Inkwell: Authors and Artists

    
Emy's mom returned Coraline today and she will start on Wolves and I
have to bring in a couple more books tomorrow. Coraline doesn't go home
with me today though as it has been passed on to my boss for his
daughter. I hesitated on that because she's rather younger except she's
already read the first 3 Harry Potter books and there's certainly more
to terrify in them than in Coraline. Apparently an avid reader this
little girl. 
  

    
Have a good break, Will, and come back soon.
  

    
See ya Will. Don't forget to let us know you're still alive once in a
blue moon. :)

Anyone wanting to see photos of the newest addition to the family, as
well as a couple of newer pictures of Thing, I've finally put them up:
http://www.snafu.org/michelle/thing_e.htm 

There's a second movie clip that supposed to go up there too, but I
haven't downloaded it from the camera yet.

On the bright side, I've been on a big kick to get web updating done,
which means I'm nearly done putting together all the Burning Man photos
from last year (urgh). But after that, the only stuff left to do
(webwise) is a page of wedding/honeymoon photos.

And since when is 'scrapbooking' a bona fide hobby that requires its
own aisle in a craft shop? Sheesh.

-squeaks
who was glad to find the stuff she'd need, but not at those prices!
  

    
Got from EBay yesterday, Darth Vader mask - whole head rubber thingy.
For a dollar. When I opened the box at work, I called the LotR/Star
Trek guy and he rushed over to see it. His comment: When are you going
to grow up? Mine: Around the time you do. Never. 
Gonna put it on one of my wig head thingys and put it on top of a book
case on display.
  

    
I just got back from the new Michael Moore movie "Fahrenheit 9/11".
Actually, I meant to write about it earlier today, but I got too busy
with Life(tm). I guess it's only showing in something like 1000
theatres across the nation, so it's up to the movie-going public to
boost the box office rating this weekend and maybe get it showing in
other theatres soon. If you're the Michael Moore movie type, or you
just want to hear someone else go on about the corruption of our
current 'leader', go THIS WEEKEND, when it really counts.

I was kind of impressed (though mostly depressed) by the whole thing.
Very emotionally wrenching, though. I should have brought some Kleenex.

-squeaks
very tired and off to bed.
  

    
I was crying by the opening credits. I'm just so ashamed that this guy
ended up President, and I feel so impotent about it.
  

    
Popping in real quick to say:

Happy 19th Birthday, Holly!

and

Whoever's going to the Harveys, have a good time and give Neil a hug
for me if you can.  (Thought about going up, but weekends are precious
and few these days.)

Work is finally picking up, so I'm quiet; maybe I'll catch up over the
weekend, but maybe not.  In the meantime, thank gopod for the "pre"
command!
  

    
I remember when weekends used to mean something, and that something
was "woo hoo!"

You know, I'm only working an average of 3 days a week these days and
I still have no time to do anything that needs to get done (ack! and
now I have two kitties on my lap -one atop the other).

Back to working on about 100 hundred projects I'm in the middles of,
some of which help pay for things.

-squeaks
  

    
Today's exasperating news is that I was outbid for a replacement
Libretto on eBay this morning. I am only mildly mollified by how far
beyond my budget the winning bid was--I couldn't have matched it, but
nobody else should be able to spend that much on a laptop that _I_
want...

Yesterday's could-have-been-much-worse news is that the suicidal
mirror on the bathroom medicine cabinet didn't manage to kill me when
it leapt off the cabinet door (all on its own. We speculate that the
securing glue simply weakened beyond stability over time) and crashed
into the sink. It did get its licks in, though--when I went racing in
to the bathroom to find out what had happened and leaned over to turn
off the hot water (the mirror had twisted the tap open in its Plummet
to Destruction), the edge of the glass sliced my forearm open along a
good two inches, and deep. That took long steady applied pressure to
close, but no stitches.

Christy: So did you get all the /p/l/u/m/b/e/r/s/ wolves safely sealed
back into the walls?

Will: All success; we'll catch you on the flip side.

Squeaks: Scrapbooking is baby-boomers trying to hold on to the
intangible; of course it's a large-scale profit margin, er, hobby, now.
  

    
I saw Fahrenheit 9/11 Monday afternoon.  It is very good.  Go see it. 
Take some Kleenex.

