Inkwell: Authors and Artists

    
stagewalker-I felt horrible for that girl as well.  I can't imagine
thinking that I had just happened upon Neil in a chat room...but the
thought of someone leading her to believe that...and then play with her
head and heart like that...unbearable.  I guess its easy to forget
that there are people and souls behind these screen names...

Re: Amelie- For some reason I can't wait to see this movie.  I have
virtually no idea what it is about, but something about it really
excites me!  

Angelina (who is very full of turkey and stuff.  Why do I torture
myself so?)
  

    
Bother. I forgot about Thanksgiving.
Of course, that isn't entirely surprising given that ... well.. I am
in New Zealand. But it would have been a great opportunity to do some
really serious eating. Still, never mind. I'm going to Yum Cha for
lunch today, so I'm happy.

We don't even have an independence day. Waitangi Day celebrates the
signing of the treaty whereby England said "by the way, this now
belongs to us" (intereting because the English and the Maori versions
of the treaty have subtly (sp?) different meanings). It took a long
time before we even became our own country - hanging on desperately,
while England tried to kick us off their ankles into independance <wry
grin>.

We haven't got the shorts for Amelie at the movies yet, so I have _no_
idea what it is about. Of course, everyone here is too busy going
crazy about Harry Potter, and the upcoming LoTR. Heh, course, I already
have plans for LoTR - not going to the first midnight session, but
going to a champagne breakfast showing for that morning, in the most
comfortable theatre in all of Auckland. I figure with it being three
hours, I might as well be comfy.

Well, I'm rambling a bit randomly. 
Definately time for my second coffee, I think the first one is wearing
off.
  

    

If it makes you feel any better, I'm in the States and have never heard of
Amelie.
And, I have no plans for today. First T-day in a while where that's true.
It'd be nicer if I weren't unemployed, so it's not particularly different
from any other day. :>
  

    
Madman~I've no plans for this whole weekend, for the first time in
years...
Between ConCat being cancelled, and the new washer not needing to be
babysat, I'm not sure what to do with myself. Writing-both too
depressed and not depressed enough for that, if that makes any sense.
Some stunned place in the middle, I guess...
  

    
First and foremost; Happy Day-Before-US-Retail-Hell-Day! (you can tell
I'm running the store tomorrow, can't you?)

Kelly - No worries on the confusion. I just figured if we're designing
shirts, there should be two, as many inside jokes here won't work on
afn-g and vice versa. (e.g., someone posting "Tree boobies!!!" will
carry more significance on Tuesdays than any other day of the week. If
you know why, you're probably a thingie. Calling someone on the
newsgroup 'barking mad' just wouldn't cause them to light up so much
unless he/she also was a WELL regular.) 'Sides, then there are the
folks like me who would have to buy two t-shirts and raise more money
for whatever cause... and be stuck with much more difficult decisions
at future readings/signings.

<lioness> - On Mexican pyramids... can't even finish typing the
sentence from laughing so much... Yay for sharing that!

JaNell - The thought of pilgrims in general always makes me laugh. I'd
like to know who was responsible for first sketching/drawing/painting
them, because it all seems very unrealistic and impractical - at least
the silly hats.

Neil - Holly is silly. And you *should* be thankful for her. :P

So, I am spending the evening at my grandmother's. With that in mind,
look at what she just emailed me -

A man goes to the dentist to complain.  His brand new upper denture
plate has disintegrated.  The dentist asks what he has been eating.  
The man says he loves Hollandaise sauce & eats it every day. The
dentist explains that THAT is what the problem is, because the lemon
juice in the sauce corrodes the plate.  The dentist tells him that he
will make him a new plate out of chrome.  The patient asks why he would
use chrome & the dentist replies... "Because... There's no plate like
chrome for the Hollandaise."

squeaks, who hopes everyone has at least a little sympathy.
  

    

I hope you have sympathy for US for having had to read that terrible pun.
Heh.

I will try to be extra nice to you at poker night. I'll wait til late in the
night to deal Texas Hold'em...
  

    
Telling you. It wasn't me. It was Grandma.

