Inkwell: Authors and Artists

    
Will --
I wouldn't trust Babelfish translations as far as I could throw them.
And being largely made up of bits and bytes, they're a bit tough to get
a good grip on. Just a warning.

Rick --
I very nearly used that pseud myself. And welcome back!

Noted in scifi.com's weekly newsletter that our own esteemed Mr.
Gaiman will be participating in a chat there tonight, at 9pm eastern.
See you there! Will -- bring that question with you!
  

    
D'Oh!  I'm never on line that late!  Maybe, Neil, you could just
answer it anyway...?
  

    
<snicker>
  

    
"je ne sais quoi" = "I do not know what"

I'm having a whole "Le chat est sur la chais, la singe est sur la
branch..." moments. And yes, my French sucks in that special way
English speakers who try to speack French sucks. Don't ask about my
Spanish... It's worse.

Saw Eddie live in Chicago last year. WAY nifty. He was whacked out on
cold medecine. Somehow, that meant we got twice the length of the
normal first set. And I *so* want the Death Star caffeteria lady on
tape. Haven't actually looked to see if that concert has been filmed
yet tho. I imagine everything comes out eventually. And the audio
performances are different nights than the videos, so the completest
must own all... Or so my completist ex-roommate says :)
  

    
I had to bring my own monkey.  Monkeys are rather thin in the trees. 
And thin on the ground.  Just generally rather svelte.  But the monkey
would just fuck off!

I haven't seen any of Circles anywhere.  Audio tape, CD, VHS, DVD (oh,
man, I never even thought of that.  Excuse me for a moment, while I
slobber over the thought of the complete Eddie Izzard Box Set, complete
with Circus and The Big Snog <wipes mouth>).
And, you know, I would so wear the top he wore in Dressed to Kill. 
I'm not a transvestite, but, man, I think it'd be cool.

I have to go now.  Mon grand-mere est flambe.
  

    
Email from Tori Bat:

Why is it when my creativity kicks in~ my academic stuff drops and vice
versa?  is it how I think? or is it just that I'd rather be doing art than
math or spanish? I'm torn because I want to take out my really blank
journal and work but I have a Spanish exam tomorrow and a English quiz.
and all I can think of is colors and messes! grr... ok I'm going to take
care of some wash and then go work on Spanish for a while and then do some
artwork! I think I can compromise.

Will- I know for artists, I dont know if this is true for writers or not,
since I'm not one...but I would *think* it would apply.  that even if
you're feeling dry and uncreative you're supposed to work on something no
matter how it turns out.  I have tried that...and it always just made me
feel worse *laugh* so I dont practice that. but I'm sure the cycle will
change for you and you'll be back writing another book! *HUGS* let me know
how its going.
                                  ok I'm off to study Spanish... 
                                             *HUGS* 
                                                   Tori Bat! 
  

    
... which has to be one of the oddest expressions I've ever leared.
"This is life, this is war, this is a potato." Silly french.  ;-)

Tori Bat - right now I'm enamoured with two glitters. One is this
glitter wand that I picked up from Hot Topic - it's a very thin gel
that applies nicely to the eyelids, and I use it almost every time I
put on makeup. Great for eyelids and lips. I also had this wonderful
roll on glitter from, uhm, Rite Aid, I think. Kind of like roll on
deodorant, but glitter. ;-) Unfortunately, I'm almost out and can't
find anymore. *sob* I also picked up these little bottles of just
glitter from Hot Topic, thinking that they'd last a week or two... it's
the finest glitter I've ever had, cost all of $1.00, and with
_liberal_ use I've barely dented the amount in the bottle. Amazing
stuff! (I have blonde hair; I typically pull it up and then dust silver
glitter all over my hair, work it thru, and get a great 'frosted'
look... and the glitter also falls down to coat my face, arms, chest,
etc. Convinient!)

Er, maybe I should have used a glittery pseud... hehe.

I think the depressed means a need to express is a wonderful saying!
I've certainly found it true for myself; if I get depressed I need to
express the feeling, work it out. If I don't, things slide to a slow
halt.

Lately I've found my own writing/creativity slowing down, but not
because of a need to express. More because I've taken on a lot of
technical writing at work, and I've found that saps my creativity just
as much. Tech writing ain't easy, that's for sure...

