Warning: Some Violence and Much Strong Language.HE WROTE: No Trouble Here, Folks
All right, show's over. Keep moving folks. Nothing to see here. It was just an accident. A little fender bender. Stop gawking. Move on through.
Hey you, yeah you. What are you? A sicko? Nothing to see. Just a little blood and guts. Get moving.
Let's go. Let's go. Keep it moving. Places to go and people to see.
Go this way or thataway. I don't really care.
"Yet knowing how way leads on to way.
I doubt if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference."
Now that poem sorta makes sense to me and has both form and substance enough to actually have form and substance. Even the squirrels, my buddies, get that one.
230 Comments:
Robert Frost, and a favorite of my too, Bob.
Apparently you two, the two of you, over there ... and there ... have decided to move on? Good to know. And you've set Shane straight? No more lusting after nuns? As someone put it in the last blog, squicky, Bob, very squicky.
FYI I also liked Mending Wall.
mbwop: Maybe Bob will oust penguins
Virgin blog
Bob, methinks, in some way, you are appoligizing to Jennie.
"The way less traveled" is often the better way.
To keep our Jennie in a happy writing mood is the better way.
gwpuvw
red
guess what plans "u" vividly write
MCB got in ahead of me
Oh, well.
Oooh, I'm in under 5 and have nothing to add. I have lots of comments to catch up on. See what happens when I leave for the weekend? Agnes wants to get rid of Shane, Shane lusts after a nun, things get squicky!
Ugh!!
There was once a young man who, in his youth, professed his desire to become a great writer.
When asked to define great, he said, "I want to write stuff that the whole world will read, stuff that people will react to on a truly emotional level, stuff that will make them scream, cry, howl in pain and anger!"
He now works for Microsoft writing error messages.
heh, heh.
We're all entitled to the occasional brainwave and, as long as no one actually kills anyone off, we're all good.
Despite the occasional requests for a "darker" work from the collaboration, I think most of us would just as soon NOT play voyeurs to too much havoc (I know I'll be corrected if I'm wrong!). Troubles and complications, yes; blood and guts, no. At least not until the bad guy gets his just deserts (as opposed to desserts, from which he is banned) at the end.
And while (because?) many nuns are very nice people, there is something decidedly tacky (cheap/easy/stereotypical) about using their sex lives as a plot device.
nvxdxps: nun vampires xenophobically devour xenobiologically-produced species
On the subject of him and her writing together. I reread DLD recently - yeah again. Usually the first time through I'm just caught up in the story so I miss stuff which is a shame because I know the authors work hard at it and it deserves more attention. Thus the reread. Well a third read.
So here's what I liked about DLD.
I liked the action stuff that Bob brought to the story. I even liked the whatshisname - the sniper guy. At a glance it didn't seem like he added much, but this time around I could see that he gave the book more edge than it had otherwise. His scenes had a darker feel and added oomph, or something.
J.T. took a little adjusting too. I liked him, no argument there. But it took me most of the book to figure out what that itch in the back of my brain was. See, it was the definitive male pov which we don't usually get in romance. So my brain had to adjust to the idea that he was not going to be the usual romance hero. He was an action hero. Different guy. Once that clicked I was good with J.T.
I also liked the dialogue. Bob doesn't usually do much dialog. His characters don't banter. Is that a guy thing? But I was thinking about an earlier discussion re old movies. They had banter, witty repartee and etc. That's always a draw for me and I think why I like romance books so much. And Jenny does great dialogue.
Add to that some great characters -Gloom and LaFavre - that gave the story color. It was a really good book and rereading it has me looking forward to Shane and the Food Critic that much more. Because I figure having found your rythym, this book is going to really rock.
mcb said...Because I figure having found your rythym
And all I could do was LAUGH. I mean, reading this blog is a blast, but it sometimes makes me wonder if they even HAVE a rythym, or if things just self-destruct (or is that the GAM blowing them up?) and then they put the pieces back together into some kind of order.
Don't get me wrong, I think they are both fubulous. But watching them on here, and knowing that we are seeing just a small little bit of what is actually happening, really has me scratching my head as to why anyone would ever want to write, much less collaborate with someone else. Then again, if they didn't do it, then I wouldn't have all of you, and that would be a tragedy. So I'm glad that they do, but I still think they both have to be either incredibly crazy or intensely dedicated. I won't even try to guess which it is. Will you?
And dang it all, I missed saying goodbye to OH. And I will miss her! So if she happens to drop by and you guys see her, tell her hi from me!!
And where the heck is rss? Haven't seen her in a while either.
Chaos has a rhythym all its own.
lbooth
I'm new to this blog. I read the article in "Writer's Digest" (August 2006) and then found my way here. All the talk of alligators on the main website reminded me of a book I read written by: Bart Davis.
In the first book of the "Peter MacKenzie" series, Justine Segurra, (who works for the CIA and had been a jungle guerrilla fighter), finds herself in an alligator pit; naked. If you've not read it yet, you might want to give it a read:
Full Fathom Five -- 1987
Then if you find you can't stop reading, you can continue the series.
Raise The Red Dawn -- 1991
Destroy The Kentucky -- 1992
Atlantic Run -- 1993
Voyage Of The Storm -- 1995
Or Not. :-D
Hmm. Intelligence and humour, tough but tender? Traffic cop/poet/friend of squirrels? Close, but I think you've got a ways to go yet, Bob. All the same, we CB's are bound to get all fluttery about you reciting poetry for us.
Are you telling us this is what Shane was doing stomping around in the swamp with Agnes' dog? Trying to find a path? Hope he scraped his shoes off before he came inside. It's the little things that count.
Do we all get to recite poetry? I know a poem. Well, part of a poem. It might be an entire poem, but I doubt it. Here it is:
"This is the time when birds come back,
just a few
a bird or two
to take a backward look."
Or in Jenny's case, to take a threatening stance on the deck.
I think that's Emily Dickinson. I might be wrong.
Oh, I thought of another one. Not really a poem, but I love this one:
"My mind lets go a thousand things
from dates of wars to deaths of kings."
I always wanted to write that on one of my AP History papers in HS, but I wasn't as much of a smart aleck back then. I have no idea who wrote/said that.
Sorry, that's the best I can do. Today is Monday and that means my brain was coleslaw by about 2:30. My boss came back today from his week on Bob's barrier island. That was fun. (Thanks so much for taking care of THAT like I asked you to, Bob. One little request. Sheesh.)
I think the cat is hungry. She's growling at me. She thinks she's a dog. The dog knows he's a dog. He's always hungry, but at least he doesn't growl about it.
How is it possible to be this tired and remain upright?
bw
eaaoi: left one out, I think
I find when I'm trying to decide something about a writing situation, this particular poem is very relevant.
Jeez, whats hapening with you guys. It's a veritable blog feast. Everytime I log on there's another new entry. I dont know, you tease us for a weeks with the odd crumb or two and now you have us dining on steak.
My mother used to quote that damn poem to me as a teenager. I really hated Robert Frost(Pythagarus too) there for a while. Robert Frost is the reason I didn't spend my late teens, early 20's bonking my brains out with hot but extremely bad men.
Gee thanks Robert...both of you.
mrkuoyhh - many roberts kure u of yummy hot honeys
Dee wrote: Don't get me wrong, I think they are both fubulous.
I think there's a spelling error here. Shouldn't it be "FUBBulous"?
ahiypa -- Ah, hell! Is YEC pretty awful?
tzywok -- Tell Zaza yaks want Orangehands's kayak.
I have a poem too!
Here is what Gertude Stein would have written if she'd been Jenny:
Vultures on the deck.
Oh, heck!
jovgc -- Jenny's own vultures gobble cherries (or possibly Cherries).
inyxp -- Is new YEC X-rated? Please????
Well, Dee, they write, individually, very different books. And I figure its gotta be a wrestling match to make it work. That part I don't have a problem with. But its going to be extremely interesting, don't you think, to read their next books as individual authors? Jenny will have more bodies and Bob will have more dialogue. I figure we can't lose.
Hey, Mia. Welcome to the madhouse.
Jean - loved your poem. Very minimalist. Very Elizabeth Bishop.
DUG - there's got to be more to that story. Spill it!
(green) ggdjv: Groovy gators dance just vividly.
Trust Tal to have all the answers. Fubbulous, dahlings, just fubbulous.
We're doing poems? Oy.
Okay, here's one I remember from 5th grade camp:
Never mind. It was on the bathroom wall so probably not fit for publication.
Hey guys, back again. Yeah, Tal, I meant FUBBulous. That's what I meant, alright? Glad I have you around to point out when I forget to add that extra "b". :>P
Can you guys do me a favor? One of our own CBs is having a rough day. Can a few of you click on over to Charity's blog ( http://dreamerbecomesdoer.blogspot.com/ ) and give her some (((hugs))), please? I just know that she's really having a bad day, because she had to go to the hospital to say goodbye to her Grandmother today. Her Grandma is not doing well. So I want to make sure that her blog comments is full of love from all of us. Thanks!
Me too, me too. I gots a pome!
I never saw a purple cow
I never hope to see one.
But I can tell you this right now
I'd rather see than be one.
