At the link above.
On Saturday night I went to go hear Pat Murphy and Carol Emshwiller read as part of the SF in SF series. I really enjoyed it, it's such a treat to have Carol visiting here (as she divides her time between Bishop, CA and New York City) and plus, Pat read a story that was fresh from her head (just written this week).
I'll update with the podcast links from the readings.
The post linked above has some good advice from Ms. Emshwiller, as originally published at Fantastic Metropolis.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Neil Gaiman on "Writing the Next Thing"
A Quote from Neil Gaiman's Journal (on his site:
Perhaps somewhat motivating...
Dave bought The Sandman Book of Dreams, which is an anthology of stories inspired by The Sandman series, and edited by Gaiman and Ed Kramer.
One of the most interesting things about this anthology is reading his introductions at the beginning of each story; he talks about where he met each author and how - some of them in signing lines at readings.
It reminds me of his introduction to Ellen Klages' Portable Childhoods and his descriptions of Ellen.
What would it be like to have such an intro written about me someday?
This book has Lisa Goldstein, one of the Brazen Hussies, and Delia Sherman, whom I met at WisCon, and also Tad Williams. We met Tad at a convention here in the Bay Area, but can't remember which one.
Perhaps somewhat motivating...
Dear Neil, I am sure you have probably answered this question before and are probably, therefore, very sick of it. But, I still must ask. I am an aspiring writer and am wondering how you stayed motivated during times of great failure. I understand what many writers mean when they say the love of the art drives them. What I am concerned with is how to deal with the inevitable denial of a piece of literature that you have invested everything in?
Write the next thing.
Maybe the world will catch up with your brilliance eventually, or maybe you'll look back in ten years and decide it wasn't that great really after all. Doesn't really matter. Times of great failure or times of great success, the problem is the same (how do you keep going?) and the solution is the same: You write the next thing.
Dave bought The Sandman Book of Dreams, which is an anthology of stories inspired by The Sandman series, and edited by Gaiman and Ed Kramer.
One of the most interesting things about this anthology is reading his introductions at the beginning of each story; he talks about where he met each author and how - some of them in signing lines at readings.
It reminds me of his introduction to Ellen Klages' Portable Childhoods and his descriptions of Ellen.
What would it be like to have such an intro written about me someday?
This book has Lisa Goldstein, one of the Brazen Hussies, and Delia Sherman, whom I met at WisCon, and also Tad Williams. We met Tad at a convention here in the Bay Area, but can't remember which one.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
BNL in San Mateo!!!
"I've got orange pants
I wear them when I dance.."
"When I make mistakes
I use a lot of salt
Cause salt makes m'steaks taste great"
- which isn't that hard to emulate as I try to do so at home right now...
--- "Raisins" - from Snacktime by Barenaked Ladies
Performed live at 3:30 pm at Barnes and Noble, San Mateo, 6/12!
I was in 5th "row" of the sitting on the floor crowd.
There was actually a little girl, maybe 5 or 6, who was wearing her orange pants (and
a stylish black button down shirt with flames on it).
She was dancing her heart out and got a special bit of attention and pointing from Ed. Apparently specifically dressed for the occasion by her mom, who gave her a big hug afterward.
It was just an awesome experience. They were playing in front of a huge window on the 2nd floor of the Barnes and Noble across from Hillsdale Mall, here in San Mateo.
It was almost impossible to get a good picture with the backlighting. Hopefully someone did get a shot and they post them online soon. :-)
So different listening to them in such a small space during the day. They can see you!
The kids seemed to enjoy it. There was a contingent of fan club women my age who had BNL shirts and were sitting in the front row, too.
Luckily we all didn't have to sit outside in the heat (although the line wasn't as long as I thought). They brought us into the store at about 2 pm.
I was surprised when the band suddenly took the stage (or little platform) since I was thinking they'd be introduced by someone from the bookstore.
"Please welcome, US!" Ed says.
