First, this photo makes me SMILE until my face hurts.
I love to see my friends laugh, and that’s a genuine Tim laugh happening here even though I was tormenting him with my camera.
Second, Wednesday, something rare was spotted in the Galleria:
Yeah, flowers, that’s nice, but there are always flowers in the Galleria.
Um, no, although this Nordstrom window IS the inspiration for a scene in Someone Like You, a title that makes me think of Mark G. Harris for some reason, and although it IS the place where I fell in love with a mannequin many years ago, I didn’t find it very exciting on Wednesday.
Speaking of things that remind me of Mark G. Harris, while I was waiting for my glasses the other day, I shot a photo of this spot in the Galleria.
The ice rink where friends Alex and Aaron from The Deal like to go to get in touch with their inner Tonya Hardings children.
But I digress. Even though one of the BEST sights in the Galleria was venusunfolding, I failed to get a photo of him.
But be very, very quiet, because I did spy this.
It’s a Timpire, out of his natural habitat, SHOPPING in the Galleria!
We were there because he, too, needed his eyes examined and new glasses. If you read his LJ, you probably already saw the ones he chose.
He totally looks like someone who could pass me the answers to the math test. Smart boys are cool.
We had to get this taken care of relatively early so Tim’s dilated eyes could recover, because we were working toward a deadline.
Yes, it’s time for another pile of paper by the shredder for recycling:
And letters to write and more contracts to mail out:
Because THIS had to be driven to the airport post office in the dead of night.
The old Moonlight and Roses, which didn’t come out when it was scheduled last year because of the sale of Haworth, was ready to be flown to Cleis Press under its new title, Fool for Love: New Gay Fiction. I can’t WAIT until everything is approved and official so Timothy and I can share the full table of contents. I’m dazzled by the writing talent contained in this manuscript. There’s a whole different kind of happiness in helping other writers’ work find an audience as compared to seeing one’s own fiction published.
I know a lot of people were disappointed by what happened to Haworth, but our contributors were so awesome about it. To a man, they told us they understood it was just the world of publishing, and they knew we intended to keep looking for a home for the collection (thank you a million times, Richard Labonte, for believing in the anthology enough to help us).
As for Timothy and me, how could we ever have ill will toward Haworth? When we began the project, we barely knew many of the contributors, and now we interact with some of them every day. It’s because of this project that we got to know new writers; read and edit the work of peers we admire; solicit and include work from some of the first voices in gay fiction we ever read–this really has been a labor of love from the beginning, and I can’t wait to pitch it when it’s available. I have nothing but admiration for the talent of the contributors.
As you may remember, I shipped my manuscript A Coventry Wedding a couple of weeks ago. Like a sane person, I actually sent it from my own post office in DAYLIGHT hours. It’s been quite a while since I had to make a middle-of-the-night run to the 24/7/365 airport post office. I was on the phone with Marika when I turned into the parking lot and began to hyperventilate.
THE POST OFFICE HAD VANISHED.
Marika: Are you sure you’re in the right place?
Becky: This is the right place, but the post office! It’s gone!
Marika: Okay, is the AIRPORT still there?
Becky: I thought it was. But now that you’ve asked, I haven’t seen ONE JET leave or take off. OMG, the airport is gone!
Marika: Drive around the terminals. Find a security guard to help you.
Can I just tell you that I felt like I was in one of those movies where an entire town and its population vanishes and the heroine (always a lot thinner than me, but equally as clueless) wanders around in high heels forlornly calling someone’s name?
I did find a security guard, who told me the new location of the 24/7/365 post office. When I arrived:
one of my favorite postal employees told me that if I’d gotten out of my car and walked up to the door of the old location, I would have seen a sign with the new address. Hello! It was nearly two in the morning and the buildings were ABANDONED. I’m NOT the stupid, skinny heroine in the movie. I’m not getting out of my car in the middle of the night unless there are lots of lights and people in uniforms nearby. (They can be Krystal Hamburger uniforms for all I care, as long as they’re uniforms.)
She also said that all the airport post offices in the nation have closed because it was too expensive for them to be located on airport property. Not only was leasing space costly, but all the USPS employees had to have airport security clearances, which was apparently a pain. I suppose if the post offices were going to stay in those locations, they might have had to raise the price of stamps or something. Oh, wait…
Because this particular location has such a large customer base who needs postal services day and night, people wrote lots of letters to their elected officials, and the post office was SAVED (just in a new place)! So don’t tell me people can’t make a difference by staying engaged in the political process. We can.
It’s another happy ending. And way past my bedtime. Thank you FFL contributors, Timothy, and Marika, for making tonight fun.
I really like the title ‘Fool for Love.’ Just saying. 🙂
I like it, too. It was Cleis’s idea, and it opened up the collection to new kinds of stories.
the site and sounds of friends laughing is possibly one of the best things EVER. i’m happy to see it captured on film. 🙂
I’m happy to reciprocate for your “game night” posts, which always make me happy.
i’m embarrassed that i didn’t catch the wrong spelling of ‘sight’ before i posted it.