Ogden Nash
Agtigress: I'm also dealing with 91 years. My condolences on the illness. For me every moment in a surreal experience. Welsh - seemed to me to be vowel-deprived. Beautiful singing!
Deb said...There was once a young man who, in his youth, professed his desire to become a great writer. Oh, hoot, oh, howl! Glad I didn't have anything in my mouth.
Well, back to the book I'm writing for you all on infinity.
ffnmzskl: What the sound would have been if my mouth had been full.
Gatorperson, "The Purple Cow" was written by Gelett Burgess, not Ogden Nash. He also wrote this sequel:
Ah, Yes! I Wrote the "Purple Cow" --
I'm Sorry, now, I Wrote it!
But I can Tell you Anyhow,
I'll Kill you if you Quote it!
cljfwao -- Can lovely Jenny fix what Agnes objects 2?
Talpianna said Gatorperson, "The Purple Cow" was written by Gelett Burgess, not Ogden Nash.
HA! This just proves stuff written in a book ain't necessarily so! My book claimed my buddy Ogden. Also, it sounds like, based on the sequel, my buddy Ogden was the attributed author more than once. Hmmm, if person X claims Odgen wrote it, does that make person X a pseudoplagiarist?
wbqqr:Whoever Begs Query Quotients, Receives.
Well, poetry huh? Bob is showing his tender side ... or did he just moon us? Heh heh.
Choices. It's all about choices. Glad you took the right road Bob.
My favorite little poem:
Outwitted
He drew a circle that shut me out-
Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout.
But love and I had the wit to win:
We drew a circle that took him in!
Edwin Markham
rg
yhawfbh
you have a weird funny-bone bob hamster
LOL, margarita cherrybomb. I was referring to the poem Bob quoted. While I do enjoy minimalism in poetry, I'm not usually that succinct.
Oh Bob I knew you were a man among men. That is my favorite poet, Robert Frost. I love that poem. Even I get it.
Another poem of Frost's that might give you a message is "Home Burial" where he says, "A man must partly give up being a man With women folk." I believe that here Frost is saying a man needs to learn more about yec. So take heed, Robert and learn more yeccy stuff.
green waxvfzv
Writing always Xercises verbally frustrated Zaza verily.
P.S.
glamour geek are your ears burning? cherry magic sheryl and I were just discussing you and she agrees that you look like the first picture on the googled Myrna Loy or she thinks Rosalind Russell in His Girl Friday.
Also glamour geek is sour dough bread really "the bread of San Fransisco"? That was a clue on my crossword puzzle today and I got it but I was not aware of that.
red ehwwkus Not seeing too well tonight so I hope I got that right.
Every Harlequin writer wishes kisses usually sell.
"Fender Bender"?
Uh don't think so, Agnes wanted blood, Shane's blood and blood usually means more than a "fender bender". Unless Shane was on a 'bender' and the nun thing was just an alchol induced 'fantasy'...?
Sorry Bob, not moving along. I like gawking and checking out the car wrecks. Love the gory details (as long as it's not with sharks). So, nope, not moving along, I'm going to hang out and watch. Either you two just made up, which, okay, I can accept that, or something big is about to blow!
Interesting choice of poems and the squirrels were a little hot today. They didn't come out of the trees to eat my grapes. Sigh, back home now and I have to get up at like 5:30 in the freaking morning to take my son 40 minutes away to play in some golf tournament. Geez, it's summer, what happened to sleeping in.
SDCB - got your message - thanks. I've had so many nicknames it's crazy, no wonder I'm confused. I've always figured it was because I'm a gemini and like a million different people live inside my head.
Poor Bob. A lovely section of a Robert Frost poem and he thinks all will be forgiven because of his GAM status.
For shame.
Agnes will want chocolate - lots of it. You know she will; it better be the good stuff. Some sincere groveling would help move things along. Don't even pretend you don't know what you are sorry for (oooh, ending a sentence with a preposition - for shame - my english teacher feels a sharp pain).
Just in case, while you are on the road less traveled, be sure to look both ways (and up, always look up) before crossing to the other side because when you least expect it .... out comes that cast iron pan.
SDCB asks: Also glamour geek is sour dough bread really "the bread of San Fransisco"? That was a clue on my crossword puzzle today and I got it but I was not aware of that.
Yes, SF (not Special Forces, folks!) is known for sour dough bread. I don't particularly like it, myself. They used sour starters because when this was the wild(er) west, the couldn't get fresh starters because the didn't keep, or something like that. Talpianna doubtless knows the details. Collectively, the cherrybombs know everything. Or at least everything that they need to.
I much prefer sweet/fresh to sour. I've been told that around here that's heretical, but (like the majority of people around here, it seems) I'm not from here. I come from sweet dough country.
For those keeping score, I had JUST enough paint to finish the dresser drawers after the dresser and they should be dry from their second coat of paint now. I'm going to go put the new glass drawer pulls on now. They are medium blue and light green glass, I plan to alternate the colors for each drawer (meaning 1, 3, and 5 will be one color, 2, 4 and 6 will be the other). The nightstand has one blue drawer pull. With any luck my clothes will be off the floor and back in the dresser before bedtime.
It looks quite light and airy, as planned, but has also had the (rather nice) side effect of making the room look a bit beach-y as well. Quite relaxing, which was the goal. The livingroom is over the top dramatic; the bedroom is meant to be calm and soothing.
My only question now is if it will look too girly. Feminine is just fine. Girly, not so much. I'll have to get a few opinions from friends over the next weeks.
Had a nice nap on the couch. Wiped off most of the drool. Then remembered my favorite Frost poem. Well, ok, it might be the only other Frost poem I know. And if you insist, I had no idea it was a Frost poem until I searched and searched and looked some more -- because I really wanted to share it with you guys, so be appropriately appreciative -- and found it and, voila! Frost.
"The sun was warm but the wind was chill.
You know how it is with an April day
When the sun is out and wind is still
You're one month on in the middle of May.
But if you so much as dare to speak,
A cloud comes over the sunlit arch,
A wind comes off a frozen peak,
An you're two months back in the middle of March."
~Robert Frost, Two Tramps in Mud Time
I like it because it is such a great description of how unpredictable the weather can be at that time of year in this part of the country. I really think newspapers, instead of running stupid hackneyed headlines like "Freak Cold Snap Punishes Mid-Atlantic" should instead be required to print this poem on the front page in bold font.
JMO.
That nap didn't do much to improve my disposition.
G-G: Beach look, not too girly: Throw some sand on the floor, drape a damp beach towel over the back of a chair (better if it's a wood chair, so the damp can leave a mark), ball up a wet swimsuit and shove it under the bed (for that nice musty scent), toss a pair of flip flogs (or climbing shoes if you must) in the middle of the floor, and line up a few crusty broken sea shells on the window ledge. If you blur your eyes, and in the right light, it won't look too girly. Trust me.
bw
BCB: Love it! Thanks! :)
Actually, the shell idea...Hm. I'm going to Maui in 2 months...
But, and many of you will be as amused as I am, the doorpulls are not going on tonight. The, ahem, screws are too short. Isn't that often the case? :)
Hardware store for me tomorrow.
You can get long, um... you can get that at the hardware store? The things you learn.
If you leave the damp shells sealed up in a plastic bag (even better if you can throw some seaweed or other plant life in there with them, maybe a nice piece of driftwood) and let it sit for a while (results may vary depending on altitude, room temp and inattention of the responsible adult) you get a really authentic eau de beach aroma.
bw
Glamour-Geek, I adore sourdough bread! The stuff I can't STAND is salt-rising bread! I hate the way it smells even more than the way it tastes.
Bob, if you want to win Jenny (or Agnes) over, you picked the wrong Frost poem. THIS is the one you should have quoted:
The Rose Family
The rose is a rose,
And was always a rose.
But the theory now goes
That the apple's a rose,
And the pear is, and so's
The plum, I suppose.
The dear only knows
What will next prove a rose.
You, of course, are a rose -
But were always a rose.
What is San Francisco Sourdough?
As I understand it, all stable "sourdough" starters are a symbiotic mixture of yeasts and bacteria, that, through their mutual liking of the other's by-products, cause the mixture to remain stable over time, relatively unaffected by other wild yeasts & bacteria that may, by chance, settle into the mix.
In the case of "San Francisco Sourdough" the protagonists have been identified as Lactobacillus sanfrancisco (the bacteria) and Saccharomyces Exiguus (the yeast).
These two players seem to be common in the air in the San Francisco bay area, and hence, starter started there contains them in abundance. Their mutual relationship gives bread made therefrom a singular tang.
(from a sourdough website--pumpernickel is also a form of sourdough bread, so obviously the term and the thing itself are much older.)
From another site:
WHAT IS SOURDOUGH?
The history of "sourdough" is as old as the history of leavened bread itself. Way back in ancient days (around 6,000 years ago, some say) humans first figured out how to promote the fermentation and leavening of grains to first be brewed into beverages and then, later, to be baked into bread. This probably happened by accident time after time, until someone smart figured it out. Next our ancestors figured out how to save a portion of the fermented grains to use to "start" the fermentation of their next batch of bread. Since that time, humankind has been using and making "sourdough."
That fermented mix of grain and water that was saved and used to start the next batch of dough is what we now call a "sourdough starter" and bread made from such a starter, "sourdough bread."