Indeed, <madman>, if I didn't know better, I'd think you were just
trying to tire me so as to take advantage of me tomorrow!

squeaks, fingers crossed 'the Ringer' will be able to attend
  

    
Michelle~OUCH!!! That pun hurt. 
Re: Holly, she definitely gets my votes for the family brains, or
maybe just Cap'n Kirk Luck...  
I heard that she was on her way to a concert, Tori maybe, instead of
MadCon; her car broke down right on the edges of Madison, so she came
by the Con and switched cars with her Dad, or somesuch, and carried on.

How lucky, or how smart, is that?
As for silly; I didn't meet her, so I don't know. Maddy *is* silly,
though, and was completely unimpressed with me. Kids do usually like
me, I can roll one eye at a time and make duck calls with my hand...
  

    
And what in the blue blazes is a "wossname"?
That just proves that Neil is not speaking the same English as the
rest of us.
  

    
*rolls eyes*

a wossname is whatever the hell wossname you want it to be.
Like a thingumy. Or a whosywhatsit.
  

    
Now, those two I understand. Use whosywhatsit myself, in fact. And
thingamabobby. Doodad. Whatchamacallit.
  

    
And sure, roll your eyes at me just 'cause I'm not fluent in
Britlish...
But can you roll them seperately? :P
  

    
*making the attempt and ending up with tongue poking out but not much
luck in the independent eye rolling department*

oops
I think I got stuck
  

    
(sticking out tongue, thumbs stuck into ears, wiggling fingers at
silly stuck Jo)
Nana-Booboo!!!
  

    
Now I'm going back to making jewelry out of seed pods and human hair
and precious metal clay...
Oooh, and those really tiny star pasta things.
I had this really cool beetle carapace that I was going to cast, once,
but my husband threw it away.
*sigh*
A whole sunflower blossom would be fun, too.
  

    
How lucky were we?
Just wanted to drop a happy Thursday/Turkey day to everyone, and
realized, looking at my watch, that I'm late, and it's now Retail Hell
Day.  So good luck, Michelle.
Wossname is one of my favorite words.  And I'm not British.
I signed up to be a substitute teacher, and just need to be
fingerprinted, so that's cool.
Failed the personal trainer test by 2 points.  Yes.  Two.  But at
least I know I'll pass in February, and I can get a gym-desk job
between now and then.
Saw *Harry Potter* twice, loved it more the second time, and want to
see *Amelie* more every day.  Not many theaters down here showing it,
however, so it'll be a trip to a mall and shopping, as well.
My we-peaked-five-years-ago-and-are-in-denial party-- Oh, wait, I
mean, my five year high school reunion is on Saturday.  I'm really
actually looking forward to it, because I'm actually one of the people
who *didn't* peak in high school, and because everything about me has
changed, even down to my name.  And my first one, at that.
Finished *Thief of Time* today.  What's rule number one?
Also read a Ramsey Campbell book, and *Marriage of Sticks* (the latter
I'll take, the former I'd leave).  Next up: *The Last Hot Time*, and
*Invisible Cities*.  And deciding whether to read *The Afterlife Diet*
by Pinkwater before I have to return it on Wednesday.  I've already
read the first sixty pages, and I'm wondering if it gets better
later...
  

    
The bits of your family that you share with us are absolutely
enchanting, Neil - thank you.  :-)

A rough week, but a good one, I think - today was spent with friends,
couples actually - that was the point. Pairs, instead of people looking
or feeling akward, and remarkably it worked. Stuffed, of course,... I
don't really have the whole Pilgrim sort of Thanksgiving concept, but I
certainly appreciate having a day where time is taken out to be
knowingly thankful for what's in our lives,... one of the things I'm
thankful for today is knowing such a fascinating group of people that
this place has collected - I thank (blame?) y'all for inspiring me to
share Too Much, and Write More.

Mostly, tho, I'm thankful for the entity attached to the voice that
just mumbled out from under a large pile of pillows that my keystrokes
sound like rain tapping lightly against the glass,...  :-)

Antacids for y'all,...
-Kelly
  

    
Let's see, by my clock I've still about 2 hours of this bloody 'oliday
left. Wanna know what I'm thankful for? I'm thankful that I'm
mechanically inclined enough to be able to change my own damned flat
tire. I'm thankful that I weigh just enough to work the lug-nuts off
the wheel by jumping up and down on the tire iron. And I'm REALLY
thankful that it wasn't raining in Pacifica an hour ago.

squeaks, who has the Stone Roses running through her head.
  

