A night at Bookcourt, Marian Fontana among others!

   "There are more writers here and in vitro babies than anywhere else in the country!"  Jordan was speaking of Cobble Hill, The Writers Room, Bookcourt and Ted and Honey's next to the Cobble Hill park for all of the strollers, mothers and nannies.  I'd been to Ted and Honeys this morning and the park and tonight was a reading at Bookcourt.

   I couldn't help but think about LA and when people I knew had a book all the pushing, and publicizing, and pressure, pressure they put into their book debut.  "I reached number 1 on the LA Times Bestseller list and this is how I did it", Mark Z would brag at the class on marketing yourself to the "biz" would tell us.  IN LA everything is about bragging, bragging, bragging andbeing in withthe right people.  One's connection to certain important people is trested like a scared trophy not to be given out lest you somehow "mess up" their connection by not being cool enough.  In LA you aresupposed to be cool enough to know how to dress without being told what the code is.

   But here we were sitting in Bookcourt, a bunch of shy people waiting for the reading to start and I began to chat to the woman next to me.  Her name was Sarah, and the topic came up that I was from LA.  She said "people are really friendly there" and then she proceeded to tell me how she'd come to LA many years ago and people were so friendly, "they just start talking to you" she said.

   "People aren't as friendly here" she added.

   "They're just shy" I said.  For while people don't open up as fast, they are very generous and inclusive when they do.  They bond in tight knit groups and don't try to control access to people.

    So I stayed for two of the readings, Jennifer Cody Epstein and Marian Fontana.  Jennifer was reading from The Gods of Heavenly Punishment - a novel she wrote set in Japan where she'd lived for 5 years.   I tried to follow her story, but lagged a bit until the second part of her reading.  It was a serious piece of work and harder to get into than humor.  Next came  Marian Fontana, a funny, open writer who  brings you in in the first few sentences.  Saarah had said she imagined most people were there for "Marian".  "I think she's doing another memoir."

    I had to run because dinner guests were at our place and my back was killing me.  But I would have liked to have stayed for two more readers.  It is a very nice bookstore and both readers mentioned how they went to the "Writers Room" and appreciated "Bookcourt!"

   Jordan took a video of Tess doing a little "number" in her monkey chair.  She'll sit in the chair and thump her leg, and thump and thump.  But she has a rhythm and it's flex, flex, point! She smiles and stretches out her legs, points her toes and puts her whole body into it.  
   We were showing the video to Tess yesterday and telling Tess to flex, flex, point!  Samantha, the nanny was about to leave when she noticed Gigi was pointing her toes too! Samantha told us to look at Gigi.  We watched her and clapped for Gigi. It's funny how the girls will watch the other twin. Tess, in particular, will watch Jordan with Gigi.  Tess stopped taking the bottle about six weeks ago. And because Jordan is still nursing Gigi, Tess will see her in Jordan's arms.
  The eternal battle for equality has begun.
   Who's getting more of mom's attenion, who is doing what?