Inkwell: Authors and Artists

    
Streak--  Fragility factors are _very_ important here, because if the
glass breaks, the figure inside will do the most horrible things to
you.
  

    
A bit late, but here're my (possibly not very practical) votes:

1) Stardust would be niiice....
2) American Gods (okay, so I've only heard a bit of it, but...!)

Secondly, snow-global-thoughts:
I think the Delirium idea is superb! But Dream in his glass prison is
a good one too. Fitting. Both draw up very vivid visuals. *My* mind is
drawing a blank. It went snow globe-->lamp post in Narnia.

Len: *laugh* Slap on a warning label? ;)   
  

    
While it's always possible that the number of Scorpios here might be
something fated and cosmic, there is the pesky fact that nine months
prior to this time of year is Valentine's Day.

Would a snowglobe of Wednesdays be full of little girls in black
dresses wearing pigtails and malicious little grins?

<nothing to see here.  move along, move along>
-randi 


 
  

    
Randi - So I guess you picked up on the fact that I've been a bit
obsessed with Christina Ricci lately... damned Sleepy Hollow... ;) As
for Valentine's Day, well, I suppose that would make sense then,
wouldn't it?

madman - No problem as long as you leave one of the bay area stores
for me and the bunny. :)

Mimi - Lamp post in Narnia? Well, walking around the French Quarter
will be odd now. Every time I see a lamp post, I'll be thinking of the
lion at the New Orleans zoo - it roared twice... and stopped just as we
got to the enclosure. meanie.

Neil - You're welcome. It was mostly due to a mild obsession with
Charles Fort at the time, but the kitty cats seemed appropriate. :)

btw, When looking for Pinkwater books in the local bookstore, one
should put FROM HELL as far from the mind as possible, or one will ask
where "Pinkerton" is filed and get nowhere fast... took me an hour to
realize my error and pick up the books. *sigh.

-squeaks, who has forgotten why she needed to go back to the Quarter
today...
  

    

I want a snowglobe filled with weekends, myself.
  

    
From Jouni -

Hi Neil (and others)

Amanda - OK. I'll be more... um... inaccurate in the future.

Neil - You haven't counted foreign votes yet, have you? So here's mine: as I
mentioned before I really liked "We Can Get Them for You Wholesale", so it
would be great to hear you read it. Have you done it in any of the readings?
How did the crowd react? Also would like to hear more your imitations (Loved
the Alan Moore you did in Finncon).

Could someone tell something about this Pinkwater everybody is talking
about? What kind of stuff he writes? (atleast the book titles sounded
positively weird)

Jouni, who's slowly recovering from the heavy-weight flu... 
  

    
From Jen:

On the topic of the CDs... I loved hearing Keepsakes and Treasures: A Love 
Story on the web, that's one I'd definitely like to be able to listen to 
whenever.  I agree with the suggestion of The Price, and I also want to throw 
in a vote for "Harlequin Valentine" which I really like even though I haven't 
actually finished reading it because I can't afford the new Years Best 
Fantasy and Horror yet.  (I have been reading it two pages at a time whenever 
I go into Borders on my way to work.)  Just my two little cents.  And happy 
belated birthday.  :-)

Jen.

(and also belated thanks to Linda for posting me messages)

[You're welcome.  %^)]
  

    

[Secret, private, personal message to Sarah - I hope you didn't think my
e-mail was Spam.  I really did hope for a reply!  If you did not get it,
somehow, could you let me know, via e-mail?  Thank you ever so!]
  

    
Jouni--

This is, unfortunately, a pretty dry description of Pinkwater:

Daniel Pinkwater is an author who mainly writes books for kids and
young adults; he's also a radio commentator and has published several
collections of his essays.  

Pinkwater's books tend to be about (and for) smart, savvy kids who,
for whatever reason (they're: overweight, from out of town, fanatically
devoted to Walter Cronkite, the reincarnation of a tibetan lama) are
outsiders.  These characters have adventures on the fringes of society,
sometimes leaving the suburbs, or the planet, or this dimension
entirely.

In Pinkwater books, one has the sense that there's this world of
magical weirdness that is always there, but can only be seen from the
corner of your eye.  He's deeply subversive and hilariously funny, and
sprinkles his kids books with weirdo grownup stuff that you may not
discover for years (Alan Mendelson the Boy From Mars is peppered with
references to the Illuminatus trilogy.)  His books were essentially my
bible from 3rd grade to high school.
  

    
Plate-O-shrimp!  I just took out 3 pinkwater books out of the library!
  

    
I was sent this via email and still can't stop laughing so I am
passing it along.  It concerns the American elections and the Queen.  I
don't know if our American posters will get the joke but I know the
British and Australian will.
I will hide it in the next post for those who are interested. :P

(PS Have know idea where it originated from).
  

    <hidden>
  

    
Hmmm, just reread it from an American view point and it is abit harsh.
 No disrespect intended.
  

    
oh. and I like meant like 'no' not like 'know'. (gulp)
  

    
We now interrupt for this important message:

ATTENTION Minnesotans and Wisconsinites!

