Inkwell: Authors and Artists

    
Neither flying nor invisibility appeal to me.  I wouldn't fly because
I am terrified of heights and also... if you are going 1000 mph, that
is a lot of bugs hitting your face at a very high speed.
I wouldn't like being invisible because I would forget when I was and
try to talk to people and be constantly wondering why the heck they
were freaking out.  Isn't there some sort of third option?  Like the
ability to Turn Base Metals Into The Finest Chocolate?  I need more
sleep.

Jen.
  

    
Jeez o Pete!  I don't think flying 1000mph would be that fun.  Hate to
think what said bugs would do to you at that speed.  Not to mention
just friction from the air.  I mean thats only bout 1/15th the speed of
reentry for the space shuttle, but still.

Jen -- About people not remembering when they're invisible, brings a
funny picture into my head.  Somebody speaks out and is surprised when
everyone turns toward them.  "Oh, I'm sorry, was I visible when I said
that?"
  

    
Great haiku, Len.
  

    

Love the haiku.

And I'd hope that, while one might have a max speed of 1000mph while flying,
one could choose to travel slower than that.
  

    
Email from Mary Roane:

Judgement, blowjob, kebab and wintry, but I think I read too many English
authors. ;-)
 
I think I would take either invisibility or flying if I could get people
to pay to see me do it, thereby removing the need for a day job ( or, in
my case, two ).  God, I'm mercenary!
 
Loved Sinful--thanks for the link!
 
Len--outstanding haiku.  You rule.
 
Have had American Gods pre-ordered since *last May*, but I'm not impatient
at all!
 
Neil--any feedback on the tour?  Did you get lots of requests?
 
"K., I love you space-lady, bye-bye!
 
                                                        Mary(who just
finished Kindred by Octavia Butler & is totally blown away)
  

    
Len - I may have to start up a 'notes from the Well' spot on my
webpage for gems like that. :) Now I can go to sleep happily. :)

squeaks, who really didn't need to bounce quite so much as she did at
the club tonight.
  

    
Email from Jouni Koponen:

About invisibility versus flying- I'd prefer flying (but in that
traditional 'spread your your wings and fly' sense). It would be so cool
to circle above the trees and buildings... (sigh) free as a bird...
(sniff)

Oh, that reminded me... I'm currently reading Hayao Miazaki's Nausicad of
the Valley of Wind and it's truly AMAZING! It's one of the best graphic
novels I've ever laid my eyes on. So if you haven't already read it...
well, just do it. It's worth it.

And now I would very much like to see Princess Mononoke...

By the way. Is there a comics version of Princess Mononoke or just a
movie?

Jouni Koponen
  

    
Angelina -- what is the difference between Cincinatti style chili and
all the others?

Daniel -- I'd kind of assumed that the flying was superman flying or
flying in dreams flying  (ie -- no cold, no bugs in face or tearing,
just gliding elegantly through the air).  

I sent Theresa littleton at Amazon an early version of the jacket copy
of American Gods to put up on their site, so they have something more
than just the cover.

Len -- marvellous Haiku.

Jen -- loved "turn base metals into chocolate"

mary -- the sci fi channel's seeing ear theatre has done an audio
version of Kindred, which will be downloadable from pretty soon now.

Jouni -- I believe there is a Mononoke comic, although I've not seen
it.
  

    
Cincinnati style chili is God's gift to the Greeks.  
  

    
Judgement, blowjob, kabob, wintry. And flying. (Somebody mentioned
going really slow with flying... makes it, technically, levitating
right? Still cool.) And nice haiku, Len.

Nausicaa and Mononoke Hime - Jouni - Haven't come across manga
Mononoke Hime, though the Nausicaa manga seems to have become something
of a classic. (Did a quick search on www.amazon.co.jp, and all they
have is the 'film comic' version, which means they take frames from the
movie and lay them out in panels on the page, published by Animage.)
Have you tried comparing the two movies thematically? Quite
interesting... lots of the same elements but handled differently,
earlier vs later part of Miyazaki's career, coming full circle etc etc
(too tired to write coherently, sorry)... Do check out his other
stuff!! Especially recommend Laputa, Tonari no Totoro (My Neighbour
Totoro) and Majo no Takkyuubin (Kiki's Delivery Service).

Gah. Drained. Bed. X_X

-- Mimi
  

    
Jouni -- oops, that was what I meant: there was no Mononoke Manga, but
there was a comic of film stills.

Mimi -- the ribena pastilles arrived! Thank you for them and the stuff
that came with them. I'll go and find you something fun in return...
(Would you like one of this year's Xmas things? It's the story of the
Emperor and the Maps, which never mkade it into American Gods.)

Alas, they weren't the 1960s UK Ribena pastilles. I had high hopes
that some distant outpost of Ribena still made them... but alas, no.
Gone forever, like old English flavoured Spangles. 
  

    
Angelina-- was stuck for a miserable week in the outskirts of Ft.
Lauderdale, FL.  Skyline Chili and a mega-Barnes and Noble were the
only things that got me through.  I'm dubious about serving chili on
pasta, but the cinnamon and oregano thing is dead on.

Thanks all for positive haiku vibes. Michelle, I would be honored to
be published in such a manner one day.

