Inkwell: Authors and Artists

    
Tara,  or . . . we could all hang out at my house . . . 

I got it! I got the apartment. Er, _we_ got the apartment. Megan and I
sign the lease tomorrow. We're supposed to move in Sept. 1st, but
we're going to ask whether or not we can move in earlier than that
tomorrow when we go to the office.

I don't know what it is about this place, but the power of the WELL
has once again, happily, been demonstrated. Thanks to all of you for
the crossed bits, and I owe you a drink, so come visit me.
  

    
Tara - Nope. You just buckle that seat belt and hang on for an
extraordinary ride. They will never..ever..call this man boring! At the
time he was on stage with J. Michael Strazcynski [Babylon 5] and Peter
David [Star Trek] discussing how the network honchos figure they're
better writers than the ones they hire to do their shows. How they can
force a writer to BBQ his own baby..[where have we heard that before?!]
and generally why it's a pain-in-the-ass to write for television. 

A volatile subject at best.  ;>

Anyway, during the Q&A someone in the audience used the term "sci-fi,"
I don't remember if it was in reference to his work, but off he went.
It was the highlight of the convention [imnsho].  *grin*

Maure slipped..but amen, the gods of real estate were kind. 

Rocky who read "Mefisto In Onyx" and spent a summer immersed in
Ellison. 
  

    
Maure - Congratulations! I'm so happy for you and Megan; best wishes
getting moved in!

The power of the Well is formidable indeed. :)
  

    

Congrats Maure!!
  

    
Rocky,  My first Ellison story was "Repent, Harlequin!" . . . but my
favorite of all time is Laugh Track. Something about that one catches
me every time. I love HE's recording of Paladin of the Lost Hour. He
does it magnificently. 

Shawn and Linda slipped! Thank you so much -- I'm obscenely happy!
  

    
Neil - Nevermind the additional 10 lbs. [where?] or the stubble, it
was fun visiting the Bookwrap site.  Excellent description of what it's
like to live in the world of adults. God, how quickly one forgets.  In
that vein, what do you think of this ongoing controversy over violence
in video games?  

Maure! You slipped again..but yes, "Repent.." was next on my list.
I'll have to look for that recording. 

Rocky..who is so happy for you!  
  

    
>>In my head, Clarke, Asimov, Heinlein are SF. All those folks. I
>>wonder if I'd gotten into them at an earleir age (or frankly, if I
>>were a boy) if I might have become as obsessed with SF as I am
>>other genres.

You know, I often wonder if that was I didn't appreciate certain
things more.  Like, last year, I picked up *The Chronicles of Narnia*
for the first time, and I failed to be as enthralled as all the people
who've loved it.  Same with *Snarkout Boys* and *Once and Future King*,
and some various other things which I've been led to one way or
another.  Which is not to say they're bad, obviously.  It's just that I
can say I'm not a big fan of *Narnia* (or, more recently, *LOTR*.  I
wonder if I would be if I'd managed to get them in early high school,
when I was reading King and Koontz and Stasheff [that's what makes me
think this is the case.  I used to love stuff like Stasheff.  And a
couple Piers Anthony *Xanth* novels.  I think if I'd found this stuff
then I'da *loved* it all]).
*Labyrinth*, I find, is like that (you know.  The old Jim Henson
movie).  I saw it when I was, like, eight or nine, maybe (?), and loved
it.  I didn't see it, then, for years, and only recently bought the
DVD.  I showed the DVD to my sister and her friends (17, 18 years old,
all), and they didn't think it was all that cool.  In fact, they really
thought it was pretty lame.
The other half of this theory is I think I'll end up loving the stuff
I don't love now later, if only because I'll be reading it to my
children later.  Perhaps I'll fall in love with them for the first
time, just as Neil's falling in love with things all over again while
reading them to Maddy.  Few things are more infectious than a child's
delight.

And man, do I have horror stories about teachers; being pre-med, I got
all the kooks.  Strangely enough, though, by far the kookiest teacher
I had was my History professor in college.  I swear, I didn't learn an
iota of the History of Western Civilization.  All I learned was that he
had many, many issues, and he was slaving through a historical novel
about the civil war, and that tenure is sometimes good and sometimes
not so much.  He *did* get us to read *Farhenheit 451* (my
introduction, at 21, to Bradbury, another author I wish I'd discovered
in my teens.  I'd love to love *Something Wicked This Way Comes*), so I
s'pose he wasn't *all* bad, but I wish I'd had a history professor who
taught, you know.  History, and such.  Not that America has much, of
course ("You tell your history damn, man.  It's been around for fifty
years so let's smash it down and put a car park there.  And Disney? 
'Swhy Euro-Disney failed; we *have* castles here, and they're not made
of plastic.  We have lots of castles, in fact.  Up to here with them. 
What we wouldn't do for a bungalow.")

