Inkwell: Authors and Artists

    
Boys in my 6th grade class used used to say that it stood for "loose
strap means floppy tit".
  

    


Holley Nowell writes:


Went to work Tuesday morning. The realtor called me to tell me he really
needed me to get my stuff out sooner rather than later and couldn't wait for
me to get a carload a night as they'd both agreed on Sunday (which, BTW they
showed up on the last day I was paying rent and hauled 5 or 6 people through
my condo while I was cleaning and being sweaty and stinky without so much as
a by your leave) and then he said, very nicely, that he had a pal that has a
truck and he could meet me on Wednesday afternoon and the two of them would
move my stuff left over for me. It's only back a few yards behind the condo
units to my new apartment. I agreed and hung up. Then I went somewhere and
when I got back there was a voicemail on my phone from the Landlady from
Hell. She said that the men working in the condo would help me move my stuff
IF I boxed it all up and was waiting for them on Wednesday morning at 6 AM at
the condo. Otherwise, she'd given instructions to them to put all my stuff
out on the patio and maybe it wouldn't be ruined by the weather before I got
the time to move it. I had offered to pay her rent for the days my stuff
stayed there. But won't now. I left work and went home and moved all day
Tuesday. Amazing how anger can overcome physical limitations (for at least an
hour or so). Also amazing how far beyond your physical limitation you can go
if you take enough pain killers and caffeine (for the next 6 hours). Needless
to say, I slept REALLY WELL last night when they all wore off. Egad. I'm so
glad I'm out of there. Still have some big plants in my car I'll need to get
a rolling tray to take in. Somebody stole my nice little wheeled cart from my
patio so had to drag them to the car and the realtor helped me lift them in.
For a guy I've only met once, he was a whole lot nicer than the LfH I've
known since 1986. Amazing what ca-CHING $^$ will do to a person. Oh, and the
realtor told me the painters won't even be at the condo to look the place
over until late Wednesday afternoon and they won't be actually doing anything
until Thursday. So that's all over with now. I'm working on mentally shaking
the dirt from my shoes and not looking back and getting over it. Gimme a
couple of days to attitude adjust.

Just have to unpack. Move boxes so I can walk around. Move boxes in my second
room so I can get to the blinds and close them. Make a path from the hall to
the patio to move those big plants across and put them outside. Unpack.
Rearrange. Unpack. Am taking a vacation day Friday so I can work on this 3
days before going back to work. But I feel so much better now. I didn't even
realize how much I hated living there and dealing with the stuff until I got
outta there. Wow.

Thanks all for the beams. I'm sure they helped. Life is beautiful again.

Oh, and Saturday night HAD to read a book a little. All those boxes of books
and the first book I found was one of those cheap romances. Appallingly
written. But it did the trick. I think I may actually throw this one away
instead of giving it away. Really. It was so appalling. I'm not entirely sure
where these books turn up. I've never BOUGHT one but always seem to have a
whole shelf full of the things no matter how many I give away or toss. It's
like wire coat hangers. They must multiply by themselves.

Well. Gotta go back to work. Beams to all.
  

    
> They must multiply by themselves.

Well, they ARE cheap romances....

Glad you're all moved out, Holley!

Welcome to the Noise, <gerry>!

And I just got back from my monthly comic-shop excursion.  _1602_ Part
6 is in my possession.
  

    


Holley Nowell writes:


> that's me today. payday. gotta get back into some semblance of a normal
> life schedule & getting my copy of 1602 each month will start that nicely.
  

    
It became apparent last Sunday afternoon that I'd caught whatever the
current ugly respiratory nastiness is. My fever's mostly gone now,
finally, but the chest congestion and cough continue. Since yesterday's
local high temperature was all of 9 (nine) degrees, and today's is
expected to be 8 (eight), I'm not waiting on bus stops to get to client
appointments yet. They've all been understanding (one is sick
herself), and next week will be catch-up busy.

