Inkwell: Authors and Artists

    
For amusement's sake:  a little story I posted to the Plumage conf. is
presently being used for WELL promotion on Salon.com's page.  A
warning, though, that it involves chickens, and my underwear.  Had I
known that more than 15 Plumagerians would be reading it, I'd've done a
bit more tweaking-of-grammar, rather than simply banging it out and
posting it raw.  In any case, it's there, should you have a need to
laugh at/with someone you know. 
  

    
Ai! My Vertigo Tarot was just dropped in my lap.

Happiness is a stack of Dave McKean artworks!

Martha - No, theatre people in SF are definitely not in it for the
money, although C.A.F.E. does pay the actors a stipend. It works out to
something like... $1 an hour... something like that.
  

    
O.K., I'm back.

Santo Domingo is lovely.  I was shocked to learn, however, that
apparently something occurred there for which Montezuma is still
extracting revenge. The inside of my hotel room was not nearly as
attractive as the rest of the D.R........I spent most of the week in
bed.  I would like to be there still, but I had a 14 hour day to put in
on my first day back.  So I will attempt to keep this brief, as I
suspect I am still delirious.

There are no obvious copies of AG in the Miami airport.  Nor were
there any in the Santo Domingo airport.  However, in O'Hare, one can
find it prominently displayed at Waterstone's on the front table.  And
on an end cap at...bugger all....oh, hell, forgot the name of the shop.
 However, my buddy JT, who went with me to the Carribean, was so sick
of hearing me go on about the ruddy book that he bought a copy from
those nice people.  So when we got to Waterstone's, I had to buy a copy
of "Kavelier & Clay" to reward them for having the taste to display AG
so prominently.  Logical, non?

The entire time we were in Santo Domingo, one or the other of us would
suddenly pipe up, appropos of nothing--"If you cannot talk of Martha,
what's the point of having speech?"--having watched some of the vid
before we left.

Jinx--break a leg!

Len--"Hamlet, the Musical" was written by that great team, Heinsplatt
& DeSelza, of course! (Sorry, it's one of the conceits of the show). 
Actually, it was Jeff Richmond and Michael Thomas. 

Um, there's probably lots more, but I'm pooped.  Oh, yeah, loved the
Terry Gilliam e-mail.  The man is a god.  I sort of liked the Bollywood
idea.........

So much for brief!

Mary (reading Disobedience by Jane Hamilton)
  

    
Neil - it's not so much the amount of people in the crowd as it is the
... oh, this is going to come out much colder than I really mean it...
annoyance factor of the crowd? I have no problems with fans being,
well, fans and screaming and crying and all that. I think it's great.
But when they're screaming right in your ear over every song and crying
and blowing their noses on your sleeve with no warning... it's a bit
much for me. (<-- and these examples were my own experiences asking
'how was the show' after her last stint in SF)

Still. I've never seen her and I'm looking very much forward to it!

Martha - If the tickets are up for grabs while I'm at BM, you won't be
the only one groveling... (crossed fingers that the local wea reps
REALLY love me)

squeaks, who is supposed to be desert-bound on Wednesday, but doesn't
see it actually working out that way...
  

    
I've never seen Tori, and I'd love to, but don't think it's going to
happen...
A lot of Knoxville fans are disappointed that she's not coming here as
she usually does.
  

    
Adriana ~ Thanks for the advice, I did about the same as your husband,
and got cut in the final round. It was myself, a very cute older woman
from Boston with a huge accent, a professional magic-type guy, this
drop dead beautiful man, a very preppy law student named Mitzi,and two
others that didn't stand out in my mind. I wore black and looked like
my typical odd self, missed two questions. One was "What do you get on
the 10th day of Christmas, in the song the 12 Days of Christmas", and
"What is the bird you're said to have around your next if you're in a
bad situation/depressed" I knew the second was an albatross, but
couldn't think of the name, was going through seasgull,
pelican,....storks,....I knew it was a water bird. It was a written
test and I had to fill in the black and knew it right after I wrote
seagull.
I took American Gods with me to re-read and was accosted several times
by people wondering if was any good, and had a biker guy hit onme
because I was the second girl he'd seen woth the novel. Said he was
going to read it but was going in order and had to read Neverwhere
first. He didn't beleive me when I said it didn't matter.
I had a decent time and was amazed at how many people brought their
kids. Got lunch of an old b/f and had a rotten drive home due to a
nasty thunderstorm. Finally tracked down some red eyeshadow I'd been
looking for and didn't stress out my bad knee to much standing in line
for 2 hours.

Thank you for all the best wishes!!!!

