Inkwell: Authors and Artists

    
Hi, y'all!

I had a lovely post about 3 weeks ago that the computer ate, and I've
been meaning to come by and recreate it ever since, but now I can't
remember what I was on about.  Probably nothing.

(Edit--Most important thing I was on about--Congrats Mousy and
Kurt--he's absolutely gorgeous!  The website is a riot!  Love the
pictures!)

Did anyone here go to New Haven?  I will be moving to Connecticut
*next* Tuesday, and I'm not mad at Neil at all.  Nope, not the least
little bit.  I mean, I was supposed to move in the middle of July, but
decided to hang out for a couple of weeks, but I'm not mad that I
didn't know about Yale until 4 days before.  I mean, it's no big deal,
right?  I haven't seen Himself in almost a year, and may not be able to
go down to NYC for the Fragile Things launch, depending on work
schedules, train schedules, etc., but New Haven probably wasn't all
that much fun.  Right?

Please help me try to believe this.  My sanity may depend on it, given
an impending cross-country move involving me, a 16-foot truck, 15
goldfish, 7 betas, 3 plecostamus, and 2 turtles.  I keep waking up from
nightmares wherein I still have the cats, and have forgotten to figure
out how to keep them away from the fish.

Um, Absolute Sandman.........hmmmm......maybe.  I will admire them
when they come out, and see if I can budget for them.  Having no job as
of Sept. 1st, at the moment, the future is sort of a blank canvas. 
Heck, I don't even know where I'll be living in 3 months!  (Moving in
with my mom to start with, but I don't know for how long).  It's a
rather weird feeling.  I'm trying to relish my freedom, but mostly I'm
just panicking.  There's nothing like the Great Unknown to show you how
much of a routine-loving, boring, cowardly, anti-thrill-seeker you
are.  And a control freak!  So much for my self-image as a relatively
sane person.  (I should have known better.  Really.)  I laugh a
lot--mostly in a sort of, "Well, it's this or scream" sort of way.

Maybe I'll get a chance to pick up "Where's Neil" before I go for road
trip music.  That would be cool.

I'll post after I get there with the Funny Things That Went Wrong
stories.  It may be a long post.

Mary (reading Anne Lamott--Traveling Mercies--how appropoo, as Dot
would say on the Animaniacs)
  

    
CJ SMith:



FYI -- I have added twelve new photos to the end of my Balticon album
(see Post <1333>).  Also, the Lorraine a'Malena kiddie hour has been
removed, but Lorraine has them.

Mary -- Well, it's about time you moved back!  :)  If you can't make it
to the Fragile Things events in NYC, maybe I'll just swing by and kidnap
you!

I, alas, did not go to New Haven either.  I did point it out to my family
up that way, but Ben was exhausted from just having worked Comicon.  I
still haven't found out if he actually got to see anything besides the
merch room.

I do want to go up to NY to see Martin Short's new show, Fame Becomes Me,
though.  Not sure how timing and budget will work out for that,
especially with a hoped-for trip to Philly and Harrisburg to see The
Choir.  (I just saw two of their members twice in one week with The Lost
Dogs, but I just can't get enough!)

Mary, I think you'll start enjoying your freedom once the big move is
over with.  You've got a lot on your plate right now!  Best wishes and
prayers for safety.
  

    
It's been a long time. I've been MIA and haven't been able to
read/writen much of anything in months. 

Today was the first time in a long while that I read the journal (with
the Doctor Who entry) - the funny thing is that last week I went
through the same thing with Kat, my youngest. She had a hard time with
the regeneration, but the end of the season was even harder for the
young one. I have to say though that sharing the Doctor with her is
something we both enjoy (for a while she had to describe the episodes
as they played and it became a ritual for us during recovery).

Anyway - I just wanted to wave a hello from bellow the equator.
  

    <scribbled by dfowlkes>
  

    
of course, I thought that The Endless were on it, and only realised
that was the track name rather later in the game. I missed them, and I
missed Hera too (http://www.herasings.com/). Oh well. If it sells well
enough maybe they'll do another of them...
  

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

    




The return of the prodigals.  :)

Georgia -- Good to see you back!  "Recovery"?  Everyone all right?

Neil -- Good to see you back, too.  I had juuust been deciding that you
don't read this forum anymore, and as always, you popped in and surprised
me!  Glad we haven't bored you to death yet.

Later,
Christy
  

    
OK, so I haven't moved yet.  CPS, in their infinite wisdom, overpaid
me, and then decided to underpay me the next check, throwing all my
finances into an uproar.  Oy gevalt.

So I move next week, after I get paid again.  Cross your fingers that
I do not run out of money for gas in Pennsylvania.  That would
be.....unfortunate.

Georgia!  Good to "see" you!  Wellcome back!  

Christy--yeah, the FT event in NYC is on a Thursday night.  Not sure I
can get a train back afterwards.  I'll do more research after the
move.....

