Inkwell: Authors and Artists

    
Jo - Thanks... Hopefully things will mellow out for a while. Of
course, that may just mean that I should expect another drama-front
from somewhere else... *sigh*

Squeaks - Indian Rock ... um... rocks.
God, that sounds stupid.
Did you get pics of the Human Risk game??

Not having much of value to say, but posting anyway
Dan
  

    
Neil -- Well, it appears your worst fears have been realized.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/entertainment/arts/newsid_1663000/1663306.stm

Salmon of Doubt will be published, edited but unfinished. Now for the
moral dilemma of whether or not to buy...
  

    
Michelle,  Ooooo . . . I think I got the better end of the trade. I'm
going to send you a picture of the cemetery in New York I was talking
about. It's not a very good shot; it's hard to take pictures while
you're hanging out of a car window. I am pretty sure it's a view from
the Verrazano bridge, but I'll have to check to make sure. It's just an
interesting picture.

Dan,  thank you, unofficial-like!

Will,  I meant that driving 20 hours total was too long a drive for
the 3 hour football game. I'm sorry I confused you. But that would put
me a long distance away from Philly. And you're an absolute doll for
signing my guest book. It's one of those silly little things which make
me happy. Like the smell of new crayons.

Mary,  hello. It's pronounced "more." I know what you mean about not
wanting to mangle names even in your head. I listen to a lot of jazz,
and one of my favorite albums a few years ago was by this guy named
David Sanchez. I went to see him at the Showcase and was embarrassed to
learn that I'd been calling him David in my head, but his name was
pronounced "Dah-veed". I was just glad I'd never said his name aloud to
my then-roommate Vito, who is a jazz musician. He'd have made terrible
fun of me.

Ninave,  hi!

Jo,  hello!
  

    
Oh man, this isn't the time to point out that I know someone in
Sweden, is it? Grk,...

-K
  

    
Kelly~you know someone named Grk?
  

    
It was really cloudy  here, so I'm glad that I didn't get up to see
the meteor shower.  But I love the thought of all of you watching it
all over, like a show we all got to see at the same time together.

Can't help but feel that it heralded the installation today of my
friend Denny as priest of his new parish.  He's been there since
August, but the official installation, bishop & all, was today.  I saw
dozens of old friends I hadn't seen in months, including my friend John
who is, at age 54 (?) in seminary himself.  We sang Mozart (Ave Verum)
and Mendelssohn (How Lovely Are the Messengers from St. Paul) and the
Lutkin arrangement of the blessing of Aaron, and many other things
besides, including a very modern piece with drums, so it was fun in the
choir section :-)  Dennis is one of the most loved people I
know--because he's pretty stinkin' wonderful--and it was just neat to
see it in action today.

It almost makes up for not getting to see the meteor shower. ;-)

And if you're ever looking for a short book that will break your
heart, try Lazarus Interlude by Dennis O'Neill.  It's out of print, but
can be found.  It's a true story about Denny's experience with a young
man who was dying, and it's one of the most intimate things I've ever
read.

Will--hope it went well!

OK, I've yammered on enough--glad you all had good weekends!

Mary (*still* reading the appendices to Bury--they're longer than the
book!)
  

    
Maure--exactly.  I *still* don't know how to pronounce Michael
Chabon's last name, or Kavalier ( he says somewhere toward the end that
it's like Chevalier, but everyone says "cavalier").  I meant to ask
him at Humanities Festival, but I choked.  There were a million people,
and I didn't want to take up too much of his time.  He was very nice,
though.
  

    
Hello. 
Welcome new people!

Streak- I'm guessing you're the bearded one. But I don't know. 

God, I just read too many posts. I feel like I just read a whole book.
All I can say is that I'm glad everyone is doing well on The Well.
Hmmm...
Oh yeah, Neil- I just re-read "The Charwoman's Shadow" and came across
a reference to fairies and Faerie. I can't believe it was under my
nose all this time and I didn't realize. Isn't it weird when you learn
something new, like a new word or meaning or something, and then all of
a sudden you see it everywhere? Weirdness. 

Will- I liked your stories. I have been meaning to email you, but I've
been ridiculously busy lately. Don't want you to think I was ignoring
you. I'll email you this week sometime.

This Thanksgiving I'm going to attempt to cook a Turkey for the very
first time. If you knew me this would be funny. I don't cook. I'm
trying to change that though. I've been a sorry excuse for a wife.
Anyone have any Turkey cooking tips?
  

    

Erynn, if you are seriously looking for turkey cooking tips, I highly
recommend the WELL's very excellent cooking conference.  g cooking.

Although I can certainly understand the appeal of soliciting tips from
this mob.
  