So fun to see them so close up (and for free!). It was fun to watch Kevin's keyboard playing and Jim's bass playing, especially - you don't get so much detail when at Shoreline and they are far away!
Also the interplay between them and their interactions with the audience.
They had some thematic banter based on areas of the bookstore - but didn't comment about all the current events books which were the closest to them...
Notes on the banter (for some reason I had no network access on my phone, so I couldn't twitter or message):
This band is well known for their witty banter - onstage, and on the songs.
They started off with some shoplifting advice for all - something like "Hey, everyone here is pretty distracted right now, so if you tried to walk out with something, they probably wouldn't stop you..."
They also pointed out that Nikki Sixx had been at this same Barnes and Noble the day before...
Ed: Think of the double header on that one -- stay over night after Nikki Sixx to be here for our show..
research - he did come Oct 28, 2007 to this B&N. For the book "The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star" (and in other googling I find that Nikki is a San Jose native. Who knew?)
So it appears to have been an untruth that Nikki was there the day before...we'll see.
I remember their banter about the Kentucky Fried Chicken on El Camino near California Ave in Palo Alto. We saw them at a club there that was called The Edge, I think.
They were fascinated by the statue of Colonel Sanders that is on display there, but I can't remember exactly what they said.
This was sometime in the mid to late 90s. I can't remember if I was still at Stanford or just graduated.
Anyway. back to the present.
They played "Another Postcard" - which I forgot has such strong monkey references. Maybe we should always play BNL in our new monkey-themed bathroom (courtesy of Linda, Grady, and Michelle Woods' wedding presents).
"Another postcard, for chimpanzees"
And every one is addressed to me..."
Ed sang "Raisins" - and showcased the girl in orange pants above.
They also played "One Week" - really a nice number of their big singles along with the new songs. Hard to tell how many of the kids had heard these songs.
Steve sang "Ninjas"
A little blond girl named Amy (apparently her name was Amy Brubeck, according to the San Mateo Daily News) jumped up at one point with her hand up.
"Do you have a question?"
She requested them to play "Allergies"!
"The first child who actually ASKS for Allergies" - someone says (Steve or Tyler?)
"You can request, but it doesn't mean anything will happen" - Ed
"Tyler, do you know the words?"
"Maybe someone can hold up the words for you...maybe the girl who requested it..."
So Amy winds up standing near the drum kit holding the Snacktime book. I never saw her turn the page -- but obviously Tyler knew the words...
Amy was pretty blown away by the drums but she stuck it out!
Jim Creegan's song was "pollywog in a bog", which has a great refrain sung by Ed. Seemed like a great opportunity for the kids to jump up and jump, but those of us on the carpet stayed seated so everyone could see I think.
Kevin's song was "Eraser" ("If I make an error I can always make it better with my eraser..")
- which began with a mini-contest of "how long can we hold the "Eeee" syllable at the beginning of the word. Kevin won it seems.
He was wearing a pair of shiny aviator glasses and had a 50% off sticker from Barnes and Noble on his shirt.
I think at this point they played "7,8,9" which was quite brilliant. They warned kids that it was a scary song, and they might want to plug their ears if they are prone to nightmares.
Also that you can tell it's going to be scary, because it's in a minor key!
(They play example of the same opening chords in a major key) - this one would be happy!
They sang the lyrics of "Rhythm of the Night" by El Debarge, at the beginning of "If I had a million dollars" -- and dedicated it to El before starting. Hard to tell if people caught this also, but pretty cool.
amazing to hear it and sing along in such a small group. Steve yelling "sing along! LOUDER!"
"IF I HAD A MILLION DOLLARS!"
...I'd build a tree fort in your yard...
No kraft dinner was thrown...it seems like that would have been fun for the kids, but maybe the security staff had confiscated it.
And, they had a whole riff comparing Barnes and Noble to the Odd Couple, which prompted Tyler to play the theme and they all hummed and chimed in...
"That's for those kids who were born in 1961!"
"Or the kids who watch Nick at Nite," Ed says.
