Inkwell: Authors and Artists

    
I'd go with John Fahey for comfort music.  (He did an excellent album, once,
with Ry Cooder.)  A couple of weeks ago, I was in a coffeehouse with
my brother and they were playing a side from the live Derek and the
Dominoes album -- "Why Does Life Have to Be So Sad?"   Allman Brothers
work for me, also.   I guess I'm an inveterate old hippie, although I
do like They Might Be Giants, early Tori, and (when I'm really down or
contemplative, classic and symphonic works from Telemann, and Mozart.
Mozart is a pick-me-up -- he and Beethoven were influences on some of
the best of the instrumental music of the Grateful Dead).

New Morning [has broken?].   Eddie Henderson and Les McCann are good
mood music for me when I hear them on coffeehouse stereos.
  

    
lioness: Reading your post, I realised I actually think of BiL as two
bands--the Todd one and the Adam one. But I love 'em both for stuff
like "Army Dream Song" and "Rasputin".

Lenny: last night, while multitasking, I made a mix cd of all my Tori
b-sides and am listening to it right now this second. It will truly be
complete when I can get "Happy Worker" tho. But I was thrilled to find
a copy of "Flying Dutchman" online, as well as "Case of You" which will
go on the 2nd mix cd (which I haven't made yet), which is all covers.
I'd forgotten completely that I had "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and it
brings me much joy.

All: Okay, so I read three online journals these days: Neil's, my
friend Ann's, and Wil Wheaton's. He entertains me. But I am all smiley
today, because he's got a link to buy "American Gods" up on his site
(http://www.wilwheaton.net). Yay Wil with One L!
  

    
Thanks for reminding me of WIl Wheaton's journal, Tara; I should start
reading that again. It was pretty good.
  

    

How odd that I can't think of any comfort music or books.  Perhaps I 
haven't needed comforting recently??  Perhaps Leonard Cohen?

Music to create by is another story, though.  For some reason "Dozin' at 
the Knick" by the Grateful Dead is good creative music in an exuberant 
fashion, and quiet creative music is "Blue Incantations" by Sanjay Misra 
and Jerry Garcia.  Housecleaning music is "Jacques Brel is Alive and Well 
and Living in Paris."
  

    
Jade - Yes..yes...Lady in Satin..so perfect, it makes you weep.

Maure - Ohh..that's my song too!  What an exquisite voice Johnnie
Hartman possessed, and it is such a complement to the artistry of John
Coltrane.  I swear that album renews my faith in humanity.  I'm so glad
it didn't end up in Lucien's library of unreleased music. Hear he's
got a bootleg copy of Wynton Marsalis' secret duets with the ghost of
Louis Armstrong. ;>

And thanks for the tip regarding the Peacocks.  

Castle - Funny you mention house-cleaning music.  Mine is usually
Disco music. =)
  

    
Neil: Aha!  It *was* Emma.  How fabulous.

Bill: Those pies sound wonderful.  What a terrific gift!  I love
making mulled cider for the holidays, just so I can simmer it and make
the whole house smell yummy.

Maure (and others): Thanks so much for the music recommendations!  I
copied a bunch of them over into a file, for future reference.  But
I’ll be looking for the Brad Mehldau CD’s right away.  

Linda: I had a total flashback to French class, where “Jaques Brel is
alive and well...” had pride of place in the music pile for class.

My all-time favorite housecleaning music: Santana’s “Supernatural,”
and “A Soulful Celebration,” which is a black music history reworking
of Handel’s Messiah that rocks the house.

Re: BELOVED.  Some books make a difference in your life.  That was one
of them, for me.  I didn’t know that it was possible to do that, until
I saw her do it.  In general, I’d agree with the “magical realism”
designation, but it makes me kind of fidgety, nevertheless.  I dunno
exactly why.

Will: Methinks you were just checking to see if we read the whole
post.  Well, I did.  And your gramma’s groovy: I love penguins!

JaNell: Can I steal your “communism works” quote for a .sig?!?  I hope
you find a wonderful workshop to plug into.  I’m excited for you!