Neil ~ You forgot the e :)

Jinx who gets asked less how to spell Jinx then she does her other
name
  

    
     Patrick -- you're right, of course.  Long time ago, told to me
second-hand, and not something I've cherished greenly in memory.
     I -was,- however, directly told by a buyer for B. Dalton that
they didn't like the Sanjulian cover, because they "didn't know what
section of the store to put it in."

     Neil -- when did we see Tori in downtown Mpls?  I know that was
at least partly Just Her and A Piano (I remember it as mostly, but it's
been a long long day full of long long plane flights -- sitting on the
SLC runway while the supercell bears down on you is an, uh,
interesting experience), and it doesn't seem like it can have been
seven years.  Though see previous aside.
     
  

    
Bill -- any comment? Sure. You're right, that's certainly how it
seems. 

Patrick - I believed it, only because the people who explained it to
me -- then senior editorial people at H/C -- didn't seem to think there
was anything odd, let alone wrong, about being told what to do by the
warehouse manager, although they did say I wasn't the only one to
grumble about it. It wasn't presented as buck passing or even an excuse
-- It Was policy. They Needed the Space.

Mary - my sympathies on Montezuma's revenge. 

My son Mike said words to the effect of "Whoa dad. That egg is not
cooked. Way to get salmonella dude," a couple of days ago. (I was
teaching him to poach eggs, as he goes to college tomorrow as a grown
up. Egg number one wasn't cooked so I did the Dad thing & ate it.
"Whoa. Living dangerously dad," said Mike.)  

I spent the night with gradually increasing astonishment as I learned
just how much vomit can one out of one adult male writer. 

And am still recovering. Sigh.

Michelle -- well, if I ever happen to be next to you at a Tori show, I
promise neither to cry nor to blow my nose on your sleeve. And martha
won't either.

Tracey -- oops.

Mike  -- I thought that when we saw her that time she brought Steve
Caton on to play guitar for a couple of numbers.  That would have been
about 5 years ago, because, if memory serves, that was the one where
she dedicated Frog on my Toe to Maddy, who was walking but not talking
much...
  

    
http://www.nationalpost.com/search/story.html?f=/stories/20010804/637258.html&
qs=gaiman

it's from a Canadian paper and I have only the very faintest memories
of writing the replies at some point on the tour...
  

    
But Mike will go off to college secure in the evidence that he is indeed
smarter than his dad.
  

    
    Neil -- I came in late; apologies.  I'd understood it to be any
instance of Tori/Piano/Solo, not an entire concert in said mode.  For
lo, there was accompaniment.  And indeed Maddy was there, and Quite
Small.
     My friends' children seem to grow up in a nonlinear fashion --
one doesn't notice changes for years, and abruptly someone's going to
college.  I'm definitely going to get a story out of this someday, but
i don't yet know what it is.  It seems to stop after a certain point, i
suppose because the timescale of physical change is both different and
closer to what is happening to oneself, which tends to be
imperceptible unless something drastic happens.
     A few weeks ago we saw PRINCELET, HAM OF DENMARK at the Guthrie,
in an RSC tour with Peter McEnery as Claudius.  When he came out, I was
recalling the last time I'd seen him on stage, as Grandier in
Whiting's THE DEVILS, and thought, wow, he looks so much older.  Then I
recalled that was seventeen years ago.
  

    
    Martha -- EVERY male human being who goes to college does so in
the certain knowledge that he knows more than his dad.  For that
matter, those who -don't- go to college go to whatever it is they go to
believing likewise.  It's on the Y chromosome somewhere between fried
pork rinds and trucs with seven feet of ground clearance.
  

    
er, "trucks."  "Truc" is French for "knack," which is not what I meant
at all, though Jerry Lewis would have done brilliant things with it.
  

    
I saw Tori once live; the Alanis double concert.  I went for Alanis,
and my sister went for Tori.  She was good that night, and I enjoyed
it, but I've since become a Toriphile, and in no small part because of
the Well.  I think it was To Venus and Back that cemented it for me.

Neil- My grandfather used to make me what he called "Egg in Milks,"
which is pretty much what it sounds like, with vanilla and sugar, in a
blender.  Of course, he passed away when I was five, so this was before
Salmonella became such a Big Thing.

Jinx- I've always wanted to see a Very Beautiful Girl reading
STARDUST, simply because that would probably give me the best opening I
could hope for, and she would, of course, be someone worth talking to.
 I've yet to, though.

Michelle- I went to an Alanis concert once with a bad crowd.  People
moshed, and she actually looked out at them, and paused, and said,
"This is so not about moshing."  That was cool.  I've never been used
as a handkerchief, though.

Mary and Neil- glad you're both recovering.

And Neil- Wish Mike luck.  It's such a cool time; I'm just 23, with
two younger siblings, and so many people I know are going away and
starting this fall.  All the best to any of them who might read this.

