Inkwell: Authors and Artists

    
Neil - Oh! So sorry to hear about Emma! Good vibes are sent her way
from California.

Kelly - Did you see the adaptation of Vampire$? I never got around to
it, since I knew I'd just get irate over it... but still... 

Rebecca - glad you're feeling better.

Dan (who wishes he could say more, but is just not overly brain
functional at the moment)
  

    
Um, I think The Website's down. Hope it's 'cause someone's posting
answers to FAQ's <starts laughing, can't stop, and winds up falling
half out of her chair, wiping streaming eyes>  

Sorry.

Very sorry to hear about Emma.  All good wishes toward her speedy
recovery.

Rebecca--you, too,. Glad to see you back.

Free concerts are good.  Particularly when they feature Renee Fleming,
Catherine Malfitano, Ben Heppner, Susan Graham and Kallen Esperian.
What a lovely evening. Heard a young German tenor named Jonas Kaufmann
who is going places, as well.

Mary (who wants Renee Fleming declared a goddess.  Now.)
  

    
Oh no!  If anyone speaks to Emma, give her my best wishes for a clean quick
healing of the unfortunate joint.  Ouch.  Ouch.  (And how will she type much
less play musical instruments?)
  

    
Update on Emma's condition (two breaks, not one) over at the
neilgaiman.com journal.

They'll be operating tomorrow night.
  

    
Many good wishes Emma's way.
  

    
Ooooh no, poor Emma! Best wishes for a speedy recovery and good drugs.
*wince* *wince* *wince*

That's it. No more breaking anything, y'all hear? This is a bad trend,
and should definately NOT continue!

Rebecca - Nevada is even worse, being free range country. No fence for
the cows to get thru, they just wander where they please. (You would
think they'd install street lights on the highways to prevent
disasters, but noooo....)

DanW - yeah, I did see Carpenters Vampires; partly because I love
vampire movies, partly because I loved the book so. And you know, for a
movie adaptation (which can only be so faithful, word by word) it was
actually pretty good - one of the better ones I've seen. I'd recommend
it for a movie all by itself, and more for someone who enjoyed the plot
elements of the book. (Then again, I'm halfway thru a rum and coke on
empty stomach, and haven't seen the movie in a while...  take advice at
own risk. ;-)

Oh, I went book shopping today! Combined, Mars (the husband-unit) and
we bought:
- Issola (Brust)
- Cadillac Desert; The American West and its Disappearing Water
(Reisner)
- War at the Top of the World; The Struggle for Afghanistan, Kashmir,
and Tibet (Margolis)
- Empire; The British Imperial Experiance From 1765 to the Present
(Judd)
- The Herbal Pantry (Emilie Tolley and Chris Mead) [this was worth
buying for the photography alone]
- The Art of Fragrance and Crafting (Browning)

I also read the majority of Wicked, that book retelling the story of
the Wizard of Oz from the Wicked Witches POV. I've heard nothing but
raves for this book, so I guess I was expecting rather a lot... and
ended up a bit disappointed. I found the use of profanity rather
shocking; not that I mind its use, but that it felt so out of place in
the story. I'd be rather immersed in Oz, and then someone would say
"fuck" or "shitty" and I'd snap back to this reality. I'm not sure if
it's simply not being a huge Wizard of Oz fan, or something else, but
it just didn't live up to the hype of this Great and Wonderful book. 

Then again, I'm quite spoiled, aren't I? :-)

Speaking of, I saw the new softcover of Stardust at Borders - they had
a nice big display of it and American Gods side by side, both highly
recommended by the local staff. The new cover is pretty; I like it
quite a lot, and it would definately entice me to pick the book up, if
not buy. (Well, disregarding the fact that I lunge for anything new
like a rabid, hungry hyena... ;-)

I've lost my copy of the Photoshop install CD, nevermind that I have
the jacket sleeve right here, along with the tutorial. Back to hunting
for it I go...