Tree: I will definitely be treating myself to a Yule present of “Tikki
Tikki Tembo.”

Jade: CONGRATULATIONS on your book!

-Pam
who’s only *just* resisting tapping her foot with impatience for her
shipment from Dreamhaven
  

    <scribbled>
  

    
By the way, Linda: Where will you be in Los Angeles for the 26-27th? 
Maybe we could do a mini-Disneyland trip to see the Haunted House!
  

    
You know, it wasn't the Koln concert that night. It was Spheres, same
pianist. I threw in my Koln cd and realized the music that night was
much more suitably creepy. Jarrett's wonderful in whatever he is doing,
though.
  

    
The end result of the interview about ConCat is at
http://www.metropulse.com/dir_zine/dir_2001/1150/t_eye.html under the
title "ConCanceled", including the blogger qoute from "Author and
ConCat supporter Neil Gaiman".
And hey, they spelled my name right...
  

    

By the way, speaking of the Haunted House at Disneyland, word around the
parks is that it will be an annual thing, and there is talk that it might
happen at both parks next year. All rumor, but I thought I'd mention.

I have difficulty imagining Leonard Cohen as comfort music. Maybe. Some of
it. But I always jump to Famous Blue Raincoat (a fav, even before Tori
covered it) and "what can I tell you, my brother, my killer, what can I 
possibly say? I guess that I miss you, I guess I forgive you, I'm glad 
that you stood in my way", while being one of my favorite sets of lyrics 
penned by any songwriter, does not comfort me. 
But maybe that's just me.

Glass Houses is another good one. 
  

    
Pam- actually, that was a line from Better Off Dead..., which was
Dan's comfort movie and which I couldn't resist dropping, because it's
among my favorite John Cusack lines ever.  Only he could deliver lines
like that.  And "My wife's in a cage with a monkey. What is my life
coming to."  Or "You're a handsome devil.  What's your name?"  And I
*love* *Supernatural*.  Mainly "Smooth".  Such a sultry, steamy,
sensual song.  It's like the sweaty-sensual counterpart of "Pour Some
Sugar on Me".

Maure- I like Jarrett.  The only CD I have is *The Melody at Night,
with You*, but I like it muchly, from what I remember (I have a lot of
CDs, and usually just play favorites).

Speaking of favorites, I wanted to mention Ryan Adams.  I guess it
goes along the lines of the whole comfort thing.  He's got a new single
called "New York, New York," and he shot his video less than a mile
from my old apartment, I think (unless I've got the wrong location,
which is entirely possible).  But he's near a bridge (actually, must be
Brooklyn, now I think of it), and the twin towers are right behind
him.  It's got shots over the course of the day, so you get a near-dawn
shot, an afternoon shot, a nighttime shot; he recorded it on September
9th.  The first time I saw it was the first time I really cried hard
after it all went down.  It's a really good CD, and the songs are
really well written.  Not that I'm plugging it.  It just makes me feel
good.
  

    
Jade - A book? Yay! 

House cleaning music? Um, synthpop, usually. But it occasionally
degenerates into only being halfway done with the cleaning and there I
am, bouncing around the apartment, singing along to Strawberry
Switchblade and spinning 'til I nearly fall when OMD comes on... don't
get me started on what happens when Information Society or Depeche Mode
is on...

Pam - Thanks for posting - I forgot I'm supposed to order something
from DreamHaven. :)

Will - It's not healthy to mix your Santana with your Def Leppard. You
should see someone about that. ;P

squeaks - Hooray! for complicated love lives!
  

    
... but are any of the other thingies here having problems getting on
afn-g today? My news-server suddenly decided that it doesn't exist.
Anyone else on Mindspring/Earthlink who might be having the same
problem? 

squeaks, who is certain everything will be fine by the time someone
answers and she sees it, but just the same, it doesn't hurt to ask...
  

    

Miss Pamela, I think I may be booked up now...will check...

I was thinking more in terms of Leonard Cohen's voice as being somewhat 
comforting, I guess...
  

