I just finished I Remember Nothing by Nora Ephron. I really enjoyed it. I’ve always loved When Harry Met Sally and hell even You’ve Got Mail but I never read any of her writing. She writes how I want to write. I mean I love David Sedaris and Fran Lebowitz. Sedaris has his own specific style, though. Fran Lebowitz is funny in a way that it’s hard for me to replicate. She’s smarter and more of an insider than I am, so, I could never write like her. Nora Ephron was the daughter of famous people and she became famous and was friends with famous people and married famous people but her focus on the everyday is what gets me. Elevating the mundane to something worth talking about and, more importantly, complaining about speaks to me.
It was hearbreaking, though, to see her author photo and read, “She died in 2012,” every time I opened the book. I remember hearing of hear death and thinking it was abrupt. She was 71 and not in ill health. Though, I guess she was. She died of cancer. But many of her friends didn’t know. She kept her health private. And I read a review of I Remember Nothing and the reviewer remarked that the last two stories may have been a hint. “What I Won’t Miss” and “What I Will Miss.”
I loved both of these. Sometimes you just have to check in with yourself about these things, just to remember. After I watched Life Itself, the documetary about Roger Ebert’s last days, I went out and ran in Prospect Park, just because I could. Now I feel inspired to write some things that I’ll miss and I won’t miss. I’m not dying, this isn’t a hint. I just feel like talking about some stuff, cool? Cool.
What I Will Miss
Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups
October
Pepperoni pizza
Music, all of it
My senses (all five, big fan)
Bagels
Coffee
Sleeping in
Sleeping in with someone, letting her sleep longer, going to get her a bagel, and making her coffee
Friday afternoons
The angle of sunlight through my windows in the morning
Snow
Being on stage
Writing (Eh, having written)
Long walks in New York (or any city, really)
Running, then ending a run, breathing heavily and thinking, “I just ran.”
Stacy’s simply naked pita chips
Stars
The hum of an air conditioner
Christmas
What I Won’t Miss
Traffic
Existential dread
WebMd
Timesheets
Humidity
Yeah, I put what I won’t miss second but it’s short. I guess I think the world’s alright but count humidity 20 times. And also, I won’t miss war and racism and injustice but, come on, cousin, it ain’t that kind of list.
