Inkwell: Authors and Artists

    
Kudos go to Mick Hamblen for the link to this article on Dave McKean's
solo exhibition in Barcelona:

http://www.apple.com/pro/design/mckean/

with a fair amount of speaking from an often quiet man, and yummy info
on MirrorMask.

How much do we all wish we could see it?
  

    
I'm posting this in here because y'all know me better than anyone else
on the Well and y'all don't go all skanky when someone posts something
really stupid.

I just hadda tell someone...
After all my time on the Well I just discovered that if you click on
the Topic blue with underline, it will alphabatize all the topics in
the conference. And then if you click on the others, they are put in
order by date or new or whatever. I guess after setting the defaults so
the NEW stuff was at the top, I never thought about rearranging it for
convenience sake from time to time. 

Ok. Carry on. I'm finished. Duh.
  

    
THanks for sharing your new-found wisdom!
  

    
i actually didn't know that.
  

    
Me either.
  

    
Good news! I hadda tell y'all too though anyone who goes into Health
conference may know aleady.

I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia today at my new doctor's office. 
This is good news because for the past 10 years I've been treated for
Lupus. A much worse and more serious and more damaging and even
terminal sometimes illness. The meds are even dangerous. Not so much
for Fibro. Yay. I'm happy today. Psychologically at least my world is
much sunnier today.
  

    
WOW!  That's pretty amazing, Dodge.  That's...wow.
  

    
Dodge--that's fantastic!  Hurray!
  

    
Dodge, I wish they could have just dispensed with any serious
diagnosis at all, and pronounced you healthy as a horse... but all
things considered, it sounds like good news, and I'm happy for you.

*hugs*
  

    
Yeah. That would be nice but then what would explain all these
symptoms? At least I now know what DOES explain all these symptoms. 

For years I've told the doctors about these wierd little things and
they'd just say it wasn't Lupus related, I need to go to another kind
of doctor. And I drag to these doctors and they don't go away. 

I'm already doing better on the correct meds. I actually have slept
well the past two nights. Yay.
  

    
It is to laugh.  I've just caught up with the Journal, and realized
that the link I posted about Dave's show was already posted there by
Neil, so you all knew that, but were too polite to tell me.

*sigh*

Dodge: It's fantastic that the new meds are helping.  I get so
frustrated with doctors who don't truly pay attention to what their
patients are telling them.  One day, when I'm feeling particularly
plucky or just plain pissed, I'm going to tell some doctor: "Look.  I
know you completed a residency and I haven't, but you've just met this
body.  I've been living in it for decades.  Which of us do you think
knows it better?"

In other news, I've rediscovered _From the End of the Twentieth
Century_ in my library (another thing Davey's responsible for, in at
least two ways) and am rediscovering just how much genius abides in
Mike Ford's mind and soul.  Gods weep.
  

    
Catching up from my vacation, which was constructive and, perhaps not
coincidentally, computerless.  (One cool new thing I just discovered
about my computer -- I think it automatically "hibernates" (saves your
session to disk and shuts down) when the battery is about to die!  I
LOVE this thing!)

Neil -- Thanks for getting back to me on the new edition of
_Goldfish_.  !!!!!  To hijack a _Wayne's World_ line:  It WILL be mine.
 (Looks like my current paperback copy will be going into my
step-niece and -nephew's toybox.)

And of course we'd love to see pictures of *any* of your show-off
cats, Fred or not.

Mary -- but I love your excessive use of the word "whatshishead"!  :D

Dan -- Sorry you're signing off; it seems as though you've been here
forever!  But please do continue to follow from off-Well.  Maybe you
can tell us some of the interesting new uses you find for your ten
bucks!

Dodge -- What a relief to be getting correct treatment finally!  I'm
very glad to hear it, and glad you didn't have something that was as
serious as you'd thought.
  

    
In other news:

Received my lovely hardback _Goldfish_ from alibris, in even better
condition than I'd expected.  VERY nice.  While I probably could get it
back by Mother's Day if I sent it to DreamHaven for a signature, I
think I've spent enough on this thing already without postage to
Minneapolis and back.  So, I'll give it to Mom and then borrow it next
time I see Neil.

Yesterday, I got my _Angels and Visitations_ from DreamHaven.  (I'd
pre-ordered it for brother Ben's birthday.)  It's so nicely slipcased
(even!) that I don't have the heart to open it and make sure it got
signed.  I expect to be seeing Ben in a couple of weeks, so the timing
is great.

(Here I must mention how much I appreciate Neil's going to DreamHaven
periodically and signing stock.  It makes me recall the feeling I had
watching him interact with the fans at Book Country, hours into a
signing.  Even exhausted and half-starved, the guy never lost
enthusiasm.  I love that you do these things, Neil, taking the extra
time and going the extra mile the way you do.  You are very, very
appreciated.  Thank you.)

I regret to report that "supernacular snogging" is no longer a
googlewhack.  Perhaps there is another combination that is.

