davecullen

[davecullen]

How could I NOT get refreshed and re-invigorated from a week out there? Also feels good to be back in Brooklyn, seeing it with slightly new eyes. Back to the races on my book. (Meaning I wrote a ton out there, and it really helped amp it up. Scene-change always helps.) (at Sag Harbor, New York) https://www.instagram.com/p/CqBR3YFuzzb/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[davecullen]

Yes, Virginia, there is an Irish pub in the Hamptons. And a St. Patty’s Day parade, though a day late. Haha. Very fun day. Thanks @m1keh0gan (at Buckley's Inn Between) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cp8-KJdOT_S/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[davecullen]

I sleep so much better out here! 😴😍😴 Extended ONE more day. Haha. (No, really, this time.) 🤣 (at Sag Harbor, New York) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cp2oSYFuZ2d/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[davecullen]

I sleep so much better out here. 😴 1 more night. (at Sag Harbor, New York) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cp1VBY_umn2/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[davecullen]

Back together for a half-week writing retreat in Sag. (Knowing Bobby, I’ll be doing all the writing! Hehehe.) We’ll see if the old man is still good for a run today. Or a walk/run. (at Sag Harbor, New York) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cps0JKruNYG/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[davecullen]

“In 1987, Lucia Berlin apprenticed with Alastair Johnson as a Linotype typesetter to help finish her book, Safe & Sound.”* Amazed but not surprised to discover this about my late mentor, Lucia Berlin. Quite the Renaissance Woman! And what writers have to do sometimes, to get their work into print. She died impoverished and largely unknown, but 11 years later, her collection “A Manual For Cleaning Women” became a NY Times bestseller in the US and about 2 dozen other countries and growing. It’s considered a modern classic. I know she was. Miss her dearly. But I carry her with me. She was central to (re)shaping my work, even more central to reshaping me. (For starters, she taught me to say, “I love you.” She said to so effortlessly to me, often with a giggle men I amused her, “I love you darlin.” Love you too Lucia. Forever. If you want a (my) sense of her, I’m changing my bio link to my Vanity Fair tribute to her: “11 Years After Her Death, Lucia Berlin Is Finally a Bestselling Author” * Pix and opening quote from her account, @readlucia https://www.instagram.com/p/CpiPEYorsiR/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[davecullen]

Amazed but not surprised to discover this about my late mentor, Lucia Berlin. Quite the Renaissance Woman! And what writers have to do sometimes, to get their work into print. She died impoverished and largely unknown, but 11 years later, her collection “A Manual For Cleaning Women” became a NY Times bestseller in the US and about 2 dozen other countries and growing. It’s considered a modern classic. I know she was. Miss her dearly. But I carry her with me. She was central to (re)shaping my work, even more central to reshaping me. (For starters, she taught me to say, “I love you.” She said to so effortlessly to me, often with a giggle men I amused her, “I love you darlin.” Love you too Lucia. Forever. If you want a (my) sense of her, I’m changing my bio link to my Vanity Fair tribute to her: “11 Years After Her Death, Lucia Berlin Is Finally a Bestselling Author” https://www.instagram.com/p/CpiOZfrLryh/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[davecullen]

Please remind me to leave the city more. 😁 Last night I pictured waking up so refreshed Saturday NOT in my own bed. I could already feel the relief, just from the memories. So relaxing out there. Amazing bed in their guest house that’s NOT 10’ from my writing table. (Oddly, I write at a table 3’ from the bed there. But a different table!) Also, all the frenzy of the city gone. And incredible company that I miss, and can’t wait to hang: @celisejordan, @mikeh0gan, their precocious toddler Mary Clyde and of course Bobby Sneakers! Look how relaxed I am already. 😁 (at Sag Harbor, New York) https://www.instagram.com/p/CpEEsnzO_rf/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[davecullen]

Spring-like day in Brooklyn but I enjoyed it from here. 😳🤣 But I am enjoying this last phase of the book, with the summit finally in sight. (Months off, but close in book years. 🤣🤣) New editor, new meeting every other Friday to report on progress. Deadlines help! 😁 First one this Friday, eager to see what I can produce. (at Brooklyn, New York) https://www.instagram.com/p/Co6LJ0UO__X/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[davecullen]

Signed 2 copies of Parkland and 1 of Columbine at ⁦‪@wordbookstores‬⁩ in Greenpoint. Call them for a copy (and tell them if u want it personalized). 718-383-0096. (at WORD Brooklyn) https://www.instagram.com/p/CoBa2GqO_5-/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[davecullen]

