"Alright Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close up."
-Gloria Swanson as Norma Desmond in 'Sunset Boulevard' (1950)
I have the best friends in the world. Jeff flew from New York to spend Saturday night partying in San Francisco with me and my crew. With feathers, champagne, and karaoke -- my celebration was most decidedly the opposite of his low-key style. "It's weird having our 30th birthdays so close together," Jeff said, as I marched through the Piedmont Boutique on Haight Street snatching up ostrich boas, flower hair clips, and sparkly tiaras. "It's so interesting to see how differently we celebrate."
Picture us like Norma Desmond and Joe Gillis. I'm wildly gesticulating and prancing around the store, and Jeff is calmly appraising my choices in tiaras. "You do have a tendency to be theatrical," a new friend told me recently. I, of course, was like, "Whatever, do you mean, darling?!"
Birthday party pictures will be available shortly if anyone's interested in gawking at someone who is no longer in her twenties. (Luckily I've been drinking plenty of anti-aging beer, so I've retained my youthful visage.) In the meantime, you can just accept that the evening began something like this.
Daniel has completely kicked my ass at the novel writing contest. Today, on deadline, he sent me his completed 189-page manuscript, as a birthday gift along with the message: "Very best on your thirtieth...you don't look a day older than Dorothy Parker." (And I immediately thought, wait a second -- are you talking about the early 30-something Dorothy Parker who presided over the Algonguin round Table in the 1920s OR the 50-year-old Dorothy Parker who George Platt Lynes photographed in 1943 when she lived in Hollywood? Of course, the woman did marry a man 11 years her junior...)
And before you ask -- no, I'm not finished with my novel; I'm barely on page 60. I find it impossible to wean myself from my Outer Mission socialite lifestyle. I vow to find more time in the days (and nights) ahead. I will finish -- I have a decent track record for accomplishing everything I set out to do. Seriously.
posted by Jess at 9:58 AM
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