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Love Letter to A City

posted Thursday September 24th, 2009

bop

Some days I feel it more than others, but most of the time I can tell that having kids — and yes, in particular, having a child with special needs — has changed me.

I’m not saying (nor would some people who know me say) that I’m any nicer. I still have a button on my bulletin board at work that reads, “If at first you don’t succeed, you’ll be a loser and a burden on society for the rest of your life.”

The best way I can describe it — to crib myself, since I’ve written this before — is that having Sophie made the world go technicolor. Or HD, to use a more up-to-date description.  

But there is something else that’s changed me, too. It’s certainly not monumental and heartbreaking and impossibly joyful — like having and raising my (I mean our – sorry Ray!) kids — but it does take up about nine months of the year.

It’s called Best of Phoenix.

A few weeks after Sophie was born, I grudgingly gave up the freedom and (relative) starpower of being a staff writer at the paper where I work for the behind-the-scenes (relative) drudgery of being an editor.

The new job came with a more regular schedule, and it was clear my bosses thought it would be a good fit for the mom of a kid about to have heart surgery. (Not that they ever said that — everyone was very gracious and to be fair, most do consider an editor position here a plum.)

The new job came with one responsibility that horrified me: editing our annual Best of Phoenix issue.

Best of Phoenix — or BOP, as it’s known in the office — is a beast, a guide to everyone and everything in a metropolis you may not realize is the fifth largest in the country.

And, I might add, a metropolis I’ve made a habit of hating. I’m not the only one: People love to loath this city. Hard to blame them — particularly in the summer, which is when the bulk of BOP is created.

This is the fifth Best of I’ve edited, and the funny thing is, this is the first year I haven’t found myself gritting my teeth. Not that I didn’t bitch and moan about the workload, but this year, something was different.

It might have been the fact that we have a really great, committed group of people working on BOP. Or it could be that the theme — Wonderland — was a lot of fun. The art is beautiful, the writing is great (though I’m terrified I’ll hear about typos) but more than that, I think something has happened.

I think I might be falling in love with this city. Having to find a bunch of stuff (and we really do need a bunch — ours is one of the largest “Best ofs” in the nation, at more than 300 pages) to brag about can make you really happy or really depressed. This year I actually took pleasure in it.

My favorite part is the idea we came up with to supplement all those little paragraphs about “best slice of pizza” and “best place to hike with a small dog”. We decided to have an art show. We made a list of the most creative, interesting people we know in town — visual artists, musicians, cooks, writers — and asked them to create their version of Wonderland. We put the 31 results in the paper and on October 2, we’re having a party to show them off in person.

A party for Phoenix. I hope you come (if you live nearby) and check out the art, which absolutely blew us away. (“Goosebumps!” was a frequent term screamed in the office, when a new piece came in.) It will be for sale, and will benefit both the artists and a cool art program for the homeless.

Funny, I realized after we made our list that we could have doubled or tripled it, easily. This city is teeming with talent. Our DIY aesthetic for the issue (lots of torn paper, cutout letters) wound up being about Phoenix itself — a place that came late to the handmade movement, but is now doing it in style.

No, you can’t compare the joys of the day job to the blow-me-back-against-the-wall joys of parenting. But sometimes there are rewards, if you stop and look for them. Today I realized that Best of Phoenix has put a rainbow behind my hometown.

The city is changing. It’s growing up. And maybe I am, too.

If you made it all the way to the bottom of this odd rant (or is it a rave?) here is a treat: a link to the song the band psych 101 created just for our issue — and our city. They’ll perform live on October 16, as part of the Wonderland show.

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Tags: Filed under: Entertainment by Amysilverman

3 Responses to “Love Letter to A City”

  1. oooohhh… wish I could be there! You sure make it sound wonderful. I bet you are really enjoying being in charge of things and having it be your baby! As for the changes in self re: Sophie. I know for me anyway- I had a strong over reliance on intellect (probably not as much ambition as you) and perfectionism in performance as a value. Now I see that both of those things are way over rated and really not what life is about and I know that because of Kayli. I’d kind of seen that with my clients- in fact intelligence/IQ is a hinderance for many people struck with mental illness since “insight and a dime” don’t get you too far if you can’t follow through with anything. Anyway- my own little rant :)
    I’ve been following you for awhile now and I feel an opening that is beautiful!

  2. Now that’s one rave I’ll join. Does that make us middle aged club kids?

  3. Aw, this makes me happy Amy! I’m glad you feel this way.
    And happy to hear you feel so good about the project, I know you’ve been working very hard on it for a long time. Big pat on the back!
    I wish I could come to your party, sounds like it will be wonderful.

    I wish I liked where I live more. I know I have to look at the
    “big picture” (i.e., Leo). And the grass is ALWAYS greener….I guess we can’t all live in Portland, right?

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