Before I get to the point, I have to share that the bartender I bar-backed for last night said Jake Gyllenhaall used to bus tables for him in Edgartown before he went all Donnie Darko and got famous. The bartender, Greg, an islander born and raised, said JG was "a good kid." Greg was also was acquainted with Maggie Gyllenhaal, who was as unattractive in real life as onscreen.
Okay. The point. Um...um....oh, yeah. Another intern at This Week on MV, James Sanford, has been blogging profusely since he trekked from Michigan to the island for the summer. He is a former film writer from Michigan's Kalamazoo Gazette and had a column/blog called At The Movies. He's interviewed Stephen Spielberg, Leo DiCaprio, Chris Walken and, most recently, McG, director of "Terminator: Salvation" and a Kalamazoo native. Wow. [That last link is James's' McG profile]
James blogs at http://jamesislandlife.blogspot.com much more regularly and often longer than me, but the real clincher is that if you browse his blog, you'll be getting a totally different perspective from a guy who has a car, more money to spend, an insane passion for dining out -- he's tried a ton of lobster dishes already -- and an earnest approach to exploring the Vineyard. He also got a jumpstart on me with just-for-blog reporting with this awesome article about a Bulgarian bartender flippin' bottles around. Read him, follow him, enjoy. Just don't completely defect to his blog and forget to check back here.
Quick snapshot of my bookstore, the Book Den East, as I head in for a day of book organizing, selling and reading. I'll acquaint you with my store more thoroughly in a future post.
It's time for a slight downshift in my bloggery. While I want to update every day, the summer isn't even close to fully started and I'm getting into the swing of two jobs and freelance writing on top of that -- while trying to cultivate a social life here and stay sane. Today is my ninth straight day working out of at least 12, not including the insane interviewing and writing I've been pulling together for Martha's Vineyard Wedding magazine. While I thrive on stress and this blog is still one of my summer's highest priorities, I don't want it to become a burden where I'm contriving daily entries. There will still me multiple weekly, worthwhile posts, including the feature I was reporting for today.
So I'm taking from fifth gear back to third or fourth.
Happy Thursday. Treat yourself to seeing Pixar's "Up" -- I saw it last night and was unsurprisingly delighted by Pixar again. Terrific movie in the charming movie theater in Vineyard Haven. I'm prepping to freelance a feature on the cinema scene on Martha's Vineyard very soon and shop it to whoever will take it -- or I'll just post it here.
I know your eyes are starving for a visual, so here's what $2,200 will buy you for four months in Martha's Vineyard:
That was the order of my Friday and Saturday. Worked all morning and half the afternoon at the bookstore Friday, then all evening training as a bar-back at the restaurant. I did manage to go out with some friends and see an awesome cover band playing '80s (first song I heard: "Don't Stop Believin') and '90s (second song: "Blister in the Sun," which I thought was '90s until I found that video, saw how '80s the dudes were, and Wiki'd the tune to find out it's from '82. Oops.) down the street before working a function at the restaurant Saturday morning.
^Me. Kinda.
By the time I got out, I was dead on my feet. But it was sunny for the first time in four days -- I'm talking reaaalll warm and nice -- and I hadn't been to the beach all week. Now's the time to note: I'm not the biggest beach person in the world. I love going with my friends in Maine in the summer, but the trek to Old Orchard or Popham is something I only muster up the gusto for once or twice a season. Living a couple minutes walking distance from lapping waves and ultimate relaxation, though, it's hard not to be at least a little bit of a beach person.
The trip to the Ink Well, as the strip of beach closest to me in Oak Bluffs is called, was sweetened by bringing my guitar -- something I was completely giddy about being able to do by moving here. I have no case for the ax, so I walked over jamming like some kind of vagabond. Playing on the beach was the best. The sound of soft surf is the ultimate complement to acoustic strummin', hands down. No imposing silence when you stop playing, only waves rolling in. Mmm.
One of the best parts of the two-hour afternoon on the beach was meeting an islander, Cristina. An early highlight from the chat included, "We're not all crazy," in reference to natives as I explained my frustration with Swindler's Vineyard. She said the whole appearing-laid-back thing is more a characteristic of "down-Islanders," people from Oak Bluffs, Edgartown and Vineyard Haven -- the real tourist hotspots. Up-island (which makes no sense as it's 100 percent to the west, but it's impossible to argue this point) is where the actually laid-back people reside, according to my new friend and instant Martha's Vineyard reference (she's lived here her whole life and will move off-island for the first time to start college at BU in the fall -- there are no colleges on the island, Cape Cod Community College is the only semi-feasible commute). She also confirmed what I'd heard, that the summer population swells from about 20,000 to 100,000, and that she can tell tourists from Vineyarders in a second. Cristina recommended a weekly lobster roll feast at a church on the island. It's $13, but anyone who has been to a baked bean supper in a grange hall in Maine knows traditions like this are priceless. It's on my radar, as are the amazing up-island beaches she described, like Lucy Vincent Beach.
Lastly, Cristina got my now-automatic question for islanders: Have you seen anyone famous here? Her next-door neighbor in West Tisbury is Peter Farrelly, the writer-director-producer of "Dumb and Dumber," "There's Something About Mary," "Me, Myself & Irene," etc. And one time Drew Barrymore was running around in his back yard.
I'm off to start contacting and interviewing 14 sources for three stories for Martha's Vineyard Wedding magazine. Hey, I never guessed I'd write for a wedding magazine, either, but freelancing's freelancing.
Quick snapshot of my bookstore, the Book Den East, as I head in for a day of book organizing, selling and reading. I'll acquaint you with my store more thoroughly in a future post.
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