Famous people, and an accomplishment

I'm reading I Feel Bad About My Neck by Nora Ephron (after a mega-long library wait) and I'm enjoying it. She has a fun, witty, snappy style of writing that I admire. Among other things, the book includes a list of advice to younger people. She says that any part of your body that you hate at 35, you'll miss at 55. I wonder if this is true. D feels that people involved in the movies are super-preoccupied with appearance, and chances are we won't even notice our necks at that age. We'll see :)

Anyway, I got to thinking how I had the opportunity to meet Nora Ephron, and didn't. She came to speak at my college. So did Hillary Clinton. And what did I do? I worked a shift at the campus snack bar. I don't think it was even my own shift; I agreed to sub for somebody. Meanwhile, my roommate at the time not only went, she was so excited that she liberated some of the POLICE LINE DO NOT CROSS yellow tape and stuck it on our wall.

One person I did take the opportunity to meet (or rather, see and hear him) was Ray Bradbury. He was not at all what I expected. The story I remember best of his was about rain, how this little girl didn't want it, and there was a drought. So I thought he might be kind of sad. Not so. He was one of the most cheerful, energetic people I've ever met. He was practically bouncing around the room. It was cool.

My accomplishment (stop reading here if you're squeamish) is: I finally got an appointment with a certain kind of doctor. Ashley calls it the PM. In New York, PMs are a rare and elusive breed, and you have to hunt them on the savannah, much like agents. It's a competitive sport. Sometimes it takes four months to find one. Sometimes you get an appointment for four months from now, then they cancel it without explanation. (It's true.) I was demoralized by the whole savannah hunt (I haven't been to the PM in six years), but I opened my Aetna directory and called a PM today just for the heck of it. And what do you know, they had a Friday appointment.

Miracles do happen.

Comments

Roxanne said…
Good luck visiting your PM. Six years? (slap on the wrist)
Reighnie said…
I think the parts of the body thing is true. I mean how many people out there hated something about their body when they were teens and would do anything to get back to that now?

PM--that's funny, never heard of that term. lol

Good luck to you. I went once and that was good enough for me. I'd rather die of cancer and yes, I know it's terrible. It runs in my family. So chances are I will. But that's how bad it was.
bdogg_mcgee said…
Oh good! I'm so glad you got an appointment!!! :)
Bearette said…
Thanks, all :) Zen Master - i guess you hate going as much as i do!
Amy said…
PM - hmm, I go every year, and I would have to say that I do hate the dentist more, but that is likely because I've had multiple dental surgeries, and no, well "PM-required" surgeries.
blackcrag said…
heh heh heh... I like PM. That's funny.

I have started to attend readings of authors I like. I met Jack Whyte, who wrote a great seres on the supposed origins of Roman England and how Arthur and Camelot came to be, and George R.R. Martin, who's in the middle of writing A Song of Ice and Fire series. Very good, and very entertaining readings.
Bearette said…
amy - thank god. would not want to have a pm-related surgery! i like the dentist better...i go there every 6 months :)

blackcrag - hee. i like it too. i need to go to more readings...they have a bunch at a barnes & noble near me.
Anonymous said…
I think I would have seen Bradbury over Clinton any day. His stories, I think, tend to have a sad, grotesque quality to them, but he seems more interesting than depressing.

PM. I definitely like that one.
This suzy said…
I hope the appt. goes well! I won't admit how long it's been since I've gone. I do plan on finding one after I move, though.
Caro said…
PM, ha ha ha, that's funny.

I haven't been in a few years. I didn't realize it was such a hard appointment to get. Maybe that's only in your area?

Regarding people missing the body parts they hate, I hate my boobs and my butt.

But will they dissapear or just slide farther down? Can they possibly slide farther down?

Enquiring minds want to know.
Bearette said…
Hee! mine aren't big enough to slide anywhere.
Bearette said…
it's interesting, male PMs tend to have a shorter waiting list (though this one is a woman). where i grew up, it wasn't like this...it must be a manhattan thing. 1.5 million residents in this borough alone and probably about 60% are women.
kj said…
ray bradbury spoke at a college commencement a few years ago and i felt the same way. he was so hopeful and alive.

nice piece of writing here, bearette.

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