    
Squeaks -- Well, in your case I'll make an exception; suspice away!

Bill -- Hey, *I* was going to post that tidbit! =9
     I'm not comfortable with it being published unfinished... 
Particularly because, reading that article, I see that his HD was
littered with versions of the novel.  And they say they're publishing
"a collection of Adams' final writing", not just that last HGttG book,
which is doubly disturbing.

Mary -- Please congratulate Denny for me!

In regards to Harry Potter:  I haven't read the books.  Yet.  And
while I have, I admit, been thinking the occasional superior thought
concerning them I haven't vocalized any of those thoughts (because,
after all, I haven't read them.  Yet.)  But I will say this for them. 
A week or so ago the Wall Street Journal had an article about how
book-buying had sharply risen among the high school crowd, and not just
for stuff like the Potter books and "Confessions of a Shopaholic", but
also old classics.  And part of it, according to the article, is that
it's now kind of cool to be seen with Hemingway and Garcia-Marquez,
but, the article remarked with no small amount of amazement, some of
the kids are actually *reading* the books as well!  And it occured to
me yesterday that Harry Potter was very likely what caused the dam to
spring that initial leak, what allowed high schoolers of all cliques to
be seen with a book.  And for that I'm thankful.

The meteor shower was *glorious*.  I wrapped Xander up in his bunny
suit and pumpkin had and Lori and I spread out picnic blanket on the
ground and we burrowed under blankets and lay on our backs in the front
yard from 4:30am until about 5:30am, ooohhing and aaaahhing.  It was,
thankfully, a very clear night for us and we live out in what passes
for the middle of the country in these parts, so the light pollution
was virtually nil.
  

    
Dan~many years ago, before ConCat was called ConCat, we shared a hotel
with Girl Scouts and the Kroger Food Fair for the weekend. The Kroger
people were really cool (they donated frozen ice cream things to our
ConSuite) and some of them came up to visit Saturday night. There was a
great discussion about borderline SF&F, like Stephen King, and now
Harry Potter. We were a little snotty about King and others similar
until one of the Kroger guys pointed out that what we read, and the
level at which we read, is so far removed from the interests and
reading abilities of the average person that we actually needed King
and such to act as bridge; people could feel comfortable reading King,
and then maybe Rice, and it would open them up to other authors as
well...

I heard from my long-lost (ten years) friend, Chris Treen, a very long
email that'll I'll have to print out and read at the chiropractor's as
I'm due there soon. Way too thrilled to wait until I get back!
  

    <scribbled>
  

    <scribbled>
  

    
ConCat 13 (www.kasfa.org) just got *officially* cancelled, four days
before it started.
  

    
so, i don't know if you all remember, but i work at Warner Brothers,
progenitors of the Harry Potter phenomenon.  i arrived at work today to
be greeted by hundreds of Harry balloons and a big old party
celebrating its MASSIVE success, and they're so happy they're giving us
Wednesday off!! WHOOPEEE!! so to all of you out there who saw it, i
thank you, cause i get a day off.  

and while the book is much more coherent, i loves me some Alan Rickman
and little Daniel Radcliffe.  feeling very proud right now that i
helped in my small way.

anyways, thank you JaNell and all those for good Nana wishes.  she is
still hanging on, because she is a fighter and it's what she knows
best.  i mean, the woman was friends with Rudolph Valentino, and
honeymooned on Stan Laurel's yacht.  she was a famous opera singer and
performed all over the country.  she has done it all and with gusto.  

Neil, am on the search for Lilith.  thanks for the recommendation.  i
am loving MacDonald's work.  
  

    
Squeaks: What is the lemon flavored bat story?!?  Tell, tell.

JaNell: I'm sorry about ConCat.

Adriana:  What a fabulous gal she is!  
  

    
Hello!  Thank you for the welcome!  I'm going around to all the
different topics and conferences....it's a lot different, and a lot
cooler than I imagined...and I imagined something pretty spiffy.

Adriana:  Your Nana sounds like an amazing and fascinating woman.  I,
too wish her well, and please keep us posted?  

Erynn:  Here's my only really nifty turkey tip.  Before you put it in
the roaster, take some tin foil and fold up long strips of it, so that
when you lay the tin foil across the pan, then put the turkey on top,
you have these really nifty handles!  If it's a big turkey, put one
under the...shoulders, and one under the backside.  If it's smaller,
just in the middle.  Then you can just lift it out...but then, we use
my great grandmother's roaster, so for all I know these new fangled
roasters come equipped with such things.  

Jinxy:  You're always eloquent.

