So I'm sitting at the bar at a restaurant called the Granary, having an island salad for lunch. And I hear someone saying, "Um, Sir, can you please help us?"
I look up, and see that the woman who said it is looking directly at me, with some disdain in her eyes. Then I look closer and I see she is standing over an elderly man, who is lying on the ground, his chair tipped over next to him.
So engrossed I was in my book (John Green's Looking for Alaska, my fourth reading) that I hadn't heard or seen this man fall out of his chair. As the biggest guy in the restaurant, it was only natural to expect me to help lift him back up. And as soon as I came out of my reading trance, that's what I did.
The man was lying there in this strange position, sort of on his left arm, his legs splayed sort of behind him. I knelt down, said something to re-assure him, picked up his chair, got the bartender's attention, and we worked out a plan to get the man back up in his seat while someone called 9-1-1.
People are heavy! I swear it took everything we both had to lift the guy up. He may have been 230 or so, not sure. But it was limp weight, just all given up to gravity. And once we got him up, he nearly fell right back over. I had to stand at his side and lean into him to keep him up.
The ambulance soon came, and they took care of things, strapped him onto a gurney and took him to the hospital. I sure hope he's okay. My prayers are with him and his family.
I felt really weird after. I guess I was thinking about the cycles of life, and how there may come a day when I fall out of a chair, or a loved one does. Watching the man's wife stand helplessly by really impacted me, too. I know we're supposed to think about these things once in a while, and then forget so that we can live without fear, and at the same time, live like every day is our last. It's exhausting, if you think about it.
I just wanted to go home and get in a bathtub for some reason. I just wanted to feel enveloped in something warm, and sustaining, and not be sitting in a chair, where gravity could pull a trick on me if I stop paying attention.
...Wadorf to Your Astoria is done. Through. Finished.
This will be the final post here.
But fear not! If you go over to my brand-spankin' new website, billkonigsberg.com, you will see that I am still blogging over there.
This will be the final post here.
But fear not! If you go over to my brand-spankin' new website, billkonigsberg.com, you will see that I am still blogging over there.
Just four more days in 2012... Hard to believe how quickly --
Who the hell am I kidding?
This was the slowest year in the history of man. I don't mean that in a bad way. It just went slowly. To me, last December seems like years ago.
It was a great, slow year:
1.
Who the hell am I kidding?
This was the slowest year in the history of man. I don't mean that in a bad way. It just went slowly. To me, last December seems like years ago.
It was a great, slow year:
1.
Tomorrow is the first day of NaNoWriMo, also known as National Novel Writing Month. Every November, all sorts of writers take on the challenge of trying to write a draft of a novel in a month.
I'll tell you what, people who plan to vote for Mitt Romney:
I disagree with you, and not just a little. Your support of the Romney/Ryan ticket feels like a kick to the stomach, because as a gay man, this stuff is personal to me.
But you know what? Don't de-friend me.
I disagree with you, and not just a little. Your support of the Romney/Ryan ticket feels like a kick to the stomach, because as a gay man, this stuff is personal to me.
But you know what? Don't de-friend me.
What would happen at an all-boys boarding school in Massachusetts if an athlete came out as gay?
This is NOT the subject of my upcoming novel, Openly Straight. In fact, it is the setting for that novel, but it is the plot of my first novel, Out of the Pocket.
This is NOT the subject of my upcoming novel, Openly Straight. In fact, it is the setting for that novel, but it is the plot of my first novel, Out of the Pocket.
Today I've decided to be one of those helpful authors and let you know what happens when you attempt to use copywritten song lyrics in your novel.
I have been a highly effective person at times in my life. You don't become successful in a creative field without working diligently. It simply doesn't happen. Likewise, it's about impossible to succeed in any endeavor without concerted effort. I don't mean to brag, but when I'm on, I'm really on.
I woke up this morning thinking about the novel I am working on, BEST OF BIPOLAR DISORDER. There is a fantasy element in the novel. It's the first time I am working with an element of the fantastic in a novel.
This makes me nervous.
This makes me nervous.
So I had a HUGE treat yesterday... I got to have lunch with the former student who served as the inspiration for the character "Carrie" in OUT OF THE POCKET!
I hadn't seen her in nine years.
I hadn't seen her in nine years.
I have a new book deal!
I've wanted to scream it from the top of a mountain for the entire world to hear for the past couple months, but I couldn't -- not until the deal was signed and official. Well, it is now signed and official.
I've wanted to scream it from the top of a mountain for the entire world to hear for the past couple months, but I couldn't -- not until the deal was signed and official. Well, it is now signed and official.
Chuck said something yesterday that really struck me. It was a comment about how things have changed in his lifetime, especially for gay people.
The novel I am currently working on involves a journey taken by two best friends: Duffy and Aisha.
Duffy is 17, straight-but-different, and bipolar. He has lived his entire life in Billings, Montana.
Aisha is 19, a lesbian, and black.
Duffy is 17, straight-but-different, and bipolar. He has lived his entire life in Billings, Montana.
Aisha is 19, a lesbian, and black.
Contrary to the title, this posting is not about how I used to trudge four miles to school through the snow, and how "The Kids These Days" don't know how good they have it.
Instead, I want to focus on something that I feel "The Kids These Days" don't have.
Instead, I want to focus on something that I feel "The Kids These Days" don't have.
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