(Slightly late) reflections from a third (half) week on the road

August 15th, 2006 → 4:50 pm @ // No Comments

The first (and only) half-week of the 2006 Florida Monster tour included one Jeep Wrangler, one night in Boca Raton, one night in Miami, one flight the day before all liquids and gels were prohibited on domestic flights, one flight the day after all liquids and gels were prohibited on domestic flights, and several painful Red Sox losses to the Kansas City Royals. Some observations:

* As hot as it is in the Northeast, it is much hotter (and more humid) in South Florida. So hot that I rediscovered the joys of Gold Bond Powder. Ahhhh….sweet, sweet Gold Bond Powder.
* The Jeep Wrangler looks like it should be fun. It’s really not. You can’t lock the soft-tops; driving over 50 mph is incredibly loud; the handling sucks.
* Miami has its share of Red Sox fans. I’m sure Boca Raton–which is John Henry’s offseason home–does as well, but they didn’t come to my reading. The sum total was one family, one woman who was looking for a place to sit, one Barnes & Noble employee, and one homeless man.
* More reminders that I’ll never escape the shirt.
* Chip McGrath can work “Leibniz,” “Spinoza,” and “penis” into the same review and not sound ridiculous. Also, he wishes Feeding the Monster had included more porn.
* After two weeks on the Times‘s bestseller list, I slipped to No. 17, which means I’m on the extended list…but not the one printed in the paper. I hope I managed to impress everyone from my high school during those first two weeks in August.
* Cities are like personalities: it’s hard to recognize in yourself those things that drive you crazy about others. With that caveat…I’m not a fan of Miami.
* Five years ago, the hundreth stadium plan John Henry had come up with for the Marlins was squashed by the inanities of Florida politics. One of those proposals was for a domed stadium next to where the Heat play; John hoped the stadium would help revitalize the downtown. Half a decade later, that neighborhood is still literally in transition: at one point, all the traffic on Biscayne Boulevard was stopped for 20 minutes because there was an enormous metal wall that had to be hoisted onto a new building.
* Books & Books is a wonderful bookstore with very good lemonade.
* Jeffrey Loria can be a dick, kind of like George Steinbrenner without the bloated payroll. (Also: hi, Capozzi!)
* I miss the Todds. (Hi, Todds!)

That does it until September, when I’ll be making a pair of stops in Manhattan and doing another abbreviated swing through New England. As always, if you want to be kept up to date, sign up for the Monster Newsletter. And remember to buy Feeding the Monster for your friends and loved ones. There’s enough porn in there to keep (almost) everyone satisfied.


Post Categories: Feeding the Monster Readings

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