The waiting in the autograph line was pretty hot and sweaty, but the kids held themselves in line pretty well.
When I got up to the line I was feeling self-conscious because I had my old towel with me, that I grabbed from the car to sit in the line outside.
Also my plastic sack with my ice latte cup in it...
Ed was first - he said he would personalize the CD, so I spelled my name...and he says, "Cool name!"
So I got a "Cool name" from Ed Robertson, who joins the bevy of (mostly literary) famous people who have been exposed to the name.
I thanked him for coming.
Kevin was next - I thanked him by name, but he seemed pretty tired (and still had his sunglasses on)
And then Steven - also tired. I told him I'm the kid here, and I was kind of playing hooky from work. (side note, yay to him for the weight he's lost since the band started. He looks quite trim - much better than the Gordon cover, for example).
Next was Jim Creegan, and he asked what I was going to do with the rest of my day playing hooky - go fishing or something.
Didn't want to sound nerdy and say - well, actually more working.
And then Tyler, who was not very animated (tired...) but did sign and I thanked them again.
It's hard to express being a long time fan (not uber long, but before the success with "one week") - in a line like that. It's like all my author signings --"Oh I love your work, here's how to spell my name"...
Dave had said - you have to go even if you miss work for it.
This is what you have wanted as a kid - to have your favorite band come to your town and play in some store somewhere.
As a kid, the band in question was Huey Lewis and the News.
I have to also say - their song Crazy ABCs is just brilliant.
so many cool definitions: - and in the song they are doing commentary that is not on the lyric sheet, but they didn't sing it at the show:
(although Ed reads portions in this interview on ABC):
Hey Steve, Hey Ed
That sounds nice, what is it?
A new alphabet song I'm working on...
(steve says something about he just learned the old one...)
A is for Aisle
B is for Bdellium (gum like tree resin, starts with a silent B)
C is for Czar, and if you see him would you mind telling him?
Steve - ok hang on
aisle?
Ed: aisle, like a theater
D is for Djinn
E for Euphrates
F is for Föhn, but not like when I call the Ladies
(umlaut added by me after finding it on wikipedia)
Steve: I thought phone started with a p..
No, it's föhn, it's a kind of wind...
G for Gnarly
I for Irk
H for Hour
J for Jalapeno, good in either corn or flour... tortillas
(Steve: nice rhyme)
K is for Knickknack
L is for llama
(rama lama ding dong, what's so strange about llama?)
(it starts with two ls..)
M for Mnemonic
N is for Ngomo
(From me - this makes me feel ignorant - which Ngomo do they mean?
The Star Fleet admiral?
Or maybe the city in Gabon? I am taking too much time with this...or maybe Alicia Ngomo in London)
O is for Ouija Board
P is for Pneumonia, Pterodactyl, and Psychosis
Q is for Qat
ok - Q - cat? what?
Ed: it's qat, it's an evergreen shrub, it's a perfect scrabble word because it's a q with no u, there aren't many of those
Steve: you have too much time on your hands.
R is for Argyle
Steve: (singing along) --no it isn't
Ed: ok, you're right, I couldn't find a good R word.
S is for Saar, a lovely German river
T for Tsunami, a wave that makes me quiver
U is for Urn and not like earning money
V for Vraisemblance from french and therefore kind of funny
W for Wren, Wrinkly and Who
X is for Xi'an, an ancient Chinese city, true
Steve: ancient chinese city, huh? my guitar player, some hotshot...
Y is for Yperite a very nasty gas
Z is the final letter, and by final I mean last
Steve: ok when you say zed, for the benefit of our American friends, you really mean Z, right?
no I mean zed, like zed zed top
(riff of zz top) - and note - if you click the link above you hear the riff, so fyi - if you're listening to something else, it will be overshadowed...)
the guys who all have beards, except the guy whose _name_ is beard...
yeah I always thought that was interesting...
