Magical Night w/ Cinjun Tate at The Living Room

One of the benefits of living where I do is that I randomly find out my favorite band from college days/friends is playing a few blocks away every Sunday. For free!

I'm so old I rarely make it out to concerts anymore. The only other show I went to in the last two years was the Remy Zero reunion show in Silver Lake, oddly. This show had an intimate setting. Loved the Living Room. Any venue that seats people at tables gets a gold star in my book! I will not stand for any band!

Anyway, the concert was great, but something magical happened at the end of the show. Cinjun invited a random audience member to the stage. He had shouted out a request for Life in Rain. Nobody knew him, though he had a very polished hipster look to him. He took the stage while chewing gum, with a rock star swagger, and when he started singing I thought it was actually Cinjun singing. Not only did he nail all of the words (which is already a high bar when calling upon a random audience member to sing a song that came out when he was 7), but he sang in a voice that sounded very much like Cinjun and was able to harmonize with him on the fly and sang very confidently.

This was an incredibly surreal moment to watch unfold... luckily captured on video tape.

When I got home, I googled him and found that he was on American Idol, which explains some of what happened that night. It was almost impossible to believe that performance wasn't rehearsed beforehand and that they didn't know each other. His voice blew my mind.

For more check out Cinjun's website.

It's hot!

Wow, so... fun times in New York. Still love my job as a reality show writer/producer, and now I'm about to enter week 3. I'm preparing myself for the idea that it's only down from here once I'm done! Our work environment is just ideal in so many ways.

Imagine writing a novel for ten hours a day with your headphones on... but there are also 6 other writers writing another chunk of your novel, so every once in awhile you can take your headphones off and chit chat about the crazy things your characters are doing, and this actually makes sense to them because they're working on the same story.

This is rad. Writing is so isolating, but with reality competition, there's a structure to it, which removes the biggest stress of how to tell the story. I get to focus on the characters. All of the other producers are interesting too. Half of us came from LA, so sometimes I don't even feel like I'm in New York. There are a lot of conversations about restaurants in LA, even moreso than restaurants in New York, so it's quite easy to forget.

Also, living in lower Manhattan I am just blocks away from everything I like. The singer of my favorite band from when I was in college is playing free shows every Sunday just around the corner. There are countless readings and literary events also within blocks. Plus all of my favorite haunts like Teany, Wild Ginger, Veselka are all steps away.

Hmm... so surprising news I have heard in the last week. I apparently met Lana del Rey before she was Lana del Rey. Very weird.

Also, someone from high school is now in The Shins. Considering someone else from my high school class is on a hit NBC show, I think we have some ridiculously talented classmates.

It was 81 degrees last week, and this week is looking like a repeat. 70s and 80s. Very strange situation over here in New York City.

Andrew Bird is the Best.

Listen to this song. Buy the album Break It Yourself. Amazing.



Could he write any prettier songs? Every album has blown me away since Weather Systems.

Franzine in the City

Had sort of an interesting night last night. I went to my first New York literary event (seems like just yesterday I went to my first San Francisco literary event!). Fun night. Interesting people. New friends. Old friends. New York has the most fashionable 50 year old hipster women. They really do it best here.

The event was held in the Back Room - a cool bar that seems like someone's living room. I'd been here before, five years ago, but I got lost trying to find it yet again. It's hidden inside of a courtyard, kind of the way bars in Berlin are hidden.

Afterwards had the kind of night filled with an excitement you only get from meeting new people. I don't know what it is about new people and moving locations, but it sure is fun to go to a second location with people you just met. Like hey... wanna go to a restaurant??? Yes, let's go to a restaurant!!!

Anyway, I went to a diner with some new and slightly old friends and ended up being joined by one of the performers - who apparently is a Hollywood actor, though not one big enough for anyone to recognize - and some other eccentric people whose names I never caught. Interesting dinner conversation over hamburgers and matzah ball soup. Can't really repeat it on the Internet. Sometimes anonymous is still not anonymous enough. Blargh. I received a most excellent compliment though. Apparently I look like a movie star, without makeup - or rather movie stars get made up to look like me. So take that, movie stars! Straight from a female hipster's lips. Gosh I love strangers.

I walked home and was cut off by not one but two very fast moving rats, which caused me to scream like a newbie, as they just missed my shoes by inches. If I see one of those inside, you can be sure I will hop on the next plane back to California. The thing was moving so fast it was just a blur with a tail.

