The Byrne Diaspora

Pilgrimage

I'll say it here and I'll say it anywhere: Jon Stewart is one of the most brilliant working artists of our time. I feel so lucky to be alive at a time when he, and Stephen Colbert, are producing new work every day. They're an inspiration to me in so many ways, not the least of which is their prolificness, which is one of the things I most aspire to as an artist.

So it was something of a "pilgrimage" to go see a taping of The Daily Show on 733 11th Avenue in Manhattan yesterday! It was worth the hours of waiting in line with cold red fingers. While waiting outside, we were told, "Jon likes to get to know his audience," i.e. we'd have a Q&A period before the show. But it quickly became clear to me that it was for his benefit, as a warm-up, to get his comic muscles loose and energy flowing. It was fascinating to watch.

We'd been told to "not ask for stupid things," and I was dismayed when the first person to raise her hand asked him to be on her hometown's radio show, and the second person asked him to be his class's graduation speaker. (He was from Harvard. Jon roundly mocked him. It was great.) Originally I was going to ask, "How do you get to be a writer on the show?", but I thought that'd be asinine, and besides, I can do my own research. So instead I asked, "Have you ever been to Africa?" I assumed that he had (why did I assume that?) and would chuckle about his youth, hitching through Mauritania or something. But no! He hadn't. And confessed he really wanted to. He asked me if I'd been there, and I said Yes, to Ethiopia, and he asked me what I'd been doing there and I said, Researching a novel. He said, "Is the novel about...a girl who travels to Ethiopia?" I laughed along with everyone else, thinking, Ouch, touche. But it was titillating to think that Jon Stewart knew about Passage, even if he forgot about it ten seconds later. Maybe someday I'll be a guest on his show, and remind him :) --MCB

Sweet potatoes

As Dad put it in his birthday card to Clare, November feels like an extension of Advent--the Advent of Advent itself--a waiting period, knowing something good is coming. Though then the waiting itself is delicious, no? :)  I got to spend a lovely week in Vermont with Clare and Stefan, celebrating both Clare's birthday and Thanksgiving, and we had such a peaceful yet productive time.

On Thanksgiving Day, in particular, Clare and Stefan were saints, tramping off to the land to stain wood planks while the good weather lasted. We got the turkey in at 4:00pm and sat down to eat at 9:30pm. Stefan took charge of the bird and challah stuffing, Clare made fejoida onions and ginger kale, and I made cardamom sweet potatoes, which included two Melleray sweet potatoes that Dad had sent in Clare's birthday package (see the above note). Pictures of the last week--and of the house in Waitsfield--are to be found here :)  --MCB

Paradise in winter

A few months ago in my neighborhood appeared this billboard advertisement that was not advertising anything that I could tell.  It says, "Welcome to the New Paradise, You, A Lonely Wild Cat."  Well, I feel that way here sometimes, so it just made me smile and wonder.  It is huge, obvious, lit up at night, and visible from my front window, floating above the brownstones.  Of course it turns out to be more art in the hood.  Part of Itziar Barrio's triune installation in three boroughs, this Brooklyn one, called "Return," plays with an icon of Caribbean residents, whose homeland palm trees mark so many signs in this corner of the concrete jungle.  Meanwhile, here are three murals I walk by every day, two of which face each other on the corner, with a third on the wall of the community garden.  Even better, the Garvey-Malcolm-Marley montage really comes to life as featured in this recent Dead Prez video, where you can also see background footage of all the good stores we visit on Fulton Street.--JEB

A certain slant of light

Just a few weeks ago Clare said the Vermont mountains' foliage made you laugh out loud, the trees were so absurdly colorful, "like clowns in a circus."  Today I think of her beautiful, lunar, inimitable face "in a certain slant of light," Emily Dickinson wrote, as the winter sun sets at half past three, as hues drain to black, gray, and white--all bare birch trees and snow.

Heavenly hurt it gives us;
We can find no scar,
But internal difference
Where the meanings, are.

What a time for Clare to be born.  Again.

If you don't know about her bornings and dyings, make sure to visit here for the cyclic seismic show.