Did anybody see Frontline last night?  Very interesting documentary
about marketing to teens... kind of creepy.
  

    
Neil--  had a conversation with some friends recently about Sandman;
we were talking about how you seemed to have sympathy for all of your
characters-- even the ones who, in other hands, might have been simply
evil-for-evil's-sake.

Which is what makes Sandman, to me, so wonderful and so tragic-- the
fact that Lyta, Thessaly, even the Furie..er... The Kindly Ones (sorry,
Ladies!) are all acting from pain or duty that we understand and can
sympathize with.  It's what makes your work so human (and I mean that
in a really big, put-Morpheus-up-there-with-Falstaff
-and-Leo Bloom-sense.)

So my question is-- do you have any characters in Sandman who you
consider to be simply evil?  Are there any characters in Sandman that
you just don't like?  Or have you found away to like everyone you've
created?
  

    
> old English flavoured Spangles
I would love to know what that tastes like!
  

    
>English flavoured Spangles

Ok,...the only spangles I know of are old fashioned sequins....

Jouni~ I've seen everything Miazaki has done and the humor and beauty
combined is wonderful. If you can get your hands on it watch My
Neighbor Totoro, it's one of my favorites. 
The following sites are great for info.

http://www.ntv.co.jp/ghibli/

http://www.nausicaa.net/miyazaki/

My all time favorite however was only planned by Miazaki, but directed
by Takahata, it's called Pom Poko (Heisei Tanuki Gassen Pompoko) 
This link http://www.studioghibli.net/pompoko/story.html has the
story, but it does contain a lot of spoliers.

Mary ~ welcome for the Sinfest link, it always makes me smile.

Neil~ blowjob, and judgement, the others I don't have an opinion on.
I don't want to fly, I'd like to telaport, but if I get to pick, I
want to put my accident prone nature to a greater good, throw my jinx
at the bad guy and watch then go down insteed of me.

Jinx who is currently nursing a broken toe,....please don't ask
  

    
Jinx -- you know, your disaster-proneness is practically a super power
in itself.

Len -- I didn't like the serial killer fan in Sandman 14 very much;
nor was I much of a fan of the Robespierre and the St. Just I wrote
about in Thermidor (neither of whom are necessarily the historical
realities of the characters). I think the Pontifex in Cluracan's story
was something of a caricature, although I recently read a lovely book
called Vicars of Christ by Peter De Rosa which reminded me just how bad
the bad popes were, and how much went wrong when they tried to wield
temporal power. (A fascinating book -- his thesis seems to be that in
most cases the Good popes were worse than the bad. The Bad wanted to
get laid, eat a lot, and make sure their kids got to be cardinals. The
good tended to kill Jews, authorise massacres, forge documents for the
greater good, and so forth.)

But most of my characters start in me and finish in me, and once
you've seen them from the inside it's hard to hate them.
  

    
Linda -- Old English flavoured spangles. Hmm... they were a boiled
sweet -- Spangles that is -- and Old English flavour tasted faintly
like a medicinal humbug. Does that help?

I did a web search and the best I could find was
http://tv.cream.org/arkcrest.htm
which is a british site for people looking for unpleasant foods you
can't get any more.
  

    
have changed mind.  if third superpower optional, want ability to make
the last couple weeks of school be done.  or at least make the work
for them be done.  also thought of another one against flying... have
to remember not to wear skirts.  and if i had the chocolate one, it
would probably all turn out to be white chocolate.  

Jen, falling asleep.
  

    
ooh, was gonna say... speaking of candy, anyone know where I can get
some Bonkers?  I remember really liking em when I was about 4 but
haven't seen them in a looong time.

Jen
  

    
Neil -- Ah, Superman type flight, now that I would take.  The nigh
invulnerability would be peachy.

Jinx -- I agree, Totoro is damn good.

Jen -- I think I remember Bonkers.  They were a chewy candy with two
flavors, one around the other, right?  Dunno where to get em though.
  

    
This is just goofy enough that some of y'all might get a kick out of
it.

http://www.stileproject.com/base.html

The above link is safe for all audiences.  Be warned however that the
stile project site is not.
  

    
Hmmm, with the option of random superpowers:
I think I would choose the one that makes our raises at work
retroactive to our review dates (or at least retroactive to the dates
the other branches got their raises), and the X-mas bonuses actually
arrive before the end of the year, and the cds would secure themselves
so I could work less than 11 hours in a given day. But that could just
be me venting. I dunno. ;-/

Jinx - I'm starting to think you collect injuries like I collect knots
in my muscles. :)

squeaks, who once had rope knots in her back so brutal that someone
mistook one of them for her spine.
  

    
You sound like <madman>. I'm amazed he gets anything done, what with the
knots in his back and shoulders.
  

    

<gorey> beat me to commisserating with squeaks about her back. I have also
had people say, "That's _not_ your spine?"

And yup, sounds like venting to me. Not that there's anything wrong with
venting or, indeed, with that as a superpower.

I think if I had to choose a work related superpower it would involve
smiting upper management, or maybe getting the CEO to butt out.
  

    
        Okay, everyone, flight or superspeed?  Assume a running speed greater
than the flight speed would be.