Vanilla Ice vs. David Foster Wallace

Yesterday, I saw Vanilla Ice. In the flesh. The first way I thought of putting it was “in the ice.” But that isn’t so accurate, as that was not the vibe that I was getting from him. This is mostly because at the time of the viewing, Vanilla Ice was being filmed in Stories Books on Sunset Blvd while pulling a copy of Infinite Jest off the shelf. He considered the book, which had been recommended by another person on camera, and then read a little bit aloud.

I assure you that this was every bit as weird as it sounds.

Having just had lunch with my friend Erin at Masa one block down, I was only prepared to have a cup of coffee and continue talking about writing when we headed into Stories. When my friend Alex informed me of our fellow shopper’s presence, and the fact that we had just missed an acoustic performance of “Ice Ice Baby” in the back garden, I didn’t really know what to say. My friend Erin didn’t buy it at all, snuck down the aisle and saw that Vanilla Ice was right there talking about David Foster Wallace. She had to take a time out on the central bench for a minute.

Just when you think nothing ever happens in this life, it gets weirder than I could have imagined with all my brain cells working on it at the same time.

For some reason, this makes me feel better about the world. When we get stuck in a rut that seems predictable and think that we have seen it all and that very little will change, as I have been feeling lately, circumstances can be kind enough to throw a curve ball. After listening to NPR constantly talk about slow job growth and an increasingly strange GOP primary process, I have needed the curve ball.

Thanks for being there for me, Vanilla Ice. And thank you for being a reader. It made me smile.