Inkwell: Authors and Artists

    
Good Mistress Mousey Accost, the second-hand hand-me-down punky bass is
probably not thrashed Berkeley gutterpunk, I don't think; I got it from 
<jhaskett>, who got it from (I think) his brother Chris, who used to play 
with Henry Rollins. So it's whatever-that-would-be, and it's 
medium-friendly, although it needs a little work. (The socket where the 
cord goes is kinda loose, for one thing. I think somebody took the cord 
out with their boot once, or something.)

Neil, the Brennevin is... an experience. And I should have had it with 
hakarl, because now I'm afraid to try hakarl, because they say brennevin 
tastes good after it. (Finest drink made from spoiled potatoes and caraway 
seeds I've ever tasted. No wonder the Icelandair flight attendant looked 
at me funny when I asked for one. Then again, given the four hours we had 
been delayed by the new British ATC thing-of-annoyingness, it did turn my 
mind away from previous peevishness.)

I wish the person who is going to give me bass lessons would email. One of 
the persons, I mean. 

And the postman just brought a little box with the ashes of the dear 
Torpedo cat, just now, so I am having another moment of kitty grief. On 
the other hand, Malt-cat has now claimed my writing chair and my lap as 
his own, which helps a bit.

As I didn't have time to shop Dreamhaven's table at Minicon, I am going 
there in a little while to do so. Gotta get some mail ready to post first, 
though. Will doubtless come home with bags heavier than I leave with. 
That's the beauty of bookstores, innit?
  

    
And jinx: like dan, I too want to tickle the bellies of fruitbats from the
roof.
  

    <scribbled by maureluke>
  

    <scribbled by maureluke>
  

    
Ok...

Neil and Linda,  very sweet to encourage long posts. I'm one of those
kind of people who don't know how to summarize, though. And the
different issues I have with education combine into such a Gordian knot
that I can attack them in any number of ways, and it never seems to
loosen.

The thing I wrote, that went from maybe 40 lines to an obscene 103
lines, will be posted here:

http://www.eurydiceunderground.com/educ.html

if you'd like to read it. That is all.
  

    

Well, just to clarify, I'm not exactly *encouraging* long posts, I just
don't want to squelch you!  (Just seems like people don't want to read
more than a screenful and will just pass long posts right on by after
that.  So I don't encourage it, but I don't have a problem with the
occasional long post.)
  

    
Linda,  to be honest, I feel kind of ridiculous about even attempting
to post what I did - I know myself very well, and know I can go on
forever about this particular subject. I also now that it's not a very
interesting subject to most people outside of education - I bore my
sister to tears. And I really can't summarize for beans, so it's better
to link to my site anyway. 
  

    
Well, consider this an open invitation to any Wellians who find
themselves down south (no, further south than that... keep going... a
bit further...) for fruitbat belly tickling goodness. [Note to self:
check with Stuart before I go tromping through his apartment with
strange but wonderful people.]

Linda--No one will play Trivial Pursuit with me anymore. Mind you, my
boy is still determined to beat me at it one day. Wish him luck. ;>

Incidently, if you ever find yourself playing the Australian version,
the answers 'Gough Whitlam', 'Tasmania', 'bodyline' and any line from
Waltzing Matilda will probably see you through.

Shawn--I believe I was physically restrained from doing something like
that during one match. I knew the answer was on my bookshelf, but I
was winning by so much that I wasn't allowed to look. Grump. Still won.

Hmm, competitive much? Moi?

Tree
Who has a bat sanctuary named for her family in Ipswich, Queensland.
Which probably says a great deal about her family...
  

    

They're all batty?
  

    
It's more chic to say they have a high degree of noir flappage, I think,
Linda.
  

    
Maure - granted, I'm in education in a somewhat indirect way... but I
find your rant very interesting (and infuriating, and heart rending).
You never need to apologize for taking up that soap-box, as far as I'm
concerned.

Jinx - careful, you're going to open up a whole can of bats inviting
us all down for bat tickling goodness... next time I get a few weeks
between shows I'm going to be looking for an excuse to sleep on your
roof... (probably under a tarp though... guano isn't my thing)
  

    
Tree - Yay to batty goodness! (runs away singing 'batty batty bat
bat') Do the batties mind flash photography? :) Now you just get the
troops together to attack via 'because I said so!' with a tentative
date range of 'early next year'...