And in the ABC interview I linked to above, Ed mentions their "Bathroom Sessions" on Youtube. He'd noticed all these fans putting videos of themselves playing BNL songs (many at home and some in bathrooms).
So he thought he'd do this also, and just started doing little videos of himself playing the songs filmed by a little webcam on his laptop.
Here is Ed and Steve doing "one week":
I wear them when I dance.."
"When I make mistakes
I use a lot of salt
Cause salt makes m'steaks taste great"
--- "Raisins" - from Snacktime by Barenaked Ladies
Performed live at 3:30 pm at Barnes and Noble, San Mateo, 6/12!
I was in 5th "row" of the sitting on the floor crowd.
There was actually a little girl, maybe 5 or 6, who was wearing her orange pants (and
a stylish black button down shirt with flames on it).
She was dancing her heart out and got a special bit of attention and pointing from Ed. Apparently specifically dressed for the occasion by her mom, who gave her a big hug afterward.
It was just an awesome experience. They were playing in front of a huge window on the 2nd floor of the Barnes and Noble across from Hillsdale Mall, here in San Mateo.
It was almost impossible to get a good picture with the backlighting. Hopefully someone did get a shot and they post them online soon. :-)
So different listening to them in such a small space during the day. They can see you!
The kids seemed to enjoy it. There was a contingent of fan club women my age who had BNL shirts and were sitting in the front row, too.
Luckily we all didn't have to sit outside in the heat (although the line wasn't as long as I thought). They brought us into the store at about 2 pm.
I was surprised when the band suddenly took the stage (or little platform) since I was thinking they'd be introduced by someone from the bookstore.
"Please welcome, US!" Ed says.
So fun to see them so close up (and for free!). It was fun to watch Kevin's keyboard playing and Jim's bass playing, especially - you don't get so much detail when at Shoreline and they are far away!
Also the interplay between them and their interactions with the audience.
They had some thematic banter based on areas of the bookstore - but didn't comment about all the current events books which were the closest to them...
Notes on the banter (for some reason I had no network access on my phone, so I couldn't twitter or message):
This band is well known for their witty banter - onstage, and on the songs.
They started off with some shoplifting advice for all - something like "Hey, everyone here is pretty distracted right now, so if you tried to walk out with something, they probably wouldn't stop you..."
They also pointed out that Nikki Sixx had been at this same Barnes and Noble the day before...
Ed: Think of the double header on that one -- stay over night after Nikki Sixx to be here for our show..
research - he did come Oct 28, 2007 to this B&N. For the book "The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star" (and in other googling I find that Nikki is a San Jose native. Who knew?)
So it appears to have been an untruth that Nikki was there the day before...we'll see.
I remember their banter about the Kentucky Fried Chicken on El Camino near California Ave in Palo Alto. We saw them at a club there that was called The Edge, I think.
They were fascinated by the statue of Colonel Sanders that is on display there, but I can't remember exactly what they said.
This was sometime in the mid to late 90s. I can't remember if I was still at Stanford or just graduated.
Anyway. back to the present.
They played "Another Postcard" - which I forgot has such strong monkey references. Maybe we should always play BNL in our new monkey-themed bathroom (courtesy of Linda, Grady, and Michelle Woods' wedding presents).
"Another postcard, for chimpanzees"
And every one is addressed to me..."
Ed sang "Raisins" - and showcased the girl in orange pants above.
They also played "One Week" - really a nice number of their big singles along with the new songs. Hard to tell how many of the kids had heard these songs.
Steve sang "Ninjas"
A little blond girl named Amy (apparently her name was Amy Brubeck, according to the San Mateo Daily News) jumped up at one point with her hand up.
"Do you have a question?"
She requested them to play "Allergies"!
"The first child who actually ASKS for Allergies" - someone says (Steve or Tyler?)
"You can request, but it doesn't mean anything will happen" - Ed
"Tyler, do you know the words?"
"Maybe someone can hold up the words for you...maybe the girl who requested it..."
So Amy winds up standing near the drum kit holding the Snacktime book. I never saw her turn the page -- but obviously Tyler knew the words...
