One of my most fancy-dressin' authors, Simon Van Booy, convinced me to venture into Brooklyn last night for the Tin House reading. I texted him that I was waiting outside, as I'm shy, but after 45 minutes, I gave up and went into the reading alone. Of course, he was sitting inside already, enjoying the reading. Simon!
I ran into New York Times notable author Jennifer Gilmore there, and her husband Pedro, who Simon seemed fascinated by. They chatted for a while, while I gossiped with Jennifer. Then Simon sweetly gave me a ride back into Manhattan in his Audi. Much like my mother did whenever I drove her anywhere, I gripped the handrest until my knuckles went white, and kept pressing with my foot on an invisible brake. We discussed love, and I was taken again by Simon's innocence on the topic. Sometimes, I give him tips on dating etiquette, but I am un-datable myself, so I secretly hope he doesn't take my advice.
I was going to get dressed up for the reading, to make some doomed effort to attract a gloomy, literary fellow, but you can't out-dress Simon, so I had a bizarre outfit on - grey, acid-wash jeans, a dark grey shirt, and a purple sweater from the Gap. The Gap! And there were no literary fellows there anyway - just one cute guy who seemed to work there, and was thus off-limits, and every other guy in their 50s and up.
In this photo Simon and Pedro both are working their well-honed, individual looks. Work it, Simon and Pedro!
