the shitter

at work I find myself reading articles about Business (Small to be specific), Money, Real Estate and sometimes Golf (though more about golfer bios or course landscapes than anything that would improve my non-existent game). all of these are read while taking a five to ten on the, well, shitter, of course.

when I need to use the facilities at home I have a collection of short stories by Edgar Allen Poe to keep me occupied while, well, I'm shitting. I just finished the Murder at the Rue Morgue and have started the Purloined Letter. Poe is definitely a master of his craft and nice to read while I'm, well, pooing. HA!

last night Madeline and I went to see Janet Ulrich Brooks perform Lillian, a one-woman show. the playwright Lillian Hellman is in a hospital waiting on news of her longtime friend and lover, Dashiell Hammett's condition. he is in a coma. I worked with Janet at Writers' Theatre and from the moment I saw her step onto the stage during the first rehearsal I knew I wanted to work with her. She inhabits the character of Lillian and engages the audience from beginning to a remarkable end. The show closes tonight. If you are reading this today and are in Chicago there is really no excuse for not going to see this show.

We went to see Lillian not only because Mrs. Brooks was the star, nor because I thought it would be a great piece for Madeline to see as she is working on her own one-woman show, but because synchronicity or serendipity or nature or fate or whatever you want to call it led me to the play. If you read my blog regularly and I'm sure you don't, you will have seen that I saw this movie Brick and was floored. I watched some of the behind-the-scenes dealios and the director/writer mentioned Hammett's name as a big influence on the picture. I was browsing the theatre listings the next day and saw Lillian and its premise and Hammett's name was there again. I knew I needed to know more.

The other day while shopping for holiday gifts, I went to Myopic and bought two of Hammett's works. The Thin Man and Maltese Falcon. I've started reading Thin Man, dedicated to Lillian and am captivated to say the least. it will be the book I bring on the plane as I fly home for the holidays. Poe will have to remain in the bathroom as will business, money, real estate and golf. Nick and Nora Charles have left their hotel room in pursuit of the truth...