I'm still napping a lot. Working on a few projects, reading,
half-watching movies, and napping.

Othersweetie Seth had the chutzpah to tell me, on the phone a couple
of nights ago, that _of course_ he'd moved to Minneapolis for the mild
winters. He'll be in Boston this weekend for Arisia (www.arisia.org);
appropriate-vengeance suggestions welcomed.

Squeaks, so what happened with the stove? Major appliance moves always
have stories...

Christy, did you get a response on those _Goldfish_ copies? (If
they're both hardback, grab the other one for me, I'm sure there's
someone I know who needs one.)

Holley, congratulations on getting through the move. Sounds as if the
new place is already worth it, boxes everywhere notwithstanding.
  The Avram Davidson story "Or All the Seas With Oysters" explicates
the life-cycle of safety pins, wire hangers, and bicycles, and What It
Means. I don't know that anyone has tried to do the same for a cycle
involving cheap paperback romances. Maybe those are an adult form of
the cheap valentines that everyone bought a box of to give to
classmates in grade school?
  

    
You know, this late in the game, I wasn't expecting _1602_ to start
getting *even* *cooler*!  That Neil, always surprising me....

Oh, Davey, I did hear back from Joe Koch the same night, and both
copies are indeed softcover.  No wonder they're still there.

What puzzles me are the $70-$100 copies that have been up for months. 
You'd think that if they aren't selling, the sellers would eventually
lower the price.

Very sorry to hear about your nasty chest cold.  You're smart to stay
indoors.  Hope you're a lot better now.

Get-well beams to you, and stay-well beams to all of us currently in
the "Hoping not to get a cold" category.  (Hey, Neil, have some of that
green tea I sent ya; chock full of antioxidants, that is!  <g>)

It was a busy and interesting weekend.  I volunteered at different
concerts two nights in a row (one of those nights involved two shows by
the funny and delightful Christine Lavin), followed the next night by
an office party that I was helping to organize.  My mom's birthday was
Friday.  All of it went very well, plus -- I won raffles two days in a
row!  ME!

-Christy, drinking decaf green tea as we type
  

    



Holley Nowell writes:


Get-Well beams to all suffering from anything.

Went to get my 1602 Thursday night. Sigh. Backed out of the parking space and
you know that point at which you have backed up and just cleared the car next
to you (front end) and are just about to turn around and put the car in drive
and go forward but right now you have your foot on the brake and still
looking back? Just at that point I saw the guy parked behind me's brake
lights come on and he was moving! I was honking my horn with one hand and
trying to get into drive with the other but he was coming out too fast. He
had one of those SUVs and backed straight into my right taillight. Darn. I go
tomorrow to get his insurance to guesstimate the damage costs. The first
thing he said when he got out was that he heard me honking but didn't see
anything. Broke the tail light. Dented the trunk hood and the fender.
Scratched the top of the bumper. And broke two of my cannisters I was moving
in the trunk. Dear me. But that should be taken care of Tuesday.
  

    
Wow, glad you're OK!  Isn't insurance a wonderful thing?
  

    


Holley Nowell writes:



Yep. 'tis. Especially since the guesstimate is $1300 for repairs! Urk.

Saw the trailer for the new Harry Potter movie and I notice the Harry Potter
site is very carefully leaving out the name of the actor to play Dumbledore
but if you go into IMDB it's Michael Gambon. Someone I have little concept
of. The previews are pretty good. Oh. And Gary Oldman as Sirius Black.
Someone I have a hard time picturing in the role. Sirius is supposed to be a
slightly dilapidated very handsome guy. I guess it's just me though. I think
Gary Oldman is interesting but not necessarily handsome. Now, he'd have made
a perfect Snape with Alan Rickman being Sirius Black. Hm. But he'll probably
do fine. I am looking forward to the movie. Anyone hearing anything new?
  

    
What's the latest on when it's coming out?
  

