Inkwell: Authors and Artists

    
Anyone who goes to FG can own the Duran Duran book, if they give enough
money to the CBLDF.
  

    
Martha--you are so cool.

I highly recommend the DD book.  It's quite amusing.

I want to go to FG, I'm just really broke.  I need a new transmission
in my car--it was insane of me to drive 900 miles to Connecticut, but I
couldn't afford to fly, so I thought I'd let St. Brendan take care of
the details.  Anyway, no more road trips 'til I find $1000 to fix the
trans.  Not even to see my beloved Janah's final shows in Atlanta in
the beginning of Oct.  I'll check airfares, just in case........

Mary (reading The Chalice & the Blade)
  

    
Airfares from Chicago have got to be better than airfares from
Balto-Wash.  Ouch on the trans!

I have the DD book.  I even got Neil to sign it!  (I think I utterly
failed to surprise him with it at said signing, though, thanks to some
silly girls who passed it among themselves and spent the next fifteen
minutes squealing loudly about which Duran member had been their
favorite.  At least my ninety bucks to eBay got me a reaction from
*somebody*, if the wrong somebodies.)

I thought for sure the 500 FG slots would fill up months ago!  How
many people you got so far, Mouse and Gerbil?

And I can't possibly be the first one here to say this, but:

Congratulations on your Hugo, Neil!!!  :D
  

    
Finally caught up with the last two weeks' worth of Journal entries. 
(http://www.neilgaiman.com/journal/journal.asp)  Am grinning now
because a question of mine has been answered, and because it looks as
though I don't have to go up to Alma-Mater-land two weekends in a row
after all!

(Which is good, because I'll probably benefit from a weekend of rest
in between said events and my maid-of-honor duties on the other side of
PA.)
  

    
I've seen the DD book, even read most of it. Am hesitant to own it for
more than a few bucks though, as I'm still getting over the whole
admitting that I liked Duran Duran back in the day thing (dunno why,
but I usually end up regretting it when I tell people that I liked them
in the 80s). Any way, we'll see what my financial state is like by the
time I get there and maybe I'll own it, and maybe I won't. :P

Mary - Eek! I can't believe you drove so much on wonky transmission!
Someone *must* be watching over you, and I'm glad everything went
alright. Yes, absolutely, that needs to be taken care of! (But if your
general good samaritanism and friendly attitude is noted by someone
very wealthy who decides to reward you for it in the next month, please
do try to make it to FG!)

tinymonster - No clue on memberships (not my department); but it's not
filled up yet, so if you've got friends who you think should be there,
please sucker, er, talk them into going soon. :)

-squeaks
who got chewed out in class for writing her exam in pencil, until I
handed the teacher the pen in which I wrote it. I should make *him* buy
me the kind of pen he thinks I should use. feh
  

    
What kind of pen was that??

<dunno why, but I usually end up regretting it when I tell people that
I liked them in the 80s>

That's weird.  Don't those people know that about eighty zillion
people liked them in the 80's?  Now, if you told them you liked them in
the SIXTIES, I could understand getting funny looks.

I thought they were sexist jerks after something Simon said in a
magazine interview I read, so they weren't my favorites, but I did like
their sound a lot and thought John was cute.

For anyone who, like me, was more of a Thompson Twins chick, you might
be interested to know that there are two pictures of Alannah Currie in
the DD book.  FYI.  ;)
  

    
P.S.  Hey Neil -- If you want to bring salsa (not the fish) to DC
and/or Pittsburgh, I'll be glad to take some off your hands.  ;)
  

    
I think it's more to do with the massive numbers of the general
populace who liked DD back in their heyday. I mention it, and I've got
a bunch of scary people I don't want to be talking to all sharing their
most intimate memories of their love of the music, most of which I'm
not interested in, and trying to get away from these people when they
start talking is kind of scary. That's not true of everyone, mind you,
just a very large portion of the encounters I've had. Having the book
in my house, and having paid a large sum for it, would just provoke
more people to engage me in unwanted conversation. 

As for the pen, fine tip ball point of the generic (Pentel?) variety.
I've got handwriting that's kind of spidery and I barely lift my pen
off the page, so when I use something like a rollerball or a thicker
pen, it leaves weird trails all over the paper, so I like fine points.
Guess I'm not allowed to use them on tests any more. feh.

-squeaks
who better get a decent grade
  

    
You may have told us, but what class(es) are you taking?



