a fable-like short story to a novel, but I can see that Heller’s writing is quicker and her characters are more drawn than Murakami’s. But despite her technical deftness, her main characters are awful people. And while I get that The Believers is a well done book, I already deal with enough jerks in my life.

Posted in Reading, Writers, Writing | Leave a Comment »

Before That Movie Comes Out

July 24, 2009 by raronauer


Read My Life in France. Julia Child is an inspiration.

When she was just a cooking naïf, she spent weeks finding the perfect mayonnaise recipe, only to find that none of her friends or family really cared. Even though I don’t really like mayonnaise, I can relate. Writing this book, I’m obsessed with phrases and character descriptions. Of course, in the end, no one should know that practically every word was difficult to choose, just like Julia Child never told her guests about what went wrong in the kitchen.

The great success that became of Julia didn’t come naturally. She worked very hard, and for a long time, it didn’t seem that Mastering the Art of French Cooking would even get published. As she received rejection letters, she decided making the cookbook was worth it, if only because she loved making perfect recipes so much.

Toward the end of the book, she and her husband Paul are building a second home in France. She mentions that they had their own bedrooms because she was a snorer and her husband was an insomniac. But her husband had a full bed so they could cuddle in the morning. To me, this is a great lesson on love and compromise.

And before he blows up, I’m saying now that I love the actor playing Julie Powell’s wife in the movie. His name is Chris Messina. You may remember him from Vicky Christina Barcelona and the last season of Six Feet Under. Or maybe not. I doubt he’s ever been linked to Jennifer Aniston. Still, he’s one of my favorite actors.

Posted in Art, Food, Heroes, Romance | 1 Comment »

Link Bait

July 17, 2009 by raronauer

I hate how effective internet slide shows are. I just gave Slate 11 clicks for their mindless slide show on weird Google logos. Meanwhile, William Finnegan’s excellent profile of Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio gets one click because there’s only an excerpt online. Which I guess is the whole problem with the internet economy: effort and financial reward are not related at all.

But read that piece. If you don’t subscribe and you’re cheap, go to a Barnes & Noble and read it. It’ll make you happy that long form journalism still exists.

And if you haven’t yet, buy Finnegan’s incredible book, Cold New World.

Posted in Advertising, Cash/Money, Internet, Raronauer Recommends, Reading, Slate, The New Yorker | Leave a Comment »

I Think I’m Getting Worse At Talking

July 14, 2009 by raronauer

Because I don’t do it that often. My word retrieval and pronunciation are just terrible.

Anyway, I’m going to post here more. For a while, I made too much of an effort to make every post perfect, and I came to realize that was blowing my load, creatively speaking. But I’m going to stop with my perfectionist act and just write.

My apartment is not getting mail right now. The mailman doesn’t have a mailbox key. Coming down my stairs on Saturday, there was a dead roach and a piece of banana. “Which is grosser,” I asked Jason. “Well, the banana is going to attract flies,” he replied.

This is why people pay more in rent, I suppose. To get their mail and not to have to chose between dead bugs and rotting fruit.

Posted in Raronauer Living | Leave a Comment »

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