Back in October my friend Tyler discovered that Roger Ebert's new memoir, Life Itself was selling online and that he was going to sign and personalize each copy purchased over the week from this one particular book store. Having been a long time fan of watching Ebert and Roeper every Sunday night while in film school, I was easily convinced that it would be a cool souvenir and an interesting read.
Tyler hadn't been able to place his order in time, but I purchased it for him to give to him at Christmas. What makes this notable however, is that Roger Ebert personalized Tyler's book with a nickname that I regularly call him. It made the gift that much more unique (and hilarious) when he opened it and realized that Ebert had actually written "For Ty@@" (AKA Ty Tits) on the inside cover. We naturally had a good laugh about it (but maybe Tyler was just crying on the inside). Anyway, the ridiculousness seemed absolutely appropriate for a friend with a strange taste in autographs (really Suzanne Somers?) and bad jokes. If you can find anything at Tyler's place that he hasn't signed it's worth a fortune.
I've yet to read the memoir, but I hope to get just as much enjoyment out of what looks to be a really interesting collection of stories. As someone who writes about himself on a regular basis, this should provide some welcome inspiration.
Over the New Year's weekend I got to spend some long awaited quality time with my honorary nephew, Darwin. In the course of snapping a bunch of pictures of the two of us it became pretty clear that Darwin was as fascinated by my iPod as I've been. Specifically, he loved the fact that he could see a live image of himself through the camera before a picture was taken.
Darwin was eager to reach for the screen and make faces. He even calmed down a couple of times when he was getting a bit fussy just by seeing himself on screen again. It was a lot of fun to play with him like this, and by the time our matching flat caps came out I was well on my way to having a complete album of the many faces of a 4.5 month old Darwin.
The fact that I don't get to see Darwin in person on a regular basis makes moments like this special, and it plays right into my documenting habits. I want him to know I've been around as he grows up, and who knows, it might be just the thing to convince me that I really want kids someday too. For now, I'm happy to have the pictures.
It comes and goes so fast, and after all of the pomp of the holidays, taking down the Christmas decorations only emphasizes how bland January generally feels. There's a new year upon us, but keeping that surge of optimism alive for more than a couple of weeks is difficult as everything returns to normal. It's not that things are so bad either, it's just sad to see all of that celebrating come to an end. I suppose that's what keeps it special. For now, back to reality.