Amy was pretty blown away by the drums but she stuck it out!
Jim Creegan's song was "pollywog in a bog", which has a great refrain
Kevin's song was "Eraser" ("If I make an error I can always make it better with my eraser..")
- which began with a mini-contest of "how long can we hold the "Eeee" syllable at the beginning of the word. Kevin won it seems.
He was wearing a pair of shiny aviator glasses and had a 50% off sticker from Barnes and Noble on his shirt.
I think at this point they played "7,8,9" which was quite brilliant. They warned kids that it was a scary song, and they might want to plug their ears if they are prone to nightmares.
Also that you can tell it's going to be scary, because it's in a minor key!
(They play example of the same opening chords in a major key) - this one would be happy!
They sang the lyrics of "Rhythm of the Night" by El Debarge, at the beginning of "If I had a million dollars" -- and dedicated it to El before starting. Hard to tell if people caught this also, but pretty cool.
amazing to hear it and sing along in such a small group. Steve yelling "sing along! LOUDER!"
"IF I HAD A MILLION DOLLARS!"
...I'd build a tree fort in your yard...
No kraft dinner was thrown...it seems like that would have been fun for the kids, but maybe the security staff had confiscated it.
And, they had a whole riff comparing Barnes and Noble to the Odd Couple, which prompted Tyler to play the theme and they all hummed and chimed in...
"That's for those kids who were born in 1961!"
"Or the kids who watch Nick at Nite," Ed says.
The waiting in the autograph line was pretty hot and sweaty, but the kids held themselves in line pretty well.
When I got up to the line I was feeling self-conscious because I had my old towel with me, that I grabbed from the car to sit in the line outside.
Also my plastic sack with my ice latte cup in it...
Ed was first - he said he would personalize the CD, so I spelled my name...and he says, "Cool name!"
So I got a "Cool name" from Ed Robertson, who joins the bevy of (mostly literary) famous people who have been exposed to the name.
I thanked him for coming.
Kevin was next - I thanked him by name, but he seemed pretty tired (and still had his sunglasses on)
And then Steven - also tired. I told him I'm the kid here, and I was kind of playing hooky from work. (side note, yay to him for the weight he's lost since the band started. He looks quite trim - much better than the Gordon cover, for example).
Next was Jim Creegan, and he asked what I was going to do with the rest of my day playing hooky - go fishing or something.
Didn't want to sound nerdy and say - well, actually more working.
And then Tyler, who was not very animated (tired...) but did sign and I thanked them again.
It's hard to express being a long time fan (not uber long, but before the success with "one week") - in a line like that. It's like all my author signings --"Oh I love your work, here's how to spell my name"...
Dave had said - you have to go even if you miss work for it.
This is what you have wanted as a kid - to have your favorite band come to your town and play in some store somewhere.
As a kid, the band in question was Huey Lewis and the News.
I have to also say - their song Crazy ABCs is just brilliant.
so many cool definitions: - and in the song they are doing commentary that is not on the lyric sheet, but they didn't sing it at the show:
(although Ed reads portions in this interview on ABC):
Hey Steve, Hey Ed
That sounds nice, what is it?
A new alphabet song I'm working on...
(steve says something about he just learned the old one...)
A is for Aisle
B is for Bdellium (gum like tree resin, starts with a silent B)
C is for Czar, and if you see him would you mind telling him?
Steve - ok hang on
aisle?
Ed: aisle, like a theater
D is for Djinn
E for Euphrates
F is for Föhn, but not like when I call the Ladies
(umlaut added by me after finding it on wikipedia)
Steve: I thought phone started with a p..
No, it's föhn, it's a kind of wind...
G for Gnarly
I for Irk
H for Hour
J for Jalapeno, good in either corn or flour... tortillas
(Steve: nice rhyme)
K is for Knickknack
L is for llama
(rama lama ding dong, what's so strange about llama?)
(it starts with two ls..)