(more here: http://www.angelfire.com/ab/bethsbread/WhatisSourdough.html )
azzulr -- One of Lovecraft's Elder Gods, to which vultures are sacred.
GG - if you have sliding doors in that beach room, try www.theparagon.com for fabric panels that are painted to look like sheers over french doors leading to the beach.
They also have flip flop plaques with flamingos painted on them! - perfect for CBs.
nothing so glamourous as sliding doors in my bedroom. Windows, which I've decorated with a really great curtain rod, off-white sheers embroidered with green leaves, and then a kind of sky blue silk dupioni for the curtains. I've made the headboard out of the same two fabrics. There's a rug next to the bed in two shades of green. I spent a lot of time and money on the livingroom--dark red and dark purple, with velvet furniture and persian carpets and dark red curtains and wooden nesting tables with bronze inlays--so now I'm starting in on the bedroom. And in both rooms, my art and book collections.
glamour-geek, your place sounds yummers... can we come visit?
Prepare for an unpaid a-political announcement...I am not a doctor, nor would I want to be one, but I just have to get this out for the Cherry Bombs, at least.
DON'T READ WHILE EATING. REALLY.
This stomach flu that's going around is not the kind where you eat yoghurt and drink lots of water to get better. Water and dairy are the things that will set off a new attack or keep it going for days and days.
Advice portion disclaimer: ***this is what my doc told me for the average, reasonably healthy person***. Always check with your own doctor, especially if you have known health issues, or, in this case, don't drink.
Once the worst of it is over, e.g., the worship of the porcelain god part, one or two Immodium will help slow things down at the other end, giving you a chance to recover more quickly. Isn't this fun?
You will be very thirsty, but NO WATER! My doctor advised starting with NIBBLES of soda crackers (nothing greasy) or dry WHITE BREAD toast, once the nausea has settled down to a dull roar. There's lots of acid in your stomach at this point, and the crackers/toast will absorb some of that. White bread because roughage is the last thing you need, now.
Then, the fun part, if anything can be fun while you're feeling this rotten. Take small sips of DARK BEER. Yes, beer. Yes, dark is the way to go. There's liquid there, there's actually a little nutritional value in the dark beer, and, the reason it works, the alchohol soothes the muscles in your gut and doesn't trigger the autmatic flush/barf thing.
You don't want to do more than a couple pieces of dry toast and a single bottle of dark beer in several hours. Mostly, your system needs to recover. Absorbing the stomach acids and soothing those hair trigger spasms gives it a chance to do that.
Again, check with your doc, especially if it goes on for more than about six hours. This is particularly significant in children and the elderly. My poor mom got hit with it just a day or so after I did. She has no short term memory, so telling her NO WATER only lasted until I was out of the room, and she got thirsty again. It dragged on for nearly the full 24 hours before I could give her enough doses of Immodium to counteract her water drinking. She's still with the dry toast and beer sips now and feeling a bit better, trying to get her stomach to the point where she'll be able to eat real food again.
Post flu, I'm doing the all white foods. Probably all in my head, but foods with colors are not the least bit appealing to me at the moment. All white and not moist or creamy. Shudder. I'll be glad when I can chomp a nice pizza or rare Porterhouse again, but I think those are probably a week or more away from losing their shudder factor.
/announcement
If you're wondering why I posted this, it's because when I called my mother's doc about her, the nurse couldn't seem to grock that flu and stomach flu were going to have different meanings for the doc in my message, she agreed that water was bad but not to worry if my elderly mother had the trots for a week because I couldn't keep her from drinking it. I asked if she'd ever had this flu. "No." Of course not. I'd love for her to have it and see if she still feels so cavalier about suffering for days instead of hours.
So, take care of yourselves, Cherry Bombs, especially if you're in an area where the flu is rampant. Sonoma County is apparently racking up record numbers of cases.
Note to self: do not drive north to Sonoma county in the next weeks!
Inkgrrl: sure thing! Actually you can check out the furniture at http://www.urbanafurniture.com/furniture.php?typeid=6&furid=30
I have this chaise in a darker purple in embossed velvet and the "matching" chair and vanity in unembossed purple and red velvets. Wacky, no? I love it. I have two different male friends who have told me that the chaise is classic "make out" furniture (Keep that in mind, Agnes! There's that snuggle couch, after all) but really it's too narrow. Trust me, it's been tried. ;)
The style has been variously described by me and my friends as "early opium den" and "late alice in wonderland." I now call it "moroccan whore house" because a friend and I overheard some guy say "It looks like a moroccan whore house!" about something while we were out shopping and I said (to her) "that sounds like my livingroom!" (Q: how does he know what a moroccan whore house looks like?) Same friend GAVE me her turkish tea set to go with my livingroom decor. She's an excellent friend.
And that's a very expensive, upscale moroccan whore house, thankyouverymuch!
Ooooo! A fainting couch!
pkeef -- Please keep elegant ebony furniture.
zaza I am sorry you are having so much trouble with this terrible flu. I hope you and your mother are feeling better soon.
glamour geek your place sounds fine. I like the bedroom a lot. The living room is a little beyond my plebian tastes. Moroccon whore houses are not my style. /.D
I love pumpernickel bread. It is my favorite. I liked the German breads we had over there. Some of them tasted like a sourdough. I used to make bread all the time and it seems to me I made sourdough once or twice but I don't remember how, unless my friend gave me the base.
red nlczia
No longer critical, Zaza imancipated Agnes. (I know that's spelled wrong but there was no 'e'.)
Yes, we Germans are proud to offer the widest varieties of bread in the world (at least the part of the world I have seen). Most of it is made with sourdough and the rest, yeast.
I was offered something called Pumpernickel in the States but I wouldn't have recognized it. The real thing is sold in the Münster area, it's really black, and if it loses its original fresh humidity, it's almost impossible to chew. You need cow's teeth to eat it and all four cow's stomachs to process it, so, Zaza, just forget it at this point in Sonoma County.
G-G, I liked the description of your bedroom colors. I just saw something similar in a German magazine. They had bed sheets in white and blue stripes which adds to that maritime impression without being too girly. And certainly not Moroccan at all. More Danish. (Not the pastry. Geez.)
boikdl - something Danish men do in Moroccan whorehouses (see, sometimes you get what you ask for)
too late. New verification.
ardispyc - the medicine they need afterwards
Hmm dark beer for the flu?
Years ago when my Mum was having her babies they used to serve Guiness to the mothers in hospotal because it was good for milk supply.
There you go Bob - beer good all round.
ltybii - little taste of yeast but it's icky
G-G: You make me want to redecorate my house. I desperatly need to paint, but I'm too lazy. I recently do our bedroom (had to do something with the vibrating bed). My house is pretty much done in southwest style, dark rich colors. But I really need to re-paint my foyer where the kids fingers get all over the walls. It's like a dark chocolate color, but it still doesn't cover finger prints. Sigh, I'm so lazy.
Zaza - sounds like the kind of stomach bug my family always gets. When ever my kids get the stomach bug, they can't have anything to drink because it just comes right back up. My little guy was hospitalized for dehydration because I kept giving him fluids thinking it was helping, when all it was doing was making him worse. Now when my kids get sick, I don't give them anything until they stop puking.
Trying to stay away from the breads these days. Not good for the figure that is failing now that I'm 40.
Jen-T said:
G-G: You make me want to redecorate my house.
No no, JT! You want to have Glamour Geek redecorate your house ;)
(I don't like to think I'm lazy, I prefer to think of myself as metabolically challenged.)
Talpianna, I'm not sure why TinyURL isn't working for you. I will ponder on this.
uvndklq unknown vagaries necessiate deftly keen links questionnaires
I've always thought that beer was liquid bread, which would make it the liquid staff of life.
So now that Robert is playing Traffic Cop, this would make him… a Bobbie (Brit Cop, so called after Robert Peel)
I’m a heathen, poetry doesn’t do much for me, but I do like limericks.
"A flea and a fly in a flue
Were caught, so what could they do?
Said the fly, "Let us flee."
"Let us fly," said the flea.
So they flew through a flaw in the flue." Anon. (Anon was quite prolific dontcha think?)
I wanted to jump in here and give some thanks. Dee - Thank you for sending in the troops, the CB's are amazing and I needed it. THank you for knowing that. I have no idea how to repay what you are doing for me - THANK YOU for being my friend.
Scope Dope, Cherry Magic Sheryl, Margarita CherryBomb, and Glamour-Geek - Thank You all from the bottom of my heart for all the kind words you left on my blog. The well wishes and prayers are amazing and I feel so very blessed.
I am really more a Cherry, but I read this blog daily (okay, okay more than that!) and have commented from time to time, I love reading the CherryBomb's comments and feel like I know most of you even if you have no clue who I am. THe amazing thin about the Cherries and Cherry Bombs is their amazing capability to care and love. THank you! For being Cherries and sharing some of that with me.
You know if Bob starts seeing all the decorating discussions he's never gonna post again...
I don't think he meant for the poem to push us off in this tangent, but then maybe it's a GREAT distraction ploy on his part...
colognegrrl: Loved your verifications -- they made me laugh even before caffeine.
zaza: Sorry to hear about the stomach flu stuff. That kind of thing can be pretty scary when little kids or the elderly are affected. My mom always gave us 7-Up or Ginger Ale (I can no longer drink either, for that reason). Several friends here in the South swear by Coke (the liquid stuff in the red can) as a remedy, yet others insist Gatorade is the best. This is the first time I've heard beer suggested, but it makes sense the way you describe it. Hope everyone is back to normal soon.