I, like Bill, was attacked by a soul enveloping fog that made sky
watching impossible.  But I can't complain too much, because I thought
it was really quite neat....like wading through a sea of spider webs. 
But I love hearing all of your meteor stories.  Almost as good, really,
as having seen it.

JaNell:  Oh, no!  I am terribly sorry to hear about ConCat!  What
happened?  

Squeaks - I know what you mean about cemeteries.  I used to work in
one, cutting the grass, and cleaning up the flowers.  It was a onerous
job (Because of the sun.  Too much hard work in the sun give this wimpy
chick headaches...one would have thought the sun would have decency
*not* to shine in cemeteries) worse, because everything that wasn't
fake would become slimy, and smell somewhat rotten....

OK.  You all could have lived with out that fact....

Cindy,
who's Psued is a line from an old episode of WKRP.  (Or was it called
WKRP in Cincinatti?  Brain is slipping.) 
  

    
Oops.  Forgot:  Hi, Cindy/Ninave!!!  I'm glad you came out from behind
the shrubbery.  Well done!

Re: cemetery greenery.  Ewwww...
  

    
Bummer about Concat... sorry for all those looking forward to it.

Adriana - I heard a rumor that Kenneth Branaugh is playing the
Professor of the Dark Arts in the second film. Do you know if that's
true? If so, this has to be the best cast franchise in the history of
filmmaking...

nineve - I remember that WKRP episode.... one of the all time great
moments in television comedy.
  

    
(note to self to email Kelly later, when some semblance of sanity
kicks in)

Um, I'm back. In one piece even. And I offer the following before I go
off and disappear back into that void they call life (and retail at
Thanksgiving!).

Things the mouse learned on her trip to New Orleans this year:

- Steve Brust is very fun to talk to and is not to be trusted.
- Pumpkins can be trained.
- Hair cannot.
- There may be more than one way to put the cobra in the bottle.
- Sometimes even Dave McKean has to audition.
- Calling an audience member by name can attract attention, and
sometimes leave people in awe.
- Michelle's fingernails rarely puncture skin, even under pressure.
- People will eventually remember you if you remind them who you are.
- Neil will *not* allow that photo on the web page.
- There is a reason Michelle usually *drives* to New Orleans.
- When thingies are few in number, one must recruit more.
- Poppy is tinier than you might think, and has excellent taste in
t-shirts.
- There are still things I don't know about Neil.
- People on Bourbon street really are that stupid.
- The Crystal does have a 2nd floor.
- People do not believe you when you tell them your hair took 15 hours
and counting.
- It is always worth it to buy the pretty corset.
- People in the car laugh at you when you shift the automatic into
park at every stop sign. 
- Some dead things are very pretty - others, very creepy and odd.

squeaks, who is off to stalk someone else this afternoon.
  

    
Oops, forgot...

JaNell - So sorry about ConCat!

Pamela - the story is okay when written out (I suspect), but it really
is a visual thing.

squeaks, who wonders if the stuck bat photo will make it to the web.
  

    
I was at B&N the other night, and saw, much to my pleasure, that Neil,
Michael Chabon, and Mike Ford were all on the Staff Recommends list of
books - and Mike was up there twice.  :-) I felt like telling them
thank you, but didn't,...

Squeaks, have I mentioned that I envy you? I mean, you know, _envy_ -
the next time people go to one of these cons, I think I'll need to
scrape the money together to go. Just to meet thingies, if nothing
else.  :-)

-Kelly
  

    
Michelle, and everyone~ thanks for the "I'm sorrys"...
I'm a bit stunned, and not feeling up to talking about it yet.
Pretty much two of pulled miracles out of our neverminds against all
sorts of disastery things this year to keep it going, and we had it,
too! And now this. 
The details are at www.kasfa.org

Michelle~Are you looking for cemetary photos? I'm going out this week
shooting B&W around town, and some of the historic cemetaries are on my
list...
  

    
JaNell--I'm so sorry!  And after all your hard work!  I send you hugs.

Squeaks--I love your posts!  Even when I don't know half the in-jokes.
 And I'm glad you're home safe.  May you be rested up for the holiday
nightmare.

DanGuy--I will!  Thanks!

Oooo, Kenneth Branagh......OK, who would y'all dreamcast as Sirius?  I
would have said Rickman, but he is a perfect Snape...God, I love that
man.  Is there anything he can't do?  Someone at work today suggested
Day-Lewis.....hmmmmm.

I love dreamcasting.  Of course now, all I want to do is go search for
'net rumors about GO.  Thanks, Neil.  ;-)

OK, crashing.  10 hours at my day job was about 12 too many!

Mary (who can't wait & is starting "From the End of the 20th Century"
before she finishes bloody Bury, and thought the introduction was
delightful) 
  

    <scribbled by the-roane>