The Mother of Philosophy

Why is it no one ever sent me yet
One perfect limousine, do you suppose?
Ah no, it's always just my luck to get
One perfect rose.
-- Dorothy Parker

Saturday, June 14, 1997

Today Cacophony had a planning meeting qua rehearsal for our participation in the Fremont Solstice Parade next week. Too bad that one of our key members will have to be out of town! But we will recruit this week, and since I'm working on costume components for anyone who wants to join our unit, we should make a respectable showing.

The Fremont Arts Council puts on the parade, which kicks off the Fremont Street Fair. It's an amazing event, with great floats, music and performers. Their facility is an old steam plant near an elementary school in Fremont. At this time of year you can hardly walk inside, there are so many people working with glue, tissue paper, rattan strips, foam, paint, fabric, and anything else donated or scavenged.

After my meeting I stopped by my sister's house, because my nephew J--- is participating with us in the parade as he did last year. Performing and clowning has always been a key interest of his, ever since the Seafair clowns drove by his house when he was one and a half years old. Last year he marched near us, but he was his own act, "Hot Chalk" the clown. (I don't know the origin of this clown name.) He darted around and amongst us, tossing his bowler hat in the air and whapping the Mystery Chef, one of our members, about the legs with a balloon.

So I conferred with my nephew, showing him the costume things I have done already and describing some of the things we will be doing. He is totally psyched, as am I!

Then later in the day I luxuriated at home, reading some of the books I bought yesterday. The Mary Jo Putney title, One Perfect Rose, is published in a different format than usual. It resembles the Permabound paperbacks you might find in a public library, but instead of a regular mass market paperback that's been rebound, the new format is a regular hardbound book, sized to fit in a mass market rack, but with quality paper that won't dissolve in a few years, and a cover that won't crack. It will be interesting to see if this format succeeds. The word on rra-l is that the sales have been quite gratifying! I would buy this (I did!) for authors that I know I like, but ten bucks is a bit much for sampling a new author. I hate paying over five dollars for a paperback!

I commented to the author about the title, One Perfect Rose, when she was talking about it on rra-l before the book came out, last year, I guess. I asked her if it was a deliberate Dorothy Parker reference! But she said that though she knows the poem, it just fit well with the book.

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