And I did notice you had been pretty quiet lately -- apart from starring in the verifications, of course -- but figured that maybe you had a real life somewhere that was successfully demanding your attention. [grin] My real life is hoarse from screaming at me and is now pouting in the corner, casting sullen glances and heaving pathetic sighs. Got to do something about that. Maybe if I throw a blanket over it?
bw
ndbgylc: never doubt, Bob, good YEC loves company
medabolically challanged? Oh that made me laugh out loud! I'll have to try that one on my husband.
jtwfztk - jent will fall, zulu take kites
anon said: "You know if Bob starts seeing all the decorating discussions he's never gonna post again..."
Nah, he's made of tougher stuff than that.
Well, deb, if you're going to get all buggy:
"I know an old lady who swallowed a fly.
I don't know why she swallowed that fly.
Perhaps she'll die."
Try to get THAT song out of your head.
anon: If Bob posted again after OH's cruise boat captain impression, I doubt a little home decorating will stop him. He is a Man of Many Talents. Overcoming CB nonsense chief among them.
bw
Another good stomach settler, Coca Cola syrup. It's the stuff they use in soda fountains. You buy it at the pharmacy and allow only a teaspoon at a time. It settles the little kiddies tummy's very well.
Coke (the soda) without bubbles works okay but not quite as well as the syrup.
Very funny verifications cologne girl.
And G-G, love the whorehouse! I recall once owning a burgundy fainting couch (as Tal refers to it) can't remember where it went. My daughter loved it when she was little.
rg
Okay, I was going to post about the Coca Cola syrup but RG beat me to it. It really does help. Mom use to have us sip a teaspoon over crushed ice.
Real ginger ale is supposed to be good for the tummy, but I think a main benefit is that its easier to keep down than water and is a clearish liquid.
I love the stuff and will often have a bottle on my desk. Since its so often associated with tummy problems I get a lot of sympathetic looks.
Bob, file this under things you really don't want to know: Yes beer can make your milk come.
Oh good, the poetry is degenerating. Now I don't gotta pretend I'm cultured.
Fuzzy wuzzy was a bear.
Fuzzy wuzzy had no hair.
Fuzzy wuzzy wasn't fuzzy,
was he?
" Don't want a pickle, just want to ride my motorcikle
And I don't tickle, just want to ride my motorcikle
And I don't don't want to die, just want to ride my motorcycle"
(Arlo Guthrie)
mary sez: Jen-T said:
G-G: You make me want to redecorate my house.
No no, JT! You want to have Glamour Geek redecorate your house ;)
Works for me! I'm sure we can agree on a suitable consulting rate.
One of the great joys and challenges of design and styling is that you have to supress your own taste in favor of that of the client, while still maintaining a sense of balance, style, etc. Really you want to understand and provide the right things so that you're capturing the essence of what the individual wants (as opposed to what s/he says she wants). I love doing that. Friends often ask my opinion when they need specific clothing items (suits, etc.), but not nearly often enough for my taste. I do appreciate that when I pick out clothing for people, it's always those items that they get the most complements for. I'm sure I could do the same for interiors. I was in design for the theatre once upon a time.
And I do understand that moroccan whore house doesn't work for everyone, nor should it, but it does work for me. :)
G-G, maybe you have agreat career as a personal shopper ahead of you?
yjioaik - said the inuit in same m.w.h. (Casablanca??)
Just in case you didn't know and need to know in the future.... There is the ThankGodItGotInvented cram in up your... for uncontrollable barfing. My icepick migraines, if I don't get to the other ThankGodItGotInvented meds w/in 10 minutes requires the cramit plus ThankGodItGotInvented morphine. Barfs range upwards of 70/session(counting in an effort to ignore the pain!) sometimes.
One more home remedy: Saltines + club soda.
jlttz: Just Love To Tango, Zelda!
ginger ale works because of the ginger, tea is often more effective than the ale because it doesn't have the bubbles.
just me 2 cents
like any true cherrybomb, i know a little about a lot : )
I love when Bob communes with the squirrels.
Time for a little Shel?
If I had a brontosaurus
I would name him Morris or Horace;
But if suddenly one day he had a lot of little brontosauri
I would change his name to Laurie.
-- Shel Silverstein
McB: You asked a while back (Sorry it took so long. I have internet problems again.) Was X really tied to the chair or not? And if yes, how did X end up in a fight with Y?
SPOILER ALERT for Angels Fall (kinda)
It said that X launched at Y while still attached to the chair, but the chair wasn't mentioned again. My brain decided X crashed into Y with such force the chair broke and X was then able to get out of the bindings to fight. Sometimes while I’m reading, my brain decides things like that without consulting the author.
Oh, good. The squirrels are back. How much longer until the clowns make an appearance?
G-G: yes, do the personal shopping thing. I hate shopping. My husband and I went shopping for a chair, we bought new end tables and a coffee table, which are beautiful, but then gave up on the chair becuase we'd gone to one store, were shopping for all of an hour and well, I was done. I hate shopping, for anything. I know, I'm missing some female chromosone or something. I like spenidng money, but I hate shopping. Even on-line it's a royal pain in the ass.
The only poems I know are dirty, like "There once was a man from Nantucket..." I won't repeat it. Or they are almost dirty like "Ask me now question, tell me no lies the boys in the bathroom zipping down their... Flies in the city, bees are in the park..." Yeah, I know, I'm pathetic. But my kids sing this stuff all the time and I have to laugh becuase I remember them!
pvhyymy - perveted vampires hire yellow yec, my?
Lori, thanks for the feedback. I asked over at her website too, and someone said it was implied that Y had released X when Y was trying to lure A back to the C ...
But I think your explanation is just as likely. Because how well could one 'launch' while tied to a chair unless said chair wasn't all that sturdy? I would think it much harder to do in theory than in practice.
Okay I meant that the otherway around. Harder in practice than in theory. Sorry.
Please, no scary clowns. I'm still not over the movie my DH made me watch where some couple gets lost at sea, the husband gets eaten by a shark, then the woman goes under, they both die and at the end some fisher man is opening up the stomach of a shark where they find the couples underwater camera. Don't you think I have enough issues?
gbfwxoj - get bob, fake whoopie, xavier oggling jenny.
I heard the clowns were all going to National conference. No?
Heh heh.
rg
kyjotguy
'k you jolly old tough guy
OK, off topic for a momentary lunch time rant.
I read a book last evening about a lawyer defending a client -naturally a mysterious, beautiful,promiscuous blonde - who just happens to be the adoptive mother of a deaf child he was unaware he fathered with an old girlfriend. During the course of the novel our hero's current on again/off again girlfriend flies in from Africa where she is working as a pediatrician (if I remember correctly)and they have one night of sex that ultimately provides the DNA necessary to prove the child really isn't his.
In what guy's world does a doctor practicing in Africa drop everything to come (no pun intended) to the US for a single night of sex? OK sure, she supposedly was attending a nonexistance conference, but still.
No wonder it is fiction.
End rant here. Must have chocolate for lunch.
Just wanted to say that I do not listen to present day music unless it is Josh Grobin, Michael Buble or Andrea Bocelli so I had never heard of "Free Bird" until Jenny mentioned it. Then last night I was watching a movie, "Elizabethtown" and at the end of the movie the band is playing "Freebird" and everyone is jumping up and down. I think that is the only way you could dance to that.
I do have eclectic taste in music. I like all kinds really but my favorites are Broadway show tunes like "Les Miz" or "Phantom" or the great "Porgy and Bess". I guess that shows my age but I can't understand the lyrics of half of todays music and it is so loud as to not be enjoyable to me.
Just wanted to say all that. Go back to your decorating.
glamour geek sweetheart I really need a personal shopper. You have seen me recently. I need help. I used to know what looked good on me but not anymore. I want the 40s look too. /.D
blue Holy s**t! egqggob
Every girl questions getting gratuitous ogling, Bob. Ha! Blogger, I did it.
BTW just because I have a black eye patch that does not mean the 1740s look. I want to look like June Allyson. /.D
blue omgykz
Oh my God, you killed Zaza. (No, she just feels that way.)
rg - ha,ha, so not funny. No more clowns!
lynn - loved the post, especially the pun, laughed out loud!
sdcb - interesting taste in music, but I love you anyway. I'll stick with country.
kpzeg - keep zulu egg
SDC I finally checked my messages on the website (I had such a long busy, frustrating, weekend) and found your message. Thanks. And I went by your blog and read the Miss Piggy story. Very well written. You have to get your manuscript out and rework it. Don't waste your talent. That's an order.
rg
slpvovl
A fuzzy state, like the morning after taking sleep medication
My favorite poet?
.....Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You're off to Great Places!
You're off and away!
You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself
any direction you choose.
You're on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the guy who'll decide where to go......
Dr. Suess
Yep. I'm 33 yo and he's still my favorite. And to my smirking kids, I say," What of it?"
lbooth
G-G's doing makeovers! Sign me up- I need a quirky but stylish librarian look please. I'm willing to do bifocals on a pearl chain, if that helps.