Linda - I'm *horrible* at Trivial Pursuit. The last time I played was
against most of my family. We played teams and my team got lucky and
won. I think I've been afraid to play since. But I like to play it! Oh,
the decisions I'm faced with! (mock swoon/thud)

Dan - All those BM gatherings tend to scare me a little. Been to one
of the afterparties, and a beach burn. Both tended to be a little
boring for me (as I don't drink or do any of the drugs that were going
around both places), and at one of them the consequences of my staying
were pretty evil. So unless I'm busy doing something specific, (like at
the Thunderdome fundraisers, where I'm working) I tend to steer clear
of the big organized BM parties off the playa. 

lioness - neat! a second-hand bass with a history (you thinks)! I only
have problems with the Berkeley gutterpunk variety from having to haul
them, and the drunken smelly carcasses of their players, all over the
bay when I used to hang at the Gilman. Still trying to remember what I
ever saw in any of them... (she says with a nostalgic sniffle)

Oh, and Tree, I betcha I've got a contender for you at Trivial
Pursuit...

squeaks, with sore knuckles from hitting the wall instead of the rude
and chauvenistic customer's face... 
  

    
hey everyone!
Damn, I just read chapters of posts! Always good to be back. 

My computer caught a virus and I rebooted it all by myself.
Unfortunately, all of my stories and fun things that I saved to disk
beforehand no longer work for some reason. I have a few of them printed
out...but not the new story I was working on...not a lot of things
actually. I was depressed for a few hours. But it's weird. I'm not
anymore. Maybe it's a good thing. Starting from scratch. Sure, I have
to rewrite some things from memory...but maybe everything will turn out
better that way. I'm oddly happy about it. Jess thinks I'm just in
shock, but I'm not so sure. 
   Coming back here makes me even more happy....reading about
education, fruit bats--the truly important and beautiful things in
life.  
  Okay. My monitor keeps flashing at me. It's sitting here naked
without a shell so I can jiggle the wires (I'm getting a new one next
week.)I guess I should hurry up and post this before I lose contact
altogether. Sorry, I just meant to pop in and say hello. Didn't mean to
rant. I think I've probably had too much wine. 
'nite.
  

    
E-mail from Jouni:


Neil -- Thanks. :-)

Jouni (happy...)
  

    
Squeaks - I can understand that. If you're not drinking, doing drugs,
or being rabidly social it wouldn't be much fun. Since it was a pirate
themed event, the costumes weren't even all that varied.
Still, woulda been fun to see you there. (P.S. check your e-mail!)

Erynn - the idea of you twiddling wires on a live monitor scares me a
bit. Do be careful!
  

    
E-mail from Jouni:

Neil and others...

Ahem...

I've always though 'Babycakes' to be one of the most effective and
disturbing stories Neil has written. Also when I first read it I though
'this would make a cool comic'. And now, after few years, after becoming a
father myself, I decited to do something about it...

I won't bore you with the why's and the how's behind this, but I want to say
that I tried to choose the style/approach/visual ideas as carefully as
possible (wich was quite easy since I had plenty of time THINKING and very
little time ACTUALLY DOIN' the thing). However if someone wants to ask
something, I'll gladly answer

SO, since Neil is the COOLEST GUY UNDER THE STARS and let me put this
online...

Please go and see my comics version of Neil's story 'Babycakes' in
http://www.geocities.com/jouniac/picts.html

Hope you like it. All comments (also critical) and questions are welcome.

Jouni :-)
  

    
An e-mail postscript from Jouni:


Hmm...

Just realized that the last message I wrote was full of misspellings and
missing letters. Too busy writing... not checking the spelling...

I apologize.

Jouni
  

    
Tree - It's been one of my life-long ambitions to visit down there. I
have several friends from Dallas who moved back a few years ago after a
couple decades in the states, and I'd love to go see them.
Unfortunately, can't stand any sort of prolonged airplane trips, at
least not in coach class. At 6'3", it just gets a TEENSY bit
uncomfortable in those seats; Besides which, I'm a fidgety person to
begin with. 

