Friday, September 17, 2010
The Half-Full Glass
These days, it’s easy to get sucked into a slough of cynical despond, with even minimal exposure to the mass media fear machine. Let’s face it, it’s a big world and if you look hard enough you can find a whole lot of bad news. So… as a personal Pollyanna protest of sorts, I’d like to share a handful of positive developments in my little family/friendship sphere.
Brains on Fire: The Book. A couple of weeks ago, my brainy and energetic former partners saw the fruits of their collective post-Goot labor show up on bookstore shelves for the first time. Hats off to them. I called myself a professional writer for most of my 30-some-odd-year career and never came close to writing a chapter’s worth of stuff, let alone an entire book. The fact that I get mentioned a time or two is a source of huge personal pride. But the fact that they’d already amassed 3,000 pre-orders before the book ever came out makes me even prouder. It’s a tribute to the timeliness of their message and the enthusiasm of their considerable fan base.
ENCARNACIÓN. Last month, while we were visiting Karen’s family in northern California, our friend Kate McKenna unveiled her latest photography at Galeria 6 in nearby Mineral de Pozos. We missed the opening, but were thrilled to find out she had hundreds of attendees, many from as far away as Mexico City, and sold six pieces within hours, an incredible feat, we’re told by other local artists, in this dismal economy. We were doubly pleased to find out that several of the purchased pieces featured a newly-turned-60 model who happens to share my bed with me. Check out Kate’s slideshow [Link Above] or this short video walk-through produced by Kate’s friend Suzanne.
Euphoria: Food, Wine & Music Event. Later this month, my restaurateur friend Carl (and his musician friend Edwin McCain) will once again be hosting their audacious celebration of serious food, wine and music in our old hometown, Greenville, SC. They bring in top-flight chefs, sommeliers and musicians from around the world for a 3-day blow-out party, and then give all the proceeds to various local charities. At a time when so many business people are cutting back and hoarding cash, Carl and Edwin are more committed than ever to giving something back to a community that has been good to them. If you're nearby and/or can find your way to Greenville September 23rd-26th...
Marriage. This past weekend, Mizzy and I celebrated 39 years of being life partners, best friends, playmates and sex objects. Two-thirds of our entire lives spent together! What a journey and what a blessing. (The real milestone here, while we can’t pin it down to a precise date, is that we met for the first time forty years ago this month!)
Kids. At the risk of sounding like a bad family Christmas letter… both our kids seem to be transitioning from unhappy job situations into a much happier space. (Imagine: all four Goots in a good place at the same time.) Dustin just moved from NYC to LA (after eight years of Big Apple living) to start working toward his MBA at UCLA, while Ashley has just begun a new internally-focused project at KPMG, which will require far less travel and far more job satisfaction. You can feel their new-found energy and confidence pulsing right through the Vonage adapter. Will it last? Probably not. Are we loving this special moment in time? Abso-freakin’-lutely!