    
A happy & blessed holiday to you all!

Spent the day with Debbie & Chris (the coolest 12-year-old) and we ate
*really* well.  And we watched Dark Crystal, Princess Bride,
Labyrinth, and Neverending Story II (*somebody* had mislabeled her
tapes & thought she had both of them....can't imagine who would be such
a chowderhead).  After Chris crashed, we watched How To Irritate
People with John Cleese.  I felt it necessary to borrow Debbie's copy
of The Wolf at the Door and reread Instructions, just in case, after
that many fantasy flicks.

Holly is wonderful.  I rather suspected there was a mastermind behind
your success ;-)  Wish her a happy Thanksgiving from us!

Will--Um, er, I was just wondering, do you have any food?  Oh, thanks,
thanks so much!  (I love your Eddie references!)  And I covet your
reading list, except *I'm* reading From the End of the Twentieth
Century, so I'm getting my required ration of Mr. Ford.  It stopped the
DT's,  for which I'm thankful ;-)

JaNell--yay new washer!  I long for a place of my own, someday....

Angelina--welcome back!  I missed you!

Mousey--your Grandma is delightful, and best wishes for....later
today, I guess it is now.

Wossname is a word I always associate with Terry Pratchett, and always
makes me laugh--Will--do *not* attack the "harmless little old man". 
Ever.

OK, must sleep.  A lot.  TTFN!
  

    

I associate "wossname" with Wilkenson, from A Game of You.
  

    
Re: Wossname
OK, so I'm ignernt (deliberate mis-spelling). I'm sure if I'd read it
in context, say, in a sentence in a book, then I would have gotten it.
But it's hard to trust the context of being in a sentence in the
journal of someone who doesn't ever spellcheck, which Holly should
obviously get onto him about.

Had a very nice dinner yesterday with Cam's family, and talked to mine
on the phone. Hope everyone else had a good one, too.
  

    
Will~have you noticed that the people who say "there hasn't been any
good music since..." are invariably referring to the year they lost
their virginity, which apparently was the high point of their lives?
And how sad for anyone who truly believes that high school is "the best
years of our lives". What, it's all downhill for them after that, a
slow, meandering trip to death? That's just wrong.
  

    
Oh dear lord, I certainly hope High School wasn't the best years of my
life.  Do people have selective memory or something?  That IS just
wrong.

Michelle- Well, congrats on the changing of your tire!  I'm glad that
it wasn't raining too!

Mary- Thank you!  I've missed you guys as well.

Angelina.
  

    
We hermits do *not* like to go out on Red Friday.

Holly,
     I know *I'm* thankful for you, then.  Just...don't go to far away
from your father, because, well, I need my Gaiman (and, apparently,
Gaiman) fix every so many months....and if you're not there to give him
ideas, who will I turn to?
     Seriously, come to think of it, his career didn't really start to
take off until she was around talking age, am I right? :P

Alright.  <Hangs head in shame>  Please, will some kind person tell me
what Amelie is?  Just remember, I live in the sticks.  I really do.
(Tries to remember the last time she went somewhere that was not a
Walmart, library book sale, or grocery store, and fails abominably)

Ants.  I think of ants every time I see the word wossname.  "Poor
little wossnames...ants...."  I *love* Neil's reading of that story.

I was somewhat angered by what that imitator did to that girl....and I
felt sorry for Neil.  That could so *not* have been a comfortable
situation.

JaNell...why are you using hair?  I think it's neat, but it always
makes me think of mourning jewelry.  I once tried to braid some of my
hair into an intricate bracelet, but it wouldn't smooth out.

I need to learn how to spell!

Ninave,
who's a both a Thingie and a Wellian, and proud of it.  Just please
don't call her a Wellie.
  

    
Ninave - Amelie is a movie by the guy who did The City of Lost
Children (among other things).  :-)  Probably one of the best movies
I've seen, too.

I think the people who've thought that high school was the best time
of their life secretly swapped their high school out with the one
portrayed in Grease.  :-)

-Kelly