He Knew All The Words

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The 3six5

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There’s a website I’ve been reading called The 3six5, which takes the form of a “personal journal”-style blog, but with each day of the year written by a different person. Not long ago, I saw on Twitter that they were still looking for writers and I applied to be one of the November authors. I was assigned November 18, which was yesterday. I spent my day in Philadelphia and then on the ride home to NYC I wrote my entry and submitted it. It’s posted here.

Update almost a year later:
The site is no longer there. Here’s the entry:
____________________________________________
Nothing is more like a thing than the thing itself, and today was a Sunday par excellence, full of redemption and history and black coffee and whiskey. With the NYC marathon canceled after Hurricane Sandy, Laura applied for—and got!—a spot in Philadelphia’s race. So I urban-adventured from New York to the City of Brotherly Love, with not enough sleep, my friend Matthew, and good cheer and cheering packed in our bags and printed on our marathon signs.

We arrived perfectly in time to see Laura just before she crossed the finish line. We bellowed and waved and bobbed our signs. She waved and smiled and filled us with pride. Beyond the finish line, she was exhausted and deliciously delirious, saying all she immediately wanted was to go shopping for a new dress. We all wandered through our awe together, then sent her on her way.

The rest of the day blurred by disturbingly quickly. Cocktails and a tapas lunch, the Liberty Bell, a horrifying collection of diseased flesh at the Mütter Museum, one knocked-back drink in an Irish pub. Stone and brick, beautiful old buildings with ugly new facades, the quiet of a weekend’s pace—the city is charming and lonely, another clear signal for Sunday.

Friendship pulses through time like blood in the veins of those horrific specimens once did. And today is just one day. Matthew is barely older than my friendship with Laura. How well do we know each other? How well do we know ourselves? I wonder if we’ll still all be friends another 26.2 years from now.

Heading east, toward the past, as the sun went down, I felt the draw of home. But the bourbon in my belly gave me a hunger for the next—next adventure west, next bite of something sweet. Marking miles and milestones makes for almost instant nostalgia. Remember that time we went to Philly to see Laura run? Remember when we crossed the Delaware, leaving Jersey behind, leaving Pennsylvania behind, in a raking autumn light? Our declared freedom itself was a perfectly Sunday kind of declaration. We found common cause in our day’s hours, and ran circles round time itself.

Written by David Zaza

November 19th, 2012 at 11:27 am

After Vienna: Paris, Lyon, Montpellier, Lagrasse, Mexico City

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I’ve been a bit overloaded since the beginning of my autumn vacation season. Having plowed quickly through some entries on my Vienna trip, many entries are yet to be written for Paris, Lyon, Montpellier, Lagrasse, and — now, having just returned — Mexico City. I’m working on it. Check back soon.

For now, a short photo preview.

Paris

Lyon

Montpellier

Lagrasse

Mexico City

Written by David Zaza

November 12th, 2012 at 1:35 am

2012 Vacation: Day -2

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Laura and I drink to Marie and Marco at the US Open, September 1, 2012

On September 1, 1962 my parents were married in Flushing, Queens. On September 1, 2012 — on their 50th anniversary — Laura and I went to Flushing, Queens to attend the U.S. Open. We drank a special anniversary toast to them. One week from today, I meet them in Paris!

Written by David Zaza

September 12th, 2012 at 10:01 pm

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…Weary of words and people…

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…sick of the city, wanting the sea…

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Exiled, by Edna St. Vincent Millay; read by David Zaza


My friends swimming off Far Rockaway, 2012

I went to Far Rockaway this weekend, and while it wasn’t Millay’s coast of Maine, it was restorative. I protected myself from the bitchy sun, huddled under itchy towels, crabbed my way through a hangover morning by eating fish tacos with city hipsters. I shook off the salted caramel of a boardwalk Caracas, then took to a dark dive bar in the afternoon to shoot whiskey and darts at my young friends and the bar’s old firemen. I lost everything, even the one fish I thought I’d hooked with a bit of cheese bait back in the inland safety of our little island off the coast. The night was so dark I just knew I had gone blind.

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Wild Sea, by Mark Eitzel


Michael Ross Dunham by the sea, 2012

Written by David Zaza

August 27th, 2012 at 10:55 pm

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Great Friend, Great Cause

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OMG! Laura is running the NYC Marathon this year! And in doing so she is raising money for Team for Kids. She says:

Hello!

I’m completely psyched and thrilled and amazed and a little freaked-out to be running the 2012 ING New York City Marathon, but so humbled and grateful to be running with Team for Kids, and I’m asking for your support of their noble mission. Team for Kids raises funds for programs that directly combat childhood obesity and empower youth development in low-income schools and community centers in New York City, throughout the country, and in Africa. All contributions are tax-deductible.

Affectionately, Laura xxoo

I’m proud to have donated to this worthy endeavor and encourage anyone and everyone to do the same — even if only a tiny amount! If you’d like to make a donation, just click here!

Written by David Zaza

June 11th, 2012 at 11:27 pm

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New Year’s Eve 2011/2012

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Zaza New Year's Eve

Well, we’re six weeks into what was once a new year. On December 31 I threw a party like I’ve never thrown before. It was, by some accounts, the best new year’s eve ever. I don’t know about that, but it was pretty special. As usual, I had some serious collaborative help in making the party so great. Evan designed a wonderful invitation. Paula made insanely amazing ice cream sandwiches, and Michael accepted my invitation to create a photo project documenting all the guests through portraiture.