First Day As Reality Producer

Hello from the other side. I went into my soho office today for the first time. I didn't know what to expect from this experience. While I've done many documentaries and have ample editing experience, I'd never produced a proper reality show before, so I was a bit nervous.

I signed an NDA today - I have to keep reminding myself that my work is super top secret. Hopefully I don't accidentally blow anything. It's funny that there are people who are going to watch the show in anticipation of the results!

Here's some random musings from inside the world of reality.

(1) a show with a budget! wow. never worked on one of those before. i once worked at an office that had live trees, live dogs, food and massages, but then they scrimped on the schedule and i had to make the whole show in three* days.

*three is an exaggeration. nine days is the real answer. that sucked.

(2) it's fun to be in a room with other "producers"

(3) the people on the show are characters. i'm not really sure what that means.

(4) i love being in control.

(5) the best thing about a reality show is that it is like putting together a fun puzzle. even more fun to make than to watch!

all day, i felt life was just wonderful. things are fun. i've reconnected with old friends. my roommates (necessary here) are cool. one works for the UN and is one of a handful of people in the room along with the ambassadors when the security council votes on the middle east. it was interesting to hear his experience - i've quizzed him profusely. only in new york can you meet people who have such varied life experiences.

i had a nice charming walk through soho on the way home, passing all of the expensive shops and the lively bars/restaurants that you find nowhere else in the world - and then stopped at whole foods where i waited in line with two items behind at least 70 people. as soon as i stepped outside, i crossed over a stream of fresh pee running down the sidewalk. yeesh.

i guess everything's a dichotomy.

Back in New York

Here I am. I have landed! I worked in SF and flew here to start a new work of week in Soho. It has been a little surreal. Forgot how vibrant this city is. I've had a great time eating Chinese food and catching up with wonderful friends I haven't seen in two or so years. I feel like I have almost no friends here, but actually I realized I have more than I can handle. So ha. Also there apparently was no winter, so I don't have to be a cry baby about that, even if it is 85 in LA and 75 in San Francisco this weekend.

I just had coffee with a writer who used to work at the New Yorker reading the slush pile. I was able to confirm that I did in fact receive the highest rejection I could possibly get from them, so I am just thrilled with that. As a writer you look for good signs anywhere, including in rejections. Just a little nudge to know you're actually on the right track. He said most of the submissions were of a quality that is higher than MFA workshops as well, so yay. I am doing something right.

I think it's kind of interesting that I sent the same piece out to a smattering of lit mags and the least prestigious and the most prestigious were the ones that responded the best. Just goes to show how bizarro this process is. Makes no sense whatsoever.

Tomorrow I start my big new job piecing together the story for a reality/documentary show. Wish me luck!

Crazy Times

Not much to report here. I've been buried under a work avalanche - working until 10:30 pm lately. It's hard to make it through each week, but with any luck I'll go back to a regular schedule in a week. Life has been fantastic ever since I landed in San Francisco. I have way too much to do, between work, friends, novel-writing and what not. I literally did not have time to eat most meals last week.

And, some sort of good news on Novel #1 which will hopefully turn into 100% good news in the near future. If that happens, I will report it.

Plus, on Friday, amidst craziness in the office, I received what I think is a higher-tiered rejection from the New Yorker praising the "evident merit" of my story. I sent them part of the first chapter of novel #1 and am just so thrilled to get anything but the lowest form rejection from them! Yay. I have a good feeling about my book. I've adjusted expectations in terms of how long it actually takes to jump through all of the right hoops, but I do feel that I'm getting there.

Marathon Week of Socializing

I have made it through my marathon week of socializing and now I want to collapse.

I saw my friend's adorable new baby in Mountain View! I went to the Monthly Rumpus on Monday! Last night was almost the grand finale, except it came on a weeknight. I went to a very special party for Path, which is my friend's husband social-networking start-up. They went all out to celebrate their new release, renting out a venue with a dance floor, a taco truck, an ice cream truck (!), and a DJ called Milkman. The best part besides the ice cream was celebrating with close friends. It's such a warm, fuzzy feeling to watch your friends succeed after much-deserved hard work. I have awesome friends. This was literally the first time I ever felt like dancing since age 21, or maybe let's say ever.

After staying out far too late (how come 11:30pm feels so darn late?!!) I stumbled into work this morning and made not one, not two, but three promos before heading off to Literary Death Match, which turned out to be exceedingly awesome. I was delighted by the writing of Alia Volz - the declared winner. I also met some people who have a reading series called Portuguese Artists Colony which I will be sure to check out.

