the company i keep

i want to say thank you to the folks who have kept me company lately.

first, of course, my trusty sewing machine



this is not my actual sewing machine, but it is the same model. purchased as an emergency about one year back, when my old machine gave up the night before i had to hang my show at benna's cafe. it cost less than eighty dollars and it is the only machine i own. i have sewn through layers and layers at a time, leather, book covers, and all sorts of things for hours and hours and hours at a time, and it has lived to tell about it. eventually i will overcome my fear of industrial machines, but for now, i will continue to love my basic little machine that has served me so well so far.

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next, marc bolan, and all of t.rex, whose songs i have played over and over and over lately.



i get on kicks where i want to listen to the same songs for weeks at a time, and since manny is away right now i can indulge without driving him crazy. and they have so many albums with so many songs that i love to listen while sewing and sewing and sewing.

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i recently discovered the fiction podcast, a monthly reading and conversation with The New Yorker’s fiction editor Deborah Treisman.



thanks, deborah. (i especially love one with a bullet, where t. coraghessan boyle reads tobias wolff’s short story “bullet in the brain.”)

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and last-- but certainly not least-- this american life



thanks, ira. i listen to you more than anyone else. (and i also think you are sort of a dreamboat.)

among my favorites...

"houses of ill repute", about an old man in brooklyn who invites some homeless prostitutes into his house on a cold winter night. they never leave. plus other stories about houses, such as the united states congress, where the inhabitants don't always act as they should.

"act V", which tells the story of inmates at a high-security prison who rehearse and stage a production of the last act -- Act V -- of "Hamlet." It's a play about murder and its consequences, performed by murderers living out the consequences.

"matchmakers" (i especially love the story about the lee middleton dolls)

"accidental documentaries", stories made from old tapes found in various places--recordings found in attics and thrift stores.

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oh, and thank you also to my little dog who is a girl named frank. she is endless entertainment and a great friend.



lately, she likes to sit on my feet while i try to sew, which is both completely endearing and slightly annoying.