Early last year, Michael Dunham published pictures he’d taken in Paris to Facebook. He shot the City of Lights on film that had expired in 1949, and the results were these grainy, mottled, enigmatic, and original views of Paris. Quite a feat. I was so taken with the pictures that I bought a large print of one of the images and it now hangs framed just here beside my desk.

When thinking of some kind of entertainment for my New Year’s guests, I wondered if Michael might turn his expired-film lens to portraiture, and shoot the faces of the partiers. He loved the idea, even though it meant he would be joining the ranks of “party host” — meaning he would both be the center of attention and not be able to just relax and carry on like the other beautiful guests. He devised a program of shooting two portraits of each person, a bust and a close-up of the face, eyes closed. I created a little portrait studio in my guestroom, moving the bed out, and painting the far wall a nice rich gray. Michael brought the lighting, his camera, a cache of 35mm film that expired in 1946, and his considerable charm to explain to his sitters what would happen.

I printed up little tickets, and as each friend arrived for the party they were given a ticket, an explanation, and an introduction to Michael. Once he got going, Michael didn’t leave that little impromptu studio for hours. We brought him drinks and spaghetti and guest after guest.

Not every partier made it in for a portrait. But 51 of us did. Michael was number 51, and I took his pictures under his direction. Here is everyone, in the order they were shot (click on these square thumbnails to see the full-frame images):

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Moving from the past and film that expired in 1946, I visited the future by buying a bunch of Impossible Project film for my old Polaroid. I shot some pix in the portrait studio, but I shot more of the party itself. 64 in total, though one went missing. If you are the partier who stole that picture, please return it! (I recommend going full-screen with this slide show — the pix turned out great.)

ZAZA NEW YEAR’S EVE 2011/2012
BY THE NUMBERS…

60 partiers, ranging in age from 20s to 50s
2 guests bounced from the portrait studio for bad behavior
2 downstairs neighbors who encouraged the noise and partied right along with us
0 crying girls

16 bottles of champagne + 1 magnum drunk
8 full bottles of whiskey drunk
10 bottles of wine drunk
1 bottle of gin drunk
1 bottle of vodka drunk

50 meatballs eaten
6 pounds of sausages eaten
4 pounds of spaghetti eaten
3 baguettes eaten
40 homemade ice cream sandwiches eaten
4 baked treats brought

102 formal portraits taken
64 Polaroids taken
1 Polaroid stolen

150 party poppers exploded
25 noisemakers spun
3 solid days of clean-up after
120 glasses washed by hand
42 spaghetti bowls washed by hand

1 shawl and 1 epi-pen left behind
0 damage to the bathroom — a first!

Thanks to Stas, Jim, Mark, and Doug for the following photos that really capture the fun fun fun.

Zaza New Years Eve 2012 invite NYE Ticket 1 NYE Ticket 2
Invitation and portrait project tickets

Written by David Zaza

February 12th, 2012 at 1:21 am

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For Scott Young

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Tonight I had the most wonderful conversation about poetry with Scott. I hope this poem will one day be as important to him as it is to me. And by important, I mean it is the best piece of poetry I have ever known. Click the play button above to hear me read it.

Of Mere Being

The palm at the end of the mind,
Beyond the last thought, rises
In the bronze distance.

A gold-feathered bird
Sings in the palm, without human meaning,
Without human feeling, a foreign song.

You know then that it is not the reason
That makes us happy or unhappy.
The bird sings. Its feathers shine.

The palm stands on the edge of space.
The wind moves slowly in the branches.
The bird’s fire-fangled feathers dangle down.

—Wallace Stevens

Written by David Zaza

November 2nd, 2011 at 12:18 am

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Mark Fox and I have a text-message conversation about today’s East Coast Earthquake

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Written by David Zaza

August 23rd, 2011 at 2:47 pm

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Fox/Zaza

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I took this picture of Mark, looking through one of his cut mirror pieces. My eyeballs and nose. His glasses and beard.

Written by David Zaza

April 11th, 2011 at 8:47 am

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Pre-Valentine

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Written by David Zaza

February 11th, 2011 at 12:15 pm

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Winter Light, Perfect Day

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New York Harbor / Battery Park City / Laura Howell / January 2011



 

Written by David Zaza

January 31st, 2011 at 1:33 pm

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Blind Shadows, for Scott

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Written by David Zaza

December 6th, 2010 at 5:22 pm

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Née Curtz

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Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. & Mrs. Ortolani

(More pix to come after the weekend festivities…)

Written by David Zaza

October 15th, 2010 at 4:33 pm

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Thea at 3

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Thea turned three this week. Jim made her a pink flamingo cake. So adorable — both the cake and the little girl!

Written by David Zaza

August 17th, 2010 at 12:21 am

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Laura Gets Digital

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Don’t you love it when your friends better themselves? Laura went to summer school and learned how to build websites. She’s officially launched her own portfolio site, which is — needless to say — perfection. You’ll be amazed by the amount of wonderful work she’s done over the years. Go check it out!

Written by David Zaza

August 3rd, 2010 at 9:25 pm

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