The Terminal is quite good, as well.  That Tom Hanks--he can act.

Am in the process of turning into Chinese Art Film Girl--have watched
many Tony Leung Chiu Wai flix in the past week, and will watch more, as
soon as I can find a copy of Chungking Express......

The Orson Scott Card festival *continues*, with the arrival of Shadow
of the Hegemon on the day I finished The Crystal City.  Will it never
end?

Mary (who recommends Ïnappropriate Men by Stacey Ballis for summer
chick lit reading, as she knows Stacey, and she is a Cool Chick)
  

    
eek! Davey! I'm glad you didn't need stitches. Perhaps you should
start sending all the breakables in the house to counseling, so they
don't get ideas?

As for the scrapbooking, in general I agree with you. And it's
ridiculous how much they charge for sheets of paper these days. But for
big things you want to remember (like weddings), it's kind of nice to
have something different from your standard photo album. Then again, if
you look at any of my photo albums from the past 5 years, they're not
exactly normal any way. 

note to self - consult Mary when you have questions about Chinese
films. :) Sounds like you're having fun! And that Tom Hanks guy, you
mean the one from Bosom Buddies? He can act? (insert faux shock here)
hee hee. 

-squeaks
who has at least 11 pairs of craft scissors
  

    
What is it with cats always needing to be out when they're in and in
when they're out?

Any way, the reason I'm posting is to remind anyone reading this today
that it's Free Comic Book Day. (http://www.freecomicbookday.com)

That is all. 

-squeaks
who only hates today because she has to work it
  

    
Neil--Congratulations!  I loved "A Study in Emerald" and "Closing
Time", but you just reminded me that I haven't read that Nalo Hopkinson
collection yet, so I shall go do that ....soon.  It's 2:00 a.m.  Give
me a break! ;-)

(For anyone who doesn't know what I'm talking about, Neil won three
Locus awards!  Check the journal at www.neilgaiman.com )

I wish I'd known about Free Comic Day before now.  I always miss it. I
should go online earlier in the day, huh? 

Must crash, because tomorrow the Old 97's, They Might Be Giants, and
Counting Crows play for free, and I must be there!  Happy 4th, yáll!

Mary (reading Clinton's autobio and Shadow of the Hegemon *at the same
time*!)
  

    
Yes!  Congrats on the Locus awards AND the Fountain award!  Funny, I
just looked at the McSweeney's teaser page for "Closing Time" right
before I read that, having forgotten about it for months.

Well, I missed saying "Good luck," etc. to Will, but I'm not too late
to say:  Squeeeee!  Michelle, I love your kitty pictures!  Thanks for
putting them up.

"Scrapbooking" has been huge for a few years now, and sometimes it
seems that every one of my female friends works as a consultant for a
scrapbooking company called Creative Memories.  Though candle companies
seem to be catching on, too, as in the apparent:

*Timeline of In-Home Marketing Party Trends*
  as calculated by C.J. Smith

70s:  Tupperware
80s:  Longaberger Baskets
90s:  Creative Memories
00s:  PartyLites
...

Having two kitties piled on your lap sounds like a cool thing to me!

Davey -- Great comprehensive pseud.  Yep, the wolves all seem to be
back inside, though not before one of them flirted with my mother.   I
still need to move some things back into place, though.

Glad you didn't get taken out by the mirror.
  

    
http://www.neilgaiman.com/journal/2004/07/maddys-molar.asp

Neil roolz because he gives us Maddy stories.  <vbsg>
  

    
Hey, not sure if anyone here is going to be at Fiddler's Green in
November, but:

1.) Jill Thompson has agreed to be a guest there (yay!)
2.) If you're going to San Diego next weekend, we could use a couple
more bodies to help promote FG - please drop me a line.

-squeaks
who prefers to be murderous rather than just plain old mad
  

    
And if you're going to San Diego next weekend, hug Neil for me and
then go pick on my brother at the Metropolis Collectibles, Inc. booth! 
;)

I told Ben about Neil's appearances, though he will probably have to
be working the booth instead of actually going to anything.  (Neil
sounded as though he'll only be there long enough to work, too.  I'm
learning something about working at a convention -- you can go anywhere
you want, if only you had the time!)

