Life Imitating Art

It’s very appropriate that it’s 1:22 a.m. on Friday, June 26, and I just finished watching the 100th and final episode of Jane the Virgin (which I absolutely LOVED) because my life has sort of been like a telenovela for the past two weeks.

First, I heard that I’ll be furloughed for another three months, which should take me to October 3rd, my former anniversary, so possibly not a great omen…but I’m trying to stay positive. Then, my living room ceiling sprung a leak from somewhere in my bathroom. Then my landlord suddenly started being nice to me.

It’s not that he’s not a nice person, but he’s never been very friendly, so this is kind of weird. He’s also taking care of stuff around here suddenly, which is definitely new, so that’s weird too, but in a good way.

Then, I took a Master Class by David Sedaris, (gifted to me by my kids). David is of my favorite writers and I was so inspired by something he said, I decided it’s time to finish the book that I’ve been sitting on for 30 years — the one that inspired me to start writing this blog — it’s about my mom. He said something like: “Writing takes discipline, you have to work at it every day. Even when you want to go party with your friends or just relax, you can’t. You have to work on your writing because it will never get better if you don’t. There are lots of great writers out there, but I don’t know any of them because they haven’t gotten anything published.”

How’s that for a good slap in the face? Thanks David, I needed that. Even today’s horoscope agreed: “If you’ve been thinking about doing some writing, this is the day to start.”

So, I finished my book yesterday, and today my computer was acting up, which freaked me out because my book and my entire life is on it! So, computer shopping is probably next on my list. Then I have to find a literary agent.

Then I discovered that I have some completely insane neighbors, who thought I was moving their trash cans. So a few nights ago, they dumped our trash all over our driveway, stuck all the trashcans in front of my car so I couldn’t back out, and carried a bag full of garbage up the stairs and put it on the railing of this apartment.

I called the police and reported it. Then a couple days later, we all found out it was a different neighbor who was moving their stupid trashcans. They vandal neighbors never even said, “I’m sorry.” The cop who came said she thinks everyone needs to go back to work, and I agree.

And one of my best friends here in Los Angeles, sweet Nicol, is leaving today to move to Vermont. I am going to miss the shit out of her because she’s the little sister I never got.

And after my last blog post, when a friend I’ve known for about 30 years, questioned what I might be saying in my blog, about the whole Black Lives Matter situation, before she even read a word, I was pretty disappointed and didn’t want to get near the subject. I never treated her with anything but kindness and love, so it really hurt that she’d judge me before she even read what I wrote.

All I can say about that is that I’ll continue to treat everyone with kindness and love. And I’ll continue to speak up when I hear people speak negatively about blacks or minorities. And if that means that things get uncomfortable, well then I guess that’s what will happen. Because nothing will change if we don’t all speak up and start saying something when we encounter bigotry and hatred, whether we’re at a party or at home. And if people hate me for that, well I guess there are worse things to be hated for.

Which brings me back to Jane the Virgin. In addition to the fact that Jane’s grandmother and my mom clearly had some ideas in common when it comes to virginity, the show brought home something else. Hispanic, Italian, Irish, English, Black, Asian, Middle Eastern – no matter where we come from, we are all so very much alike. Jane and her mom and grandma cry as easily as I do, and the closeness of their family reminded me of mine. All the things that touch them touch everyone.

We’re all so very human. If we can all just try to remember that, I think we’ll be OK.