“I Wrote a Hit Play, So I’m Not Sweating It Either”

Rushmore quotes aside, it turns out I attended high school with a genius. Sarah Ruhl, a former classmate of mine, was named one of 24 MacArthur fellows today. Sarah is now a playwright, with a number of critically acclaimed productions under her belt. I haven’t seen her since graduation day, but still felt the urge to send her a congratulatory note. I figured she has plenty of phone calls to answer this week, so a blog post will have to do. Sarah, consider this a heartfelt congratulations. I must say, these situations can easily evoke petty jealousy and depression at one’s own lack of genius. But these days, I’m more into admiration and recognition of those who are kicking ass and doing what they love. And that my friends, is a much better feeling.

Having Fun Storming the Castle

Saturday night, we went to our local park for an outdoor showing of The Princess Bride. It was part of the the Chicago Park District’s summer long movie series. I forgot how very, very funny that film is. So many seemingly throw away lines had me belly-aching. My favorites:

“You keep using that word — I do not think it means what you think it means.”

“Do you want me to send you back to where you were, unemployed in Greenland?”

and the very timely… “I’ve hired you to help me start a war. That’s a prestigious line of work with a long and glorious tradition.”

Maybe you had to be there…. oh well. At least you can read it for yourself.

Million Dollar Bubble

Don’t let all those troublesome housing bubble articles fool you, just cover your ears and repeat after me: “the market is doing just fine.” At least that’s the gospel according to Bravo and the New York Times. Both are looking to cash in on homeowner fever with new offerings. Bravo is taking on the mean streets of Malibu with Million Dollar Listing, a profile of the real American heroes: LA realtors. Meanwhile, the NY Times (talking out both sides of its mouth) had great timing with the debut issue of a semi-annual real estate magazine called Key. While the Bravo series focuses on the tough issues, like whether you can flip your property and make $1.1 million or $1.2 million, the Times speaks more to the common man – asking what a mere $750,000 can get you in different cities across the country. Wow, it’s hard for me to remember a time I have felt that so disconnected from what the media is covering. The adventures of plane crash survivors on a mysterious island speaks to me far more than the fantasy world of real estate porn that we are being force fed. Barf.