Inkwell: Authors and Artists

    
Christy--I took a room in a lady's apartment for 3 months until I move
to Connecticut, which should be sometime around July 15th.  She's very
nice & her pat. is lovely, and she doesn't mind being invaded by an
insane redhead who has more plants than sense, and more goldfish and
Betas than plants.

I wanna go to Balticon, but it would be insanity.  I'm completely
exhausted from the move, and should be saving my money for the next
move.  <<sigh>>  Darn.  I haven't seen Himself since last fall on the
signing tour, and he was pretty pooped.  Y'all have a good time!  

Mary (reading Elizabeth Peters at the moment)
  

    
C.J. Smith writes:

Mary -- Yay!  You're finally moving to Connecticut!  Keep us posted;
maybe I can meet you in person sometime when I'm up there visiting my
dad.

> her pat. is lovely

Her patio?  (Or was that supposed to be "apt."?)

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers!
  

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

    
C.J.--that was apt.  Sleep deprivation is my friend.

DanGuy--that is so cool!  I am jealous.

Mary, who advises all and sundry to never--listen to me--*never*
assign a literary portfolio.  Don't do it.  

Because guess who has to grade it, that's why!
  

    
As a teacher friend once told me. I'll never assign essays for midterm
again. Ever since I had to grade one written in neon purple in the
tiniest handwriting you have ever ever seen. 
  

    
My English teacher in high school must have been a massochist. She'd
assign us essay after essay and read and comment over each one (though
she did disallow anything other than dark blue or black or REALLY dark
purple inks). And I remember this same person once telling me that if I
ever wanted to be a teacher it was important to remember to never
assign anything that you wouldn't want to grade.

In other news, I miss Australia... even in the winter.
  

    
I wouldn't mind getting back to Australia.  Last time I was there I
was visiting my friend in Wagga Wagga.
  

    



Balticon begins tomorrow night!  <notshakespeare> and Dan, do you still
have my cell phone number?

Is this Friday night "Meet the Participants" event a presentation, or a
mingling reception sort of thing?

Christy
  

    
I think the key words on Friday night is "Participants" not "Guest of
Honor".  Since it is occurring in a suite - not a conference room, I
think they mean you can stop by and say hi to the organizers.
  

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

    
Have a good time, and give Himself a hug from us all!   
  

    
I'm back from Balticon.

I was forced to hang out with Lorraine all weekend.  It was horrible
;-)
  

    
More info!  More info!

Mary (waiting with bated breath to hear all the news)
(Why do I have the sinking feeling that that's not how you spell
"bated" in this context?  I plead field trip exhaustion) 
  

    
I looked it up.  It is how to say "bated breath"  I've been writing it
wrong for years.
  

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

    
CJ Smith writes:


Agreed; Balticon good.  :)

I learned that Peter Beagle has a nice voice, both speaking _and_
singing.  I got to hear Malena sing about unicorns in the voice of a
haunted chinchilla.  I found out that Gene and Rosemary Wolfe got
married on my dad's seventh birthday, and have a golden anniversary
coming up.  (It's a week before Neil's birthday.)  I learned that
Lorraine is cool and funny and... just so _cute_.  And I transmitted an
imaginary hug from the Well wolves to Neil.

Glen, I told Lorraine about how you've been "the other Glen" before. 
I think she got a kick out of it.  But I'll let you tell your con
story.

Neil was surprisingly perky for someone who'd just crossed the
International Date Line.  Nor did he have the skin of a man who'd been
on planes for 30 hours.  He's looking great, and really seemed to be
having a fine time.  I'm sure it has NOTHING to do with the fact that
practically all the other guests of honor happened to be best friends
of his.  :)

I didn't get to see LaM's evening concert (did that go OK?), but they
were delightful doing a children's show Saturday afternoon.  I was
surprised to learn that they hadn't performed for children before; they
seemed to be such naturals at it.

Saw some panels with Gene Wolfe, Lisa Snellings-Clark (who had to cut
a Kaffeklatsch short Monday due to a disappearing voice), and Adam
Stemple.  Also, I now know "the other" Cat -- the girl from the LaM
booth, not the NYC redhead with the tattoo.

At the signing, where Neil and Peter S. Beagle were sitting across a
rather wide table, Neil asked how things were going on the Well.  I
told him that you folks had charged Dan, Glen, and me with giving you a
hug for them.  He said with a smile, "Well, then, consider it
transferred across the table somehow."

I ran into a co-worker, too; he got to go to all the evening filk
stuff I had to miss.  Ah well, it's not like I haven't been to plenty
of festivals devoted almost entirely to music.

In all, Balticon was fun enough to get me to come back for a third
day.  (Sorry I missed your intro to MirrorMask, Neil.  I would have
liked to see you one more time, but I ran late.)  Next year it will
probably go back to having a bunch of guests I haven't heard of, but
this year they had pretty much -- well, *everybody*!  It was almost a
Fiddler's Green for the East Coast.  :)

In related news, has anyone seen the new commercial for Cesar dog
food?  (It seems to be the canine answer to Fancy Feast.)  I saw it
last night, and I recognized the background music instantly from Neil's
children's CD:  Stephin Merrit's "I Think I Need a New Heart"!  This
right after Sheraton started using Lowen & Navarro's "We Belong" in
commercials.  I do like seeing all the good ones get royalties.  :)

In less related news, have I ever shown you guys these sushi pajamas? 
http://www.signals.com/signals/Item_Sushi-Pajamas-And-Childs-Lounge-Set_HB3482
G_ps_srm.html
 I think the child-sized ones would have been cute for Maddy a few
years ago.  ;)

Hope you all had a fun Memorial Day weekend, too!

Later,
Christy
  

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

    
OMG! Sushi Pajamas! And I've already spent all my luxury funds this
payday.  Dang it to Heck! 

Weren't these the ones Buffy wore on Buffy the Vampire Slayer? I do
believe she was seen in sushi PJs very much like these.  Now I must go
pull out all my DVDs of BtVS and see if I can find 'em.
  

    
Yay!  Christy!  Thanks for the update.  It sounds like it was a blast.
 You know, it's a good thing that I didn't know Peter S. Beagle was
there, and gene Wolfe, and Lisa Snellings-Clark, and......I would have
been much more upset that I couldn't go.  I just looked at the dates
when Neil said he was going, and thought, "baaaaad time, no money" and
went on my merry (Mary?) way.  Now I'm bummed.  Ah, well, next con.  (I
say that all the time.)

DanGuy--it's good to know you're famous.  It couldn't happen to a
nicer guy.  And for those lurkers out there-if you meet DanGuy at a
con, ask to see pictures of his kids.  They are ridiculously cute, and
photogenic.  ;-)

Sushi PJs......those are just too cute.  I gave Neil wind-up sushi
once.  When I saw it in the store, it seemed....necessary that he
should have it.

Mary 

P.S.  Glen--thank you.  I was far too brain-dead to have thought of so
intelligent a solution.  ;-)
  

    
Miss Mousey and husband Kurt have a new bouncing baby boy.  

Allistair entered the world at 3:18 a.m. on May 31st, weigt 7 lb. 3
oz. and 20.5 inches tall.

Hopefully he'll bounce only in good ways.
  

    

Congratulations to Miss Mousey!
  

    
Congratulations! Many happies to all three.
  

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

    
You snooze you loose.
  

    
Yay!  Mousey and Kurt!  Congratulations!  Wellcome, Allistair!