Reasons to be Cheerful, Pt. 3

Quote of the Day: “”Con men! Are there really con men? I thought they went the way of vaudevillians and Trotskyites.” — Lorelei Gilmore on The Gilmore Girls episode “You’ve Been Gilmored”

HUNG IN PAPERBACK!!!!
It’s got some good placement in various Barnes and Nobles around Manhattan. When I asked at the info desk about it the other day, the clerk told me that it’s selling well and should remain on the front table for a little while. I liked the sound of that; hopefully it means that peeps are liking it and telling their friends…Hope you guys do the same…And if you’re up early reading this, you can catch an interview I’m doing on WHQT-FM in Miami at 8:35am…

Reasons to Be Cheerful, Pt. 3
Here’s the Fall 2006 version of the Cheerful List, which I have to do every so often to make sure I’m keeping it real and looking on the bright side rather than letting all the bad shit in life get to me. Try it yourself, you might like it…

• Press Play…by Diddy…more fun than I expected considering I hated his last CD. And nothing tops “Last Night”, the duet with Keyshia Cole…hot 80s beat, tight melody, Keyshia’s the real deal.
• My new black Timberland chukka boots, just in time for the fall. Figured I’d try something different than the my usual high-sided Tims
• The new iTunes. Dope, kids. Love seeing all the art work and the easier-to-use grid. I’m spending way too much at the iTunes store, but what can you do?
• Heroes—the best new show on TV this season. There’s actually a Must-See-TV show on NBC again, imagine that! Save the cheerleader, save the network indeed…

• A new Daniel Alarcon short story in the current ish of The New Yorker…and even better, a new novel to hit the stores in February…more about that next year…
• Rosie O’Donnell on The View…I thought I’d had enough of Rosie, but then I catch her everyday and I remember how much I actually enjoy her as a TV personality. I appreciate her political consciousness. I love her outspoke liberalism. I love her funny faces. My Long Island homegirl is dopest lesbian on daytime TV (yep, there’s actually more than one…haven’t we grown up in America?)
• Ugly Betty: How funnily fabulous is Mark Indelicato as her little nephew? If he’s not the funniest little kid on TV since Danielle Spencer played Dee on What’s Happening!, I don’t know who is…When he pointed out the fashionista’s Manolo’s from two seasons ago I almsot fell off my chair laughing.
• J. Crew boxer shorts: Sturdy as hell, comfortable, no shrinkage, great colors. As a jeans and t-short sorta guy, getting some flair underneath is sorta fun.

• Getting ready to hit the West Coast for a few days…Gonna interview Shawn Hatosy for GIANT Magazine…If you don’t know who he is, check him out here…He’s the best young actor in America. I’ve been a fan since he was in The Faculty. And his homicidal rage in Soldier Girl was absolutely fascinating.
• Rediscovering how good movies were in the 70s. Good, strong roles for women—Jane Fonda in The China Syndrome and Julia, Faye Dunaway in Chinatown—and fascinating, real, felt storytelling, from The Sting to Sounder
• The Crane Wife by The Decemberists. My intro to this quirky, gifted group. Let it be yours, too.
• Big City, Bad Blood, a first novel by Sean Chercover. A hot Chicago-based thriller. I just started it and I can tell it’s gonna be something special, it’s one of those books where the voice of the writing in the first graph of the first page draws you in so close you want to live in the story forever. Look for it in January.