Inkwell: Authors and Artists

    
Dodge - I'd be happy to help you out on the Geography side of things
as I am also a Texan and used to live in L.A. and have made that drive
up to SF. Lengthwise it's pretty similar to driving from Dallas to
Padre Island but much more scenic. That's a good and a bad thing
because the way I've taken is over a few mountains which are lots of
fun to drive through but more time consuming than flat Texan landscape.

Speaking of trips, I just got back yesterday from Chicago all in one
piece, but I spent most of the day in a hallucinatory daze. Much better
today. Not much scenery in Illinois but the upside was getting plenty
of time to listen Coraline on audiotape, of which I managed to snag the
only copy from B&N before leaving Evanston.

Neil - it's WONDERFUL! Lot's of fun and chilling to listen to at
night, driving along the highway. My girlfriend was sleeping most of
the time I listened but she insisted that she was woken up by every one
of the rat's songs, just long enough to give her nightmares before
falling back asleep.

My only complaint is that the store didn't have any CD copies which I
had intended to get.*sigh*

Dan - The movie stills look very cool indeed. Do you know how it will
be distributed?

-Shawn- who wants 5 minutes alone in a smallish room with whoever
designed Chicagos road system
  

    
"-Shawn- who wants 5 minutes alone in a smallish room with whoever
designed Chicagos road system"

HA! Says the man from the state in which large, unfinished cities have
largely unfinished highways with eight different names per half
mile...
  

    
Madman - Well, not for a bit.. but if everything works out, I'll be
able to keep working in the same building... although I doubt I'll get
to keep my office and my amazing view... *sigh* I'm going to miss being
able to look to my right and see the City and the Bay Bridge every
day...

Shawn - I know there are a couple of film festivals we're already
booked for, beyond that... I have no idea. I've already volunteered to
do the commentary track for the DVD, though. *grin*

Linda - if we don't have anyplace good to go, everyone's invited back
to my place and we'll have something good a yummy... I promise.

Dan
  

    
I'll bring the Red Vines... KIDDING! :) I'm all for invading Dan's
place, but that's mostly because I don't know of anyplace in Berkeley
that's open late (being a non-drinker, I tend to not know where any of
the bar-type-places-that-are-actually-open-past-nine are). 

Dan - good luck with the new job, sorry about the loss of the view! I
know I look forward to our store opening up the 5th floor just so I can
check out the scenery from a few floors up. :) And the film looks
cool, keep us posted.

squeaks, jealous of all the people listening to Coraline, while I
lament my own refusal to buy one online earlier just because I'm not
allowing myself use of my own credit cards for a while...
  

    
Linda:  No, not an official request.  I thought I might have missed
something (the last few weeks have been hectic-my son, Ben, graduated
and then there was the party...).

Dan:  Good Luck!
  

    <scribbled>
  

    
Maure - Ok, yes, our highways have been under construction roughly
since Colonial times but it's all being done in the name of
improvement. When all is said and done, we do really have very well
paved and maintained roads. And the construction really isn't
difficult
or obtrusive at all. 

Well, unless you actually want to drive somewhere...

And while our naming system might seem a bit eccentric to the outside
observer it's actually very stimulating to the drivers mind, keeping
you fresh and alert. Sort of like that card game, Memory, but played
while hurtling along at 70 mph and trying to avoid suicidal
pedestrians.*grins*

Shawn - who is still learning all the street names and liking it
damnit! 
  

    
Where are y'all talking about?

You could be talking about Houston. The main freeways are always under
construction somewhere. Now most of the streets downtown are under
construction and you can't drive anywhere in Houston for more than 5
minutes without maneuvering around construction. Our freeways do at
least keep their names straight unless you count the fact that each of
them have several names and you almost have to be a native and own the
original scorecard to figure out which one you're talking about. The
one on the signs is never the one the person who's giving you
directions is using. 
  

    
I love driving. With a passion, even. However, I have never in my life
had such a difficult time with a city as I had with Houston. Dodge,
you are precisely right -- no one gave us directions that bore any
resemblence to the names of the highways posted. They'd tell us to take
this, then that, and then whatsit -- all of which were the same
highway. And I only mentioned the largely unfinished highways because
Megan and I were worried I'd take a wrong turn and end up flying off
the end of one of the reinforced-concrete loops that stopped abruptly
mid-curve. Austin was much easier.

But I do whole-heartedly agree, Chicago's highways are awful. Driving
to work through Times Square just after every conceivable play and
musical ended was less trouble than navigating the Eisenhower or the
Kennedy in rush hour.
  

    
Ok, let's just assume my place... it'll be easier than trying to find
some place that's open late at night that isn't either:
A. a bar
B. a Denny's/Lyons

so, I'll make sure to get the house stocked with food before the 2nd
so we can actually relax and enjoy ourselves. Feel free to make food
suggestions so that I have something on hand that you want to munch
contentedly on...

Neil, I realize that you've probably got plans, but you are (of
course) welcome to join.

I almost screwed up big time, in that I've been so distracted the last
couple of days I kept forgetting to order MY ticket for the reading. I
ordered it this morning though, so all should be well. *whew*

Thanks all for the good wishes with the film. It's coming along, one
shot at a time... like all projects, I'm enjoying it but will be glad
when it's done. It's taking much, much longer than I was originally led
to believe.

As for Chicago... I avoided the highways for the most part. If I
wasn't going out to Wheaton or something, I stayed on surface streets.
Now, those are pretty cool. Chicago is a city that it's impossible to
get lost in. Everything is north-south, east-west. The numbers all
decrease as you head to downtown, so all you have to do is walk
straight and you'll hit a main drag.
  

    

Can someone remind me where to go to order tickets? I need to do that as
well.
  

