dual personalities

I’m afraid I’ve been shelling my days lately, and it’s only when I take a breather from the task at hand that I look around with amazement at the world — usually to remember it’s there at all. Amor Towles, who wrote the title sentiment, definitely falls into the latter category. Earlier this week I played hooky from work (shh, don’t tell) and drove down to Syracuse so that #1 son James and I could attend an author-event featuring Mr. Towles. The drive down went very smoothly: no dashboard lights threatened; the weather was clear and crisp, and the GPS spoke right on cue. James and I did a little shopping and then enjoyed dinner at a local watering hole, the name of which escapes me. I was having too much fun all evening to remember such details, and of course ALL of the photos I took were as blurry as this view of downtown Syracuse that I shot through a window on the second floor of the Crouse Hinds Theater.

Downtown was hopping for a Tuesday night, but we found the vast number of crows circling overhead decidedly disconcerting. Apparently, crows are a problem in a lot of northern New York cities (e.g., Rochester and Syracuse). Halloween or not, they were creepy and reminded us of The Birds.

Photo from an article on the crow problem. I no longer have the link.

Despite the overhead threat, we had a grand time. Amor Towles did not disappoint. The product of Yale, Stanford and over 20 years in international finance, he commands all the social graces and can tell a story with perfect comedic timing. What makes him stand apart, of course, is that he has something to say. He concentrated his comments on A Gentleman in Moscow, giving us a brief history of the Hotel Metropol, where the book takes place,

and putting the plot in its historical context. Much to the surprise of many in his very large audience of (mostly) wealthy, gray-haired-female-book-club-members, he told some hard truths about the Soviet’s brand of communism. To keep the mood light, he tempered those comments with hilarious stories. It was a truly delightful evening. By the time I got to my hotel (no way I was going to drive 2.5 hours home in the dark), I found that I was way too tired to grade as I had planned. I fell to sleep immediately and slept like a log. The return trip home was uneventful, and although it had put me even further behind than had last week’s out of town guest, it was well worth it! I mean, anyone who has a bookshelf like this in his study is my kind of guy (and I’m not referring to the figures’ nationality but to their presence there at all).

From a NYT article

I’m looking forward to Towles’s next book which is due out in another year or two. In the meantime, you can read this sweet story about how he came to own his great-great-grandfather’s hatbox.

The rest of the week passed in a mad rush and ended in a destructive wind storm, the likes of which I have never experienced. It poured rain all day and night on Halloween. Only a few intrepid children came to our door. The weather continued to deteriorate, and at about 4:00 am on Friday morning I awoke to the sound of rhythmic, repeated crashing. At first I imagined the cascading fall of neighborhood garbage bins but then I woke up enough to realize that it wasn’t garbage night, so they wouldn’t be out on the curb. I got up to investigate and found that the wind had blown BOTH of our back doors wide open and the outer one kept crashing against the wall of the house. Anything could have come in! Sometimes I’m glad I’m a light sleeper.

Have a safe weekend!

*Amor Towles, Rules of Civility