Inkwell: Authors and Artists

    <scribbled>
  

    
To those in employment limbo - I'm so sorry to hear this. I have
friends looking for work right now and it's such a hard place to be in.
The people who seem to be best off are the ones who are using the
severence they were fortunate to get in order to do their at more full
time. But they well know that the time is fast approaching when they
will be forced to return to the daily work world and divide their
energies once again between wage-earning and passion.

On the fan-boy thing - Hard to say. The only person I get really
fan-boy about is Neil, and I'm still not sure if the Well has made that
better or worse. It's just so hard to separate the person from the
work at times. Neil, maybe if you'd just write some really bad stuff
and let me read it, it would counteract the awe-factor a bit, eh?
Actually I exaggerate. It isn't so much awe, as an increasing respect.
Still...
A friend once commented on the difference between Dan-in-the-flesh and
Dan-made-of-words. It's not that I'm a different person, but different
parts of me get refracted depending on the prism you're relating to me
through. So, interacting here with Neil-made-of-words doesn't give the
sense of "knowing" Neil the way that, say JaNell or Martha know Neil. 
  

    
Sorry for the sequential posts.. for some reason after a certain point
Netscape 6 decides to go all wonky on me and the only way to write
things is to start a new post.

Martha - I don't know if it was too long for others, but it was very
honoring for us. I only wish that all reviewers had the sense of detail
and style that you do. So many reviews deal only with the plot of the
play itself, or (in the case of the most heinous small theatre reviews)
list each of the actors with a single adjective by their name. I'm
sure that the folks in the SF Theatre conference (myself included)
would be delighted to read anything you should choose to write about
local shows.

Madman - See you tonight, noble sir.
  

    
It would have gone through another draft if it'd been a real review, of
course.  You know, it would have had a thesis and everything.
  

    
Martha  -- well, you should post them here, for now. I guarantee
no-one will ever grumble.

JaNell -- the MOST unaccessible guest you've ever had? Ah, now I feel
dreadful. Maybe it's the English thing.

Dan -- it's odd, the person-you-know vs. the person-you-know-on-line
thing. In my limited experience, jerks on line are jerks in the flesh,
and nice people on line are nice people in the flesh. 

When I post, or reply,  on the Well I don't stop and sort people into
Old Friends I've Known For Nearly Two Decades & Whose Books I've
Introduced (like Mike Ford or Martha Soukup), people I've met and know
through signing lines and conventions (like JaNell or Rocky) or people
I've never met at all (doesn't dare put a name down here because I'm
sure whoever I named would go "Argh, Neil, you signed my book in Tupelo
in 1991, how could you have forgotten so soon?"). I figure that
there's a cheerful democracy at work here.  People post. I respond if I
get a sec., or if the post seems vaguely directed in my direction.

More so since we're now at least two iterations away from the original
incarnation of this topic, in which I felt honour bound to answer and
respond to everything.  These days, I just feel like one of the mob
here. Which is very comfortable.

And Dan, I've been telling martha for, oh a good decade now, that she
should get work as a drama or movie critic. She says no-one would want
to read what she has to say, and it's not like she says anything
special. And then everyone who reads her stuff grind our collective
teeth...
  

    
My sympathies to the off-laid.

Rocky -- The wife and I *adore* Sifl and Olly!  We were really bummed
when it got cancelled...

Neil -- Lori and I will have to check out the Kaz Sushi Bistro next
time one of the grandparents decides to drop by and give us an evening
off.
  

    
Geez Louise! Try to get my life in order in the tiniest 2 weeks and
there are 260+ posts to sift through! My apologies to <madman> for not
posting sooner. Life(tm) kind of happened and I needed to unplug and
catch up in the real world for a bit. Still working on it, but feeling
like I can merge the two for now. 

As for <stagewalker>'s show, I *was* going to go this weekend, but got
called into work (grumble, mumble, managementsucks, growl, grumble)
and so will have to make it the following weekend (that's the last
weekend, right Dan?) The show sounds amazing! Can't wait to see it.
Trying to make up for not going earlier by dragging several friends
along to see it with me. Don't know if the plan will succeed, but
dammit, I'm going to try!

Rocky (or whomever it was who asked) - I'm not certain *specifically*
what Exoticon is about, but I missed it last time I went to NOLA by a
mere 5 days and one of my friends had gone and said I missed something
fun. Website is http://www.exoticon.org 

This year is supposed to be all about Bruce Campbell; and while I like
the stuff he's been in, I'm just not that big a fan of him. Mostly for
me it's an excuse to go "home" for a few days and visit with the
friends that haven't left there yet... and the Crystal is a decent club
again! Yay! Supposedly (according to my friend Damian) I'm "only going
to stalk Neil" there, and while seeing the object of my stalkerhood
would be a definite plus, he's really not the *only* reason I'm going.
:P

okay, back to working on web updates and sewing projects (I've done
two dresses so far, and am working on a third and might even finish
that half-done quilt I gave up on nearly a year ago). Anyone who wants
to see the start of my photos from Burning Man can click here:
http://www.snafu.org/michelle/bm01/dgtd2k1.htm 

squeaks, who wishes the best of job-hunting-luck to those recently and
not-so-recently unemployed! fingers crossed for you!
  

