Erica Lorraine Scheidt's Blog, page 10
March 12, 2012
angels in america
First week of November. In the men's room in the offices of the Brooklyn Federal Court of Appeals. Louis is crying over the sink. Joe enters.
JOE: Oh, um...Morning.
LOUIS: Good morning, Counselor.
JOE (He watches Louis cry): Sorry, I...I don't know your name.
LOUIS. Don't bother. A word processor. The lowest of the low.
JOE (Holding out hand): Joe Pitt. I'm with Justice Wilson.
LOUIS: Oh, I know that. Counselor Pitt. Chief Clerk.
JOE: Were you...are you OK?
LOUIS: Oh, yeah. Thanks. What a nice man.
JOE: Not so nice.
LOUIS: What?
JOE: Not so nice. Nothing. You sure you're...
LOUIS: Life sucks shit. Life...just sucks shit.
JOE: What's wrong.
LOUIS: Run in my nylons.
JOE: Sorry...?
LOUIS: Forget it. Look, thanks for asking.
JOE: Well…
LOUIS: I mean, it really is nice of you.
(He starts crying again)
Sorry. Sick friend…
JOE: Oh, I'm sorry.
LOUIS: Yeah, yeah, well, that's sweet.
Three of your colleagues have preceded you to this baleful sight and
and you're the first one to ask. The others just opened the door, saw me, and fled. I hope they had to pee real bad.
JOE (Handing him a wad of toilet paper): They just didn't want to intrude.
LOUIS: Hah. Reaganite heartless macho asshole lawyers.
JOE: Oh, that's unfair.
LOUIS: What is? Heartless? Macho? Reaganite? Lawyer?
JOE: I voted for Reagan.
LOUIS: You did?
JOE: Twice.
LOUIS: Twice? Well, oh boy. A Gay Republican.
JOE: Excuse me?
LOUIS: Nothing.
JOE: I'm not...
Forget it.
LOUIS: Republican? Not Republican? Or…
JOE: What?
LOUIS: What?
JOE: Not gay. I'm not gay.
LOUIS: Oh. Sorry.
(Blows his nose loudly) It's just…
JOE: Yes?
LOUIS: Well, Sometimes you can tell from the way a person sounds that...I mean you sound like a …
JOE: No I don't. Like what?
LOUIS: Like a Republican.
(Little pause. Joe knows he's being teased; Louis knows he knows. Joe decides to be a little brave)
JOE (Making sure no one is around): Do I? Sound like a…?
LOUIS: What? Like a…? Republican, or…? Do I?
JOE: Do you what?
LOUIS: Sound like a…?
JOE: Like a…?
I'm...confused.
Louis: Yes.
My name is Louis. But all my friends call me Louise.
I work in Word Processing. Thanks for the toilet paper.
(Louis offers Joe his hand, Joe reaches, Louis feints and pecks Joe on the cheek, then exits.)
Drawing: Kiki Smith, Silver Bird, 2006 at Brooklyn Museum
March 9, 2012
liquidity
My lover's love is an illiquid asset. Gleaned from Christian Nagler's Market Fitness.Photo: Robert Kinmont, 8 Natural Handstands on view at BAM
March 8, 2012
believe in side projects
Believe in side projects. Tattly was a side project; swissmiss was a side project; CreativeMornings was a side project; TeuxDeux was a side project. These are all things that turned into revenue streams for me and made it possible to not have clients. I would never hire anyone who doesn't have side projects. To me, that shows that someone has ideas, self-initiative, and can make things happen. Tina Roth Eisenberg on The Great DiscontentPhoto: Tattly
March 7, 2012
March 4, 2012
a standing ovation
A standing ovation can be extorted from the audience. A gasp cannot. True and False; Heresy and Common Sense for the Actor, David MametPhoto: The Selby, Otto Sander and Monika Hansen
February 27, 2012
a thing I could see
She wasn't doing a thing I could see, except standing there, leaning on the balcony railing, holding the universe together. JD Salinger, "A Girl Like That"Photo by Victoria Hannan
in the quiet way
She was beautiful, in the quiet way that lonely, unnoticed people are beautiful to those who notice them. Jedediah Berry via the ugly earringPhoto by Ashley Rose Helvey
February 16, 2012
February 11, 2012
this kind of muted stance
My work is all about living vicariously. I'm very easily embarrassed, and I think there's a lot of me that has a difficult time with people, period. All this angst, about myself, and about things I have no control over, is somehow in the work. I didn't really get English, and I lost my Russian. As far as expressing myself, I feel like I have bones in my tongue. Language is so crucial, but I think my pictures really do come from this kind of muted stance that I took. When you draw something, the drawing speaks for itself. Dasha Shishkin in an interview with Tina Barney, Vogue, June 2011.Dasha Shishkin, Pity is an Agreeable Sentiment, Uplifting Like Military Music, c. 2007-2008 