When I was a kid, my Easter basket often contained these marshmallow
eggs that were covered with, instead of chocolate, a sort of hardish,
sugary shell in Springtime colors such as green, yellow, turquoise,
pink, and light purple.  A lot of the artwork in _Black Orchid_ brought
back images of the purple ones, nestled in the green Easter grass.  It
is beautiful.  I enjoyed reading the book over the first few nights of
my vacation, and am beginning to <heart> Dave McKean more with every
work I see.  :)

Including the opening titles of _Neverwhere_.  I got to watch the
first disk, with and without Neil's informative (A "stunt feather"? 
Boy, these guys went all out) and entertaining ("ShitLOAD!  ShitLOAD!")
commentary.  A delight through and through.  I'm already starting to
resist watching the next few episodes, because I don't want it to be
*over*.

And I *knew* that a-freakin'-dorable Gary Bakewell reminded me of a
young Paul McCartney!  Oh, boy, would I have been obsessed with him
about 13-20 years ago.  I simply must see _Backbeat_ now.  Along with
all the other movies I simply must see....

That's about it for now.  Keep posting!  And safe travels, Neil!

Peace,
Christy
  

    
Just a quickie, in case it gets lost in the FAQ hordes...

NEIL: Do you know yet how, or if, the Disney buyout of Hensen will
affect MirrorMask?
  

    
So, it's been forever since I've posted to you lot... sorry.

Dan, it will be weird to not see you posting here any more. I can't
really say I'll miss you (it's not like I don't see you), but it will
be odd to not see you *here* any more. Strange.

In other news (drumroll please) I'm gettin' hitched. The boy went and
proposed to me last weekend - he was being all romancey and cute, I had
to say yes.

And other than that, life continues at it's not-quite-normal pace.

-squeaks
  

    

Congratulations!!
  

    
I'll still be about, and I'll get my news from Squeaks, and hopefully
I'll see Madman sometime soon. 

As for my $10 a month, or whatever it is, I've just joined Netflix and
am joining a Gym this week, so I'll be displacing the Well fash flow
towards movies and sweat. I figure that since my uncle died of a heart
attack at 54 and my Dad died of one at 59, I really should start
building some better cardiovascular habits NOW so that I'm in good
shape in 15-20 years.

Just got off the phone with Squeaks, but I'll put it here too.

CONGRATULATIONS!

Hrm... I've never been to a gothy wedding before. Will the bride wear
black?
  

    
Squeeeee!  Congratulations, Squeaks and
Guy-from-the-Information-Society!

Interesting (and probably inadvertent) Valentines-y touch, there,
posting at 2:14.


And Dan -- sounds like a wise investment.  Good goin'.
  

    
Well, Neil went and posted it in his journal, and I already posted it
on the newsgroup, and I seem to be the first one of us here who knows
anything about it, so I'll just copy it here (verbatum from the
journal):

"In the meantime, a group of <strikethrough>dangerously
crazed</strikethrough> noble and brave volunteers have put into motion
plans for a limited membership Sandman convention, to be called
FIDDLER'S GREEN, to happen in Minneapolis, probably toward the end of
November 2004, with all profits to the CBLDF. "

There, now everyone knows as much as anyone else does. We'll post more
info when there is more info.

And Neil... strikethrough inDEED... hmph.

-squeaks
who, for her own part, isn't so much dangerously crazed as just
dangerous. ;P
  

    <scribbled>
  

    
Man... by late Novemmbah, I just may be crazed enough to think about
going.  (Besides, I miss Maddy, dangit!)  My bank account, however, may
insist on plodding along in its tiresomely sane fashion.  But just in
case... be careful about Thanksgiving.

Or make it during Thanksgiving.  I usually have to budget travel in
then anyway.

-Typo Grrrl
  

    
Congrats! Beams for all you lives together.

Goth wedding. Hm. I was flipping through the channels the other night
and they were showing previews of the My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiance
where, at the wedding, the bridesmaids dresses and all the bride's
family came in black. The whole church was filled with black clad
people. Except the bride.  I don't watch reality shows so I didn't see
if that was actually true or the previews just seemed like that,
though. Actually, I thought they looked a lot classier than those
dayglo green and peach dresses you sometimes see.
  

    
Well, most of the gothy weddings I've been to or seen photos of
(friends mostly) have looked like this: 

-Bride in one a them poofy white dresses that any sort of bride would
wear to her wedding. 
-Groom in either a tux or a nice dress suit
-Bridesmaids in bold colours, instead of harmless pastels
-Family guests dressed up just like any other wedding (suits, neat
dresses, the occasional dressy pantsuit)
-Friends dressed in their best and often most subdued nightclub gear
(this means no hotpants, and PVC generally only used as an accent)
-About 15 different colours of hair on both the bridal party and the
guests (only 5 of those colours found naturally, and half of those dyed
any way)
-and a guy in a kilt performing the ceremony (my friend Dave)

Frankly, after 8 years of being a Rainbow Girl, there are some sorts
of traditions I can do without (like the regulation wedding dress), and
others I've come to embrace (fancy cake at the reception). I will say
this much about mine:

- The dress will be different, and not all white.
- If the boy wears a suit or a tux, I will claim that he isn't my REAL
boy, but an imposter, and I might refuse to marry him.
- I told my maid of honor that my colors were white/black stripes with
a red accent and that she should wear something that won't clash. I'm
guessing that she's got something red and black or stripey to wear.
- I'm not about to tell my family/close friends how to dress (=p)
- And I don't know if Dave will be performing the ceremony, so there.

-squeaks
who really must get started on the dress today.
  

    
The Stripey Bridal Gown of Doom
  

    
Coooooo  Uuuuuu   lllll.