    
One decade!  You've known me for one decade!  I'm aging but I'm not that
aging!
  

    
Martha -- well, I've known Mike Ford since 1985. And I've known you
longer than a decade -- it was exactly ten years ago at World Fantasy
in Tucson I told you I liked a short story of yours, and you were
unconvinced that I knew who you were or had read said story. And I'd
met you (and read story) earlier than that... 
  

    
Martha--I loved your review.  It made me wish, again, that I could see
the show.  Hope you enjoyed it, Madman!

I saw From Hell this afternoon.  I had never read the comic, but now I
must.  The film is brilliant.  Johnny Depp is brilliant (and
dreamy...).  Ian Holm is brilliant.  The cinematography is brilliant. 
The editing is brilliant.  Go.  See for yourself.  I'm not
exaggerating.

Mary (*still* trying to finish Angel of Darkness)
  

    
...but you're right. It's not two decades. 


Guy -- let me know what you think. 

(Darn, a brilliant over-two posts ellipses-linked post gets slipped by
mary and falls to bits.)
  

    
>> But that still begs the question, once “fan mode” gets switched
off,<<

Well,, does it, tho? I mean, I'd had the chance to talk to Neil for a
bit via The Well before the Seattle signing... and I stood there in
awe, foot firmly in mouth, as he and Karawynn chatted away.  :-) It's
easy to be somewhat snarky and "carefree" with language here,
especially when I can use the delete key to erase the more serious
foot-in-mouthisms I'm prone to. "In person" I still fall into
stuttering, foot in mouth, gibbering idiot mode - and with anyone I
like/respect/awe. 

Of course, I'm always quieter 'in person' - it's easier to be witty
and smart when you've a chance to think it thru first.  ;-)

>>I've been telling martha for, oh a good decade now, that she
should get work as a drama or movie critic. She says no-one would want
to read what she has to say, and it's not like she says anything
special. And then everyone who reads her stuff grind our collective
teeth...<<

Add my voice to wanting more reviews! It was wonderful! It's something
I can't get to and see, so reading the review was a great second best
- much better than nothing at all. For being nothing special, it really
managed to put me there and give me visuals I would miss, otherwise...

>>These days, I just feel like one of the mob here. Which is very
comfortable.<<

That's such a very cool thing to hear you say, just thought I'd
mention... 

Y'know, I'm not sure if any of the rest of you Barking Mad Mob have
had such reality blip, but one hit me the other day. It was when
someone I know was insisting that Neil and Terry hated Good Omens, and
getting tired of trying to persuade her otherwise, I just said "fine,
I'll ask Neil." ...and she blinked, and then I blinked. Because, hell,
I can.

And moreso the weird for it not striking me as at all odd until it
struke her as odd. So I suppose, here at least, the fannish thing is
gone, and I do feel like part of a great mob that just also happens to
have Really Famous People in it, too. (But, when you come down to it,
they're just People, too - which is, I think, what gets lost in
pedastel situations like cons and signings and such.)

Hmm. It's late and I'm probably babbling a bit on the too much side.
Thanks for well wishes (Well wishes?) on the job thing... it really is
a relief; I hated my boss, I hated what I was doing. This gives me the
chance to reevaluate life and what I want from work, and to pursue
whatever that may be. (I had the reevaluate life and what I want from
it check about 8 months ago, and someone smiled on me because I got
it.... or perhaps they smiled on me because I finally Got It... who
knows. What I do know is that Mars is in bed, occasionally reading
lines from Geek Love at me, and asking when I'll come warm his feet for
him. I think I'll go do that... g'night.)

-Kelly
  

    

The show was great. I'm going to go back and reread Martha's review now,
because I only skimmed them the first time to avoid spoilers. And I'll
review it myself in the morning or so. Very good. A lot darker than I was
prepared for. Michelle, I'm sorry I missed you. As you might have missed in
your 260+ catching up, Dan said they extended it by a weekend. I'd love to
go again with some people but next weekend isn't an option and the following
is iffy, so don't plan on it.
But, as I said to Dan, I think it'd be great if at some point in the future
(when he's no longer dealing with play foo!) the Bay Area Barking Mad were
to descend somewhere and just hang out for no good reason. Something where
no one person is stuck with hostly duties, just a bunch of people hanging
out at a Denny's. Or whatever.
Just a thought.
I'm tired. I ran quite a ways to catch the last BART under the bay, and
it's time to collapse.
Oh, and thanks, everyone, for your thoughts regarding joblessness. I could
get used to this sleeping in thing, but when the bank account empties
there will be some minor problems. Heh.
  

    
    Martha --

    Nobody wants to read what Frank Rich has to say, either, but he's
got a job.

    The only people who want to read Michael Medved's uninformed
droolings never go to movies in the first place, because they might get
Satan cooties.

    George Bernard Shaw's dead.

