Blaugustine's Other Blog

I can't say no to the gentle, inspirational, chutzpah-filled Velveteen Rabbi who has tagged me with the 5-things meme, even though I'm reluctant to add more to the already bulging file of Me-Me stuff. So, Rachel, thanks for asking and here goes:

Five Things You May Not Know About Me

read on at the main Blaugustine.

1. I don't like milk, tall dark fir trees, the cold, suburbs, angora, and noise. Sitting in an air-conditioned suburban house wearing an angora sweater amidst tall dark fir trees and being obliged to drink milk while a punk band plays at top volume would be my idea of hell.

2. I love to dance and am a good dancer. To get from bad mood to good mood all I need is to put my old 45 rpm singles on the turntable and dance - rock/pop, samba, tango, flamenco, Indian, African - anything with a good beat. In New York I took some classes in Indian dance and African dance but gave up when it became too much like hard work.

3. I once worked as night-receptionist in a small hotel in London. Also as receptionist in a dentist's office. And salesgirl in a kinky leather shop.

4. I've never personally owned a car, a house or an i-pod. A small house in a warm climate would be nice.

5. I once had lunch with Norman Mailer at the Algonquin Hotel in New York. It was my crazy film-producer uncle's idea. He thought that Mailer would collaborate with me on a film script I was writing. I thought Mailer was simpatico, funny and cute but declined his invitation to come and help "paint his apartment". I was young and innocent but not that innocent. Now I could kick myself - think how much more interesting this would be if I'd accepted. Anyway, he took home my script, read it and sent it back with detailed and very perceptive handwritten notes. Like a complete idiot, years later when I was broke in London, I took my Mailer-annotated script to Sotheby's and it was sold at auction for a pretty good sum.

(P.S. to No.5: My script was a sort of parable about America and I illustrated it. It was un-filmable but a nice thing Mailer said was that I didn't need collaborators because my ideas were so individual. I remember this but can you believe that I didn't even keep a photocopy of the manuscript?)

Now I'm supposed to tag other people to write a Me-Me so I'll point the finger at Kim, at Whiskey River, at Daily Straying and at Teju Cole of Modal Minority. But of course they're free to refuse. �