Inkwell: Authors and Artists

    
Mimi--don't worry a bit about being longwinded.  It was good to hear
from you again.  Hope that your jetlagged day at work went okay.

Re: Jem.  YAY!  You know...I went for a good chunk of my life singing
that song very wrong.  Instead of "Jem...truly outrageous.  Truly,
truly, truly outrageous! (catchy, huh?) I sand "Jem...truly debrageous.
 Truly, truly, truly debrageous!"  God knows what debrageous means.

Neil--How very cool about being recognized in the gift shop.  Do you
find it a bit frightening?  (I'm sure I would.)  Perhaps you just
randomly stumbled onto an enormous fan...of course, that plate picture
that Elaine was talking about makes it all the more spooky...
  

    
Hey folks, hope everyone carried their towel last Friday. 

Neil - Re Tiger Balm..they must have really toned down the ingredients
because a long time ago I did the same and had to cozy up to several
bags of ice. That stuff burns!  

Tree - I agree, Ewan is a god. [Remembering "The Pillow Book" movie.
*sigh*] 

VH1 plays "The Elephant Medley" from Moulin Rouge, with Ewan and
Nicole singing. It's surprisingly good.  However, I grit my damn teeth
everytime I hear that insipid cover of "Lady Marmalade." 

Arrgh! 

It has the same impact as a remake of "Casablanca."  [See..that should
make you grit too!]


Michelle - I had dinner with Walker and Andy last night, and now I'm
tempted to make a trip out to LA [..the horror!].. just to meet up with
you West Coast thingies for that part of the AG tour. Please drop me a
line and let me know wazzup. It might be doable.

Mimi - You may not believe this, but you're very lucky it was raining
when you arrived in NYC. The prior week we experienced record levels
with the pollen count, you could barely breathe outdoors and people
were miserable. 

Glad you enjoyed the vist to the MET which can certainly make up for
any of NYC's meteorological shortcomings.  ;)

T minus 3 days and counting to the BIG move. I'm slightly concerned
that I seem to have moved in with more boxes than are packed for our
departure from this place.  Ever felt like you've weeded out your life?
:O
  

    
Linda & Angelina -- do hope the hives are better.  Hope everyone is on
the mend -- seems Neil's voice is slowly returning.

Ewan McGregor sang in the film and is heard on the soundtrack to
_Velvet Goldmine_.  He also shows off quite a bit of his manhood in one
of the film's scenes. 

Seems quite a few are moving... is it in the air or just that time of
the year?  We saw a lovely little house tonight that hopefully we'll be
living in by the end of this month.  However on the negative side,
we'll probably be loosing our roomie but I think she's planned this.
She's considering purchasing a home (as she said tonight, she has
enough junk to fill a house by herself and the clutter seems to be
bothering me lately) and wanted to make sure we'd be okay.  Part of me
will be happy with living just with Mark and the other part will really
miss Ging if this does pass.  Known her since high school and have
lived with her for the past probably 6 years (out of one life and into
another). Funny... how sometimes you say something out loud and the
universe takes you up on it.  Gah!  Just had to burble.

Suzanne
(who needs to get some sleep since more cleaning is to be done before
the Kiwi invasion hits on Friday)
  

    
I'm home...

Copy of AMERICAN GODS waiting for me when I got here. It's bigger than
I remember.

Also it was apparently cold and rainy for the last ten days, so I'm
proud to announce the first edible radish crop I've ever grown is up --
they've always been woody and peppery before.

Bit tired.

Elaine, that sounds to me at a guess like a Jon Singer webpage. If you
hunt back in here (or possibly in topic 74) you will find Jon Singer
extensively discussed.  He makes pottery, among other things...
  

    
What do you do with edible radishes?  Salad I guess?

Welcome home.
  

    
Or make edible rose garnishes.

Glad to see you're home.  Do get some rest before the next whirlwind
tour begins!
  

    
Neil--Congrats on the safe journey home.

Maybe I've only had woody/peppery radishes...I'm not even sure of what
they should taste like.  (Unless they are supposed to taste more than
slightly nasty.)
  