    <scribbled by tnf Tue 20 Jan 04 13:12>
  

    
> Michael Gambon. Someone I have little concept of

He plays Inspector Maigret in a British series, if that helps.
  

    
Holley--I'm glad I'm not the only person who thought of Rickman as
Black.  When I read the books originally, he was my first choice.  I
like him as Snape--it's going to be interesting to see what happens to
Snape by the end of the series. I have a suspicion she has plans for
that character.

I think Oldman is a good choice.  The only other people I could think
of who could pull off .......what happens in this movie (trying to
avoid spoilers here if there's anyone who hasn't read the book yet)
would be Daniel Day-Lewis (who, it should be obvious by this time, I'm
convinced can do *anything*) or Ralph Fiennes.  But I'm interested to
see what Oldman does with it.  Sirius is my favorite character, hands
down.

I'm also interested in seeing David Thewlis as Lupin.  He was amazing
in "Naked" and "Prime Suspect", but most people don't know who he is.

I love dreamcasting.  And then seeing what they come up with.

Speaking of which, Neil--what's up with the Death movie?  Aren't you
supposed to be shooting soon?  Are you casting yet?  May I suggest Dame
Maggie Smith for Mad Hettie?  I saw her in Bennett's "The Lady in the
Van" a few years ago in London, and she makes a hell of a bag lady.

Who would you guys cast?  Christina Ricci for Death?  Too Hollywood,
probably.  She *was* great in Monster, though.  I think she's too
ironic--she'd never be *nice* enough.  It probably should be someone
completely unknown.

Who for whatshishead, the guy--?  No McCulkins, please.  Has it really
been relocated to NYC?  'Cause I love the guy who plays Pippin in
LOTR, but he's really too old.  And Scots.  Young, male,
sulky.....hmmmmmmm.  Must think about this.

If Esther Rolle was still alive.......who for the downstairs neighbor?
   

I shall go away and think about this, and come up with better
suggestions.

Mary (reading Other Worlds by Barbara Michaels)  
  

    
Gambon was in Wings of the Dove, Angels in America, and Gosford Park
and has 4 movies either filming or in post-prod. right now.  He's been
in a ton of stuff--check www.imdb.com .

Slipped by Ron.  Hi, Ron!
  

    
Er, that should be "If Esther Rolle *were* still alive".....who
teaches grammar?
  

    
So... stove arrived without incident... which is an incident in
itself, isn't it? I put it in quotes because it's the apartment's
stove, not mine. But it is very new. And I even like it. But... well...
what's the point of making everything nice and gas, but then having
the oven switch (for a gas oven, mind you) be electric? Not that I was
planning on doing a lot of baking with the power out, but considering
that the power was out here for nearly a full day the last time, it
would be nice to TURN THE FRIGGIN' THING ON. Feh. But it's a very nice
stove. It's got these burners that *actually work!* And you don't need
to light them with a match first! And, check this out, the flame
actually shoots around the whole burner, not just a couple of points
(yeah, definitely time to replace the old stove). I even baked cookies
the other day to test it, and it worked (only now I've got WAY too many
cookies).

Holley, sorry about your moving difficulties! That sounds like a bit
of a nightmare! I had a bit of a problem with my last move in that I
couldn't get out by the first of the month - but they just charged me
for the extra few days, not resorting to putting my things on the
patio! Glad you've got all your stuff in the new abode and that it's
toasty. :)

For everyone who's sick or threatening to be... QUIT IT! Sick is bad,
especially the things that are going around now. I order you to get
better now, darnit.

And on that note, I need to go to bed. Early day tomorrow. We get to
bring Thing in to the vet to be fixed and I get to then go to the
dentist to get a crown. We'll be a joyous pair tomorrow. But I'm
treating myself to the new Morpheus manga statue, and the Desire
mini-bust to make myself feel better about a sore mouth, so nyah! ;)

-squeaks, who still can't find a b-day present for her boy... every
time I think of something, he goes out and buys it... grrrr.
  