Please remember the Newtown families. And then channel your anger. My NY Times essay is linked in my bio. I argue that your anger is actually changing the game in gun politics. (And I’ll be discussing on Chris Hayes’ MSNBC show tonight.) Meanwhile, some have asked to see the original version of the essay. I can’t publish it all mixed together, but here are a few bits from the editing room floor, starting with my conclusion: There are so many ways we can save our children. Safety resonates with gun owners because it’s a core value. Owners actually founded an organization in 1871 dedicated to safety and marksmanship. They named it the National Rifle Association. It went rogue in the 1970s, pitting gun owners against controllers. Owners finally returned to their safety roots this summer, and a new alliance is our best hope. Anger can be power—when directed at the real villains. So let’s double pressure on spineless politicians, and extend our hand to surprising new allies. Because gun owners love their children, too. --- [My version of the 1st person paragraph with my history and personal feelings]: Until the Parkland uprising, I was a doubter, too. When I published Columbine, the body count was escalating, and I could see no way out. Sandy Hook crushed my spirit, also—and five years later, I was still skeptical of the fledgling safety movement. But then I spent a year with the Parkland kids, watching them team with Giffords and Everytown, supercharging their efforts with rocket fuel. Watts told me her army tripled from 2 million to 6 that year, vaulting past the NRA. --- [Other outtakes I liked.] {The new gun safety movement…} And they’ve driven those ideas home: Safe schools, safe streets, safe kids. … The game changed so gradually and so far below the political surface that the public has gone largely unaware. And the media, focused exclusively on the 30-year blockade of gun legislation in Congress, has kept beating the hopeless-narrative drum. False narrative. It made sense ten years ago, but since then, a sea change quietly upended the rules of gun politics … Our kids don’t have to die. (More in 1st comment) (at Sandy Hook, Newtown CT) https://www.instagram.com/p/CmKWR7wONHP/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[davecullen]

Gabby posted this. I teared up, and then went back to work. Gabby and @shannonrwatts are my heroes for taking one of the darkest days in our history, and refusing to just be sad or angry. They began with nothing, and are changing the world. So remember this poor kids, and their educators, and their families—so many of whom also channeled pain into action. Let’s remember, and then demand change. @sandyhookpromise @gabbygiffords @giffordscourage @momsdemand #sandyhook (at Sandy Hook, Newtown CT) https://www.instagram.com/p/CmKABXTOS37/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

#sandyhook

[davecullen]

“Gun Owners Love Their Children Too” — that’s what I would have called this. (Also the best line in the piece, so of course they cut it! 😳🙈😢) I was very excited leading up to this: a big NY Times essay on a really important subject, that has been wildly misreported. I’m conflicted now, because they have a reputation for sucking the life out of the writing—(why?!)—but my ideas mostly made it in. And some of my words. (at Brooklyn, New York) https://www.instagram.com/p/CmIGjBGO5R9/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[davecullen]

Apparently, the gay bylaws were updated this week to require this. 🤷‍♂️🤣 I quite enjoyed it, though. 😁 #lensa (at Brooklyn, New York) https://www.instagram.com/p/ClwPdGvuQON/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

#lensa

[davecullen]

Easiest way to make your arms pop: the preacher bar! 🤣🤣 (Without even picking up a weight! Haha. If only they looked that good hanging off my shoulders.)🙄 Finally back to my lifting target from before the Oct surgery. Bummed that I failed to raise 85-pound dumbells on incline bench last night, but got 7 reps at 80. (I checked, and pre-op I was hitting 80 most weeks, 85 some. So I’m SORT of there, but will be happier to hit 85.) (at Crunch Fitness) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cll8Q5xO36X/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[davecullen]

Think I should become my dad and pull all these wires and electrodes off?!🙄🤣 The doc cleared me to disconnect 2 hours ago, and the nurse disconnected them all from the monitor, which made it so much easier to move about – but they're still attached to me and bugging me. They're not connected anything. 🤷‍♂️ … There they go. 👋 (at NYU Langone Health) https://www.instagram.com/p/CkBYIrHOx7f/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[davecullen]

Settling in for the night. Bored already. Haha. My niece stayed for hours—so nice. Insane room! Especially after passing the bleak other cubicle rooms. Surgery apparently successful. “We had an early scare…” we the surgeon’s first words after. They nicked some blood vessel inside, had to get that under control. So the 30-minute surgery lasted 2 hours. But he said he was still able to do everything. So I have these huge saline bags feeding slowly into my bladder to keep rinsing the blood out. Pretty clear coming out now. Pain has been mild, but increasing as the meds wore off. Just got an oxy at 7:30p. Waiting to kick in. Was scheduled to leave in the morning. Hopefully this won’t extend it. (The recovery nurse had to accompany me to the room because of it—in the adjoining building literally 3 blocks away! Haha.) Other good news going in. I asked more questions right before surgery. The doc told me my prostate isn’t super large, it’s the irregular shape causing the blockage. So he wouldn’t have to cut away a ton. So my recovery/pain should be much less than in the handout. (at NYU Langone Health) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cj_o7GtOgtN/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=