So I usually think that the only way I'll ever see Australia or New
Zealand is if I can afford a Buisness or First Class ticket (*dreams of
sticking his legs out in front of him and not rubbing elbows with his
row partner*) which will most likely be around 2025. :)

Squeaks - it's depressing, but I know what it's like to be out of
place because you don't do drugs. I was at the house of my girlfriends
best friend not too long ago, meeting several new people and generally
having a good time. Then the group I was sitting with started passing
around some recreational leaf. Neither my girlfriend or I have ever
done drugs so obviously I declined (good naturedly I thought) but as
soon as I did, I noticed everyone was looking at me very suspiciously
as if I wasn't trustworthy (these kids were several years younger than
I, mostly HS seniors and the like)

Unfortunate I thought...  :(

Shawn - who would very much like to visit Xenas playground someday
  

    
Dan,  thanks, it's sweet of you to say. I feel much better now,
actually, having written and posted it. It's one of the things that
busies itself somewhere in the back of my mind perpetually. Generally,
though, it's fairly well hidden by more pleasant, frivolous thoughts.

Squeaks,  at B&N, if we had a terrible customer, we'd find a way to
stick him with one of our sticky sensors that make you beep on the way
out. It was probably a wicked thing to do, but it was really funny, and
very satisfying.
  

    
O, i hate it when i forget to check in on this place for a few days,
always too many things i want to respond to. . . but i'll limit myself,
since i'm tired from making a batch of seitan.

Maure- yipes, wow. . . I'll be starting to teach college freshmen next
year. I don't think I'd be able to teach at the elementary or
secondary level, just 'cause of all the frustration it would entail.
It's now even starting to get bad at the university level; this first
class I'll be teaching is one required for all freshmen, in which we
grad students teach them to write. *sighs* Shouldn't a partially
educated adult already have a grasp of the basic mechanics of grammar?
This kinda bothers me. . .

Everyone talking about fruitbats- ooooohhh, neato. . . more places in
the world i must see sometime (hahaha, on a professor's salary? wonder
if i can invent a reason to do research in Australia. . .)
  

    
Shawn--
At 6'7", I completely understand what you mean. I've found that the
check-in staff tend to be quite helpful in arranging for me to be
seated either in an exit row (wider by law) or up at the bulkhead
between coach and first or business. Of course, that doesn't do
anything about rubbin' elbows, but at least my legs come out okay.

Maure--
That is a riot. Too funny.
  

    
Jouni - Great graphical version of this story. I'm incredibly
impressed. The only suggestion I have is to create a "next" button at
the bottom of each screen. That way, the reader doesn't have to keep
hitting the "back" button.

Neil - It was incredibly kind of you to allow Jouni to do this with
your writing. 

Jade Walker
  

    
Email from Jouni:

Jade -- Thanks. Glad you liked it.

Now about the next button... well it's a good idea, but (now don't you dare
laugh) I'm not sure if I CAN do it. No, seriously! I don't know ANYTHING about
webdesign/java/html. I'm still amazed how I managed to build the site in a
first place. It took me FEW DAYS to figure out how to make a page with
text-links to pictures... but to create a page with one picture and a link to
another page with one picture with... ooOoohHh... feelin' dizzy... my brain is
going to tilt...

Believe me, if I knew how, I would make the page more cool-looking...

But seriously, if you would like to move from one page to another (without
back-button) I suggest that you just change the name of the picture in the
address. Since I've named the documents from 'babyc1.jpg' to 'babyc6.jpg' all
you have to change is the number...

And yes, Neil was very kind indeed about this (I'm still bit embarassed that I
used this PUBLIC topic to ask him something that I really should have asked
him personally... but since I don't have his email, this seemed the best/only
choice).

And one more embarassement... I hope you're not annoyed about me using this
topic to announce the picture-updates on my site (not bein' even a
Well-member). I DO READ this topic, but I usually don't have anything clever
to say... I'm more a visual kinda guy...

Oh, and one more thing. I've received few messages that the picturesite had
been down. I don't know was it because there had been too many people trying
to access it simultaneously OR that there is too much stuff in the site OR
both, But anyhow I removed few older pictures... and hopefully you can access
the page again (atleast I can).

Jouni (I'm really not that pathetic... REALLY)
  

    
Neil: I found some very nifty essays on Slash when I was updating the
Fanfic FAQ on one of my sites last month, if you wanted to add 'em.
ljconstantine.com/smallville/faq.htm 

"Knight Rider" slash scares me, but for some reason, not as much as
"Simon & Simon" (for pete's sake they're *brothers*!). Not much of a
slash fan, me. Tho I have read some incredibly well written "Man From
U.N.C.L.E." and "Smallville" slash, I tend to skip the sexy bits. Just
not my thing.
  

    
Wasn't my thing until I ran into Spike/Angel slash. I think the cultural
conflict is a big part of it, though. (Irish vs. English, Riverdance vs.
mosh pit, et cetera.)