Re: http://www.neilgaiman.com/journal/2004/07/stardom-of-lorraine.asp
, man, Folk Underground supporting Puke and Snot would be a fun thing
to see.  And I actually did have a little crush on either Puke or Snot
the one time I saw them; it was the sharp-looking grey-haired one. 
Rather unusual, in that I don't normally go for old guys with bodily
secretions for names.

Speaking of Lorraine, Neil, how is her arm?
  

    
Hey squeaks,

How is registration going?  One of these days I have to get off the
fence and register or not register.
  

    
Went to Microcenter during lunch to get a keyboard. Ha! Finally put my
computer together at home last weekend only to discover the keyboard
was the old hurricane ruined one. WHY do I hold onto non-working
computer parts? And since it's faster to just buy a new (cheap basic)
one than find the box of the many that are still in my 2nd bedroom, I
took my lunch hour to drive across the freeway to Microcenter.
AAAAaaaaarrrrrgh. They are having a 75% off everything sale and have 6
long shelving units full of discontinued closeout sale items. Many of
which I want. I didn't go hogwild. I'm so proud of myself. I got out
with just an Epson scanner, a surge plugin thingy, a couple packs of
rechargeable batteries and, of course, the keyboard - with mouse and
with another special mouse as well. I WANT to go back for the laptop
and some other stuff. Sigh. I do need to dismantle my computer and see
what fan I have in it as it's making funny noises. 

MUST resist searching for my credit cards and going back. 
  

    
Be strong, Dodge.  BE STRONG!
  

    
Registration for FG is going ... very slowly. LOTS of people talking
about turning in registrations, but either not having the money to do
it just yet, or just lacking in other inspiration.  We're hoping our
presence at San Diego will help a lot. For my part, I think it will.

Also, not as a committee person, but just as a Sandman fan, I really
think it will be cool. Sandman fans are such a diverse lot that we've
got lots of different ideas for panels and things that I think will
interest a wide variety of us. Not to mention, most of us Sandman fans
are pretty cool people and tend to get along well even when we've never
spoken to each other before. Any way, I think if you've got any
inclination to go, and you won't go bankrupt from it, then you should
register. :)

Dodge - You have the will power! Just keep telling yourself "Yes,
these things are cool, but do I NEED them?" and I'm sure you'll do
alright.

Lastly, several of you are cat folks, so I'll ask you. Have any of you
ever had the problem of introducing a new kitten to a household with
one cat already, then after a week and a half they get along
splendidly... then for several weeks they're peachy and cute together,
and then they start trying to kill each other? Thing was injured about
a week back (neighbor bully cat), was brought into the house FREAKED
out of her gourd. Minor puncture wound and a strained muscle. She's
nearly fine now, just a minor limp. But a couple of times since then
the two cats have, without warning, just looked at each other and gone
nuts! Hissing, poofy tails, yowling, followed by trying to kill each
other (sadly, not an exaggeration in the least). Sometimes it takes a
couple of hours apart and their right as rain again. Once it only took
10 minutes before they curled up together and fell asleep. This time
... well, it's been 5 hours and the little one is still growling at me
(presumably because I smell like Thing).

Any suggestions?

-squeaks
  

    
Unfortunately, the cats sound like they are trying to work out the
dominance issue.  Since one was wounded, it may be time to pick out a
new leader.
  

    
I take it Thingy was the dominat, original cat? I think this may be
symptomatic of the freaky that came with being injured - by another
cat. The potential competition is uppermost in the mind. And the injury
(weakness) is there too. Possibly when the pain goes away and the
injury is healed, they will settle down again. Or they'll work it out
and be ok. I'd suggest just give it time and keep separating them when
necessary. 
  

    
http://www.405themovie.com/download405.asp

Somebody sent this to me in an email. You can play it straight on the
screen without downloading. We all were FOTFL here.
  

    
Thanks for the words of wisdom guys. They're doing significantly
better today (grumbling, rather than growling, and only half as much
hissing, tho' Polly has learned how to spit - gross). 

That movie is pretty great, dodge. =)

Ooh, and anyone who hasn't been reading the journal, it appears as
though things are looking up for Coraline, the movie, though it's
unclear just how. Still, it makes me happy. =)

Off to the daily grind again.