More SPOILER?
McB: It doesn't make sense to me that Y would release X to lure A back to C. Just drag X along tied up. Release? What would be the point? To gain A's trust? A knew X was vulnerable from being both V-ed & B-ed by Y. I don't think untying X would be enough to try to gain A's trust. Plus, untying a hostage is like giving them a get out of jail free card, even if they are V-ed & B-ed. Unless there is a better reason to untie X than luring A, I’m sticking with a termite-weakened chair breaking theory.
Now about moving while tied to a chair...Would a male be more successful in this maneuver because their center of gravity is in their shoulders—above the chair, than a female whose center is in the hips—on the chair? Or would that have nothing to do with the ability to launch while attached to a chair? Just curious.
tyfei: To you forever indebted. (How I feel about the CBs)
jen-t I like some country music too. I like Tim McGraw and Faith Hill. I like Shania in any form so I am not totally a dud more of a dudette. /.)
rg thanks for the kind words. Got your message. Sounds like you have a busy time ahead. I will try to do something with that MS but for now still working on my granddaughter's story. I want to have it finished for her birthday Aug.31. I should have had it done by now. I just can't find an ending.
red mfyak
Mayer found yec almost killed (him).
Jean: you said it ... a guy's world.
Lori: I agree with you.
** POSSIBLE SPOILER **
Because Y would have had to hold gun on X while untieing ropes from chair. I don't think so. And Y was not stupid; I don't think Y would have allowed X any freedom at that point. Even if Y had untied X, wouldn't Y have still restricted X's movements?
You're right, X had to have busted out from ropes somehow and breaking chair makes the most sense.
What's not to like about Tim McGraw (sigh)? Guess that's just the cowboy in me.
Oh, Dr. Seuss!
Schlop, schlop, beautiful schlop.
Beautiful schlop with a cherry on top!
(I think that is close. It's been a while!)
I saw a book in the bookstore a few months ago. It was the Pop-up book of Phobias. Yes, it included clowns. In 3-D.
nrfpe: Narcolepsy really freaks people especially
I'm not sure you can call Free Bird present day music since it was recorded in 1972/73.
OOOOH! I would LOVE to work with all of you who requested on clothing. Being a personal shopper would be SO much fun for me. Unfortunately, it hasn't worked out for me yet.
And SDCB: not the 1740s. Ha! LMAO!
I think we should make you eyepatches in a variety of colors and patterns and styles. To suit your eclectic interests and talents. And we can definitely make you look as lovely as you want to be. I chose a suit for a friend (size 24 or so) years ago and she still gets compliments on it when she wears it. Size is irrelevant as long as you like and feel good in your clothes.
So how do I work it out so that I can travel all over the country (world?) to dress you all? Hmmm. Will work on that.
Who's lead on the teleporter project now that we've determined that I lack the scientific background?
There are actually two local stores that have business cards from me offering personal shopping services, but no calls have come in. *shrug*
Did I mention I'm going to a seconds and sample sale this Friday with my favorite shopping partner? Hopefully they've got better stuff and more than last time, which was rather disappointing compared to their previous sales. They only had about 1/3 the merchandise and some of it was repeat from a previous sale. But a lot of the fun is the thrill of the hunt... For me at least.
Can't go wrong with the Dr. I've always loved "Oh, The Places You'll Go!" It should be required reading.
So Lori, we could put it up to the powers at Cherry Bomb University. Rigorous testing and what not. Is it possible to 'launch' an attack while tied to a chair? I say you'd end up falling on your face. But I'm willing to be proved wrong.
McB and Lori- I feel the "launch" and man/woman thing is a subject that some of our more adventerous married CBs should invetigate for us.
Poetry-I had to memorize poems in the sixth grade. My favorite poet was, and still is, Frost. So, here we go multiple decades later.
Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I've tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.
I can also still do...
Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.
He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
But I can't seem to remember any of the Shakespeare from high school
Charity- saw your post on JCF- sorry about what's going on in your world- Reality sucks
GG- consulting fee? Hmmm, I'm thinking we just may talk after I get the house-right now I'm seeing sage green as my connecting color since the house is fairly open and rooms flow together- but I'm looking at doing my bedroom so it resembles the inside of a jewel box- it's 11x11 with 10 foot ceilings- I'm thinking red embroidered material hanging down and covering all the walls with a deep red and gold comforter- but who knows. Right now I'm just worried about moving
RG - I loved the Markham poem: to me, it represents the different kinds of attitudes religious people can have.
On the subject of sourdough: I, too, love it. I kept a starter going for several years (over a decade ago, darn it!), and made fabulous pancakes with it, as well as bread and occasionally cake. Actually making the bread sour is non-trivial, even with the starter: the dough needs to proof a lot longer than regular bread needs to rise, in order to get enough sourness throughout (at least, it did in my hands!).
Glamour Geek: have a lovely time shopping. I'm neither a dedicated shopper nor marketophobic (I looked on the Phobia List, but it didn't seem to be there; I know there has to be such a thing, because Jen-T has admitted to it, and my mom has it). If I'm in the mood, I can go for several hours, if not, not. I'm never up for more than that, though. My mom mostly only goes shopping on vacation.
lwmdgz: Leda wasn't meeting DUCKS, great Zeus!
xyftlj: xerography yearns for truly legitimate jazziness
bon cheri bomb said...
And I did notice you had been pretty quiet lately -- apart from starring in the verifications, of course -- but figured that maybe you had a real life somewhere that was successfully demanding your attention.
Thanks, everyone, for the good wishes. We seem to be on the mend. I keep having twinges like I'm going to start all over again, but I think it's just the stress of worrying about my Mother and her recovery.
Actually, I think it was my life keeping me busy that got us in this mess. We'd been out running errands and going to appointments about six days a week for a couple weeks. For me, this translates into that many fast food meals - it's either that or not feed her for hours and hours. And I think it was probably one of the fast food meals that transmitted the virus.
BTW, now that our stomachs are settled, it's definitely Gatorade to build up the electrolytes we'd lost. I love ginger ale, but you really need the good stuff to get more than sugar water for this purpose. Yes, Coca Cola syrup is good for settling stomachs, but it's gotten pretty hard to find. The ancient pharmacy here that used to keep it on hand was bought out by some New Age-y corporation. They were aghast that I'd ask for anything so tawdry as Coca Cola within their hallowed portals. I don't think they even knew what I was talking about, really.
cb said...
Is it possible to 'launch' an attack while tied to a chair?
I don't know if I read this in a book or just thought it would be the way to go, but I'm thinking rickety chair, you rock about a bit to further loosen its tenuous hold on chairhood, then, when you launch, it just disassembles itself. ;+) Say, isn't this something the GAM would know, like training in escape kinda stuff?
Well, Bob?
czmldo (green)
Can ZaZa make loud deadly oinks?
Well, yes, but she never, never would. /;+)
Re Frost. I think Bob was right. Frost had both form and substance. Okay he was speaking of a specific poem, but for me Frost was one of the few poets who made sense. CC, that's one of my favorites too. I never fail to get this picture in my head, a quiet night, the muffled quiet you get when it snows. Nothing around but the trees. So peaceful.
zaza said ... Say, isn't this something the GAM would know, like training in escape kinda stuff?
There you go. Bob? Oh, Bob? Is it possible to launch yourself at someone while tied to a chair? Grating the legs weren't tied, just the arms. I think they were tied behind? Lori?
I've always loved Dr. Suess, especially Horton:
"I meant what I said
and I said what I meant
An elephant's faithful
one hundred percent."
The snow poem is making me homesick. It's 100 degrees here today. That shouldn't be allowed.
Chair launching/destruction?
LOL! Haven't read this one yet, so don't give any more details, but it makes me think of one of the Jack Reacher books in which he very effectively destroys a chair as a means of intimidation. He was not tied to it at the time, though I doubt that would have made much of a difference to him.
Reacher tied to a chair. Now that's an image. So many fantasies, so few volunteers.
bw
Frost had some great poems.
My favorite is the one about fog...silently creeps on little cat feet...
Reminds me of San Francisco.
vfhyv red
very fine homes you visualize
Oh, Louis, I love that one, too.
That was Frost? Well, I guess I like Frost. Who knew? Obviously, not I. And my dad is probably rolling in his grave, wondering whether I learned anything at all in his English class. [It's just the names, dad, hard to remember all those names.] I also like the one about the leaves of grass. Whitman?
bw
Okay the only Frost poem I think I know all the way through.
Nature's first green is gold
Her hardest hue to hold
Its early leaf's a flower
but only so an hour
Then leaf subsides to leaf
So Eden sank to grief
As dawn goes down to day
Nothing gold can stay
erlzmnqu: Elegant roses leave zaza mostly not queazy, unless ...
hmmm, not many details~
"X was tied to a kitchen chair, h** chin slumped on h** chest.." pg 429
"X pumped h** legs, rising up, chair and all. X swung h** body hard into Y's and sent them both sprawling." pg 432
So feet NOT tied. I'm guessing hands behind back...
Okay, anyone want to try this out before Bob comes by to answer?
