In the mail yesterday I got a letter and a mini-book from Aimee. The last time I saw her we were talking about Nebraska a bit and she said she had these photos of our friend Chela who was at the residency with us. Chela is a former basketball star (seriously she’s nine million feet tall), who hunted down all these basketball nets/courts in Nebraska and shot some hoops. The book is a collection of those pictures and the little stories that went with them. It is teeny-tiny, the book, maybe a couple of inches across, but it totally works. I like the idea of this sport that is for the very tall shrunk down into such a small space.
In the letter Aimee reminded me that we had talked once about doing a collaboration with my photos. I do not do a lot with my photos besides post them on this site and Flickr. Occasionally they get used for other purposes, like this book cover, for example, or a few websites here and there have picked up an image. The image most used (or borrowed, or stolen, or whatever) from my collection is actually this image from this set. (Oh, 2004. I was so chubby then. And wore studded punk rock bracelets. Oy.) Apparently there are no pictures of Taco Bell anywhere on the internet and teenagers love to post pictures of Taco Bell in each other’s Myspace comments sections. (To which I say: who knew? And: of course they do.)
So basically I do not do much with my pictures but put them up here because the minute I start taking it seriously then it becomes not that much fun to me. I mean, my writing is still fun, don’t get me wrong. But I am ambitious and if I take something on then I will try my hardest to make it a success. And then it’s going to feel more like work. So I have always felt like the photos should just hang out here for the few people who read this site.
But a collaboration is a different story. A collaboration would be fun and non-threatening. It wouldn’t have to be a big deal. It would just be for our own satisfaction and entertainment.
And then last night Hana and I were talking about my upcoming trip Italy and she said I should go to Pompeii.
“Do you like ruins?” she said.
“I don’t know, I’ve never been to ruins!” I said. I thought for a second. “But I live in a warehouse in industrial Brooklyn. I think I would probably like ruins.”
And then she told me she had gone to see the ruins when she was twelve, and that it had had a big impact on her, and that Pompeii played a big role in a lot of the fiction she wrote after that. Which is kind of all I needed to hear.
So maybe there will be a Pompeii project. I’ll play tourist for a day and see what happens. But definitely there should be an Italy project. Just something little, not a big deal. Off the screen and into our hands.