But for now I will fall over. Gosh, being a socialite must be hard. I don't envy these people.

San Francisco vs. Los Angeles Lit Scene

I've now gone to my first San Francisco literary event. I saw Stanford faculty member Adam Johnson read from his new novel the Orphan Master's Son, set in North Korea. He killed it. I am definitely interested in checking out the book now. I met with two former fiction workshop classmates beforehand, and two former/current faculty members read, so the feeling was very homey. Makes me want to hop on Caltrain and check out some readings/move into the English Department. Sometimes I want to live inside of the Wonder Boys forever.

Things are definitely different here! In L.A. I mainly go to single author readings or launch parties for issues of lit mags. Here it seems like the scene mainly consists of revue shows, which has its pros and cons. Pros are that there seems to be a devoted following for various events and the energy is high (readings are interspersed with short sets from bands or comics). My only gripe is that everything here costs money so I will check out fewer events - typically for a reading the author is doing it for free in the hopes you will buy a book or issue. Sad.

In the meantime, my friend Anne-Marie's book Radio Iris is excerpted here on the Two Dollar Radio website. Check it out - she's brilliant.

A Week in My San Francisco Life

Wow. Life in San Francisco has just been amazing. I love my job. People are cool. And I have plans every night. It's kind of ridiculous. Here's what my new life looks like:

LAST NIGHT: reconnected with an old classmate and had super fun times.

FRIDAY: my college roommate, the very talented Emily Prince, had a lovely art opening.

SUNDAY: seeing one of my favorite women, Kristin - and her brand new baby boy. she is the first in my circle of close friends to have a child and she has given me many of the gory details.

MONDAY: Rumpus literary reading with publishing friends.

THURSDAY: My friend's husband's start up is throwing what seems like a super fun bash. so excited to celebrate with them.

FRIDAY: Another literary event run by new friend I met in L.A. just before I left!

SATURDAY: A birthday party if I stay in town for the three-day weekend. Actually, two birthday parties.

Not to mention lots of working and novel-writing. I blocked off all of Saturday and half of Sunday to write.

How cool is this week?

It's Jerry!

Well, I started a new freelance producing job. Last week was rather eventful. I got up bright and early and enjoyed a San Francisco sunrise on the bus down to the office. Then I was off to Candlestick Park, where we shot a certain football hero. Jerry was one of the nicest dudes I've ever met. He was super sweet to everyone including the whole crew. He wanted to direct a few of his own fun takes and was very gracious and personable. What an awesome guy.

Funniest moment: when the Candlestick cleaning crew realized he was on the field. One woman shouted "Hey!!! That's Jerry!" She then stated that she would do anything for Jerry and she managed to seat the entire crew down one by one (maybe 50-75 people who wouldn't listen to us) so that they wouldn't make any noise during the shoot ("It's for Jerry! Do it for Jerry!"). Jerry shook hands with everyone afterwards.

I didn't tell Jerry I had never seen a single football game, though I did watch him on Dancing With The Stars. I hear he is a good wide receiver. He sure has big hands. Sheesh.

One thing I did not expect was that it would be ICE COLD on the field in the morning. I couldn't feel my feet, which were soaked. Holy cow. I spent two hours freezing as though we were on a snowy mountain.

Later I hit up a revue show that incorporates big hats and topical jokes.

Funny thing: nobody in the office eats AT ALL, so I feel awfully silly with my pile of food on my desk.

My new daily schedule is to stop into Safeway on the way in and out of work. Yes, twice a day every single day. This is how it works when you have to walk .75 miles to the subway stop each way and your fridge is empty.

I figure I'll buy one condiment a day until I have a fully stocked fridge. And then I will leave. Tomorrow's soy sauce.

I've gotten so much work done on my second novel (75 pages and counting) that I hate to interrupt it, but boy is it nice to get a paycheck.

New Year's Eve.

One loft. Three parties. A dozen old friends.

Two guys awkwardly checking their iphones/ taking blurry photos of girls in pretty dresses.

One thirty-minute discussion on the origin and significance of the drop deadline dream.

Uh yeah, I've been writing too many promos.
Happy New Year!

My Year in Books 2011

Didn't get as much reading in this year as I would have liked, plus I'm eating chocolate truffles for breakfast, but what can you do? Here's what I did manage to squeeze in this year.