CC sez: GG- consulting fee? Hmmm, I'm thinking we just may talk after I get the house-right now I'm seeing sage green as my connecting color since the house is fairly open and rooms flow together- but I'm looking at doing my bedroom so it resembles the inside of a jewel box- it's 11x11 with 10 foot ceilings- I'm thinking red embroidered material hanging down and covering all the walls with a deep red and gold comforter- but who knows. Right now I'm just worried about moving
Oooooh. Pretty.
The move will be fine. Crises will occur, problems will be solved. It's the same with all moves. I've done it often enough to know...
Seems like you're in the camp with my shopping partner. She's calm and serene in the livingroom, dramatic in the bedroom (aka boudoir). I'm the opposite. Which is all good; it would be so boring if we all liked the same things.
I must say, the dresser does look pretty good, if I do say so myself. I think if I were doing it over, I'd go a shade or two less white, more ecru on the color, but I like it. If it jars over time, I can always repaint. I know how, now, and I have the brushes, etc.
But when I move on from the medium blue/green phase, I've already figured out that the next nice choice would be a midnight blue for the wooden furniture with clear glass drawer pulls. I haven't thought about the drapery color for that room yet. It's too far in the future. Maybe years. And I might change my mind before then... Hmmm. Maybe cocoa colored curtains. Though one of the reasons they're blue now is so that I have the appearance of a blue sky even when it's foggy here.
Yeah, I'll talk about color and shapes, clothes or furnishings, with anyone, any time, gratis. Guess that would make me a very POOR personal shopper. As in not wealthy, not as in bad at it. :)
Hey, guys? Re-reading that part of the poem Bob posted and being confused as all hell about the first two lines, and then reading the full version elsewhere (which makes sense), I have a question. Do you suppose Bob was telling us that he is going his OWN way? And not coming back?
Or was he saying that he doubts he's going to come back to killing Agnes or reviving Princess anytime soon?
Bob? We need some clarification here please. Before full-blown panic unsues.
bw
bon cheri said..."then reading the full version elsewhere (which makes sense)"
What are the correct first 2 lines?
Auw man, I thought Louis was sneaking in a funny with the cat feet and fog, cause I had W. Whitman pounded into me. I prefer musical(?) ones like Poe's Annabelle Lee. Well, Google says about 500 hits on foggy cat feet. SOOOO, I'M WRONG AGAIN!
gpxgdmuf: 50 lashes with a wet noodle in Urdu.
BCB: What are you saying? You think Bob's gonna steer this book down a road untraveled? See I was reading that in conjunction with his plagiarism rant and assuming he'd found some cool stuff that hadn't been done yet.
Maybe they're going to do the sensitive story about two pianists from Dubuqe after all?
Oh, FYI, panic can't unsue 'cause it never sued in the first place. Juristictional problems.
Bob's first two lines are excerpted correctly:
THE ROAD NOT TAKEN
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
I didn't mean he got it wrong, nor did I mean they were the first two lines of the poem, just the first two he posted here. They didn't make sense to me out of context, so I found the whole poem and then it made sense. Make sense now?
Anyway, I think that part of the poem is really sad, about how taking one road leaves the other untraveled and that a person may NEVER COME BACK THIS WAY.
So I'm just asking. What road are you traveling, Bob? Are you and her still tromping down the same grassy verge? Cause that sounded a bit like a fond farewell. To something.
bw
Ah, Louis, it appears we share that problem with names:
The fog comes
on little cat feet.
It sits looking
over harbor and city
on silent haunches
and then moves on.
~Carl Sandburg
He was one of my dad's favorites, too. I should have remembered. [sigh]
bw
Back to a previous topic that someone (don't recall who) pointed out. We were all a bit disgusted at Bob with the sister (and Sister) thing. So why was Bob's thing squicky while the whole sister thing in Crazy for You is not squicky? Because it's really not at all in Crazy for You, it seems just fine. Ideas?
No, no. I don't think it's a fond farewell. He titled the post "no trouble here, folks." And, he knows CB's would hunt him down and force the completion of the book. Sort of a he can run but he can't hide mentality.
Remember, he's a strategist. This is all part of some master plan. As long as he quits messin with Agnes all will be fine. Betcha.
Now I'm done trying to think like Bob, it's giving me a headache.
I don't think he's leaving us. I mean, we are 'the road less traveled' if you think about it. How many grim paranoid action adventure novelists team up with romance writers?
G-G: In Crazy For You, he had been married to the older sister but it was so far in the past, with both of them having moved on, that the sister thing wasn't really an issue. Also as I recall he had 'noticed' the younger sister while still married, but even he knew that was squicky. Even after the marriage was over he kept the younger sister at arms length for years, mentally labelling her the younger sister/pal type.
Plus, neither of them was a nun.
Lynn and MCB: I think you're right. And even if he managed to elude us, he'd still have to deal with Needles. And Mother.
G-G: Well, first he called her the demure younger sister, then alluded to a dark and torturous past, then talked about Shane having long, soulful discussions with her, trying to talk her out of her vows of chastity for the good of the mission.
For me, that all added up to squicky. Of course, I have two younger sisters.
He did it on purpose you know. He probably has a younger sister who reads the blog.
bw
I remember being in Redwood City and seeing this big white "cat" coming over the hills to the west.
Amazing!
syvhbjhy red
since your visibility high brings Jennie home yesterday
Well BCB just in case Bob is really this deep ...
I think choosing that section of that poem denotes he made a decision some time ago when he came to the fork in the road of his career, continue on alone writing what he always writes, or, take the road to Ohio and join up with Jenny.
He chose the road less travelled, a collaboration with a romance author and he's not sorry. The other he can leave for another day, meaning he can always come back to it.
So this my friends, is Bob's very convoluted way of saying, I'm sorry I've been messing with your head Jenny and I'm not sorry that we are collaborating. Ya' think?
rg
ltlvmiz
let the little violent men ice zebras
RG: It must be the humour thing, cause I'm not sure -- you're kidding right? I don't doubt he's capable of being deep, but contrite? Bob? HA! He's just doing his "grasshopper-zen" thing only with Frost this time. Wouldn't be at all surprised to find out Jenny has a strong opinion one way or the other about Frost.
bw
RG: I'd like to believe that's Bob being contrite for making us worry. But something tells me he's sitting on his dock snickering because it was a lot of random nonsense and we're scrambling trying to find a deeper meaning.
Its the sock thing all over again.
Geez, I take the little guy to hockey practice,then off to the golf course of a few holes and you guys get all prolific with poetry (even Dr. Suess is prolific, personal favorite is Green Eggs and Ham), anyway, I faild the poetry portion of school. Wasn't much into it, didn't get it, still don't. So dig all you want for the deep meaning, Bob's just playing with us, throwing us off course or whatever.
And, FYI - I'm not afraid of shopping (like I am of swimming at night or flying), I just don't like shopping. It's not fun and I don't do it unless I have to. Which, I did today. I bought a couple of really cute tops for Atlanta!
I'd say this is off topic, but whatever is on?
I get the online version (don't know if there is another version) of "City Pages" for my regular Minnesota fix. Anyway, the recent one is the summer books edition and they did an interview with David Treuer, a prof at the U of M who has two books coming out soon, that I thought was interesting and that some of you who have an interest in languages (Ojibwe in this case) or linguistics might enjoy reading.
Here's the link to the interview:
http://www.citypages.com/databank/27/1337/article14529.asp
Two quotes I particularly enjoyed:
"There's the translation thing, too, which is also a metaphor, a double metaphor, actually. It's a metaphor for love, in the sense of asking, How do we translate ourselves so that somebody else can read us? And it's also a metaphor for culture: How do you translate a culture so that it can be recognized by others but [remain] true to the original?"
Made me think of the CB "blog culture," which I think similarly defies translation.
And:
"I gave my mother a first draft of my first novel," he says as we leave the river behind. "After she read it she said, 'This is beautiful; this is wonderful. You can be anything you want. But don't be a writer. It's full of heartache. Just don't do it.' That was all the encouragement I needed."
Which just made me laugh with perfect understanding.
bw
BCB - The second quote, yeah, I laughed with perfect understanding too.
Okay, just had to share these:
You may not know this, but many non-living things have a gender:
1) Ziploc bags are male, because they hold everything in, but you see right through them.
2) copiers are Female, because once turned off, it takes a while to warm them up again. It's an effective reproductive device if the right buttoms are pushed, but can wreak havoc if the wrong buttons are pushed.
3) A tire is male, because it goes bald and it's often over-inflated.
4) a hot air ballon is Male because to get it to go anywhere you have to light a fire under it, and of course, there is the hot air part.
5) Sponges are Female becasue they are soft, squeezable and retain water.
6) A web page is female because it's always getting hit on.
7) A subway is male because it uses the same old lines to pick people up.
8) An hourglass is female because over time the weight shifts to the bottom.
9) A hammer is Male because it hasn't changed much over the last 5,000 years, but it's handy to have around.
10) A remote Control is Female, Ha! You thought it'd be male, didn't you? But consider this - it gives a man pleasure, he'd be lost without it, and while he doesn't always know the right buttoms to push, he keeps trying.
kobwmy - kill off, bob what? misery
A poem which also educates you on the scientific process of cellular mitosis :
An amoeba named Sam and his brother
Were having a drink with each other.