    <scribbled by dfowlkes Tue 3 Jul 12 10:14>
  

    
Miss Mousey: Anytime you need me to order something from Dreamhaven to
remind you to order something from Dreamhaven, you just let me know. 
I've got no problem with that.  I'll even take advance requests, just
in case.  ;)

Linda: Well, let me know.  I was thinking of an evening jaunt, if
you're free.

Heaven help you all, it's the Pam Dream Report again.  Reporting from
the front lines as Barking Mad Elves invade a small home in the Los
Angeles area and take over the sleeping brain of a nice little
midwestern girl who never did anything to deserve dreams like this...

I hereby dedicate this dream to <stagewalker> and Adriana, as a token
of my affection.

     *

It's the late '70s [1] and two playwrights of small fortune but
towering talent have both passed away unexpectedly, less than one week
apart.  Ed Harris, a close friend of one of the playwrights, has ended
up in a telephone conversation with John Malkovich, a close friend of
the other writer, talking about how sad they are.  In an attempt to
deal constructively with their grief and honor their friends, Harris
and Malkovich decide to get together to workshop a few scenes from the
authors' plays.

So they both show up at an old Catholic church in New York one
evening, and head up to one of the classrooms in the back to run
scenes.  They've each brought copies of the plays, cigarettes, and...
an effigy of their friend.  Ed has dressed his version of his deceased
friend as a priest, and John has dressed his as a Monsignor.  They seat
them in chairs in the classroom, and proceed with working the scenes.

Things are going well; they feel like they're getting some good stuff
going.  (Well, they are Ed Harris and John Malkovich, after all.)  A
few people have wandered in for a few minutes, and then back out.  A
homeless woman in a blue coat has entered the church to get warm for a
bit; she follows the sound of voices to the classroom, and ends up
reading some female parts for different scenes.  She does quite a good
job, actually.

Unfortunately, one of the persons who stopped in for a while didn't
respond well to the whole thing, so at the end, police come and arrest
Ed and John and take them away.

Which just goes to say something.  But I have no idea what.

-Pam
[1] What can I say?  Sometimes I dream in period.
  

    

That was a *dream*??
  

    
I second that.  Man.  That would be *cool*.  Ed Harris and John
Malkovich?  That dream could win a Tony.

I got my first short-story rejection today.  I sent out a short story
before, but that was a contest, and this was a magazine, so I'm still
saying this is my first.  I sent a story called "Unkindness" to The
Atlantic Monthly, and promptly got a two sentence form rejection
letter.  I guess, if your first short story's going to be rejected, it
might as well be by a bigger-name magazine like The Atlantic.  It's
sort of- well, I think the story fit, and I wonder if it wasn't length
(they said preferred length is 4,500 to 6,000 words, and this was just
more than 7,000.  But that was *preferred*.  I mean, if that was the
*maximum*, they should have just said that.  Like, I might *prefer*
chocolate ice cream, but I won't pass up vanilla [not to say I *do*,
mind you, but I *might*).  I'll never know, I guess, because they
didn't offer any comments.

Some day I'll chuckle about it, I'm sure, but not today.  Today I
needed a comfort book.  So I busted out *The Last Hot Time*, and I've
been enjoying it muchly.  And Def Leppard's on my stereo (reading Mike
Ford and listening to Def Leppard has been pretty damned cool, I must
tell you all).   So *that's* all right.
  

    
Pamela - Wow! Thanks for the dedication. 
All I remember clearly about my own dream this morning was that I was
on the Johnny Carson show with some other actors, including Steve
Martin who kept looking away and trying to avoid me while I asked him
about details for a party he promised to send me but never did. That
was about when Tom Cruise showed up to watch the taping and ended up
shang-hai'ing the entire show and I never got any air time.

Must be the time for celebrity dreams, eh?
  

    
Ignore my typelexia (yes I made the word up, Neil, but you know what I
mean so =P ) in my previous post, I was just all excited.

Jade ~Congrats on the book.

