This has been a busy month for me; as Disney/ABC.com winds down New York operations, and all three of my bosses have quit, there has been more and more to do around the office. (There has also been more and more horseplay; last week we spent a paid half-hour making Michael Eisner masks with the Xerox machine.)
I've also been spending a lot of time on my own job search - that resume is still available, folks - and, with the realization that any new job could very well take me out of New York City, trying to do everything I've yet to accomplish after more than ten years in Manhattan.
In the next few months, I want to tour the United Nations, go skating at Rockefeller Center, and even, though my critic days are over, see the New York City Ballet's Nutcracker, preferably on a night when the splendiferous Sebastién Marcovici is in it.
This year I also marched in the Greenwich Village Halloween parade, dressed up as a "sexy witch." My very talented costume designer, Martin Schwartz, once worked for Bob Mackie and now works for ABC.com, which means he is looking for a job, too.
Despite my busy schedule, there is a new episode of Joel Fauré, the Melancholy Male Model on the site this month. Inspiration, for me, is a funny thing: it comes when it comes. It's like mail.
In this case, part of the inspiration came from a recent encounter in Paris with the actual Crown Prince Frederik. To my surprise, he looked exactly like my cartoon of him - only ten times as depressed. I really felt for the poor man. He had all sorts of nutty paparazzi chasing after him and looked as if he would rather be anyplace else, and anyone else.
This month, you can also check out the latest of the Five George Washingtons prologues - The Self-Made Loser, the story of evil salesman Billy Dose.