Kristina- Thanks.  I'm thrilled your roommate liked "Dreamt".  Means
quite the lot.

Maure- Woo!  Great news on the apartment.
  

    
You know, I'm a pretty laid back guy. I honestly don't get worked up
about things, unless I REALLY put forth an effort. But some things just
tick me off no end. See below:

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=571&ncid=751&e=1&u=/nm/2002072
6/hl_nm/fastfood_dc

Shawn - just, shaking his head at it all
  

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

    
Shawn- eek. Wasn't aware that the mafioso types were still so active.
Spooky.

What is it with chemistry teachers? Played with a little too much
mercury in college is my guess.

Agree with the SF subject. I get distracted easily when I read 10
pages describing exactly how a ship's warp speed configures and what
titanium alloys it's made out of. Though- when Douglas Adams does it,
that's a whole differnet story. "The Vogon ship hung in the air
precisely the way a brick doesn't". Is that the way it goes Will?
Genius. I also love Octavia Butler who has a more Orwell/Toni Morrison
style approach to sci-fi. If anyone here hasn't read the Xenogenesis
series, I highly recommend it.

MAura- CONGRADULATIONS!!! I am so happy for you. There's nothing like
that I-got-a-bad-ass apartment feeling to brighten your life! Good luck
moving in early. Though Sept. 1st isn't a bad day either...(*smiles
shyly) I'll be turning the big 21 on the 1st. Definately a lucky day.
^_~

What exactly is Mr. Ellison's rant about "Sci-Fi"?

Will- I agree. Sometimes you just have to wait for the right time to
discover something. I'v tried to read Dracula a handful of times and,
while I still enjoy what I've gone through, I always find myself
suddenly remembering something else that I want to read more.

I grew up on Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe. But around my senior year
when I finally read the entire series and discovered what it was really
about, I felt rather betrayed. Rocky knows what I mean.

Fast Food. Jesus. And if I ate a box  of ring-dings for ten years I'd
still look like a super model. Where do they dig up these people???
When you rub a hamburger on a piece of paper and it turns transparent
that's a pretty sure sign that it's not the healthiest source of
nutrition! (am reminded of Simpson's episode) 
I think John Stewart said it best when he was talking about the
current pledge of allegiance issues and metioned the suit about the
lady spilling hot coffee on herself and blaming McDonalds among other
things.

"Suck it up America". 'nuff said.

And here's Orange Faerie's moment  of Zen:
"`You know," said Arthur, `"it's at times like this, when I'm trapped
in a Vogon airlock with a man from Betelgeuse, and about to die from
asphyxiation in deep space that I really wish I'd listened to what my
mother told me when I was young."
"Why, what did she tell you?"
"I don't know, I didn't listen.'"
-Douglas Adams HHGTHG

Have a magickal weekend everyone. 

Kristina, who has spent her day experiencing an unpleasant sensation
akin to the French Revolution being re-enacted inside her stomache. And
is now going to retire with a heated herbal pillow and nice valerian
tea. Thanks again for cheering me up Will!
  

    
Rocky, Will, Kristina,  thank you. :D

Will, every late September, like clockwork, I'm driven to re-read a
bunch of Bradbury. I've loved Something Wicked This Way Comes since I
was a little girl. It's one of my comfort books, I think. And when I
was older, but still younger than I am now, I had a terrible crush on
Guy Montag. I still do, I think. 
  

    
Yay! Maure!  I cannot wait to have you guys for neighbors!  Whoo-hoo!

Will--I'm glad I'm not the only one who starts automatically
regurgitating chunks of Eddie every time a subject comes up that allows
me the opportunity.  I was at a party once with a bunch of Tara's
friends where that was all the conversation we had all night.  It was
hilarious.

And by the way, Tara *is* perverse.

I started out reading SF--my dad loved it.  So we had all these
collections in the house--Frederick Pohl, Damon Knight, Fritz Lieber,
Bradbury, the Best SF of 1953, and just about every year since, but he
also read me a lot of fantasy--Tolkien, Lewis & Lloyd Alexander, whom I
truly love.  But I was a real tomboy, too, until we'd been in the
south a few years (tomboys are *not* allowed in the south, where little
girls are asked after their first day of kindergarten "did you find a
boyfriend?")  Rocket ships were *cool*.  So were aliens.  About the
only writer I couldn't abide was Asimov--too hard core for me, though I
did love the original Foundation Trilogy.

So I thought it was cool as hell, Neil, when USA Today called you a
science fiction writer.  Maybe not accurate, but cool.

OK, off to *finally* submit the wretched application for Connecticut. 
Now that Maure moved into the city  <<sigh>>  :-(

Oh, and we made $393.00 in my room alone in 3 hours at the rummage
sale tonight.  Wahoo!  Tomorrow should be a doozie.