Off to watch the extras on my Donnie Brasco DVD.  Like the rest of the
planet, I have Pirate fever, which is leading me to watch every Johnny
Depp movie I can get my hands on.  I can honestly say, though, that I
had already seen most of them, having been a Depphead from way back, so
this is an excuse to rent/buy the few I hadn't seen, like Donnie
Brasco.

Speaking of which--Neil--have you seen The Libertine yet?  What did
you think?

Mary (reading The Golem's Eye by Jonathan Stroud--Bartimaeus rules!)
  

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

    
I'm sorry to hear that.  Georgia, I hope you're feeling better!
  

    
Mary & Christy

It was one of those things one doesn't expect, but will happen whether
it is expected or not. I couldn't really use my eyes for too long a
time and had to do without reading, writing, television, etc.

I don't recommend it. 

Thank you so for the well wishes [always most welcome] and I'm happy
to report that things are slowly going back to normal. 

A note: The BBC Radio has become part of my routine. I started when I
was recovering and kept it up. Any other good radio shows you know
about?
  

    
I'm here.  Actually, I've been here for a little more than a week. 
Trip was pretty easy (for 20 or so hours in a 16-foot truck).  I had a
job interview yesterday, and they love me, so I have a job.  Now for a
car and an apartment.

Oh, yeah, the job?  Teaching American Lit (blah)and .............

science fiction.

Ooooooooh, yeah.

Any suggestions?  Core text is Farenheit 451*.

Called about Neil's appearance in NYC and was told it is free, in a
room with about 300 seats.  I suggested that a few more might be a good
thing.  At any rate, sounds like folks should get there early.  Any
New Yorkers remember numbers from past Neilfests?  I thought Tara said
there close to 1500 in a line a few years back in NYC.  Am I nuts?

Don't answer that.  ;-)

Mary (just finished "Budding Prospects" by T. C. Boyle)
  

    
Oops, forgot to say--

Georgia--sounds highly unpleasant, and I am very glad things are
getting back to normal.  I don't know if you can find any NPR, but
David Sedaris is veeerrrryyy funny.  If you like rock & roll, WXRT.com
is a great online station, and their rock & roll talkshow on Tuesday
nights is fascinating.  Be well!   M.
  

    
Ah. Love that book.  You do know why it's called that don't you?
I'm sure you do.  You teach it after all.
For those of you who don't....

451 degrees F is the temperature at which paper burns. Any lower, and
it doesn't. This is why you can use paper in the oven while cooking
low-temp items. 
  

    
All right, look, you slackers, get posting.  I need entertainment,
darn it!
Who's going to NYC next week?  I've convinced (read:coerced) a
co-worker into joining the madness, and if we can figure out how to
take the Metro North line into the City, we're all good.  Unless
somebody has a better suggestion--?  Amtrak does't run late enough for
us to get back after the reading.  Anybody know if Himself is signing
after that one?  Do I have enough questions?

Buggering off, (reading Ptolemy's Gate by Jonathan Stroud)  M.
  

    <scribbled by the-roane>
  

    
Well, the obvious better suggestion is using your rich friend's
personal limo.  I mean, you have been cultivating that friendship
right?

However, I'm not going.  I've been burning my vacation days too
quickly this year, and I have many other things to do.
  

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

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

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

    
Stop all the clocks.

I don't know what to say.  Elise, if you still come by here, know that
you are in my thoughts.

Mary
  

    
Unless my memory betrays me, Mike was the one that suggested "These
are not my scary trousers" would be a good shirt.

I've always meant to buy a John M Ford novel but I assumed there would
always be tomorrow.
  

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

    
Just dropping in to note that Neil will be appearing next Tuesday,
October 3rd, at Kepler's Books in Menlo Park.  There will be a
pre-appearance reception at 6:15 P.M., and Neil will appear starting at
7:30 P.M. in the store.  We're going all out for this one - the store
will be closed for a couple of hours so we can tackle the massive job
of setting up for a gigantic event.  Neil will sign books bought at
Kepler's and two "other items" (don't have to be books) of your choice.
 Join us!
  

    
Went to NYC last night.  Himself was most entertaining. Several times
he came out with something so outrageous that John Hodgman cracked up
completely.

We couldn't stay for the signing, as the interview, reading, and Q&A
lasted 'til 9, and we had a 2-hour train trip and a 1-hour drive still
ahead of us.  I wish it could have been on a Friday night but maybe
next time.

I did have a moment, when they were clowning around about shilling
books and joking about making an infomercial, when I thought, "If Mike
heard that, he would write a great script for it..."

I need to reread "The Last Hot Time".  I've been reading a lot of
Mike's stuff on the web, and wishing I had brought more of my books
from Chicago, this week.

I'm rambling.  We start school at 7:30 here, ad I've had 4 hours of
sleep.  Off to grade papers now <<insert evil laugh here>>

Mary