2 days ago i was thinking about Augusten's "Running with Scissors" Next day after that i see his wedding announcement in the NYT. He married his literary agent! Classic. If one's literary agent, who knows everything about already can love you, well that is just perfect.
Also, i had never really recalled many gay wedding announcements. The first couple i saw i did not know, the second was Augusten.
Roughly one third of the announcements were gay unions.
I consider my writing style to be similar to Burroughs and of course I have 2 crazy mothers to his one crazy mother ;)
I have yet to see the movie however.
Showing posts with label Augusten Burroughs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Augusten Burroughs. Show all posts
Monday, April 8, 2013
Thursday, October 18, 2007
"Author Augusten (Augie) Burroughs"
That's got to be one of the most meaningful book reading/tours I've ever been to. I absolutely believe that you can easily love people that you have never met. There are quite a few authors who I feel a strong connection to and even love for. I felt such a strong connection with Augie after reading "Running with Scissors"
He said for example that he is one of the rare authors whose not had to worry about upsetting or offending family, since he doesn't have any and never felt part of a family. (I could and can strongly relate to that) He has always hated Christmas, and I can strongly relate to that too. I think one of the character traits that A. and I share is that we both feel there is no time to feel sorry for our difficult past, so we try to put as much energy as possible into creating a rich now and a rich future for ourselves. (for as cheesy as that might come across!)
A. said that he almost died from alcoholism and that was o.k. because he was ready to die. Except, that he knew he was supposed to write a book, so that kept him pushing on.
I have a dry sense of humor that people don't always grasp. Augie was the same way last night. Hilarious, but people didn't always pick up on it immediately. I love how raw and real of a person he is! He talked about how he goes to his job where he's a great success, wears Armani suits, but since he is a bed wetter, lets his bed dry out while he is at work during the day! No one in the audience laughed at him, probably because we love him and respect how open he is!
His literary agent requested him to turn over his adult journals (that was how I always assumed initially that I'd do things, I'd just publish journals) so he turned them over and his agent said you must turn this into a book. So the first book he wrote was "Dry." When Augie saw how excited his agent was about his adult journals, he excitedly proclaimed:
"AND I HAD A REALLY FUCKED UP CHILDHOOD TOO!"
Augie's agent said: "then write that book after you write "dry!" That was his second book and movie: "Running with Scissors"
Augie said he never felt complete or whole as a person unless he was drunk. He also said, he knew he was in trouble when he realized: "I'm 30, and I've never experienced sex as a sober man!"
One of the other things that made me fall in love even more with Augie was how gracious and kind he was to his audience. He got silly questions, smart questions, not so smart questions and even questions from a mentally ill woman. The audience , sadly, made fun of her, but Augie treated her and everyone else with the utmost of respect, treating no question as if it were a stupid one. The sick audience member spoke in labored speech, asking if the A.A. program is comprised of a 12 step program as well as asking him if he made amends to people he has hurt in the past.
Another woman, who was pretty charming, said: "Augie, all of the other questions are so intelligent, and I can't think of any intelligent questions, so I want to thank you for "running with scissors," and "Dry" and since I can't think of anything more profound, I was wondering:
"What is your favorite color?!"
Augie replied, "brown....................and blue, he smiled graciously and the audience laughed (not at, but with the woman asking the question)
I said in yesterday's blog...... "no romantic overtones suggested because augie is gay" but on second thought I'd like to revamp my statement!
"Darn it! Augie is gay!"
(Augie is one my biggest literary and human influences!)
He said for example that he is one of the rare authors whose not had to worry about upsetting or offending family, since he doesn't have any and never felt part of a family. (I could and can strongly relate to that) He has always hated Christmas, and I can strongly relate to that too. I think one of the character traits that A. and I share is that we both feel there is no time to feel sorry for our difficult past, so we try to put as much energy as possible into creating a rich now and a rich future for ourselves. (for as cheesy as that might come across!)
A. said that he almost died from alcoholism and that was o.k. because he was ready to die. Except, that he knew he was supposed to write a book, so that kept him pushing on.
I have a dry sense of humor that people don't always grasp. Augie was the same way last night. Hilarious, but people didn't always pick up on it immediately. I love how raw and real of a person he is! He talked about how he goes to his job where he's a great success, wears Armani suits, but since he is a bed wetter, lets his bed dry out while he is at work during the day! No one in the audience laughed at him, probably because we love him and respect how open he is!
His literary agent requested him to turn over his adult journals (that was how I always assumed initially that I'd do things, I'd just publish journals) so he turned them over and his agent said you must turn this into a book. So the first book he wrote was "Dry." When Augie saw how excited his agent was about his adult journals, he excitedly proclaimed:
"AND I HAD A REALLY FUCKED UP CHILDHOOD TOO!"
Augie's agent said: "then write that book after you write "dry!" That was his second book and movie: "Running with Scissors"
Augie said he never felt complete or whole as a person unless he was drunk. He also said, he knew he was in trouble when he realized: "I'm 30, and I've never experienced sex as a sober man!"
One of the other things that made me fall in love even more with Augie was how gracious and kind he was to his audience. He got silly questions, smart questions, not so smart questions and even questions from a mentally ill woman. The audience , sadly, made fun of her, but Augie treated her and everyone else with the utmost of respect, treating no question as if it were a stupid one. The sick audience member spoke in labored speech, asking if the A.A. program is comprised of a 12 step program as well as asking him if he made amends to people he has hurt in the past.