    
You gotta tell him not to buy himself things around his birthday! 
That's a longstanding rule in my family.  Well, a longstanding
suggestion.  But we all know it's a beneficial one.

That new stove sounds like a great relief!  I'll bet my mom can
identify; her landlord just had delivered a new washing machine that
actually SPINS.

Good luck with the crown, and may the tooth fairy leave you... a
neutered cat!
  

    
Holley writes to say:





Well, I was going to respond that the site says the new HP movie will
be out in May but I just checked Amazon's movie site and it says JUNE.
Wow. If they keep going like this, by the time they shoot the Goblet of
Fire, HP and gang will be shaving. 

Congrats on new stove. Fixed cat. Hope new crown goes on ok. 

I figure all the bad things I've had happen so far this year is ok
because I must be using up my year's allotment of bad luck all at once.
Knock on wood. 

And concentration beams to David in hoping his recording project comes
out Great.
  

    
I work at Warner Bros and HP is slated to come out in May.  There is
no need to worry about the kids aging, because they are already in
production for Goblet of Fire.  They're trying to get this all done as
quickly as possible.  
  

    
For those looking for a hardcover Goldfish (Davey, this means you):

Bookfinder reports one at Half.com that is $52.94.  Also, there's one
at abebooks professing to be $45, but I suspect that it may be the same
one I just bought for $44.95 at alibris.

Not counting the $11 will-o-the-wisps that turned out to be paberback,
this is the cheapest I've seen these books except for one at eBay that
sold for a couple bucks less, and one that bookfinder showed me a
couple of weeks ago for ~$25 that turned out to be sold already (if it
was ever valid at all?).

So Mother's Day is taken care of.  :)
  

    
on the future movies theme, a friend of mine is working on Hellboy,
doing animations on Abe. His next project is one I'm less excited
about. 

He'll be doing computer effects on Constantine.
  

    
Well. I have bronchitis, but not pneumonia. Yay. I also now have
heavy-duty antibiotics to Make It Stop, and a cough syrup with codeine
for getting some sleep at night. More yay.

Sinister Ducks march in waltz time? OK... and I have figured out how
to load that MP3 into my phone, _and_ how to (if I want to do the work)
rip a section of it for use as a special ringer sound. Heh heh. quack
quack

Mary, how about Anna Paquin for Death?

Squeaks, as I understand it, electric switches on gas stoves are to
prevent people from accidentally asphixiating themselves by having a
pilot light blow out and they don't realize it. Mind you, I grew up in
a home with an old-fashioned gas stove that had two pilot lights (one
for each pair of burners), and that was something to be careful of when
cleaning the stove, but they never just blew out. And those spots on
the stove-top were perfect for setting butter to soften up just a
little. My current stove also has electric ignition. Feh, indeed. But
the rest of your new one sounds quite wonderful. I'll be happy to help
relieve your cookie surplus, too. <g>
  So, are you and Thing e both all better now?

Christy, thanks for the GOLDFISH tip (and your note!). I'm not really
scouting for copies, but if you'd found a particularly inexpensive one
I'd've put it away for later. Glad you've found what you want.

While out this past Wednesday pricing custom bookcases for a client, I
stopped in at the Vespa dealership (it's just around the corner from
one of the bookcase builders) to say hi and check out the new
Granturismo they're making such a fuss about. Yum. That is a
fine-looking machine, a highway-class Vespa, which I certainly don't
need, but yum anyway. Also saw--couldn't not see--something oh-my
different in the showroom: a special-order scooter, just like mine but
in a custom color--Barbie-doll PINK. Bubble-gum pink. All over. Helmet
to match, _and_ a key tag in the same color. My oh my.
  