Mary (who finished Citadel of the Autarch and has decided Gene Wolfe
is God)
  

    
        <willentrekin>, on the correct period for the Xanth novels: I've
noticed that an overwhelming majority of the geeks I know all went
through a Xanth phase where we read the books and enjoyed them and
thought they were completely cool and interesting.  This phase always
seems to occur around puberty, say 13 or so.  I, like the other geeks I
know, now cannot think of the damn books without squirming.  I just
put it down as one of those embarrassing adolescent things, like
writing goth poetry or deciding you're an anarchist.  The astonishing
consistency of the Xanth phase is curious, though.  There's a very dull
study waiting to be done on that.
  

    
Maure- congratulations! I'll probably be moving sometime this year.I
love moving-- except for the actual moving stuff part. One big
nightmarish game of Tetris. 

DanGuy- Hehe. I don't really take it quite that literally. I don't
really beleive that people can walk on water or swim in grass or
whatever. But there are a lot of "you can't do that" or "it's not
possible" people in the world. The book inspires me to think outside of
my conditioned mind and go "says who?" And I like flying little
planes. *wishes dad wouldn't have sold his Mooney*

Neil- I love the video clips..only I couldn't see any video. I just
get the Windows Media logo swirling around. The sound came in fine
though and I like what you had to say. *wishes she could see hungover
neil*

streak- Ha! You reminded me of the huge Anarchy symbol I drew on
bedroom wall when I was 14. Ah to be young again. And punk rock. 

I love the Essential Ellison. When I'm out of stuff to read I just
open it to a ramdom story and start reading (or re-reading). It's so
big! My favorite is the Paladin of the Lost Hour. it has stuck with me
the most. 
  

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

    
Kristina - Just saw Donnie Darko. I'm speechless.  By the way
Jacqueline Carey ("Kushiel's Dart") is also on the Bookwrap author's
list.  She is in excellent company, don't you think?  ;)
  

    
Oooo, ok Rocky, now go to 
htto://www.donniedarko.com
if you haven't already. It is fun. Ask Linda.
  

    

It's fun!

It's the best interactive Web site ever.

(How'd I do, maure?)
  

    
Perfectly, Linda! 
  

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

    
Maure - That site is evil. Now I have to go waste several valuable
hours of my life on it... :P

squeaks, who is almost off to inventory her storage facility... oh
joy.

p.s. Margret says hi! :) (she's coming with me to said storage
facility... oh, the joys of a trip to California - non-stop
excitement!)
  

    
Hullo all! back from my weekend excursions, and I must say I had a
great time! I actually got to watch some of the other shows that they
put on at the fair and all the nifty little shops have started getting
ready. In fact there's a little Fairy shop run by  a lovely lady named
Carol who I might strike a deal with about carrying some faerie artwork
by me. (giggles excitedly) But either way this fair is gonna be really
fun! the shows are great- the fights are spectacular and I think we
are ready for opening next weekend. Ricky, Will. I have tickets for
every weekend in August now, if you would like to come this month. Just
give me a call or what not. ^_^

Rocky- glad you liked Donnoe Darko. It's such an extraordinarily
original and well-thought out idea. Plus it REALLY makes you
think...which is a rarity in film these days. Unfortunatly the last
couple times I tried the website I couldn't get anywhere. I think the
frames were messed up on my computer or something- or maybe the site
was just down. Perhaps I'll try again...

I may have to check out Ms. Carey over on bookwrap. I haven't had a
chance to read her yet. Still working on Dragon. Had no time to read
this weekend- too much fun roasting turkey dogs on a stick...I had
forgotten how good they taste after just being stuck in the fire for a
while....er, sorry to all you vegetarians. Can't wait to start
Kushiel's Dart though. So many things to look forward to! (*does magic
happy dance)

I liked what the girl on Neil's journal said about how  girls end up
getting introduced to comic-books through Sandman. I don't know if I
would have ever discovered what a colorful and versatile medim it is if
I hadn't read Sandman. (even though it was a boy who introduced it to
me) Plus I wouldn't have discovered Neil period probably-though one
hopes... *shudders at the thought of a literary existence without
American Gods and Neverwhere*

Well. I am exhausted and still have many things to do. So here's my
happy little quote. This one's for you Neil:
"Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small
people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you,
too, can become great." 
- Mark Twain

Kristina; feel the magic. Taste the rainbow.
  

    
Sorry Rocky- I didn't mean to call you Ricky. -insert here the sound
of Kristina slapping herself on the forehead-
  

    
I have spent an entire weekend in the hottest circle of hell.

It was for a good cause, though, even though I will proably be living
in Connecticut by the time the choir goes to Rome (and Denny the Mad
Priest *&* his stepmom are going!).  My room raised just over $1200. 
Haven't heard the final figures yet on the whole thing--we were at
$7500 last night.