Another woman, who was pretty charming, said: "Augie, all of the other questions are so intelligent, and I can't think of any intelligent questions, so I want to thank you for "running with scissors," and "Dry" and since I can't think of anything more profound, I was wondering:
"What is your favorite color?!"
Augie replied, "brown....................and blue, he smiled graciously and the audience laughed (not at, but with the woman asking the question)
I said in yesterday's blog...... "no romantic overtones suggested because augie is gay" but on second thought I'd like to revamp my statement!
"Darn it! Augie is gay!"
(Augie is one my biggest literary and human influences!)
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Serendipity and Augusten Burroughs
You know it's quite an ordeal to run any errands at all on the buses, and I always have a difficult time planning how to get anything done at all. I was really unsure as to whether I wanted to hassle with my bus errands today or put them off until tomorrow. I decided to get them done today, and had I not, I would not have had this amazing night!
At about 3:45 p.m. I was proceeding North on York Road on a #8 bus. What I read on the Towson University marquee made my jaw drop. I turned my head around struggling to read the sign as the bus passed. I considered getting off at the next stop just so I could read the marquee, but decided to run my errands first. Here's what I saw:
AUGUSTEN BURROUGHS
And that was all she wrote folks! I wondered if he was on campus today. He's one of my favorite authors, one of my biggest inspirations. After I read "Running with Scissors" a few years ago I thought, wow, I have alot in common with this man; he's my literary soulmate of sorts!
He's been on my mind, and I've been wanting to email him to ask him his opinion on what he thinks the chances are that my story on homelessness could be made into a movie. About a month ago, something possessed my friend Adam, to send me back the 11 page original copy of a letter I wrote to him while homeless in 1995. I read it to my friend John, and said:" you know this letter may be very valuable someday. I can see this turned into a screenplay, can you?" "That's a distinct possibility" he replied.
Well, serendipitously, (and this is the only day I had the letter on my while out and about) I had 2 copies of the letter in my backpack today that I was planning to mail to 2 friends to have them keep it safe for me. And one of those friends is a professional writer, so I was going to ask her whether or not she thinks its good screenplay material or not.
I ran my errands, went to the Towson public library googled Augusten Burroughs to find out if he was on the Towson University campus today and found out that he is!
At 6:15 p.m. I got in a line with about 200 people in front of me, waited an hour, and got 90 seconds to excitedly tell Augusten about what we have in common, give his hand a squeeze, and hand him a copy of the (previously mentioned) letter to hang on to, with a quick explanation of what I had in mind. On it, I wrote my email address and my blogsite.
Wow! I got to meet Augusten face to face! He did a reading from the book "Dry", talked about his life, and took questions. He said that he turned his journals over to his agent and that was the impetus for his first book. I asked him, (during formal q and a time) what the chances are of that happening for me? He said: (and I paraphrase) "don't worry about statistics and chances, if your heart feels you've really got something special then just do it."
Have you read any of his books? I have not yet seen the movie: "Running with Scissors", have you?
At about 3:45 p.m. I was proceeding North on York Road on a #8 bus. What I read on the Towson University marquee made my jaw drop. I turned my head around struggling to read the sign as the bus passed. I considered getting off at the next stop just so I could read the marquee, but decided to run my errands first. Here's what I saw:
AUGUSTEN BURROUGHS
And that was all she wrote folks! I wondered if he was on campus today. He's one of my favorite authors, one of my biggest inspirations. After I read "Running with Scissors" a few years ago I thought, wow, I have alot in common with this man; he's my literary soulmate of sorts!
He's been on my mind, and I've been wanting to email him to ask him his opinion on what he thinks the chances are that my story on homelessness could be made into a movie. About a month ago, something possessed my friend Adam, to send me back the 11 page original copy of a letter I wrote to him while homeless in 1995. I read it to my friend John, and said:" you know this letter may be very valuable someday. I can see this turned into a screenplay, can you?" "That's a distinct possibility" he replied.
Well, serendipitously, (and this is the only day I had the letter on my while out and about) I had 2 copies of the letter in my backpack today that I was planning to mail to 2 friends to have them keep it safe for me. And one of those friends is a professional writer, so I was going to ask her whether or not she thinks its good screenplay material or not.
I ran my errands, went to the Towson public library googled Augusten Burroughs to find out if he was on the Towson University campus today and found out that he is!
At 6:15 p.m. I got in a line with about 200 people in front of me, waited an hour, and got 90 seconds to excitedly tell Augusten about what we have in common, give his hand a squeeze, and hand him a copy of the (previously mentioned) letter to hang on to, with a quick explanation of what I had in mind. On it, I wrote my email address and my blogsite.
Wow! I got to meet Augusten face to face! He did a reading from the book "Dry", talked about his life, and took questions. He said that he turned his journals over to his agent and that was the impetus for his first book. I asked him, (during formal q and a time) what the chances are of that happening for me? He said: (and I paraphrase) "don't worry about statistics and chances, if your heart feels you've really got something special then just do it."
Have you read any of his books? I have not yet seen the movie: "Running with Scissors", have you?
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