-Kelly
  

    
There were a lot of shocked expressions at Dreamhaven last night when we
heard the news. The people who told us the news looked pretty shocked too.

Various incantations and good wishes have been uttered, and it is strongly
suspected that there are Strange Forces for Good that are being implored to
look after Emma. Besides all that, she has a lot of friends, which is
good.... and a lot of friendly readers, which is also good....

It's just so unexpected and ... (lioness dissolves into incoherence again,
as she has several times since last night, and makes gestures indicating
that yeah, this shouldn't oughtta happen, but since it did, well, we do
whatever it takes to help, yah?)

Thanks for the hug, Neil. And for being Support Guy for Emma and for
Lorraine, logistically and transportwise and stuff. And for everything.

Besides writing really cool stuff, you are a good sort, you know? (If I
understand the word I am reaching for correctly, you are a mensch.)

The musicians who came to the rescue and filled in onstage were really good,
too.
  

    
And so was seeing other members of The Mob from 104, even though I forgot to
say so in that last post.
  

    
Sorry to hear about Emma - and at their album launch, too!

I saw this on The Dreaming </www.holycow.com/dreaming>, and thought,
how very true the lyrics are...

"...http://www.rambles.net/flash_playeach.html has a review of the new
Flash Girls CD, "Play Each Morning Wild Queen" which features several
songs written by Neil including the silly and oh-so-fun "A Meaningful
Dialogue" which features the great chorus:

"I've got my fingers in my ears I'm going lalalalalalalalalala
I can't hear you I've got my fingers in my ears I'm going
lalalalalalalalalala
Going la la la la..."

But then, I knew that all along...
(smiling wickedly)
  

    
Kelly - no more breaking anything? Does that include hearts? 
*sigh*
It's been a really bad weekend. ...
Anyway, I'll rent the film next month when I've got down time.. should
be interesting. I haven't read the book for a while, so hopefully I
can come at it "fresh"
  

    
oh dear, I hope Emma's elbow heals well and quickly.
And I am glad to hear that Issola actually came out; I think
I now have no excuse not to go book shopping again very soon.

Except that I'm reading four things at once and haven't gotten
deep enough into any of them to finish.  I grab whichever one
is nearest, and then undoubtedly bring it downstairs with me to
breakfast or whatever and then they're all queued up downstairs
where they're all out of my reach.  And if I start Issola it
might be the kiss of death for the other 4, as that's probably
going to be light and captivating in a way that makes it much
easier to pick up in one sitting and not put down till I'm done.
  

    
Oh, no!  Poor Emma!  How random and unhappy.  That's awful that they
have to operate.  And it's so difficult to be away from home for
something like that, but a blessing to have wonderful, loving friends
around.  (I just got WAR FOR THE OAKS with Kelly Link's book, too.  Now
I'll probably always have a mental link between OAKS and elbow.) 
Blessings for heart and health sent her way!

On the subject of breaks and other hurts:

Tree: I wanted to send a retro-ouch to you for your toe.  Brave and
intrepid Thingie who ventures even into her own medical care!  Hope
it's all better by now.

Kelly: Good drugs are a good thing.  (Yikes! for your Suzuki.)  Post
more photos of BM when you feel better!

Rebecca: Hey, girl!  Crossing fingers and lighting candles that you'll
be good as new, wearing stay-put undies, and bitching about work with
the rest of us soon!

DanW: I'm sorry.  Some bits are softer and easier to break.  Thinking
of you.

Mary: I'm pretty sure that I heard Renee Fleming live once.  Wow. 
BTW, which Stratford?  Whaccha doin' there?

Len: <Enters stage left, with pointy pirouettes.  Sweeping Bow.  

"Grazi, grazi."

<Picks up roses, cradles them gracefully in the crook of one arm,
smiling.  Sniffs.  Begins to daintily munch on one.  Curtain.>
  

    
E-mail from Jouni:

The boy was babtized last saturday and his full name is Joonas Oskari
Joonatan Koponen. He behaved like a perfect gentleman through the whole
(well almost whole) party.