No worries. You should see what I’ve been doing lately. And I make my income this way. (Hanging head in shame.)
HAHA
i say we’re both forgiven.
you know, I really like your posts 😉
Thank you. =)
So here’s what I don’t get, airports are considered to be federal property … isn’t the post office part of the governmet? Why isn’t the federal government letting the post office set up camp for free?
Also security clearance … yeah whatever, greg and I have that. Which you know, is okay with me, but you know how he is … if greg can get clearance — I’m just sayin.
I didn’t know airports are federal property. With all the problems airports/airlines are having, you wouldn’t think they’d run off their tenants by jacking up prices to lease space on their property.
Yup. after talking to Greg I discovered that the post office is only FEDERALLY contracted. Still – if he could get clearance, – and we both worked in the customs area too ..
IAH is owned by the city of Houston.
Cool post, Becky! I wouldn’t have gotten out of the car at the abandoned PO either.
This has nothing to do with your comment, but I just researched the post office, and did you know that postal employees are only a third as likely to be the victims of violence in the workplace as any other U.S. worker? I think we need to take “going postal” out of our vocabulary–we’re maligning postal workers. Who knew?
Who knew, indeed?
why are they only a third as likely to be victims of violence in the workplace? because their new policy is to inflict violence on the customer.
You know what they say —
It’s because the mail never stops coming. Never.
That would make anyone a little nutty.
And slutty, too.
Giggle, is that a Newman quote?
I’m all a twitter about the new book, can’t wait until you can share details. Loved the pic of the mall skating rink! I’ve never seen one in the middle of a mall like that!
That’s one of my favorite places in the Galleria. There are restaurants all around it, so you can eat and people watch. It’s really adorable when little kids are out there learning to ice skate.
Aside from being an artist my partner is a figure skating coach, and I love watching his kids glide across the ice, even in public sessions, just gliding around the rink and everyone around them. It’s amazing.
How cool! (And that’s not a pun on ice. I just think that’s a dandy profession: figure skating coach.)
LOVE the Tim-pictures.
I can’t wait for Fool for Love to come out.
And thanks for posting the pic of the ice rink. At least I got to see it this way. *sigh* (Hey, Mark!)
Oh, I’ll “ice” you one of these days, lady.
You’re giving Lisa diamonds? I want some!
You probably deserve some, for making that guy in the first photo crack up. Whatever your secret is, the results are brilliant. : )
I blinded him with flash attachments!
She blinded me with flash attachments!
Song in my head! Song in my head! Aaaugh!
Do you all know how to skate? If you do, that’s sort of jealousy inducing.
I know how to skate around a topic I don’t want to discuss, does that count?
I can ice skate, but I can’t do anything fancy.
LOL. I knew you’d appreciate an ice rink post.
Edited to fix typo. I should be wearing my glasses.
[yelling to that Timpire]: “Hey! Heads up– 3 o’clock! Open fire!”
Anyway, Becky… the things you do! Congratulations on finished editing, and working your tail off getting it to the Post Office. Gatorade’s on the house!
Thank you and Timothy. And thanks for the rose– it’s a beaut. : )
And lookit, about that Nordstrom window… we might as well admit it. I may have hair in my nose and use the designated restroom, but it’s time the Internet knew I’m Fearlessly Feminine.
You’re welcome.
Guinness applauds your courage to admit that you’re Fearlessly Feminine. Not because she’s particularly FF, but she thinks if she applauds you, you’ll give her a few treats. She’s always scheming, that Guinness.
Guinness has got my number. : )
“I can’t WAIT until everything is approved and official so Timothy and I can share the full table of contents.”
Nor can I!!
Thanks for the pictures, as always – you truly do have an eye for composition.
And oh yes! smart boys are the best!!
Thank you. =)
If I passed anything to you in math class, it would have been notes about how clueless I felt. Or gas.
I can’t believe Marika hasn’t jumped all over that comment.
I can’t believe you had one second of doubt.
So basically you really did just fart around in class?
Thank you. I was beginning to think the Post Office Thieves had captured you.
Multiple times.
Fool For Love: The Miniseries
Just another boy and his dreams. 🙂
Just wait’ll you see the action figures.
The Deal takes place in Houston? Is there a way I can buy The Deal where you’ll actually get money instead of the used bookstore?
Yep, THE DEAL is set all over Houston. Since it’s out of print, anywhere you can find it will make all the money from it. Unless, of course, you’d like to buy it directly from us. =) I may have a copy or two lying around. Shoot your address to becky@beckycochrane.com if you want one, and I’ll hook you up.
uh…you fell in love with a mannequin??? Did you…you know…do things with it?
Alas, no. It was our destiny to always have a big plate of glass between us until one day, she’d vanished, never to be seen again. I finally fall for a chick and she’s not real.
P.S. She, Patsy Stone from AbFab, and a woman I worked with last fall are the models for a character (not the main character) in my next Coventry book.
I will have to visit this Houston one day and try to observe the nocturnal habits of the Authoris Timothiana and Beckiana. This glimpse into some of their habits and environs fascinates. 😉