Amanda’s Random Rantings

I’ve written so exhaustively about my Katrina experience
for Slate that I depress (and bore) myself, so I will try to look on the
bright side for a moment. First of all I think it’s a splendid coincidence
that I had completed research on my Cheever biography and transcribed
every last note to my laptop exactly five days before Katrina hit. This
was pretty crucial, since my paper research wasn’t very portable and
we had to bug out in a hurry. When I returned to our flooded house, a
month later, my copy of Cheever’s journal (four linear feet) was
solid mold.

This school board race has made it to the pages of The New York Times! And look at what is gracing the article: pics of Eric Smith and Yours Truly (wielding my lightsaber no less!) and a still from Richard Moore’s ad. Hey Eric, I should have done what you did and put my website address up the whole time the ad was running… and you thought your meter had been going crazy before!

I know it seems remedial, but this prime directive can befuddle the glossiest of correspondents. Just ask any photog whose jugular throbbed as he tried to stretch three shots of some bit player over a minute and a half of impromptu profile. Scour every second of that fresh footage, embrace its rhythms and fill in the gaps and every the surly burn-out at the end of the hall will want to work with you.