Broken ribs, broken elbows... Hmm, there seems to be some bone-crushing bad
karma around this place right now...

Jouni (sprinkling salt around his chair and keyboard and spitting over his
right shoulder)
  

    
DanW - yes, that most definately includes hearts; the worst of breaks,
taking longest to mend, and never really ever healing at all. Many
hugs extended your way.

Two things I conviniently 'forgot' about Brust books:
1) You simply cannot put them down once you start. Bought and read in
one night, sigh - another what, 2 yrs for my next Vlad fix?

2) One should be fully fed when reading, or one will get very, very
hungry.

Damned good book. Worth sacrificing sleep over.  :-)

-Kelly
  

    
I finally broke down and got a library card, just to check out Mr.
Punch. After spending 20 minutes circling the block, a dollar in the
meter, and a half hour waiting for the trainee to make a card for me,
here is what I found of Neil's writings:

1 recently aquired copy of AG, checked out
1 Neverwhere
1 Smoke & Mirrors
1 Sandman Dream Book

I could, if I was willing to pay, wait for a copy of Mr. Punch to be
sent from somewhere else.

There were, however, 3 copies of Bimbos of the Death Sun by Sharon
McCrumb, one of which I did check out...
It reminded me of some of the reasons I don't go to the library
anymore. 
  

    
I just suffered some weird form of
not-really-deja-vu-because-I-don't-really-remember-it, while reading
#'s 1262-3.  Because I DID eat a rose, at my baptism.  hmmmmm.

Thanks for the good wishes, all.   And sending some to Emma. 

I can't be sure, but I think I re-broke a rib last night while
coughing.  I broke it a few years ago after a long pneumonia bout.  It
hurt like hell but it was funny anyway.  I'd just gotten out of the
hospital and the then-fiance took me to dinner...somewhere near the end
of dinner (this was back when I could eat), I sneezed, and heard a big
"pop."  The doctors looked at my x-ray, and listened to my
explanation, and just laughed and laughed...I was only angry with them
because it hurt too much to laugh.  Anyhow, it's mighty sharp feeling
down there today, and I feel the need to kind of hobble around and not
breathe too deeply.  Urgh.  

Maybe I should stop hanging around here, and take up bear wrasslin, or
cleaning shark tanks.  Less chance of injury.
  

    
ack! Much love and well wishes to the Pansy and Violet! I will think
bone-mending thoughts all week for Emma. 

I wish I could have come to MNFest and the party, but I was in
Milwaukee, catching Waking Maggie, and then read (the last 200 pages of
the _14th Year's Best Fantasy and Horror_, and the first 80 pages of
_A Night In The Lonesome October_) and napped (lulled to sleep by rain
and steel on steel) in the wet Sunday during a Stronghold rehersal...
Then the backflip boy and I went and saw "The Musketeer". No spoilers,
but I left with one overwhelming thought: Mena Suvari needs to eat
more. She scares me. Other things, like the plot, the editing, and the
main titles also scared me. But the famine victim playing the love
interest scared me MORE.

Mary: Got my loaner HMFJTP back from the backflip boy. If you can't
find one for sale, you can come over and borrow...
  

    
Pamela--thank you for the retro ouchies. I'm used to self-treatment.
I've damaged myself a couple of times overseas. One needs to be fairly
independent about this sort of thing. Word of advice: NEVER fall ill in
China. Just don't. Ever.

JaNell--I seem to recall reducing 'Walker to fits during a
conversation when I said, "I'm sticking my fingers in my ears, la, la,
la, la, la." And I'd never even heard about the song.

Anyone who can help--I met the lovely Emma in LA in July and feel it
is my duty to send her medicinal Tim Tams immediately (if you have to
ask, you'll never know.) Can someone email me at me@ladymisstree.com
with an address where I can send a speedy get well gifty? Not that I'm
trying to bribe her to get better sooner so that I can get my hands on
a copy of the rereleased first album. Oh no, not at all...