    
Radishes are also quite yummy when slightly boiled (after having been
peeled). Being a "I hate radishes" person, I was rather floored when
hearing, upon asking a waiter what the incredibly yummy white things I
had been eating were, that they were boiled radishes. Turned my eating
habits upside down. (Except frog eyes. I still have moral problems
eating frog eyes [or as others refer to them, olives].) 

Tree - oooh, I so agree. Hindi Sad Diamonds makes *me* get up and
dance, and I'm afraid that can be a rather scary sight. The Cheb
Mami/Sting song (Desert Rose) has a similar effect on me - I've fallen
in love with Asian inspired music the last year or so. Talvin Singh,
State of Bengal, Shankar, Sheila Chandra.... I'm especially fond of the
Asian Underground sound that came out of England a bit ago. 

Also, I must admit that I am fond of the Lady Marmalade remix - tho
I've not seen the video for it (which could very likely change my
mind). A friends niece likes to get up and 'raise the roof' and sing at
a particular point (where Lil' Kim 'sings' 'uhuhuhuhuh') - seeing a 5
year old do this is incredibly cute!

Anyhow, it's Memorial Day and I've to return a friend to the airport
today; I should go enjoy the bath I just drew before heading off to
SeaTac to brave the crowds of incoming and outgoing people.

Cheers!
-Kelly
  

    
Um.  Hello.  I've been reading most of the posts here, as well as
several posts from a previous Neil Gaiman topic.  I decided it was time
for me to pay the fee and mingle with you fine folks for a while.  I'm
very happy to discover that this place exists, and I look forward to
posting here many more times in the future.

-Joseph
  

    
Do have a question about readings/signings -- how long do they
normally last?  I've been to book signings and those are usually over
in about an hour or so (depending on the author).  With this in mind
giving myself approximately 2-3 hour.  However if it were in Brazil, it
seems I'd have to plan for the whole day.  My problem is the airlines
& flight times. Would really dislike walking out in the middle of a
reading.  Sooooo... any educated information would truly be a help.

Suzanne
(who really doesn't hope this becomes a road trip from hell since
she's already experienced one for Tori, which did end well and with a
hug but the start was nasty.)
  

    
Neil - Glad to see you've made it home in one happy piece. Tiger Balm
tends to *make* me cough, but then I'm with Rocky ("it tastes like
burning" <-- gotta love Ralph Wiggum). Radishes are fine when they
aren't hard as a rock, but rhubarb... bleccchh! Never could understand
the appeal. Book sounds as though it's as yummy to look at as it is to
read (now to just have a copy in my little hands).

Rocky - When I spoke to Walker yesterday I instructed him to give you
a hug from me. So, was he good or do I have to punish him? :) As for
California, do you really have to ask? Get that booty over here girl!
The rest of us seem to be planning a convergence at Book Soup, so that
would be my suggestion. And it looks like I'll be renting a room for
that night for... ?... people. Eep, but this may turn into a
mini-ConCat! Good luck with the move.

Kelly - You left out Ofra Haza. ;P

squeaks, who feels like growling right now. (RAAAAAWWRRRR!)
  

    
Oooh, rhubarb & radishes... altho not together. I LOVE rhubarb,
especially in strawberry rhubarb pie, where the sugar tones it down
quite a bit, and have a rhubarb cake for my b-day sitting on the
counter. I also have been known to astonish and disgust family members
by taking a bite of the to-be-prepared rhubarb. Usually elicits cries
of "Oh, God, how can you STAND that???"
  

    
MMMMm....rhubarb pie.  My absolute favorite.  Did anyone else notice
how much we talk about food and or drinks?  Not that I'm complaining. 
Carry on, carry on.
  

    
>I also have been known to astonish and disgust family members
>by taking a bite of the to-be-prepared rhubarb

Uncooked is the only way I can stand rhubarb.  Baked goods concerning
rhubarb are shoved far into family-reunion area of my tastebuds, along
with lutefisk and pickled herring.  *tremble*

Radishes, however, have long ranked as one of my favotire foods.  I've
always wanted to try a radish-based juice drink.  People neglet
vegtables in the juicing process far too much, methinks.
  

    
FYI, for those of you who liked "Memento" and have WELL accounts, there's an
excellent discussion of it over in the Movies conference.
  