    Edmund Wilson . . . don't get me started, as if I wasn't.

    Opportunity's rockin'.  May as well go knockin'.
  

    
Martha - I see that we're going to have to start throwng things at you
each time you disparage your own writing. You're worse than me!!

Neil - I'm very glad you feel part of the mob here. That's honoring.
One of the best compliments I get about my home is that people feel
comfortable here. It's been declared a good place to just come and hang
out. It's a good, good thing. 

I remember my first foray into online communities, back in the early
90's on local Chicago BBS's. As you say, people who were nice face to
face were nice online, and the opposite was true... although I found
that certain personalities that were kind of endearing and amusing
online where completely annoying in person. Not sure if that's a
corallary or what, but I haven't thought about it in years. Since then
I've had a much more wonderful consistancy in online/f2f conversions.

Michelle - Hope things continue to go well on the life-wrangling
front. As Madman mentioned, we've officially extended the show a week,
so there are two weekends left. For all my personal frustrations with
the show lately (almost all of them technical) it's been a smashing
success and the best attended show in the company's history. 
I'm checking out your photos while I write... super groovy. I still
don't know if I'm going back next year. I'm not sure if I can take
another yar of radical change in my existance, which is what seems to
keep happening to me at Burning Man. To go again would be kind of
masochistic.

Mary - Thanks for the From Hell reviewlet! I'd been a bit worried
about it, although I've yet to finish the original (it belongs to a
friend I haven't seen in a great while, so I really need to get my own
copy... but the book disturbs even me and that takes some doing!).

Kelly - I've had very similar reality blips, especially with this
show. Granted, Mike's been much better at fielding my questions to Neil
about Wholesale than Neil has (Sweet Shiva on a Skateboard, did I just
throw a dig at Neil? I'm going to start turning into JaNell if I'm not
careful), but being able to ask such questions and have such a direct
source to him has been a bit ... odd ... at times. I have all these
second-hand relationships to fame, it's a bit funny at times. I've
directed Ed Harris' dad in a play, dated Rush Limbaugh's ex-wife, and
chat with Neil-made-of-words. It's like I'm tied in to the not-famous
part of fame, or something. 

Madman - So glad you made it last night. I agree that we need to
gather some time in the fairly near future. I'd actually be fine with
hosting, especially if it means we can avoid the horror of Denny's. The
trick, as with all things, is the timing. I've been averaging one
Barking Mad patron a weekend at the show, but getting you cats coralled
to a single weekend seems to be nearly impossible. 

Mousey, Castle, Martha? What are the odds? I'm thinking that the
Rodent Queen is going to be the toughest to nail down. I'm actually
taking a sabbatical, so my schedule's pretty open.
  

    
Neil, I was convinced you'd read my story somehow, but unnerved, because
that particular story was so obscurely published, the chances of any human
being having read it and liked it and remembered it so slim, that it
suggested that instead of an individual person with plenty of his own work
to do you were the point man on a consortium of gnomes who sit in basements
furiously reading and logging everything.

I'm still not sure that isn't the case.

One's just much more used to nobody knowing who the heck one is.

Perhaps not quite as strange as dating Rush Limbaugh's ex-wife.
  

    

You dated Rush Limbaugh's ex-wife?
  

    

No, stagewalker did.

I'm in for a Barking Mad gathering as long as I don't have to go to
Denny's.

And, if Martha suggests we get together for an evening of poker, here's
something to think about:  she knows EVERYTHING there is to know about
poker.  And that's all I'm going to say on that subject.
  

    
Really I am just a low-level poker duffer who doesn't get to play very often
and would be cleaned out in twenty minutes by any competent card shark.

Odd moment of the day: I was on one of my intermittant searches for info
about song poems--lyrics by amateurs set to music by vanity record
producers; the only CD of same I own is Rodd Keith's alarming and wonderful
"I Died Today", but I'm starting to think about putting together the
Christmas list, considering that this is about the time I can expect to
start getting bugged.

There's a book and CD set called "Songs in the Key of Z: The Curious
Universe of Outsider Music" that I saw mentioned on the song poem
organization's site, so I clicked the link.  The cover of that CD and book
looked really darn familiar.  Went to the shelf and pulled down a copy of my
second and last story in the lamented Science Fiction Age.

--Yes.  They went to the artist and got the illo for my story as the cover
of their book and CD.  That's the one.
  

    <hidden>
  

    

I hid 145 because it contains some spoilers about the shows. It's my review,
of sorts, but if you want a good review read Martha's.
As for poker- I love poker, I know a lot of variants, and I usually get
cleaned out. But I'll gladly play for chips- I'd enjoy a good poker night.

I was only joking about Denny's. Not that I didn't used to go there all the
time, but that was when I went to RHPS all the time, too, and where else is
still open?
  

    
It's never silly to buy another copy of my book, madman.

There.  I plugged myself.
  

    

<g> Arguably, it is when I'm unemployed. But tell you what, if I get a job
I'll celebrate with a copy of your book.
  

    
Okay!
  

    

When I get a job, I will celebrate by buying my first copy!