It is SNOWING! A LOT! Right here (South Minneapolis) there's about ...
well, looks like an inch of snow on the picnic table. 

It's heavy enough that I think it might stay, as opposed to the last
few weeks when it's melted within a few days, leaving icky wet leaves
all over.

I'm doing algebra. INEQUALITIES. Yuck. I'm finally understanding them,
though. Neil, are you good at math?

I wore fishnet tights under my [ripped at the knees] jeans. I am *so*
punk.

-shira
who just drank a cup of sleepytime tea
  

    
The Sandman #1 Sandman in a glass globe is a brilliant idea. I worry
that DC would have problems with the whole nakedness bit. And it would
spoil it if he was in boxers.

Mimi -- I've said no to doing American Gods already for harper Collins
Audio. Too many different US accents in it. Having said that I might
do one of the short stories.

Randi -- I wonder if there is any kind of statistical bump on or
around Nov 14th. My suspicion is that there isn't one... like the
mythical baby trains, or the power cut baby booms that aren't there
when they go and look. But I wish it was.

Michelle -- remind me to write my Charles Fort story one day.

Jouni -- the only time I think I've ever read that was at a small
convention last year. Someone around here probably has a tape of it,
though.

Jen -- good suggestions.

Amanda -- that version (I've already rec'd about 5 versions of it) is
a reply to a not-very-funny at all version that was going around this
morning, written by an American and filled with jokes about steak and
kidney pudding.

Shira -- no, I'm lousy at Maths. Luckily I have a son who is a math
wizard, and a wife who loves numbers. 

I'm meant to be flying tomorrow. Fingers crossed...
  

    
Neil - write your Charles Fort story!
And fingers and toes are crossed for your flight.
<cannot erase image of Dream in boxers... which wouldn't be so
horrible, but with the talk of Valentine's Day, I'm picturing white
boxers with bright red and pink hears all over them... WRONG!!!>

shira - as much as I *loathe* math subjects, I have a tendency to be
very good at them, and have experience tutoring them... if you're
totally stuck, and not in a hurry, drop me a line.

-squeaks, who prefers driving, even with snow chains...
  

    
Hmmmmm. Dark. Brooding. Intense. silk boxers.

Oh Dear.  

Sounds like the cover of a Mills and Boons romance novel.
  

    
The Legend of the Green Flame appeared today in
comic book stores.  Despite the script being lost
for years, it seems obvious to me that your treatment
of Superman in Hell and Boston Brand must have lingered
in Mark Waid's mind when he turned from editor to writer
on the "Kingdom Come" series.

I've always been intrigued by the history of the ring
and the Lamp in the Green Lantern mythos.  Interesting to
see your take on the Starheart Meteor business. I liked
James Owsley's stories in Action Comics Weekly, too, but
will confess to having bought them as back issues, rather
than when they originally came out.

There's a soundbyte on my website that shows one root
of the GL myth in Andrew Lang's Yellow Fairy Book.  (It's 
transplanted from a post I originally made in your GEnie 
topic.)
(http://userwww.sfsu.edu/~lennyb/sfrt.htm)
  

    
Flying again?  Didn't you just get home and get sick and recover?  (I hope
you've recovered.)
  

    
Martha -- I'm 80% better.

Lenny -- could be. It's a very odd thing, as I said the other day,
seeing a long-lost script drawn and in print, 13 years later. 

I remember, more years ago than I care to imagine, Clive Barker saying
he wanted to write Deadman, for a special with Bissette and
Totleben... it's one of those Lucien's comics I still imagine from time
to time.
  

    
Neil--

Extremities crossed-- enjoy your flight.

I'm intrigued by the fact that you and your son don't have the same
tastes in reading, though I suppose it makes a kind of sense.  What
does he read?

And maybe not red hearts on a white background-- maybe Joe Boxer
smiley faces.
  

    
How many of us here have the same taste in reading as our parents, actually?
It's a pleasant thing, I think, but not surprising.
  

    
Actually, it's my Daddio's fault that I got into comic books (and
thus, Neil). He brought home Frank Miller's Batman: Dark Knight Returns
and I've had a soft spot for Batman Elseworlds ever since... (it made
sense when I typed it.) And while Daddio is more sci-fi than fantasy,
it's still all his fault that I'm reading most of what I am today.
Actually bought him Day I Swapped My Dad For Two Goldfish for his b-day
a while back as 'payback' for getting me suckered into this expensive
collecting mess. ;P

Len - if they're silk, it's gotta be hearts... and I just can't
picture Dream in anything less than silk. (or maybe glow in the dark
skeletons?... no. Hearts. Gotta be hearts.<g>

Crossed fingers for Neil not getting sicker *because* of the flight.

-squeaks, watching The Dark Crystal for the first time in a decade and
praying for no power surges to fry the laptop in this weather!
  

    
Linda- Sorry about the noresponse...you should check your inbox...um
now.  :>