    
Neil--welcome home!  If the weather in Minnesota has been anything
like as lovely as here in  Chicago, yes, it's been rainy & COLD.  Glad
it made for good radishes, at least.

Joseph--Welcome!

Will--Welcome!

Rocky, and all others who are moving--Good luck!   Mine was horrible,
so maybe yours will be good to make up for it.  Rocky--did you buy? 
Condo or house?  Tell all! 

Kelly--Which Shankar?  Ravi, Kumar, or Ravi's daughter whose name I
can't remember?  I just moved into the coolest neighborhood.  It' a mix
of Hasidic Jews, Indians, Eastern Europeans & African immigrants.  The
shops are incredible.  (The tea...!!)  My favorite grocery store plays
Ravi Shankar's ragas while you shop.  It was like being in a Satyajit
Ray film.  I didn't want to move initially, but I love my new
neighborhood.  Not a yuppie in sight!  And I can't wait to start trying
the Indian restaurants.  I don't know anything about Indian food, so
it's gonna be fun.

We do talk a lot about food in here, don't we?  

  Mary, off to eat (just read Thirty-Nothing by Lisa Jewell)
  

    
Michelle - I don't blame you for everything. Just disco, both Bush
presidencies, and the presence of Keaneu Reeves in Much Ado About
Nothing. I don't blame you at all for the existance of Jar Jar Binks...
that's obviously Erynn's fault.

Cheeze squad - Oy... Despair is peeking out from my windows and
chewing on some cheddar. Actually.. that's not true. I've been entirely
too busy closing my show and being in love to worry overmuch about the
change in my diet. Just wait until I get a craving for lasagna,
though... then you'll hear me whining.

Neil - I think most people are allergic to Los Angeles.
On an unrelated note, you might be interested to know that I've been
feeding my girlfriend Sandman (she's about to start The Wake) for the
last few months and she used the Prez story from World's End as the
basis for her paper in her gnosticism class. I haven't had the
priviledge of reading her paper yet, but I saw the e-mail her professor
sent about it, saying how intrigued he was by it and how he had missed
Sandman because he had stopped reading comics right as it was coming
out.. but now he might need to get caught up on what he missed.
I think your writing is viral, Neil.. it just seems to spread of its
own volition.

Oh! And I wanted to actually ask you something. She picked up the most
recent copy of Lucifer, and the comic shop news had a big one page ad
for this 'lil Endless story coming out... I was wondering how you felt
about it? It looks like they're taking the Delerium/Barabbas story from
Kindly Ones and using it as a springboard....

Neil-Martha - Wow, that is trippy. I think I'd have a hard time
recognizing anybody that I'd only seen in still photographs. There's
just something so different between seeing a still image and a moving,
breathing person... although, Neil, if you were wearing your leather
jacket and I heard you say something ... then I would probably realize
why you looked familiar and go into immediate fan-boy mode.

And congrats on the radishes.

Joseph - Welcome aboard!

Michelle again - Ralph Wiggum! During one of my shows, there was a
small Ralph Wiggum cult forming. "My cat's breath smells like cat food"
was some sort of mantra...

Will - Welcome!

On movies - Haven't seen Memento or Moulin Rouge yet.. but did catch
Shrek yesterday afternoon. Wonderful, occasionally mean-spirited (but
at the right targets) fun... it doesn't hold up too well to political
deconstruction, but its sins are no worse than those of 95% of things
that come out of Hollywood.

Dan
  

    
E-mail from Stone Meul:

Hello, I wrote an e-mail earlier with a correction for the journal and I
realised that I probably spelled Neil's name wrong and I just wanted to
apologize. I have never been known to have good spelling ( Or grammar for
that matter) but that is no excuse. My friends were amazed that I could
possibly spell his name wrong since  I talk about him as if he is a god.
  

    
Mary - Anoushka, I think.

Dan - disco only got so popular because I tried to put a *stop* to it
and someone misunderstood me. As for Keanu, nothing wrong with having
him in movies if you turn the sound off (unless you're talking the
first Bill n' Ted - need to have the sound on for that). He's pretty.
:) 

Favourite Ralphisms - "I look like cable."
"That's where I saw the leprechaun. He tells me to burn things."
"Sleep. I'm a Viking there."
"Lisa's bad dancing makes my feet sad."