    
Shawn--you have apparently discovered the truth of the saying that we
have 3 seasons in Chicago--almost winter, winter, and construction. 
Sorry.

Next time you're in town, let one of us (me, Tara, or Maure) know, and
 the Unusual Suspects will take you out for coffee.  Or a roadmap  ;-)

I have my Coraline.  The book, that is.  Sometimes working in my
office (which I normally can't stand) pays off.  And Brad Finkbeiner is
the greatest human being in the universe.  Just in case you were
wondering.

Mary (who is reading Shadow & Claw by Gene Wolfe, but may have to put
it on hold for a day)
  

    
Re: Scary trousers store -  Its awfully tempting to make an outfit of
the Scary Trousers boxers! But I suspect that would be harder to spot
than the lettering on the front of a t-shirt :)

Dan - Very nice of you to offer your place for an after-party thingum!
I hope I will be able to go, but I am bringing two others and I don't
yet know what they will want to do. (Though I'd hope they will be
tempted by the prospect of meeting so many new, fun people :)

meg, who is still reeling from the 40+ posts since she last had a look
  

    
Glen - What is the possibility of adding a Scary Trousers girly shirt
to the store? They fit so much more comfortably for me than the regular
tshirts... but if its trouble, then no worries!
  

    
Wow!!

EXCELLENT new site design, Neil. Kudos to the web folks.
  

    
E-mail from Christy Smith:

Hi, Jon, David, and/or Linda,

Would you please forward this to the current Neil Gaiman topic (144, it appears)?  Thank you!  :)

Madman -- it's on the Journal from yesterday, but I'll put it right here, too:  http://www.codysbooks.com/coraline-reading.jsp .  Hope all of you who want to go, get to!

Sorry about the fly-by post -- I'll intro sometime later.  Take care, all!

Christy
  

    

Thanks Christy, in a fit of nice timing is was in the email newsletter from
Neil's site.
  

    
stagewalker - My food suggestion is that I actually bring something
this time, instead of perpetually raiding your cupboards. ;)

re: confusing roads - Funny, but I don't remember the roads being
confusing in either Houston *or* Chicago. Granted, I didn't spend much
time in either location, but I still remember getting around pretty
easily. Now New Orleans, on the other hand, was designed by sad
incompetent creatures governed by lesser chimpanzees. And don't even
get me started on the potholes between the Garden District and the
French Quarter (I think I nearly left my transmission and a good
portion of an axle in one of them).

Neil - Yay for the new site! 

squeaks, who is late for work as usual...
  

    
Chicago solves the potholes problem by laying thick slabs of steel or
iron over the hole. 

Yes, the roads are still bumpy, but instead of dipping down into a
pothole, you shimmy back and forth over the sheet of metal.

I don't know.
  

    
E-mail from Glen Seymour:

Meg - I added the only girly listings they had.  I hope it is what you wanted.

Now I must go to bed to get up in time for the flight!

- Glen
  

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

    
I know people in Houston who complain about potholes but I don't
because I was here in Houston back in the 1980s before the groundwater
problem was addressed. I saw a car two lanes over on a one-way street
in downtown Houston sink into a hole that was opening up before it and
the whole entire car slid into the hole. This was when the city got
it's water by draining the groundwater of the area which resulted in
the ground under the streets shrinking away from the concrete leaving
large areas of empty "tunnels" under the streets. Some of the reason we
have to do so much construction now. 

And, of course, there's the car problem. We have public transportation
but I'll admit the mindset of most Houstonians is for ownership and
use of personal automobiles. That walking a couple of blocks or so to
the bus stop and standing around in the weather, and humidity, and
heat, and sudden thunderstorms does tend to make you want your own air
conditioned vehicle. 
  

    
Dodge - I've found that owning your own vehicle is a common mindset
among most Texans. The reason being pretty simple: Texas is so damn BIG
it's just unfeasible to go most places without your own transport.

I was talking to a friend last night who was mentioning when he drove
into Dallas from L.A. He hit El Paso and though "Hey, alright, I'm in
Texas. Can't be too far now." 12 hours later he said he rolled into
Dallas half-crazed from lack of scenery. 

Mary - many thanks for the invitation, and I'm looking forward to it,
although I guarantee you that my next visit will be by plane.:)

Maure - Yes I think about 1/3 of the pavement we covered up there was
actually just those iron plates.

Squeeks - Mardi Gras this year was my first venture into Nawlins, but
it was a blast. I can't wait to go back next year, but the thing that I
noticed more than the roads (which due to lack of Federal Highway
funds are terrible) was the smell. The sort of swampy, decaying smell
seems to hit you right between the eyes as you cross the state line.

Thankfully, when you arrive in New Orleans during Mardi Gras that odor
is immediately replaced by all sorts of new offensive smells, caused
by weeks long nonstop partying.:) (If any of ya'll find yourself on
Bourbon Street during these nights don't, I repeat DO NOT look down)

Neil - I love the new frontpage of the website. 
  

    
Shawn - I hate to tell you, but even when it -isn't- Mardis Gras,
Bourbon street smells the same, and is pretty crowded! Not MG crowded,
but its still difficult to walk at a normal pace, for all the people.

We went to New Orleans for our honeymoon, and stayed in the French
Quarter - beginning of August, air thick and damp, and the smell of the
river wafting through the air. We took a stroll down Bourbon St. one
night, and when we got back to our rooms my skirt had a layer of filth
all along the bottom edge, and my feet smelled atrocious! 

But, its all part of the experience :) Walking around the other parts
of the French Quarter were just lovely, although we found we didn't get
time to do any of the cemetaries, so we'll get back there one of these
days.
  

    
Glen, you are a sweetheart! 

*sends many chocolates and other goodies your way*