So a question for you all, with a bit of backup. I generally find I am
most creative when listening to music - almost like it allows me to
channel creativity. Some of my favourite groups to work to are Cowboy
Junkies, Apoptygma Berzerk, Wolfsheim, Poe, Tori Amos, and BT. What
about the rest of you? What triggers your creativity? (Authors
included!)

-Kelly
  

    
Kelly: What triggers my creativity?
1) Seeing/reading/hearing something really well done.
2) Having any forum at all for stuff I write/make.
3) Having any time off at all from child care.

I've always heard that depression is actually repressed anger that
needs to be expressed. A sort of you can't/won't hit whomever or
whatever is hurting you, so you take it out on yourself. Very likely in
my case. But a wonderful therapist once described depression as a sort
of cocooning... the end result being you come out of it renewed. I
like that one, too.
  

    
JaNell: Oh, no!  I'm reliving the Bathroom From Hell moments, from
when we first moved in to the house we're renting.  We moved in during
El Nino, and then discovered that there was no roof (just bare plywood)
over the bathroom addition when waterfalls and playdough-looking lumps
of ceiling plaster came tumbling down during the next rain.  

Three cheers for you in the battle with Mammon.  "Gooooo...
Fiiiight... Win!"  <tries to do hurdle kick, falls down and hurts
herself>  Ow.

>I'm beginning to suspect that Neil knows all of them on the list

Neil-savoir-faire is everywhere.  Of the last dozen books I've bought,
there's been a Neil quote or connection for maybe a third of them. 
The other night I picked up a book totally at random (Storm
Constantine) and I'm halfway through the quote on the back before I
realize it's from Neil, too!

Neil: Have you been extraordinarily busy reading other people's (s'?)
books, lately, or has this been going on for a while and I'm just
noticing now?  How do you schedule all this in?  Do you speedread?
Do the authors request a quote/review, or the publishers? 

Erynn wrote:
>You know how you read a boring book when you desperately want to
>fall asleep? My life is that book. 

<Pam looks in mirror.>
*sigh*

('Becca: You listening in?  I'm thinking of you.)

Totally random factoid: Recent newspaper article reveals that Bush's
new chief speechwriter is the brother of an old friend.  Met the guy,
really nice.  'S a small, small, weird world.

-Pam
Je ne sais la coiffure, because I have no idea what to do with my hair
right now.
  

    
Pamela~Ernie? Are you being all subversive by openly living with
another male "roommate" long past the danger age?

Erynn, Pamela, ToriBat... there's too many parts of me spread out
amongst y'all, and I want 'em back! You hear me? And that goes for
Alanis Morrissete, too. Or I'll use my purse, yes I will, just ask
Rebecca... the big tool-carrying one that even Eddie Izzard would envy.
  

    

Kelly, what triggered my creativity when I was doing coffee-house sketches
in the '70s was songs from the Grateful Dead, (American Beauty, and
Chinacat->Rider, in particular) and Traffic (Steve Winwood, Dave Mason).
I'm not a great artist, but I recently decided I'd post one of those
old '70s sketches on my website http://userwww.sfsu.edu/~lennyb/new.htm

When I was writing songs in the '80s, I think it was mostly classic jazz
and Windham Hill music, (Coltrane, Hubert Laws, Three Day Moon).

In the '90s, I discovered groups like They Might Be Giants and Combustible
Edison through coffee-house wait-people while writing non-fiction.  I'd
still recommend both of those groups.

If you can find any of the old Traffic, Steve Winwood, and Dave Mason
albums on CD (particularly Dave Mason's "Alone Together"), you might
try listening.   (I also listen to Mazzy Star, Liz Phair, Belinda Carlisle,
and Natalie Merchant.  Once in awhile, REM).
  

    

It is finally time to retire "experience uncut Martha" now that I have this
new beauty to try on.
  

    
Pamela -- dunno. List the books and I'll try and tell you...
  

    
Kelly -- I can't seem to locate the book at the moment, but one of my
favourite books of French poetry contains a poem which translates to
"If potatoes no longer grow in this earth, / On this earth we shall
dance. / Such is our right and our frivolity."

