It’s 12:43 and I need to write something. Completing a post is the only thing standing in between me and sleep. So, here we go.

I finished A Man Called Ove today. I got it as a birthday present and I had wanted to read it for a while. I also wanted to read it because Tom Hanks is going to be in the movie version. I also like Swedish books that are translated into English. It took a couple of starts but I finally really enjoyed The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. So, I finished the book and, man, was it schmaltzy. Good Lord. I knew the general plot of the book, that it was about a curmudgeon who learns to live and love life again. I also knew that when the book jacket quotes say, “Delightful” and “A real crowd pleaser,” that I wasn’t going to be getting mindblowing fiction but, honestly, that book makes Hallmark cards look like Hubert Selby Jr.

I think it has something to do with the fact that everything paid off in exactly the way that I thought it would. I wasn’t surprised by anything. Every conflict was resolved in a heartwarming way. The most intriguing stuff was Ove’s past. They went into all the frustrating things and all the tragedies that made him the curmudgeon he is. That stuff was good. I’m still interested in the movie, though.

What else can I tell you?

I ran home from my improv theater tonight, all the way down the west side of Manhattan, over the Brooklyn Bridge, and down Court Street, back over to Park Slope. Hurricane Florence has brought all this humidity and I was soaked in sweat by the time I got home.

These last few days have been busy. Summer’s over and work is starting up again for real. I feel like I haven’t been able to breathe at work. Everything seems to be due right now. That’s why I’m writing at almost 1:00 in the morning.

And I have to wake up tomorrow to vote. I’m voting for Nixon, Williams, and Teachout. I had a volunteer text me the other day asking if Nixon could count on my vote. I texted back saying, “I’m worried about her inexperience.” So, this volunteer text back that Nixon’s not taking corporate money and an article about Teachout that made her sound badass. That’s all it took (I’ll vote Williams too because he seems to be part of the deal). I was a little ambivalent about Cuomo but thought Nixon might not be able to get even half the things she wants done done. But, then I thought, why not use my vote to make more progressive voices heard?

I just hope it doesn’t make me too late for work.