Thursday randomness

I've been posting short and inconsequential things of late, I know. This is because I'm in final edits with my book, which is taking up most of my brainspace--and I'm also finishing up a 10-minute play to submit to the Boston Theater Marathon. (I thought their deadline was sometime in January, but as it turns out, it's this Saturday! Aiee.) If my play gets accepted, it would mean that I would have my first book published and my first play produced in the spring of 2009! How cool would that be.

Speaking of the book, I'm very excited: I gave my first public reading of it yesterday, at a donor event at the Peabody Essex Museum. It went over great! Writing a book is such a lonely endeavor, it was wonderful to introduce the work to some actual people and see how they responded. Especially when they responded with such enthusiasm. (Speaking of PEM, let me plug two things: their spectacular exhibit of polar landscapes, running through March 1, and their gift shop. I like museum gift shops anyway, but theirs is really special--according to one administrator, it's legendary in museums across the country. I could have blown my entire speaking honorarium there, easily.)

I've got some long and thoughtful blog posts in mind to write about coping with annoying people on the subway, behavioral economics and the work of one particular behavioral economist, college and who should go, and more ... but those aren't going to happen for a little while yet. In the meantime, enjoy these two short clips by our sword-swallower friend, Dan Meyer. You'll never look at hedge clippers--or Danny Glover--the same way again. If sword swallowing isn't your thing, perhaps you'd enjoy reading this brilliant and beautiful essay, "Crimson Chiffon and the Joyous Muslim Woman," by Mohja Kahf on Hijabtrendz.