In the midst of their quaffing,
They split their sides laughing;
And now each of them is a mother.
Don't ask me to explain the verse form I invented, the pastoral limerick, because I might just do it....
bon cheri bomb wrote: My real life is hoarse from screaming at me and is now pouting in the corner, casting sullen glances and heaving pathetic sighs. Got to do something about that. Maybe if I throw a blanket over it?
No matter what you do to appease it, it ain't gonna work. You ought to know by now that life isn't fair!
Lynn wrote: OK sure, she supposedly was attending a nonexistance conference, but still.
I heard about that. I believe Agnes is giving the keynote speech and Bob is giving the rebuttal.
Lori: Where does this story take place--Alphabet City? I've been reading the posts even though I shouldn't, as ANGELS FALL is on its way to me--may be waiting on the porch as I write, only I haven't been able to secure the cats so I can open the door yet.
Louis:, The poem is by Carl Sandburg, not Frost. For punishment, take 100 lines of Latin translation (as King used to say in Kipling's STALKY & CO.).
One more Robert Frost poem, combining some of the themes of the others:
A Peck of Gold
by Robert Frost
Dust always blowing about the town,
Except when sea-fog laid it down,
And I was one of the children told
Some of the blowing dust was gold.
All the dust the wind blew high
Appeared like god in the sunset sky,
But I was one of the children told
Some of the dust was really gold.
Such was life in the Golden Gate:
Gold dusted all we drank and ate,
And I was one of the children told,
'We all must eat our peck of gold.
tzywok --Truwy, Zaza, you wok! (lisped Talpianna)
cypnyng -- The Welsh word for what goes on in a Moroccan whorehouse
Hi for all of you wondering about X and the chair bit here is something i saw today. In my health recovery tai chi class a man who has had a stroke and can't walk without assistance, moved his chair while sitting in it he moved it at least a foot. Sooo I imagine a healthy young person would be able to do what X did.
Kind thought to all of you having problems, especially those with older parents. It is so hard when their memory goes, I still feel sad when I think of my mum, she was always so active, loved Bingo. Enjoy while you can.
My poem that I remember from childhood thanks to my cousin Kenneth...boys are so wierd
The boy stood on the burning deck
Whence all but he had fled ,
and when his feet had burned away,
he stood upon his head.
All this poetry can't be good for us. I wish we could do limericks, but Bob has told us to behave. I assume he meant behave politely or nicely or something along those lines.
But he didn't specify, did he? Rather a large oversight on his part.
The only limerick I remember ends with the line
"...and ladled them in with warm spoons."
I believe there was an accompanying picture.
What? I'm behaving. It's the rest of you who are thinking thoughts you shouldn't.
bw
viykw: very innocent, yet knowingly wicked
My little sis was suspended in her first year in high school (equivalent of junior high over here) for passing a note that read:
Auntie Mary had a canary
and she had a duck
She took them behind the kitchen door
and taught them how to f
fry eggs for breakfast
fry eggs for tea,
the more you eat the more you want
the more you want to p
Peter and his girlfriend were sitting on the grass
Peter took a feather and
Well you get the gist.
rg
rrgrb
really Roben ... girls really bad
Oh very good. Very bad. Are you sure she was YOUR sister?
Are you telling me we're about to get into trouble? Wonder what the punishment will be? Something good? Or bad.
bw
pqtoeg: pretty quiet tonight, others echo groggily
Then again, people used to get upset when I quoted Reformed Nursery Rhymes such as:
Mary had a little sheep
with the sheep she went to sleep.
The sheep turned out to be a ram,
and Mary...
had a lot of explaining to do.
(Note: when I say Mary, I am referring to some OTHER mary, thankyouverymuch ;)
Ah...TAL....struck out again...can't even get the poetry straight...
It's still a good poem and the the fog in San Francisco still amazing...
NG...
I remember a slightly more ribald version
The boy stood on the burning deck,
Eating peanuts by the peck,
etc, etc.
ynthafav blue
yes, newly thoughtful heroes are faverable and vivavious (sp)
Okay, so in re-reading I thought my little poem was in poor taste, (grin) so honest, I tried to trash it but someone stole my trashbin.
I swear!
Guess I'll have to live with it, be stuck with the bad rep. Cherry Bomb writes tasteless poem. Story at eleven!
Hey, I just re-read old coots comments, do you think that could be Bob in disguise? Heh heh. Kinda sounds like him. Okay I'm gonna get serious and go read BCB's link.
rg
Oh God, now I've sent RG into a coma, too. And we love poor taste here. Makes us feel right at home. ;-) No one is reading this anyway, right? Well, maybe only 12-14 people at most.
Louis, for someone who has been married more years than I've been alive, well, you routinely crack me up. Your wife is a lucky woman. You can tell her I said so.
I need to go to bed now so I can face the real world tomorrow with some semblance of clarity.
bw
onnqmusn: oh no no, quotes mary, use specific notations
Okay bcb what's the rest of it? I don't know that limerick.
jen-t loved your list of male/female. Funny.
I think a little stretching of our brains to try and figure out Bob is an okay exercise but I especially like the poetry part. I assume Bob was just showing off that he knew Frost and was trying to confuse us. Didn't work!
talpianna I love the poem "A Peck of Gold" but then I don't think there is a Frost poem I don't like. I don't pretend to remember them all. I have a book of them sitting beside me.
/.)
Oh must tell you. cherry magic sheryl and I went to see "Pirates of the Carribean" tonight. I had my cherry eye patch on and said to the young man getting my popcorn that I thought I should get a discount for being the only person who dressed up for the movie. He just laughed. No discount. Darn! /.D
blue btymbx
Basically the yec makes Bob's xerus (uncomfortable too.)
nope green kbrjolt
Killing Bob releases Jenny of legal troubles.
Scope dope: I could tell you, but then Bob would have to kill me. Trying to avoid that. Really.
bw
BCB: Oh, you've gone to bed. Dang. Just wanted to say how much I enjoyed the article on David Truer. It was a nice interview. I'm not familiar with his writing but it made me want to read some of his stories. Thanks.
Now I'm going to bed because I bought a couple more of Crusie's back list today and I want to read one of them. It was 111 degrees in Palm Desert today and the B&N was super cold and delicious.
There's nothing to do in the desert in the summertime, you write, you read, you stay inside the house, you play on the blog (grin)it's even too hot to go swimming.
Thank goodness for Jenny and her stories, otherwise I'd go nuts.
rg
kcmsfbol
kookie crusie met science fiction bob over lunch
BCB - Limericks would be so cool, but the only one I know is very dirty, very dirty, bad language. So I guess not.
RG - you sister got suspended for that? Geez. I won't tell you what I got suspended for, and it was a whole lot worse than that, but I don't want you to think badly of me, even though you all think I'm squirrel food.
Now I must rant a little, I took the little guy to play golf yesterday. For the last few days I've been having trouble with my shoulder, just thought I was sleeping funny on it or something. Well, this morning I woke up in such pain. I cant lift my arm over my shoulder, and it hurts to type. The ortho guy is a friend of mine, so I've already called him and I go in later today, but geez, I've never had shoulder problems before. I've had three knee surgeries, but otherwise I'm in okay shape (for someone who is 40) and other than my eyes are going bad, most things work properly. So I'm very frustrated. Wish me luck.
JenT - you have to feel better! It's going to be hard enough here next week with most of you off to Atlanta. We need you to keep posting until then. Plus you have a secret mission to undertake. How can you man the Moot Signal if you're out of commission. I hope the Ortho guy is able to help. Get better!
JJ: Sorry to hear about your shoulder; hope the diagnosis isn't too much blogging. Maybe you need to empty the spare change from your purse?
I tried my best to get suspended from HS, but it didn't work. When your dad is a teacher at said school and he is greatly admired (by the staff) and feared (by the administration), those who witness bad behaviour tend to overlook it as charming or parentally sanctioned or maybe just a trick of the light. I suppose the straight-A average had something to do with my lack of success, as well.
RG: Glad you liked the interview. I had not previously heard of Treuer either but thought his work, both fiction and non-, sounded interesting.
Off to the salt mine.
bw
lefuhz: leave everyone feeling ultimate happiness, zaza
Jen T,
I'm not a doctor, nor do I know anyone who plays a doctor on TV, but when something very similar happened to me (thought I was sleeping on the shoulder funny, etc.) it turned out eventually to be traced to a problem with the vertebrae in my neck. Took an MRI to finally identify where the problem was.
Throwing that idea out, FWIW, YMMV, etc.
Tal said ...
Lynn wrote: OK sure, she supposedly was attending a nonexistance conference, but still.
I heard about that. I believe Agnes is giving the keynote speech and Bob is giving the rebuttal.
Oh, good one Tal. Appreciate the morning giggle. Will Agnes be sans skillet?
Hi all - back from the doc's, actaully just went to his house, he's taken this week off. Anyway, good news, it's not too much blogging, and I'll be able to man the Moot Signal. Bad news, it could be a lot of things. During his little exam we found I have pain in my wrist, elbow, shoulder and neck. I may have many problems starting with carpel tunnel (sp?), which doesn't sruprise me. I also have a tendency to grind my teeth in my sleep and all my tension is carried in my neck and shoulders. The popping concerns him on other levels, so I'm going back for some x-rays and other things. he actually told me to take it easy on the typing, ha, that's funny. Like when I broke my arm when number two child was a baby and he told me not to lift anything, I was still nursing!