(1) The Marriage Plot - Jeffrey Eugenides

My favorite review of this book compares the Leonard-Madeleine-Mitchell love triangle to the Felicity-Ben-Noel love triangle. This love triangle isn't much of a triangle and is more like a line or a circle - with the second guy standing on the sidelines or off in India the entire time rather than fighting for the girl, but hey - it's Eugenides, not the WB.

(2) Meeks - Julia Holmes

This is a debut book on Small Beer Press that also deserves a TV comparison. Basically, it's a literary rendition of what would happen if Kafka was in charge of reality shows. In this book, bachelors have to find a wife or else they'll end up with hard-labor factory jobs and will eventually be executed.

(3) We the Animals - Justin Torres

This is a teeny tiny novel by a Stegner Fellow that managed to garner most of the literary hype this year.

(4) A Visit From the Good Squad - Jennifer Egan

Probably my favorite book that I read this year. I loved the first chapter and the next few lost me, but once I was back on board, I couldn't tear my eyes away. I found myself wanting to think of it as a collection of short stories rather than a novel. I don't need to love every short story in a collection. It's okay to simply love 75% of them, and I do. I had some concerns about the chapter written in Powerpoint, but it turned out to be interesting rather than gimmicky. I can see why it won the Pulitzer Prize.

(5) Let the Great World Spin - Colum McCann

I didn't read these back to back, but this is structurally similar to Goon Squad - with each chapter following a different character that is only tangentially related to another one. Chapters were hit or miss for me. This was a Book Award winner. I liked it, but I would like to see the major literary prizes awarded for traditional novels again rather than these pseudo-short story collection novels.

(6) The Book of Clouds - Chloe Aridjis

Loved this book. I found out about it while out with a friend. We were talking about my novel and he mentioned that he watched his friend write her first novel while in Berlin and that she just set a deadline of when she would mail it off and be finished with it (whereas I continued to tinker with my first novel forever - probably not done yet). Anyway, I picked it up because I was intrigued by her process and found myself utterly charmed by this book. It's set in Berlin and has a lovely surreal quality to it. I got copies for several friends.

(7) Freedom - Jonathan Franzen

I think I read this book at the beginning of this year, but it might have been last year.

(8) Top Secret Manuscript

Can't really say anything about it. It's not out yet. It hasn't even been sold yet, nor has it been finished, but the author is going to be on an LA Times list of writers to watch in 2012.

What did you read?

Rick Moody at Black Clock Launch Party

I just returned from seeing Rick Moody read at the Mandrake from the most recent issue of Black Clock. The reading also featured Merrill Feitell, Seth Greenland, and CalArts alum Sara Gerot. The reading and party were fantastic. I love the Los Angeles literary scene. So rich, yet unpretentious. People are approachable. It seems like lately magazines like Slake and Black Clock have done a good job of fostering a community for L.A.-based writers and publishers.

Though there are many famous writers who call Los Angeles home, it's slightly unexpected and therefore in some ways easier to form connections between writers/lit journals, if only to rival the scene in New York.

Tonight was a great example. My friend Nina and I were approached by a very interesting fellow in a three piece suit who runs a lit magazine and just moved here from Paris yesterday. Over a post-reading dinner I learned that in addition to editing, he is writing a novel and his agent is someone who is currently considering my manuscript in New York. What are the odds? He is also a fascinating character. I feel like I could learn something from him. Why not get off a plane, walk up to two strangers, make new friends and go to dinner? Isn't that how this socializing thing is supposed to work? No one ever explained to me that you could do that.

Nights like these make me annoyed about having to leave L.A. for San Francisco, though there are great friends there. I just think one of the best things about Los Angeles is that the creative industries are the dominant fields. I also think one of the worst things about being in Los Angeles is that the creative industries are the dominant fields; and on that, I do not care to elaborate!

Tri-Coastal/ Gunman at Sunset and Vine

I've had this idea that I could take "work vacations." What's a work vacation? It's getting paid to go somewhere else. Work is required, and no vacation is involved, but at least there's an airplane.

Downsides: complicated taxes, pets, and the inability to plan dinner next week because no one will get back to me on exact dates and things.

Now it looks like I'll probably be leaving town in a matter of days. I have a job in San Francisco lasting 2-8 weeks and then another job elsewhere. Notice the gigantic range in time frame. I'm not too keen about that either, but I'll take it.