M for Mnemonic
N is for Ngomo
(From me - this makes me feel ignorant - which Ngomo do they mean?
The Star Fleet admiral?
Or maybe the city in Gabon? I am taking too much time with this...or maybe Alicia Ngomo in London)
O is for Ouija Board
P is for Pneumonia, Pterodactyl, and Psychosis
Q is for Qat
ok - Q - cat? what?
Ed: it's qat, it's an evergreen shrub, it's a perfect scrabble word because it's a q with no u, there aren't many of those
Steve: you have too much time on your hands.
R is for Argyle
Steve: (singing along) --no it isn't
Ed: ok, you're right, I couldn't find a good R word.
S is for Saar, a lovely German river
T for Tsunami, a wave that makes me quiver
U is for Urn and not like earning money
V for Vraisemblance from french and therefore kind of funny
W for Wren, Wrinkly and Who
X is for Xi'an, an ancient Chinese city, true
Steve: ancient chinese city, huh? my guitar player, some hotshot...
Y is for Yperite a very nasty gas
Z is the final letter, and by final I mean last
Steve: ok when you say zed, for the benefit of our American friends, you really mean Z, right?
no I mean zed, like zed zed top
(riff of zz top) - and note - if you click the link above you hear the riff, so fyi - if you're listening to something else, it will be overshadowed...)
the guys who all have beards, except the guy whose _name_ is beard...
yeah I always thought that was interesting...
And in the ABC interview I linked to above, Ed mentions their "Bathroom Sessions" on Youtube. He'd noticed all these fans putting videos of themselves playing BNL songs (many at home and some in bathrooms).
So he thought he'd do this also, and just started doing little videos of himself playing the songs filmed by a little webcam on his laptop.
Here is Ed and Steve doing "one week":
Friday, June 06, 2008
Ysabeau Wilce - author of Flora Segunda...
This is the official website of Ms. Wilce, whom I met at WisCon at a dinner organized by Ellen Datlow (which Pat invited me to).
Her site makes so much more sense now that I've read her book. It's an awesome site but it was a bit confusing prior.
So many things about the book that I like, it's hard to get all of them in right now. Just finished it yesterday - Pat had lent it to me on Monday night.
Her site makes so much more sense now that I've read her book. It's an awesome site but it was a bit confusing prior.
So many things about the book that I like, it's hard to get all of them in right now. Just finished it yesterday - Pat had lent it to me on Monday night.
Tuesday, June 03, 2008
New Play about Hedy Lamarr
Frequency Hopping, a new play about Hedy Lamarr, who was in my Nanowrimo Novel after Peri told me about her...
It is playing in New York.
It is playing in New York.
Sunday, June 01, 2008
Breaking the Ice: An Anthology of Contemporary African-American Fiction
I checked this out from the library before going off to WisCon (as part of a small "anthology orgy" with On the Couch: Great American Stories about Therapy, and Caught in the Organ Draft: Biology in Science Fiction, which was edited by Asimov).
They're all overdue now - I am renewing this online because I am just starting it now.
Some comments quoted from Terry McMillan's preface, which are trying to help me write:
"Writing is personal. Try to write the kind of stories you'd like to read. Do not write to impress. Do not write to prove to a reader how much you know, but instead write in order to know.
...
Everyone has a different opinion about what a good story should do and here are a few that I love:
They're all overdue now - I am renewing this online because I am just starting it now.
Some comments quoted from Terry McMillan's preface, which are trying to help me write:
"Writing is personal. Try to write the kind of stories you'd like to read. Do not write to impress. Do not write to prove to a reader how much you know, but instead write in order to know.
...
Everyone has a different opinion about what a good story should do and here are a few that I love:
'A story is a war. It is sustained and immediate combat.'
'Your character should want something and want it intensely. It need not be melodramatic, earth-shattering or tangible. But it should be important to them whether or not they get it.'
'A good story is a power struggle between equal forces. Something keeps getting in the way of the protagonist from achieving whatever they desire.'
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