Grace Reading Series

You know I do these really fun Secret Agent Elizabeth interviews with writers about their creativity habits and foibles every week? My interview with Jillian Weise, the author of The Amputee's Guide to Sex (published by the beloved Soft Skull Press) is up over at Bookslut.

JILLIAN SAYS:

What unpleasant truth do you routinely conceal from young, fresh writers eager to make their mark?

I'd like to own a peacock dress that has teleport powers.

Posted by Elizabeth Merrick at 01:45 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Kevin McElroy is back with a new, elegant website.

The Grace logo you see above which he designed for me two years ago is practically a snapshot of me, a snapshot of the vibe of what I get really excited about that translates into the reading series and the workshops etc. It's strong & beautiful but it's not prissy, it moves, it's elegant but in a way that has space for life, not in a use-the-right-fork kind of way.

Kev is back and helping with some stuff which means I get to go over to his hood on weekday afternoons and drink iced coffee and watch him pretend to get irritated with me when I get kind of vague and girly and weird and spacy about describing what I want to him. I get into this very right-brain, free-association, almost ADD circular discussion of this--and this--and this--and it starts to feel like I must seem like a lunatic, but he gets it. And then of course he comes through with something so much cooler than I could ever have imagined (often hinging on one little random detail of whatever I was in circles about--something I practically forgot), and then he acts with his gruff Philly stance like it was no big deal when it is a slice of genius from heaven.

I just did a google search on "Grace logo" & there isn't a single logo for any other Grace that comes close to ours.

Bragging!

But all this is to just sort of get on record I knew him when. Also I am sure this blog post will irritate him and that is always the most amusing thing to me.

Posted by Elizabeth Merrick at 10:43 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Some of you know how I feel about Seth Rogen. Have loved since Freaks and Geeks when I had weird dreams that he was my boyfriend (happy, good dreams). I am at the age where I know to be grateful that it still seems funny and amusing that I have a crush on someone too young for me. If that makes any sense.

Anyway, I can't believe that my ego still winces at this but it is true: he's close to the ideal man. My intuition and spirit says, bitch you know that is true! So be it. (Maybe I just hate the word ideal.) It's that hilarious, no bullshit, brilliant but not remotely self-congratulatory thing. A guy who is funny and sees right through the layers of crap that pass for American culture at the moment--there is something so peaceful about that--he's like the anti-williamsburg hipster guy.

And, you know, Knocked Up delivers. It's the first movie I've seen in a theater in six months and it's just so gorgeous--one minute he is scratching his balls and the next he's this major hero. That to me is beautiful.

Posted by Elizabeth Merrick at 12:34 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Thank you Ducky! Thank you Anne for wonderful curating. Thank you to everyone who came out and to all of our readers this spring: Darcey, Rachel, Molly, Tracy. That was fun and inspiring.

And now that I have gotten back on this blog after some techinical difficulties:

I am thinking about books and intuition and fall classes and brand new truly awesome tshirts that go beyond the beloved girly tshirts I sent out a year ago.

But also, I am thinking about hair clips.

Why have these not crawled out of the primordial plastic gadget ooze of the 80s? Why do I have to look like a mall mama if I want to clip my hair back fast and not think about it?

Far more reasonable blogging from me to come in July, but for now, these are my deep thoughts. xoxo love Eliz.

Posted by Elizabeth Merrick at 01:15 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Please join us for our spring series guest-curated by
ANNE ISHII:

DIRTY GRACE

Wednesday, June 13 at 7pm

with DUCKY DOOLITTLE author of SEX WITH THE LIGHTS ON

at our NEW LOCATION: SOLAS, 232 E. 9th St

Ducky Doolittle emerged from behind the peepshow glass to find herself at the head of the class as one of America's most celebrated sex educators. Every year Ducky performs for thousands of individuals of every age, gender and sexual orientation at universities, private events and on stages throughout North America. She has 18 years experience in the field of human sexuality, including working as a peepshow girl in Times Square, a stripper, a burlesque dancer, a dominatrix, and a nudie magazine model.

"She's stacked like a Russ Meyer starlet, with the looks of Betty Page and the brains of Dr. Kinsey." ~ LA Weekly

Posted by Elizabeth Merrick at 11:48 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)