And Tara got prezzies.  But don't tell her.

And I gotta tell ya, webtv may be goofy, but it sure looks good on a
27" screen  :-)  In stereo.  With a remote.  I love my new TV.

And I got a turntable.  I haven't listened to my albums in about 10
years, so this is going to be fun.

And I donated 3 bags of books, and bought.......about 3 bags of books.
 Like the Orestia, and a Chinese cookbook, and 3 Years Before the
Mast, and a biography of Judy Dench, and Danny, the Champion of the
World, and Boswell's biography of Jonson, and all sorts of stuff.  Yay!

Christy--sorry, I knew there was something I meant to tell you--no, I
didn't go to Mercy.  We moved to Mississippi when I was 8, and my dad
was very serious about public schools-- he taught in them, and believed
that his kid should attend them.  So I went to Valley View elementary
in Portland for kindergarten & 1st grade, and Portland elementary (?)
for 2nd.  We lived in Portland at the time.  I hadn't thought about
that in years!

OK, off to get ready to go back to work tomorrow :-(

Mary (who made a housewarming gift for a party last night, and thinks
perhaps Maure & Megan may need one........) 
  

    
E-mail from Christy Smith:

Linda -- Looking forward to the _Coraline_ topic!  At last, a discussion
on a book I've already read, so I don't have to be afraid of spoilers!
 
Shawn -- Wow.  Did your friend see a disproportionate number of violin
cases in that restaurant?  ("A Disproportionate Number of Violin Cases"...
Dang, _another_ great pseud I can't use.)
 
Mary -- Well, I guess you inadvertently answered my question.  If you grew
up in the South, then I suppose you couldn't have gone to Mercy.  That
would have been a loo-o-o-ong bus ride.
 
Maure, CONGRATULATIONS!!!  Woo-hoo!  :D
 
And if I'm ever in Chicago, I just may take you up on that drink!  :)
 
On the age at which one is exposed to a work and the resulting impression
it makes -- I believe it.  Look at how thrilled many of us were at the
original _Star Wars_ trilogy, compared to the fashionable indifference
with which just about everybody views the episodes that have come out in
the last three years.  A friend of a friend put it best recently:  "The
thing that everyone wants George Lucas to do is the one thing he can't do:  
Make them nine years old again."
 
> Few things are more infectious than a child's delight.
So true, Will, so true.  Little kids are some of my most reliable cheerer-uppers.  :)

I still haven't seen _Labyrinth_, dangit.  :-(
 
On the fast-food guy -- What rock was _he_ livin' under?
> "Suck it up America". 'nuff said.
Or as Don Henley put it:
"Get Over It!"
I love that guy.  :D
 
Hope you're feeling better today, Kristina.  Oh, speak of the fairy, you
slipped!  Sounds like you did have a good weekend; good luck with the
artwork exposure!
 
I will have to print out that Twain quote for my mom -- it sounds like
something she would really appreciate!  And wow, the part about the
"really great" people does sound like Neil, as well a music teacher of
mine.  (All the best teachers, come to think of it.)  Triple points with
that one.
 
Erynn re: visual -- You ain't missin' much.  <eg>
 
(Just keeping JaNell's seat warm for her.  ;)    )
 
Been switching back and forth between _American Gods_ and the NG-related
archives of the Inkwell.  I really should light on just one, I suppose,
but I really am determined to catch up on what I've missed here.  I've
undertaken more insane tasks.  :)
 
At any rate, I am finally past the chapters of AG that I already read on
the online sampler, and am into the new stuff.  It looks as though it'll
be enjoyable!  :D Kinda makes me wish I knew as much about folklore as
Gaiman does, though; being well-versed in only Greek and Roman mythology,
with a mostly-forgotten bit of Norse thrown in, I wonder just how much I'm
missing that I would have appreciated if my radar were more finely tuned.  
(I'll probably re-read this book every few years, if I've learned more
mythology in the interim.)  Thank Heaven that, so far, Neil seems to be
deftly weaving in enough background information so that we lay people can
follow the story -- but without tripping up the rhythm of the narrative.  
A lesser author couldn't walk that fine line.
 
Wow -- I hadn't even realized that I appreciated that aspect of the book
until I just wrote it now.  Guess there's something to be said for
rambling.  Some of it actually survives the Delete key.
 
Incidentally, I was just chatting with a girl on The Choir's message board
about Neil.  Both of us are just getting into his work.  We've each read
different things, so we're recommending books to each other and just
getting caught up together in the thrill of discovery.  She was floored
when I said I'd met him this month.  :)
 
I am reallllly hoping that tomorrow brings good news to report about my
photos of the signing.  I'll refrain from venting for now.
 
It's Tired and I'm Getting Late,
Christy