When it comes to creativity-inspiring background music, I usually go
with REM or a film score.
  

    
E-mail from Jo Simons:

Hi again :)

Will - I'd agree, Babelfish gives really dodgy translations. Try translating 
a sentence back and forth a few times, it gets really surreal. (Honestly I 
do have better things to do with my time ... really).

Tara - My french isn't up to much either
"Le poisson rouge ce sur le table" and "Avez vous des banan?" is about 
as far as I get anymore. It is fun though, occasionally understanding 
fragments of other people's conversations, like when you are sitting 
behind some tourists on the bus talking in a different language.

Jo, who needs some better coffee
  

    
JaNell:
"I've always heard that depression is actually repressed anger that
needs to be expressed. "

Interesting. I've recently learned that anger is almost always a mask
for hurting, for me. And so it would make sense that depression forms
if it can't be expressed and exorcised.  :-)

-Kelly, listening with interest to everyones creative sparks
  

    
No doubt. I have some scary deep wells of anger that I can never
really express, hence the depression... but then, it's partially
genetic as well.
  

    
And I guess now's as good a time as any to say, y'all have no idea how
much posting here has helped with all that. Thank you. Especially you,
NeiLoki <hug>...
  

    
Pfffh. You know, I wanted to go harass Neil at scifi.com, but it
wouldn't let me in, noooo...

*sniffle* I wanted to be a mini-JaNell.
-Kelly, still at work and frustrated as hell
  

    
Me, too.
I tried JavaChat.
I tried IRC.
I switched computers, even
I said "Hey" real nice & everything.
Nope.
Jinx & I even jointly asked questions...
Nope.
*sniff*
leans over to Kelly for the start of a group hug 'n cry fest...
  

    
He just doesn't love us!
*sniff*
  

    
JaNell, your name was up on the side of the thing as someone who was
at the conference. And I answered a Jinx question. Honest I did.

Unless it was a different jaNell, and a different Jinx. but that way,
as a wise man once pointed out, lies rump of skunk and madness.
  

    
I just realized (probably again, I have the same realizations a lot)
that the reason I post very sporadically is that since I am paying to
post here, I want each post to be long and not totally silly.  That and
I'm convinced I suck.  I can't decide if I should change this habit. 
Anyway...

Tara - Happy belateds!

Kelly - My only creative outlet is writing, and writing happens
when...

1.  I'm listening to good music, Radiohead more often than anything
else.
2.  I've just read something by Neil or come back from a signing.  
3.  I've just read or heard something wrong.
4.  I've just managed to bully Luna into giving me a prompt.
5.  I've got something else I should really be doing instead but
really don't want to.
6.  I'm talking to someone who is really depressed because then I feel
the compulsion to write something silly to cheer them up.
7.  Someone has set me a deadline.  Love that pressure, no time to
worry about each word and get stuck.

Thankfully I don't need all seven at once.  :-)

On anger - I've always wanted to buy an old junked up car and a
sledgehammer.  I figure I could invite my friends over and we could
just wail on it. Maybe paste on pictures of ex boyfriends and whatnot. 
I should probably move back to the country first though.  But if I
ever do, ya'll are invited.  :-)

Oh and hey Tori!  Sorry I haven't been answering my email lately, I
tend to look at my box and say "boy, that's a lot of messages" and then
I go do other things.

Jen, (who tried to think of a bad joke involving her name and the
whole je ne sais quoi thing, but is too out of it.)
  

    
Unfortunately for the untamed masses and fortunately for the
interviewer and interviewee, every "famous person chat" I've ever
attended on IRC has been moderated, to prevent exactly what occurred
after they took the mod off.

Skunk. Ugh. I was unpleasantly surprised yesterday to discover that
the live trap we have set up to try to catch a groundhog that resides
under our patio instead captured a fairly large skunk. $40 to the
animal removalist just to let the thing go. Methinks I'll just deal
with the groundhog, and pray that the skunks don't decide to den in for
the winter.
  

    
Neil:
Didn't say I couldn't get in eventually; just commiserating with Kelly
that, even if she had gotten in, it was unlikely that she'd have
gotten her questions passed on. Jinx & I were having problems, plus we
wanted to hear you answer differant questions from the usual...