With a 12% local unemployment rate, it's time to get creative to pay the bills. Somehow my life has flipped around backwards, and I work when I go other places and do not work (more accurately: write full-time) when I am at home. Hmmm.

See ya, Hollywood. I'll come back when you employ me. Also, I'll come back when you stop shooting people.

Everyone hear about the gunman at Sunset and Vine today? A man opened fire at random cars on Vine Street outside the Kinko's. I almost went there in order to print/photocopy new hire documents. I guess the man was angry and he wanted to die, but instead of shooting himself he shot at the passing cars on Vine Street. He was shot dead by a cop who was working on a nearby movie set. When this transpired, I was at a post office a few blocks away, wondering why there were several helicopters parked in the sky.

There have been many shootings lately in places that are too close for comfort. It seems in many cases, these people just wanted to die. There was a shooting at U.C. Berkeley, a gunman in Issaquah (where there is no crime), and now this disgruntled person in Hollywood. I got this crazy head-in-Gravitron feeling just thinking about it today. I could have easily driven down Vine Street but instead drove a different route.

I still need to get my passport photocopied but I don't feel much like doing that right now.

Crazy video: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/12/hollywood-shooting-video-gunman.html

It is cold. I am cold.

Well congratulations, everybody. You all have me on tenterhooks. California DMV, I'm talking to you. Entering Week 5 with no license now. Yes, California is the 7th largest economy in the world by country, but we are also turning into Third World country, at least as far as the government is concerned. I went to the usually-speedy post office this afternoon only to find a line of 45 people standing around mumbling about how the other local branches have just closed. Seriously, what's going to happen to the mail? They're threatening all sorts of things. I already don't want to go anywhere near the DMV here (last time I went to the downtown branch a riot literally almost broke out due to the two-hour wait thanks to the shut down of other local branches). Do we even still have schools? I haven't seen one in a long time, so I can't verify that.

Speaking of tenterhooks, there's not a peep from the You-Know-Whos, but that's starting to feel like an abusive relationship. Now some prospective employers have thrown their hats into the ring and are in the process of ignoring me post interview. I'm sure they'll get around to it eventually. I did manage to book a Food Network producing job about six months in advance, so I guess that's something. However, I would like to get some other work between now and then, on account of having to pay the rent and stuff.

I'm just a tad cranky. It has been frreeeeezing here. Like, see your own breath freezing. The cat is not happy. He ate my rapini tonight.

It was 35 degrees on my night hike this week. I just played a softball game in three shirts and a wool hat while doing jumping jacks. Some of the biggest guys did not show up on account of the cold, so I got to play center field and managed to hit a triple while freezing my nuts off. We won 21-3 despite having a roster of only 9 players, so that's a good thing. Play-offs are steadily approaching, and I'm hoping to be in town to finish off the season. This is the first time my team has had a shot of taking home the trophy.

In other braggy news, I recently produced a documentary on a wheelchair-bound athlete for a sports network and was glad to find out that people like it. The Hall of Fame apparently e-mailed the network to congratulate them. I had mono and turned old during this period, so I'm glad it worked out for everyone.

Hurricane L.A.

Been kind of a nutty week around here. I left for a very quick, very short trip and came back just in time to escape the windpocalypse 2011, or whatever people want to call the rainless hurricane event that made it seem like a large bomb went off in Los Angeles. As soon as I arrived at my softball game on Wednesday I realized we had a problem.

(1) My car was shaking violently in the parking lot due to winds that did not exist before I left my house. My car felt like it was going to blow away like the plastic garbage in American Beauty.

(2) The wind was so strong that it picked up all of the dirt on the field and threw it into the sky. Sirens were wailing all around us and streetlights were out everywhere. Little did we know that the winds were up to 80mph. That's basically a hurricane, right?



Some of my friends are still without power, but I live in a bomb-proof abode that's survived many earthquakes, thank goodness.

When I went running today I saw that a man was trying to cut a very large fallen tree down from a power line using a handsaw while mumbling something about his cable TV being out. Good luck with that, Sir.

If Only Life Could Be a String of Dinner Parties

It's been an interesting past few weeks, punctuated by four dinner parties. First, my friend Brett came down from San Francisco and a few of us put together an impromptu dinner party in which Allison and I made the exact same dish - hers was pasta with squash and mine was pasta with zucchini. All of us ate pasta with a side of pasta. Luckily, she also sauteed kale, so there was something green on our plates as well.