-Will, who's *Much* smarter than my father. <grin>
  

    
Neil:
You should come with a warning label.
  

    
Neil:  strangely, I too am recovering from a ruinous egg a few days
ago.  IT'S LIKE WE'RE THE SAME!  except completely different.

Jinx:  sounds like you did a great job!  did they tell you when you
might be notified?
  

    
I’ve been in hell.  Couldn’t connect to The Well since Friday, due
either to the hardware move or to some incomprehensible snafu on our
server.  It was almost as bad as quitting smoking.  My fingertips
started tingling the same way.

<big, sucking inhalation>

Ahhh.  That’s much better.

I missed everybody!  

Jinx: I’m sorry to have missed your great TV adventure.  I confess
that I can’t stand the show; it’s so gleefully mean.  So I’m really
just happy that you got the opportunity to do something you wanted to,
had some fun and exited with your self-respect in tact.  Brava!

JennyB/<squeaks>: I’m so relieved!  I’m not alone in my
concert-phobia.  It’s embarrassing when people know that you’re really
into somebody’s music and they’re in town and you don’t go.  I still
don’t have a good response worked out.  Luckily (or not), I’m old
enough now that people assume it’s because I’ve grown up and have
Responsibilities.  More fools them.

<squeaks>/Kelly/Dan, et al.: Hope you all have a blast at BM!

Rebecca, re: Salon.com--Ohmigod, that was funny!  I’m soooo sorry, but
all in the name of artistic inspiration...!  Are you on the upswing
from your illness, yet?  Can we send you anything?  (BTW, did they ask
you before posting it up on the website?  I hope you say yes.)

Neil:  <wince>  I had to give up the Fine Family Tradition of eating
raw chocolate chip cookie dough years ago, because of salmonella.  I
can’t tell you how excited I was when I realized that you could make
cookie dough with reconstituted egg whites—no danger!

Will Mike be near or far away?  Hope he loves it.  Does he have a
major in mind?

Also, thanks for your response about writing (over on 116 before it
froze over).  Even though it depressed the hell out of me.

Everyone-General Question: Am I the only one (other than JaNell, who’s
already admitted to it) who struggles regularly with deciding what
level of personal exposure is appropriate here?  

I find myself constantly in dire danger of writing things like how
driving home in the evenings over Sepulveda is like sex, and then
deciding that a) no one really needs to know this, b) even Bilquis
scenes could probably not make that on-topic, even here, and c) I
should probably call my friends more often.  But they don’t want to
know that either, actually, even over margaritas.  Which is why this
medium becomes so seductive.  Writing it is different than saying it,
in my world anyway.

Is this a function of being relatively new to the online posting
world?  Will I Get Over It?  And what will happen when I do?  Anybody
care to comment/share?

-P
"A worthwhile god is one you live for."
-Terry Pratchett
  

    
Adriana slipped.  <wince> for you, too.  I'm cheering you on for your
screenplay!
  

    <scribbled>
  

    
(the above was a mercy scribble, I forgot the no HTML thing)

Pamela - you missed me? I thought that no one even noticed I was
gone...

Oh, about "Am I the only one (other than JaNell, who?s
already admitted to it) who struggles regularly with deciding what
level of personal exposure is appropriate here?"

I admit everything and win by relaxing. 
On the other hand, I don't admit *to* everything, which in my
vernacular means that I don't volunteer everything. There's always
gonna be surprises...

So, maybe a good rule of thumb is:
Will you be mortified if your spouse/child/mom/boss/friends/child's
teacher read it?
It's going to be here forever...
  

    
Neil- I hope you're feeling better.

I was browsing EBay yesterday and I noticed that someone was bidding,
like, $35.00 for the Sandman script that you can download for free at
The Dreaming. I e-mailed them a nice letter explaining this, and they
thanked me. I told them about this place too. It's nice to enlighten
people. 

Janell- how could we *not* notice?

Yesterday was my Birthday. I am now the big 23. 

Today is Tori's Birthday. Happy Birthday!

Erynn, who is smarter than her dad, though, that's not saying much.
  

    
Happy birthday, Erynn!

Today is Tori's birthday?  Cool! Then she and I are birthday twins, because
it's my birthday too! I just got back last night from celebrating with Mike
in Las Vegas, along with another birthday twin, Will Shetterly. (I think
we're all different years, but the same day.) Emma and I talked of American
Gods, and of Endicott Peabody and (especially when Steve Brust was in the
entourage, as he was the first evening) of Doc Holliday, and we had a whee
of a time. Emma and Will say hi to everybody. So do Debbie Notkin and Alan
Bostick, who took Mike and me to see Cirque du Soleil's "O", which was
splendid beyond words, and possessed of unearthly and lifechanging beauty. I
came home resolved to Make Much Art.

