in defense of augusten: perception is reality

this month's vanity fair ran with the article ruthless with scissors which detailed hours of interviews with author augusten burroughs "adopted" family, the turcottes. in the wake of james frey's highly publicized memoir debacle, the characters in burroughs' book running with scissors sued the author and his publishing company for defamation and emotional turmoil. their accusations include weeks of emotional stress, anxiety, severe nausea, hospitalization, among other forms of emotional distress. they say he lied, stretched the truth, exaggerated dates, etc. they feel as though their family was defamed, that the portrait painted was grotesque and untrue.

i suppose they can point all the fingers they want at augusten and his publishing company until they get the restitution (read: cash) that they so desperately seek. even some of my friends, who happen to be AVID burroughs fans, have called him a fraud and a liar.

sure, he may have stretched the truth a little, changed some dates, combined characters, added anecdotes (he puts a disclaimer in every novel), but the sheer public perception of this family lends truth to augusten's memoir. my grandmother was a restauranteur and socialite in 1970's northampton, massachusetts (where running with scissors took place). after reading augusten's novel, she confirmed many of the eccentric and obscene behaviors of the turcotte family throughout the 70's and early 80's. dr. turcotte would have loud talks with his family degrading women and describing explicit sex acts in front of small children, prompting my grandfather to ask him to leave the restaurant on multiple occasions, usually stiffing gramps on the bill.

grandma recalls the family essentially moving into the front yard of their delapitated house one summer after an unprofitable tag sale prevented them from moving the furniture back into the house.

she told me all about the bizarre father's day parades up and down main street with dr. turcotte leading the family wearing no shirt, red suspenders, and a santa hat. he advised my grandfather not to let gram wear the pants in their relationship, sincer her "role" as a woman should be to serve and comply with men.

i guess the most relevant fact contributing to my belief in augusten's memoir is that dr. turcotte lost his license to practice psychiatry in 1984 for GROSS MISCONDUCT. he gave a sexual predator guardianship over his teenage daughter in exchange for cash loans, essentially selling her into prostitution.

i feel like calling up augusten's agent and asking if they need a character witness for the lawsuit. i'm sure grandma would be happy to comply.

destiny has a pinga

this shot is from my friend amy's birthday last saturday. i think it ranks in my top 5 best nights out ever. "destiny" rocked the beyonce moves and hair, i think some of our straight friends were thrown off by the hips and fake boobs. i taught them them the meaning of "she's on the 'mones'". i think our friend scott may turn into a tranny chaser. photo courtesy of essie.

p.s. i failed to mention that i rolled my window down the whole drunken ride home and yelled out to pedestrians, "all i want for christmas is YOU".

monday morning gripes

first thing this morning i had to deal with was getting logged out of my work laptop for some server problem that i don't understand. next it was onto the airport where i was corralled with other angry/tired business travelers at 6am to fly to texas. i hate this dog and pony show more than most because i realize what a farce "airport security" is. i've been smuggling at least a half dozen chapsticks in my carry-on bag for the past 4 months---and they're NOT in a little plastic baggie. it's my own personal rebellion against the fatally flawed system.

in other news, chris and i had our semi-monthly "power lunch" together last friday which amounts to, in this order, martini/salad/martini/barney's/martini/nap. i got a pair of loafers at a sinful markdown (pictured). they're gorgeous but they are making me blister more than a handjob from a jalepeno farmer. i guess they will be worn when minimal walking is required.

on the yang side of life, i more or less finished 2 songs yesterday. i don't think i've completed any new dirges in months---feels good to get it down on paper.

essie set up his make-shift photo studio in his dad's basement and i got to observe him at work (creativity = HOT). he's doing some post-production on amy's birthday party which i will post soon. think wigs, furry hats, trannies, talking to strangers, and copious amounts of alcohol.

in the meantime, austin is 70 degrees, i've got my difranco playlist running in the background, and i'm not working very hard. life is good.

i'm really gay at poker

we played "texas hold em" last night at jon & steph's. i realized how absoluely horrible i am at playing cards. i'm one of those people who needs to re-learn a game if i haven't played it in the past 24 hours. i can't really shuffle, i can't really deal, i don't really have any strategy, i always lose all of my money. i need the card game lessons to relate to things like "dance-offs" or "yoga positions", otherwise i am completely lost. i did, however, make a kick ass mix cd that we listened to and i had on that amazing hat (see jpg).

realign your perception

essie and i had the most amazing weekend in houston with our friends ben and robert. we've been so burned out with work and hating on boston, it was a good kick in the pants for both of us to re-evaluate and rediscover our love of art and design. i've been feeling so stagnant and uninspired the past few months, basically identifying as a traveling corporate drone. just being around creative people for a few days has refeuled me to write some new songs, make some new t-shirts, and deal with the fact that i'm going to be at this job/stuck in boston for the next 3 years so i might as well make the best of it. even though i'm revelling in my current euphoric state, you can rest assured, i still hate dakota fanning.

*robert & ben's work can be found here.

*ryan geiger's work, another amazing houston artist, can be found here.