So this has been going on in my friends’ lives.
The Brain Diaries: And How Was Your Day?
The Brain Diaries: The Woman With the Tightly Wound Hair
The Brain Diaries: Thank You, Shirley MacLaine
It has been very frightening, and I so wish I could fly out to California to just sit in waiting rooms and keep Alex company. Chrisanne is going to be fine. But still, it’s been very scary. Alex certainly has the power of the pen, and her pieces on the entire experience are heart-rending reading. I also would just say that reading them following Pride Weekend is a good idea. How anyone on the planet could think that this relationship was somehow not valid, or “lesser” than a straight relationship is incomprehensible, not to mention insulting and ignorant. What does it feel like to be a dinosaur? I wonder.
I told this to Alex: In my script, there is a joke about The Peloponnesian War. It’s a very stupid joke, but I always thought it was hilarious (which is why I wrote it). When we did the very first reading in New York, no one laughed at the joke. Ouch. When we did the reading in Los Angeles, no one laughed at the joke. Ouch. As I drove out to Alex’s that night after the reading, I determined to cut the joke, as much as I loved it. It would hurt, but if no one laughs, I just can’t have that. The following day, Alex and I read my script to Chrisanne. Alex read the role of Jack, I read Neve. Chrisanne lay on the floor with a pillow over her eyes. She didn’t want to be distracted by our faces. She wanted to hear the TEXT. This chick was not messing around. So Alex and I read the script. We came to the dreaded Peloponnesian War joke. Chrisanne GUFFAWED from beneath her pillow. She laughed so loud and so long that we had to stop for a second. And I decided then and there that no, I would not cut my beloved joke about The Peloponnesian War. Because for every 90 people who won’t laugh, there will be one who will, and so for me that joke will always be for Chrisanne.
My friends. I am with you both in spirit.