Pamela ~yes, you can use the communism quote for a sig. (wow that's
flattering), just spell my name right: JaNell Golden

Neil ~see #1210
And, on your blog, you mentioned the (obviously) declining value of
Todd McFarlane's balls...
How can anyone who acts that way claim to have any?
And even if he did, they'd be worthless.
<hug>
  

    
I just got home & read the blog.

I'm trying not to to let the redneck who lives in my head get ahold of
the keyboard.  Very few people get to see the redneck.  She will sit
quietly while I am insulted, assaulted and otherwise impugned, not
uttering a peep.  But let someone do or say something ugly to someone I
like & respect......

I *will not* be angry.  I also will not dignify the ravings of a
pathetic sociopath by calling them attempted blackmail.

What I *will* do, is tell you, Neil, that I'm very sorry that you have
to go through this in public.  I've known a few people that Mr.
McFarlane resembles.  The chaos that they cause is upsetting enough
without having it dragged through the press and having to answer
questions about it for months to come.  Bravo for stating your case
where 30,000 (*love* those numbers, by the way) people a week can read
it to their hearts content.  Someday this will be over, and we will be
able to read Miracleman in peace.  Godspeed the day.  And thank you for
putting up with so much garbage in the process.

Yay!  You're reading Coraline!  With all due respect to the delightful
people who've read your work over the years, you still do a better
Neil than anyone ;-)  I'm so looking forward to it.

Will--does The Last Hot Time not rock?  Def Leopard sort of sounds
like a good idea......

Mary (reading Diane Johnson's Le Mariage)  

P.S.  Saw a copy of the War for the Oaks at Borders (on Michigan Ave.)
last night (where they have no copies of Smoke & Mirrors :( 
)....suuure would be a nice Chrimble prezzie, wouldn't it?  (Hey, I
figure hint wherever you can....)
  

    
Mary speaks sooth.

And whoah, folks, pretty amazing dreams there. Yes, Lemon Scented Sticky
Stagewalker (why does that make me think of fluorescent-colored drinks that
get served in scale models of various tropical architecture, foliage, or
vulcanism-related geography?), it apparently is the time for celebrity
dreams.

Mine was boring compared to the ones you guys, especially Pam (wow!), have
been having, though. All that happened in mine was that a bunch of living
and dead writers got together to hang out at some very odd but endearing
convention, and somebody was asking Gordy Dickson to settle a bet, and
Charles deLint was making oracular pronouncements about my bellybutton,
which was amusing MaryAnn and causing me to blink in a befuddled manner. And
then there was something about horseracing and Ascot, and I think MaryAnn
and somebody else and I were being the first women into a formerly male-only
club's precincts, though why, I cannot remember. Nor do I know why they had
all that straw on the floor, or if the red-and-white-and-yellow tartans were
meaningful or mere chromatic gladhanding.

Tomorrow.. no, today. Today I go to Toronto. I have already packed an
elf shirt, and a shawl knitted by my Danish great-aunt, and a black pirate
shirt that was a hand-me-over from Will Shetterly. And a box of ametrines
(amethyst/citrine) and miscellaneous Swarovski thingums to delight the
hostlybeings, those being the illustrious B.C. Holmes and her household.
Back next Tuesday -- anybody need anything from Toronto, as long as I'm
going?

And I am so very much looking forward to someday reading Coraline that I
can't even fit words on it.
  

    
A few days back, I posted to the well....but it never showed.  I think
that's because I got kicked off my server almost simultaneously, and
those who have had the frustrating pleasure of talking to me on IM know
all about how my server kicks me off and I don't know until several
minutes later....

re:  Sylvia Plath as comforting.  I'm not nuts!  <Giggle>  I totally
see where you're both coming from, but my angle is that, when you're
feeling really awful, some of her poems, and yeah, the Bell Jar can be
a comforting in a "I totally know where you're coming from." way.  AND,
especially the Bell Jar, I've read it and gone, "See, you're just
being a  baby, it can get so much worse, this girl's got real problems,
so stop this and go do something positive."  I'm kinda into tough love
for Cindys. More than you needed to know, but I hate coming off
sounding callous.  :P

INXS!  That's my comfort music!  They rarely fail to make me feel
happy.  Though, recently I've discovered this lovely bit of classical
music that's been making me feel calm and content, called "The Moldau"
by....where's that jewel case?  AH!  Friedrich Smetana.  It is very
lovely.