Happy Birthday, Clare Byrne.

--JEB

Advenchr

When I was little, I made picture books. One of them was called "THE ADVENCHR BOOK."

Remember how I mentioned walking through Prospect Park and the Cloisters in the last post? Here are some illustrations of my real-life Advenchr Book :)  --MCB

Herkimer

I've been in Brooklyn for two weeks, and I feel like I've barely begun to get settled. Things are wonderful--I'm getting writing done, applications done, and seeing friends from every walk of life. In the last three days I've walked the length of Prospect Park with a dear theater friend from Chapel Hill, seen a new band in Williamsburg with my cousin Elizabeth, gotten burgers in Park Slope with my best friend from high school, and celebrated my friend Paul-from-Clarion's birthday with him by exploring the Cloisters on the northernmost tip of Manhattan. 

Photos from those expeditions later! For now, I present a photoessay of Julie's beautiful Bed-Stuy apartment--on the first sunny day we'd had all week. I got inspired and grabbed my camera. See here :)  --MCB

Race report

Guest post from Mary! (And click through, to see the map in detail...)

Last Sunday, Julie ran a focused, beautiful, first-ever marathon. And for us lucky fans, the New York City Marathon was a wonder--thousands of soulful, intrepid runners of every speed (and costume: pink tutus, business suits, an Eiffel Tower, ow!). Mark and I caught a glimpse of Julie at Mile 9, in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn.  She had a big smile and was high-fiving the fans, running swift and steady. Then, at Mile 22.5, Michelle and Morgan, Julie's goddaughter, joined her for six blocks down 5th Avenue--and still she was right on pace. She finished strong--serenely! After a year's worth of diligent training, building on an awesome natural gift for distance running, this was a happy day. Dad and Pam hosted an after-party with good warming-up soups for Julie and the cheering section. We were so proud. And we'll wait to see where Julie's running takes her next. For now, I think, it's back to some well-deserved, peaceful runs in Prospect Park! Congratulations, Julie! --MMB

Siler City, Soccer City

Awesome news from Chatham County: the Jordan Matthews Jets, the soccer team that Donny assistant-coaches, has won every playoff game so far! Last night they beat Carrboro High in a nailbiting overtime. The team already has a kind of celebrity status, due to the book written about them by their head coach, Paul Cuadros (seen above). Their next game is this week, against Durham School of the Arts...they might well go all the way to the state championship. Say a prayer to la Virgen Maria! ;)  --MCB

Only to be there

Hello from Brooklyn! I'm just about to unpack in the guest room of Julie's beautiful apartment. I've been on the road since Sunday--first to go up to the Tanner Conference at Wellesley, where I was invited to speak about my fellowship experience. Those two days, I wandered campus in a daze of sweet nostalgia. The song goes, "Wellesley, Wellesley, only to be there..." I love the relationship I have to my alma mater, now. I go back once a year or so, and remember where I came from, who I am, how I was shaped. And then I go back into the world, refilled and renewed.

I also got to hang out with my friend Erik at MIT--we walked across all of Boston, feasted on seafood, and visited his father at the Glass Lab. I've never seen glass blown before--it was utterly absorbing. See the full album of my trip-to-date here :)  --MCB

All saints' run

Back in the mists of 2005, when Julie and I were living together at Duke, I'd rise at 5:30am to run around the East Campus track. I'd be chugging along, listening to my specially formulated iPod mix of Aretha Franklin and Led Zeppelin, trying to ignore how patently unpleasant running was...when JULIE would come up from behind, having gotten up at 5:00am and already lapping me! She would give a nice sisterly wave and then fly past me, with the same look on her face that Grammy used to have when effortlessly beating me in checkers.

We share many things, but this isn't one of them ;)  Julie has always been BUILT for endurance--first as a national champion swimmer in high school, and now as a runner in the 2009 New York Marathon!!! Miracle of miracles, her number was selected from the lottery, with less than a 10% chance of getting in. Mary, Mark, Pam and Dad will all be in attendance to cheer her on. Report to follow, I'm sure! Godspeed, Julie!  --MCB