Tree
Who got a 'Manuscript in a Milk Bottle' in the mail this morning. ;>
  

    
I "la la la" my kids all the time, fingers in ears...
they just laugh.
  

    
I've been listening to Indian music lately.  Went to the Worldcon
in Philadelphia.  Drums, sitars, complements to Thelonious Monk.
Remembered that my favorite Tori song is Cornflake Girl.  Sorry to
hear about Emma.  From what I hear Lojo and her band did yeoman service
filling in for the Flash Girls.  All my best wishes to Emma.
  

    
timtams

*drool*

And my local Aussie store went out of business, too...
  

    
Tara - thanks for the heads-up on the scary-thin-babe as love interest in
Musketeer; I've been intending to go see that movie, but it will be ever so
much better a day if I am braced for it, rather than walking unwittingly
into anorexia flashback land. <wry look>

Actually, the next movie I'll probably see is the rereleased Apocalypse Now,
to which Juan and I will go this week, I hope. It's our anniversary.
Seventeen years keeping company together, as of... well, it's after midnight
here, so as of today. Kind of boggles the mind. We spent that day together
out at Renfest, oddly enough, but the only falling we did was in love.  At
one point we were walking around the various booths talking to crafters I
knew -- I was performing out there with my old singing partner Jane, doing
six stage shows a day, but had wangled an extra-long break -- and we were
having one of those sort of besotted-with-each-other not-really-an-argument
exploratory conversations, in which we were discovering that he liked very
spare clean lines, no fiddly bits, while I (at least back then) liked a
profusion of foolish delights, and we were saying things back and forth
while in the shop of some friends, June and David, who made jewelry and
knives, and both of us at the same instant in the debate pointed to the same
silver ring and said, "Now *that*, on the other hand, is lovely," because we
each saw the other's aesthetic in it.

And Juan walked over and bought it.

I was speechless. For fifteen whole minutes. He wrote it down on the
calendar and everything -- and no, it hasn't happened often since. (As Mr.
Ford can probably attest to as well!)

I really like having two beloveds who get along well with each other....
  

    
Elise & Mike--Happy Anniversary!  Thanks for sharing your story--I
love first date stories.  Hope your week is wonderful (why just
celebrate one day?)

Dan--ouch.  Sorry.  Happy thoughts your way.

My tragedy du jour is that I'm going to Stratford Ontario with some
friends tomor....today, and U2 tickets go on sale this weekend for a
show that happens on the weekend I'm supposed to go see my mom. 
Aaaarrgh!  I can't even imagine not seeing them.  Desperate measures
may have to be taken :-)

All right, I'm going.<<puts hand on hip & waggles other index finger
at you all, just like your mom>>  Absolutely *no* more broken bones
while I'm gone.  Do you hear me?  <<turns and starts out, spins back
quickly to try to catch you doing dangerous things, like walking>>I
mean it, you hear me?
  

    

I am deeply envious!

This weekend, Mike and I were tucked away in the Pacifica room at the
Whale Watch Inn, just north of Gualala, in Anchor Bay, on the Mendocino
Coast.  The Inn is perched on a cliff above the Pacific Ocean.  There's a
fireplace - you get three duraflame logs per night - and a giant Jacuzzi,
many interestingly placed mirrors, and a skylight.  

The front desk sells t-shirts and bathtub toys.  We purchased a whale (to
add to the three ducks and an alligator we had at home) and took him
upstairs and into the Jacuzzi where we sat and read the journal entries of
all the previous guests, dating back to 1997, and drank a toast to Bear
and Princess Fluff, whoever they are, who seemed to appear several times a
year in the Pacifica Room and write sweet love letters to each other in
the journal, she in green ink and he in a tightly cramped blue ballpoint.

Then we climbed out and dried off, putting on the thick terry robes laid
out for us next to the Jacuzzi, and curled up in front of the fire, while
Mike read me "We Can Get It For You Wholesale."
  

    

Mary Roane slipped!  I was envious of Elise's story of the day she and
Juan fell in love.