    



Holley Nowell writes:


I've become a Rickman fan though I never was before. The only thing I'd ever
seen him in where I noticed him (pre-HP) was Galaxy Quest and ya gotta admit
that wasn't something to make one a great fan. Oh, he was good but it just
isn't the spark to cause Obsessive Fandom Loyalties.  I've since deliberately
sought out a few of his other works. It's not that I think Oldman will do a
bad job - I've been very impressed so far with the casting of the movies and
Oldman is a good choice. The actors have done excellently all around. It's
just that I think he'd have been better at the Snape and Rickman would have
been better at Black. The two characters are very similar but it's the
differences that make me think of the change. Black is tragically heroic -
and Rickman has a physical dynamic that draws eyes when he comes onscreen -
I'm thinking of two scenes: the first was when he entered the first Potions
class in #1 and the scene where he is dueling in #2 -  while Snape does
what's necessary and is dependable he seems to actually work very hard to be
disliked.  Ya gotta wonder at a man that engenders the loyalty Hagrid
displays to him as well as the confidence Dumbledore places in him while at
the same time seemingly the perfect person to betray and deceive. I agree
that there are Plans for Snape. But he's more a sly slink around the walls
kind of character in the book. Only noticeable as the Harry Adult Antagonist.
I'd add the Black comparison but that would be spoiler for those who haven't
read the books. And Lupin was something of a complex character as well. Can't
wait to see how everyone does. I think what I meant about Gambon though was
that although he's been in several very good things, he's never had the Star
Quality that Harris had. But then, Harris was a silver screen star from an
era long gone. It certainly isn't a necessary thing for Dumbledore who is in
many ways a somewhat passive seldom seen character. In the movies anyway.
They seem to have removed all his humorous and eccentric personality when
they were cutting out things to fit. Almost anyone could play the part. glue
on the hair extensions and the beard and that's all that's needed. He's a
visual placeholder whose job it is to narrate the explanations. And tie up
the loose ends. Was watching the two movies. Was noticing how much the
children had grown between the first and second movie. Malfoy especially shot
up quite a bit. Hermione was pretty much the same. She looks like she'll
always be a small person though.

Still unpacking. Will take a while. Haven't determined where all the
furniture will be placed. May even change bedrooms before setting up the bed
properly.

Putting the books on the special bookshelf in the living room. All Pratchett,
Gaiman, Norton, Asimov, Queen, Christie and short story collection books go
there. Found the Discworld Quiz book and one of the questions was about
opening lines so I opened Colour of Magic to see. Ended up starting a
marathon reading project and am reading all the books again from the
beginning. Appropriate since I re-read all of Gaiman during the packing
project. Am saving Good Omens for the last. Read a book about Copernicus.
Can't imagine how they got enough info on him to write a biography. Even the
biographer kept saying in the book how little they actually knew about the
man. Most of the book is speculation. And the last few chapters talk about
his theories and how they were or were not received and what political
atmosphere they were introduced in. He seems to be on more solid ground
there. It was interesting tho a little dry.
  

    
Davey--oooooo.  Good one.  I love Natalie Portman, too, though that
might not be  a role for her.

Holley--May I recommend Truly, Madly, Deeply?  A fantastic Rickman
performance.  Also Sense & Sensibility (or Smeg & Smegability, as i
frequently call it).  He's swoonylicious in that one.  And The Winter
Guest, which he directed but does not appear in, is brilliant.

He's also done rather a lot of crap, as I am discovering as I collect
old obscure Rickman flicks from half.com & ebay.

Mary (who hates exam week)
  

    
Davey -- Ugh, bronchitis is no fun.  But I'm glad it's not pneumonia,
which is even less fun.

Speaking of sickies, Neil, what were you doing up past midnight
blogging with a cold?  I hope you've gotten plenty of rest today.  Stay
warm and get better quickly.  <kiss>

There's a Daughter of Owls poem?  Besides the short story?  I wanna
see!  The Zulli book sounds lovely, in any case.  (_Smoke and Mirrors_
was sooooo wonderful....)

Holley -- Had you seen _Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves_?  I still
haven't seen _Love, Actually_... sigh....