BTW, to all who observe, happy Rosh Hashanah (PMS -- Pardon My
Spelling).
  

    
An early Barenaked Ladies song suggests the narrator got in trouble in high
school for confessing he liked Duran Duran.

They've covered the earlier band in concert so obviously they aren't
ashamed.
  

    
Hehe.  One more reason to like the Barenaked Ladies.  ;)
  

    
Personally I'm starting to suspect that these people aren't really
bare naked ladies at all.
  

    
Have fun at the DreamHaven signing tomorrow, those of you who are
going to be there.
  

    
Appreciation of Shakespeare... or something to do with him at any
rate.
  

    
Nothing to do with me.
  

    
Anyone going to be able to tape the Neil Gaiman hosting of the thingy
during Halloween?

I'd be happy to pay for the tape and the mail costs.
  

    <scribbled>
  

    
(Above scribbled for wrong URL)

Dang, I was thinking of asking the same thing.  But I was thinking of
asking elsewhere anyway, since none of you live anywhere near me.

It was cool to see JaNell mentioned in the blog
(http://www.cafepress.com/jazilla).  I see she's
branched out from beadwork.  Lovely designs!

How is she doing, Neil?  Our periods of Well membership didn't overlap
for long, but I liked her.
  

    
http://www.neilgaiman.com/journal/2004/09/dictionary-of-miracles.asp

Hey, Neil -- I think the latest ADDGirl issue actually *is* only two
pages long, which might explain why you couldn't get past page 2.

And I'm not positive, but I thought titles like "Blessed,"
"Venerable," and "Saint" were only bestowed posthumously... which
perhaps made those talking rocks _prescient_ talking rocks as well.
  

    
Saw the new Arthur Miller play at the Goodman last week, and it's
terrific.  It's called "Finishing the Picture", and is about how a
famous, beautiful actress has a meltdown on a movie set, and her acting
coach is flown in to get her back to work.......sound familiar?  The
Misfits, anyone? The cast is pretty wonderful, too--Linda Lavin, John
Glenn, Matthew Modine, Stacy Keach....  I thought it was much better
than "Ride Down Mt. Morgan", which I saw a couple of years ago with
Patrick Stewart.  That felt .....unfinished, and slight.  This is
painful to watch, but marvelous.  It's a comedy, mostly.

Must dash--wretched lesson plans!
  

    
No, don't dash your wretched lesson plans!  You'll need them!  ;)

I'm glad to hear that Arthur Miller is still alive and writing plays. 
Sounds like a wonderful cast to see in person, too.

Saw _The Thin Red Line_ on DVD over the weekend, and to my surprise, I
liked it.  I think I'd have found it draggy if I'd seen it in the
theater, especially since I was younger and less philosophical then,
but it was a good one to rent.  And gosh, *everybody* was in it -- and
did a good job, too.

I received what I think is my free _Cerebus_ issue on Thursday
night... but I haven't opened it yet.  I can be a paragon of willpower
when I know I won't have enough time to relax and really enjoy
something yet.

Signed,
Exhausted Christy with a new alternator in her car
  

    
Hey, Neil, your latest journal entry reminded me of something I've
been meaning to ask you for some time:  How did Jonathan and Jane's
place in Florida fare in the hurricanes?  I hope that's not the place
you were talking about today.  :(

(Hmm... off-board e-mail following.  There's a tiny light bulb weakly
glimmering above my head.)


<You know, I miss doing those reading tours. The 2000 tour was called
the Last Angel Tour because it was meant to be the last one ever, but
I'm starting to wonder whether people would mind if I did another CBLDF
Reading Tour in 2005 or 2006.>

FWIW, let me add my voice to the "PLEEEEEEEZE" column.  Just call it
something other than an "Angel Tour" and you're all set.  ;)

Glad Maddy is safe and had fun despite the rain.  Had wondered myself.
  

    
"people would mind"

I find it hard to imagine what Neil would have to do to generate
actual complaints from his fans.  Of the few things I can imagine, I
can't imagine that Neil would really want to do them.
  

    
http://www.neilgaiman.com/journal/2004/09/smile-more-or-less.asp
That *is* a good picture.
  

    
FYI -- Dana-from-the-blog's
(http://www.neilgaiman.com/journal/2004/09/product-placement.asp)
collection of the Dave Sim letters is up at
http://richardmooreart.com/sim/simgaiman.html.  It's not complete yet,
but it's quite entertaining.