Then there were the two Thanksgivings. Those were both great and extensively blogged about, at least by me - in the post below.

Thanksgiving was so much fun, in fact, that when I had to go up to San Francisco on short notice, I roped my friend into throwing a dinner party. Just a few days prior she had offered to cook me lasagna and throw me a party and order me a nice chocolate cake her husband got for his birthday - all in hypotheticals. Let's just say we made this happen, and that it was so much fun.

I introduced the other seven guests to a wonderful parlor game called "Telephone Pictionary" which involves writing phrases and drawing pictures and passing these phrases or pictures (alternating) down the line to be further translated into pictures and phrases. Let's just say we busted a gut or two laughing.

There was also a camping trip that happened somewhere between these dinner parties. I went in order to try out rock climbing, but the most memorable part for me ended up being the food we ate around the campfire. My camping friends are gourmet and they brought all of Whole Foods along with them, including fleur de sel, ginger, garlic bunches of kale, quinoa, pesto, TCHO chocolate for smores, multi-grain pancakes with syrup and butter, broccoli, cauliflower and brioche.

I tried to recreate this quinoa-pesto-kale concoction last night in a real kitchen with a real stove, yet somehow I failed. Tonight I will try to recreate the roasted brussel sprouts from my two Thanksgivings.



Is there a more perfect form of socializing than having your friends over for dinner? I think not.

Night Hiking

I've been living dangerously for several weeks (or years, you could argue). I don't seem to have a valid driver's license. California stopped sending me notices (thanks for the ticket for my expired registration, DMV!) and I didn't know my license was expired until I walked into a bar for the first time in six months to meet an out of town friend and his friend's philosophers' club (yes this club exists, and it is made up of full-time Los Angeles-based philosophers, and no they don't like bars). I guess it's good I went! Now the wheels of licensing are grinding very, very slowly somewhere in Sacramento, and hopefully one day in the next four months I'll be a licensed driver again. Tomorrow would be nice, seeing as we're about to head into a holiday weekend.

I just got in from a lovely night hike. It's absolutely one of my favorite Los Angeles activities. I was at the peak of my fitness in August (running 30 miles/week) when I got mono and I've been sidelined ever since.

Anyway, it was good to get back to my group hikes filled with insane people who hike just about every day of the week. The last time I hiked was summer, sunny. This time the sun had set hours before our start time and it was about 50 degrees, which made me nervous, but it turns out you can't feel cold when hiking/trail running with this group. It's simply not possible. It rained all weekend, so the air couldn't have been clearer, and I just focused on forgetting about all of the bugs I was eating as I sucked in huge breaths going up to the top. My wonderful friend from Seattle sent me a care package of dark chocolate, which I happily devoured at the summit.




Night hiking is one of the rare opportunities for me to branch out and meet non-creatives and non-hipsters. On the way down today I talked with someone who is a software engineer and programs brakes for the 787, a new airbus model and some other planes. Who knew that a string of code in C could make a plane stop moving? Not me. Most of the group still seems intact from before I was forced to take a break.

Awesome hike. I now have a gigantic endorphin rush after 2-3 months of minimal exercise and life feels great.

L.A. Literary Magazine Softball tournament

Today was a great day. I got to marry my love of softball with my love of literature in a one-day tournament held between people associated with the L.A. literary scene. Game one was Red Hen Press versus Slake Magazine (the organizers... I had a feeling they were going to be good - possibly the only good team there! I mean, let's face it. Writing short stories and playing softball generally aren't two skills that go hand in hand).

In fact, all of the teams were good. Except mine. Red Hen and Slake Magazine played a pretty close game. Supposedly the idea was to put uncoordinated pasty people on the field and laugh, but it seemed like most of the players on both of these teams knew how to play. Red Hen won Game #1.

By the time Game #2 started, most of the Black Clock team had not showed up. We borrowed from other teams and I guess I was still laboring under the delusion that we could win. I was ready to kick L.A. Review of Books' butts, even though they were all men and we were all women and their pitcher was pitching just a little bit fast and low for slow pitch. I kept trying to strategically move people around the field so we could catch up, but we lost by at least ten, possibly by quite a lot more.

Still, I wish every day could be today. I love books and I love softball, and I love it when two seemingly disparate parts of my life come together.

Here's the LA Times preview of the tourney:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/jacketcopy/2011/11/the-softball-battle-of-the-la-indie-publishers.html