Also, there was a loud and heartfelt chorus of "Thank you, Neil!" from our
crew after we enjoyed the other excellent theatrical event that was your
gift, followed by an even louder chorus of "Thank you, Lorraine!!" when Emma
and Debbie and Mike simultaneously pointed out that Fabulous (as Mike refers
to her) did the nitty-gritty arranging work. She's a peach, and I'm glad she
works for y'all. And you are a very sweet guy, and just basically a lovely
person. (That, by the way, is consensus from the gang.) It helped make this
the bestest birthday ever. (And given that I've had birthdays that included
things like Maya Angelou sending us a round of wine, that's saying
something. It's true, though.)

Elise,
in happy/tired/celebratory/taking-it-easy/unpacking lioness mode

P.S. The Tori concert I went to with you and Mike and everybody was the
first time I ever saw her or heard her music, and I am so so so grateful
for being introduced to her work. Dunno if I've ever thanked you for that,
so here's thanks now, just in case. I bought a book about her a while back,
and it had some really cool quote about doing elfmagic stuff, and it's been
inspiring and really important to know she thinks that way too... speaking
of elfmagic and fairy godmother stuff, I wound up making earrings on the
plane for the flight attendants (I always travel with tools and beads) and a
magic necklace, figuring that they could use a little good surprising
because the weather was providing enough bad surprising. They were really
happy, and wound up bringing me and Mr. Ford a huge bag of goodies as a
present (beer! wine! fancy first-class almonds!) to take home, and one of
them told me I glowed when I got on the plane, and it all made me think of
the happy bits of stories you've written, and of that photograph from Guy
Fawkes day that you said was clear proof of elfness. Elfosity? Anyhow, it
just feels right now as if the best thing about life is having a chance to
make fine things and give them to people, because it's like it keeps all the
good energy circulating, the good energy that came in through the beautiful
scary gorgeous writing and music and art and performance and design and
science of all the people that make stuff that delights and wonders me. (My
grammar, as Juan once pointed out, is again of no country. But you know what
I mean, right?)

Oh, and Emma mentioned your story about finding stuff in charity shops, as
did some other good person recently (Jo Walton, maybe? Debbie Notkin?), and
I do believe that it's entered the lexicon as a reference for certain types
of beautiful gravitas when faced with synchronicity that might daunt or
fluster most mere mortals. Or something like that. I am full of birthday and
drunk on words, and looking forward to dinner tonight with Juan, who also
sends hellos to all and sundry good folk.

(P.S. I remember a long time ago being at dinner with you and everybody,
just before your esteemed lady wife was due with Maddy, and we were all
talking about names, and I mentioned one I liked that started with a B. You
got kind of a funny look, and said that yes, it was a very fine name, but
that it might wind up in something, so you were saving it. I was, um, just
curious as to whether it wound up in anything while I wasn't looking,
because if it did, I've got a trip to Dreamhaven to make. Hey, wait a minute
-- it's my birthday! I'm going to Dreamhaven no matter what; woo-hoo! Juan
said to pick something fun, so this certainly fits the bill.)
  

    
Squeaks... I was recently at a Stevie Nicks concert, which was
fabulous. Except for one part. The guy behind us. The sobbingly drunk
guy who was alternating between using his boyfriends shirt as a tissue
and screaming, at the top of his lungs "BRING... HER... OOOUUUT..."
every time she went offstage. (This was especially annoying while
trying to enjoy the dual-drummer solo.) If she was on stage, instead of
enjoying the music, he was screaming "LAAAAAAANDSLIDE" at the top of
his voice. Nevermind that we were in the back of the Key Arena, and any
chance of her hearing him over all the other people, or even her
backup musicians, was nil. (Either that, or he thought some of us
around him had Some Sort of Influence.)

She didn't play Landslide, and she eventually stopped coming back on
stage. The house lights rose, and he stood there sobbing and loudly
proclaiming to everyone in range that she had to come back, she hadn't
played his song.


It was, to say the least, a frustrating 2hrs of an otherwise enjoyable
show.


... I am desperately hoping Tori tickets have the good decency to go
on sale *after* I am back from Burning Man, but have a feeling they
will go on sale Sept 4, while I am still gone. Because that's just my
luck.

I leave for BM in a little over 48 hours. Guess I should go buy my
food, eh?... heh, oh dear I'm so not ready...

-Kelly

Uhm. *reads Elise's post with a mix of awe and envy*
  

    
Happy Birthday, all of you birthday people!
My husband, Cameron, turns 29 tomorrow...
  

    
Erynn - Um, was that meant in a nice way? These days I've no faith at
all.