The Man Who Shall NOT BE Named:  I've been troubled by this for
awhile, not only on the "It really sucks that Neil's having to deal
with this."  level - I hate to see people I like being stuck, and I
hate it when people act dishonorably and think that I'm so dumb that I
can't see it.  I wouldn't believe anything that came out of the
nameless one's mouth, especially not about Neil, who has always been,
as far as I can see, a decent, nice man.  I'm going to shut up now,
because I don't want to rub any more salt on proverbial wounds.  But I
agree entirely with Mary, and, well, I won't be so forward to hug you
as we've never met, but I will pat you on the arm. <there>  It really
is terrible, Neil.

Will:  You have a slip to match mine!  You're in good company!  <Sigh>
 I am sorry you got rejected.  But, please take comfort from my
experience.  I've discovered that if it comes back really quick, it's
(Well, I've never been accepted, so this might not be so) going to be a
rejection because they just glanced at it - probably saw the word
count and decided to pass, like you said.  I know from reading
submissions that when you get a ton of manuscripts, an editor can
sometimes be pretty strict about things like that, just so they can go
on to the next submission.  But you try in the hope that they lift the
cover letter, and get captured.  It's not personal, or in anyway a
judgment on your work, though now you feel like it is. (How can you
help it?) I went through a time like that, and a time where I used to
cry just seeing a big yellow envelope waiting in the mailbox for me. 
Now I feel very patient.  It will happen for you, I honestly believe
that.  And maybe even for me.  :D  Well, that's not much of a pep talk,
is it?  Well, um, <hug>

Tree:  After two hours of digging through boxes of things I'd
forgotten I'd kept and have no idea why, I found my box of childhood
books.  The Phantom Tollbooth is now sitting on my shelf, ready to be
read....unfortunately now I'm considering reading the Nancy Drews, too.
 Unfortunate because...what if I read them and ruin them for myself?
(Hey, this wasn't nearly as good as I thought!)  But I might read them
and the Bobbsey Twins for a lark.

Jade:  Congratulations on the book!  Yay! That is so very cool.

Pam:  I love that dream!  

I am now going to go to make little signs for a model railroad.

Take care all!
  

    
Oh dear, - 50+ posts. I shouldn't go away for a few days,...

So we've started in on comfort music? :-)  I'd have to say the number
one comfort band for me is Cowboy Junkies - there's something about the
music and voice that just lifts me to another place. Right after that
would be Marc Cohn. Up at the top right now would also be Sarah
Brightman (new album! woo!) and Poe's Haunted.

Workshops. I don't know about these, but a group of people have
started a writers group, and I've been invited to join (and have). I've
also recently found out an aquaintance is an editor, and she's offered
to help me with anything I do decide to write/submit. 

Squeaks - yeah, four. Apparently Seattle was second to SF for cool
city to play, and Seattle desparately needs that, so we get more bands!
 :-)  Apparently we can look forward to Icon of Coil back in the
spring, and Apop and Beborn Beton sometime in May *swoon*. As for dirt
on what was going on behind stage,... oh my! We should compare notes,..
heh.  ;-)

Lioness - you came up in conversation the other night. Someone
mentioned your name (talking about well written FAQs or somesuch), and
then proceeded to tell me friend of friend connections. *shakes head*
The world is a small place - either that, or Karawynn just knows
everyone. (I'm actually leaning towards the second.)

Erhm. Tara - I'm doing the same with all my Tori singles - I have Way
Too Many CD singles, and would like to have them all on a single CD, so
I can listen to them all. And you can get Happy Worker on one of the
re-releases of Y Kant Tori Read.  :-) (And I've just digressed off to
Wil Wheatons journal for 10 minutes - surprisingly interesting!)

Nyrhm, Neil - your writing can be very powerful, and convey strong
emotion. I'd never been quite sure what the fallout between you and
McFarlane was; luck be on your side.


-Kelly