Stone - But can you pronounce Neil's last name correctly?

squeaks, who is trying to keep happy thoughts
  

    
I turned on the tv last night and there was Douglas Adams, acting out
the part of a nearly-extinct bird trying very hard not to mate because
that was the only way it knew to deal with anything.  It was a lecture
entitled "Parrots, the Universe, and Everything", or something to that
effect.  I found it extremely fascinating.

I woke up this morning with thoughts of an old, dear friend whom I
haven't heard from in a few years; lo and behold I turned on NPR and
she was being interviewed.

Joseph -- Welcome.
  

    
There is of course, no such thing as edible radishes in my mind. My
view of the world just doesn't allow for such things...
  

    
Beets and brussel sprouts are also in the summarily non-existent
catagory. When it comes to salads for me it's all about the mushrooms
and bell peppers. Red peppers, green peppers, bannana peppers... that's
Good Eatin. (heavy Texas accent applied)
  

    
Hello all.  Back in the big City, but seriously contemplating getting
out of it again.  Had a great time this weekend; I missed towel day,
but I got a great edition of Hitchhiker, so *that's* okay.  On a sad
note, I discovered that the Word Perfect program on my computer no
longer works.  I've got my novels saved elsewhere, obviously, but I
still felt more than a little saddened that my only writing instrument
in six years is now a $2500 paperweight.  But oh well.

Joseph- Welcome.

Dan- I saw Shrek this weekend, too.  Do you know the muffin man,
perchance?  Thought it was very good, and any film that ends with a
Monkees song is okay in my book.

Kelly- (on Lady Marmalade)... The video's not bad, the song's not bad,
but God help us all on raising the roof.

Suzanne- Saw Velvet Goodmine solely because Eddie Izzard was in it,
and even *he* didn't convince me to like it.
Speak of Eddie Izzard, got the uncut "Dressed to Kill" recently, and
am looking forward to "Live at the Ambassadors".  The stuff HBO cut
from "Dressed" was largely understandable, except for "Did you hear,
Neil, rock's up three points on the market.  No it's not, is it?  Cause
it's *#&%*# rock!"  So I now own, even if I don't possess, all of the
Eddie Izzard videos (and I can't wait until Circles comes out, because
I went to see it live and it rocked the house).

On rhubarb- My grandmother makes *the best* rhubarb pie.

Neil- Glad the trip was good, and the voyage safe.  Very cool that you
got recognized, I think.  I might recognize you if I saw you.  I know
I'd recognize Dean Koontz, and Stephen King, but only because I started
reading them both in sixth grade.  I've only recently discovered you
(in fact, to be honest, I didn't read Sandman at all when it was out. 
I was too busy reading Scott Lobdell's run on X-MEN.  I didn't pick you
up until I read that Jim Henson Productions had picked up Neverwhere.
I never looked back.)  I loved your quote of George Harrison, about how
the Beatles never experienced *THE BEATLES*.  And I agree with you on
Wizard, too (I'm referring to the Brazilian interview here, for anyone
who hasn't read it.  It's over at the Dreaming).  They used to be *way*
funny, and entertaining, but then they stopped.

Oh, and I've been reading WATCHMEN, and haven't yet figured out what
everyone else is talking about.  I saw Three to Tango, and enjoyed it,
and I think I got gypped on a Shakespeare in Love DVD.  It *says*
collector's edition, but there doesn't seem to be any commentary.  I
just finished A HEARTBREAKING WORK OF STAGGERING GENIUS, which wasn't,
but was still good, and just started OUTSIDE THE DOG MUSEUM, which I
must read more than fifty pages of before I can commit to a feeling on
it.

-Will, who worked on his solo all weekend, and who's got it almost
down, with three weeks to go, but is still nonetheless intimidated.
  

    
Email from JaNell:

Jinx - Re: the restaurant incident. I've never been back there, not JUST
because the service sucked, but I'm afraid they might figure out it was
us!

JaNell
  

    
Re edible radishes: I don't believe in faeries or gods walking among us,
either, but I'll read about them when Neil writes about them.