Worst part, it's my right arm, and I'm right handed. I can't even lift my computer bag with this arm at this point. i'm taking some anti-inflamatories and I'm going to rest it.
Now, off to get my pedicure and manicure - I know, I'm spoiled, but someone has to do it.
Jen-T: sorry to hear of your woes. Hope the arm heals well. I had a skiing accident ten years ago and fell on my right shoulder (I'm also right handed)even today that thing acts up when I do too much typing, or travel and carry heavy luggage. Can't do the garment bag type luggage anymore, got's to have me wheels. (grin)
I go to the chiropractor and get him to unkink me (I know, I know it's an almost impossible job) and then get a series of massages. By the third one I'm always okay.
Now, whenever I travel I do a massage before and after even if I'm not hurting.
rg
BCB: Read the article. I'm wondering if it's lines like ”We even happen upon a tipi in the back yard of a big Victorian frame house. "Oh, a tipi," he says.” that get you the MN fix?
Okay, CBs. In the article from BCB, Treuer says, "Novels aren't supposed to be authentic; they're supposed to be magic."
He was trying to dispute the idea that a particular novelist was representing an entire Indian culture authentically in his works, but this comment made me think of two things: Tom the old coot's problem with romance novels not representing males authentically (too much emphasis on making magic?) and the purpose of the collaboration between Jenny and Bob to bring a more authentic Male/Female POVs.
Questions that formed:
1) Does authenticity become a problem only when writers try to represent an entire culture/gender?
2) Can a novel be both authentic and magical?
3) Do writers often have to choose between the authenticity and magic in a story? If so, how do they make that choice?
Lori - very good questions. I can only answer from the perspective of the reader, and even then I need to give this more thought. I usually just enjoy the books without thinking so hard about them.
Speaking of books, btw, currently working on Laurie King's "The Beekeeper's Apprentice" recommended by someone here but my memory fails me. Only just started it but I think I'm going to like it alot. Waiting in the wings, Kathy Reichs' "Break No Bones" and just picked up at lunch today "Sleeping With Fear" by Kay Hooper. So many books, so little time!!!
From Lori: "Okay, CBs. In the article from BCB, Treuer says, 'Novels aren't supposed to be authentic; they're supposed to be magic.' "
Keep in mind I didn't read the article in question, but here's my 2 cents in answer to Lori's query anyway.
Isn't there a big difference between magic and stupidity? As a reader I'm willing to overlook some authenticity issues if (a)I have no clue about said authenticity is in question - ignorance is sometimes bliss - or (b) all the other elements surrounding the issue are believable enough to over rule my gut reaction of "that would never happen." That said, authenticity could be a problem if it rolls over to stereotyping and the like.
YES a novel can be both authentic and magical. Who has this guy been reading?
As to the last, I'm not a writer so it's more difficult to answer. Good writers are going to be able to make the authentic magical. That's their craft after all. I can't imagine anyone trying to write drivel . . .
If the story is magic, rather about magic and magical elements? Well that's a whole 'nother can of worms.
Lastly, as to Lori's note that "Tom, the old coot" had issues with male characters in romance novels. He does remember that said novels are indeed fiction, right?
mcb: You have Kay Hoopers newest already? I'm SOOOO jealous.
Sorry, a bit lengthy here. I should not have had that refill of diet coke (sigh, we're a coke campus - not a pepsi in sight).
Okay so many things to say, so little time.
rg what is *("B&N)* is super cold and delicious"?
mary my leader, what does FWIW stand for? YMMV looks like "you make me vomit". I hope that isn't right.
jen-t no doctor here but sounds like you have tendonitis. Very painful stuff--resting the arm and anti-inflammatories best medicine for any of those things. What is wrong with your eyes? Please don't have eye trouble. I finally broke down and cried mine out today (gave them to Darth and Morticia) because I went to do my crossword puzzle and read the paper and I couldn't see. Still can't see very well and in a lot of pain but coming on here helps. Love the cherrybombs. I can see the blog best of anything. Must be the light on it or something or the contrast of black on white.
Anyhow, I have been ordered (by cherry magic sheryl to sit in my chair and behave after my DH goes to work and before she comes. She always was a bossy kid. /.D She takes good care of her mom. So I will be signing off. Sign on again at midnight or when cms gets here. I heart you people.
blue obpxynz
Obviously Bob punishes Xavier yeccing notorious Zaza.
Sorry you're not doing well, head hench wench. But I trust your dutiful and beautiful German Shepherd is on duty until CMS gets back?
TLAs are Three Letter Acronyms (yes, I know, the ones I used were more than 3 letters).
FWIW = For What It's Worth
YMMV = Your Mileage May Vary, i.e. your experience may be different from mine.
Here's a website that lists the most common TLAs in English and in Italian. (For any bilingual readers out there ;)
TLAs
Scope Dope - well you can see the blog so at least your peepers have their priorities right. Take care dear, and don't fret the tears. Sometimes you gotta wash out the old feelings to freshen things up.
Until Mary gets back ... B&N I think she means Barnes & Noble. But I gotta say I like your version of YMMV the best! "YMMV, but I bought the new Kay Hooper today." "YMMV, but I'm fixing spaghetti for supper tonight." "YMMV, but I really enjoy this blog."
Lynn: yeah, dontcha just love Bishop and the gang?
SDCB - I'm showing early signs of aging with my eyes. I've always had problem with reading, but lately my distance vision is going and I have a horrible time seeing at night. Last year I got bifocals, but I hate glasses, so now I'm trying contacts and what they call Monovision. My left eye gets the reading contact (big perscription) and my right eye gets the distance contact (little perscription). I guess it tricks your brain, which for me isn't a difficult thing to do. Anyway, we are hoping my distance vision doesn't change too much, although mh prescription did go up from last year. But I can't see a darn thing in front of my face without help.
Tendinitis (sp?) is another possibility. I've had that in my ankles before and it hurts. Only time will tell, but it's ruining my golf game, not to mention waterskiing.
mcb spake thusly...
"YMMV, but I'm fixing spaghetti for supper tonight."
Hey, you doing the cooking today? YMMV, you make me vermicelli, eh?
(Figured it was worth a try...)
limdu
let imagination mitigate dinner utterations
Scope Dope: I, too, am sorry you're not feeling well, and am VERY glad that even when the crossword is out of reach (sight?), you can blog.
When everyone else out here is quiet
(I, myself, am NOT here at midnight!), and you have computer supervision, have you tried doing puzzles online? I wouldn't do Sudoku any other way (OK, if it were a choice of that or, you know, housework, I might). Free online Sudoku is handier than paper, and I really enjoy Kakuro as well.
Take care!
neojoi: our current emotional state, which has been renamed, so we'll understand how well-off we are.
wbtuvbm: while burying turtles, urbane Viennese blithely mingle
I like the option of switching between sentences and definitions!
Mary, not sure there's enough for everyone, but maybe with a really big salad and lots of garlic bread??? Can't imagine anything I'd enjoy more than having the Cherry Bombs over for dinner.
*note to self: buy paper plates.
SDCB - I truly believe a good cry can really help.
I have always had eye troubles - along the same lines as Jen-T. Can't see or do much at all without my glasses. I can't imagine how you must feel with all that you've got going on right now. I'm keeping you close in thought.
Maybe while you are having down time waiting on CMS or DH to get home you could put some thought time into your stories.
We are all wishing you a calmer afternoon.
gpjctc
Great people just care to care.
Great, mcb! I'll bring the cherry pie ;)
I was going to suggest that we meet at Glamour-Geeks so we could taunt them squirrels, but now that she's got it fixed up so nicely I'd be afraid to drop e'en a single crumb on that MW carpet. Scope Dope, would you mind a deputation of CBs? We could recite poems to keep your spirits up.
nribtjta - what a Czech would say upon learning that several dozen strange people planned to drop by for dinner and an impromptu poetry recital
Mary, *sigh* that just sounds like so much fun. I want so badly to meet everyone!
At some point in the future we will really have to sit down and make plans for October. Who's going and when and where we get together. If all else fails, everyone grab a bottle and meet up in my room.
axjxppj: its an Indonesian dialect, spoken only by a long lost tribe on a forgotten island, and means: Who's bringing the ice?
SDCB - good crys are necessary. I just had a little cry. My dear daughter hugged me for no reason at all. That's huge when normally she gives me the evil eye, the eye roll, or the "oh my god! You just don't understand!" stomp. She didn't even ask for money, or anything.
Okay, back to the hockey rink. I think all my shoulder problems steam from driving my car too much. I think I need to go on strike or something. Mom's on strike! Do you think that would work?
I was going tell MCB to remember to buy napkins as well, but going to Scope Dope's place is an even better idea. We can spill that spaghetti sauce all over the place and she'll never know. [grin]
I bet she'll even let us recite limericks. She's a lot more fun than Bob, that killjoy. [Bob looks around, confused, who's Joy?]
Gee, I miss OH. Is she due back Friday? Saturday?
JJ: Aaaaww. I know the feeling. My DD18 the other day looked at what I was wearing and said "That's really cute." Of course, it would have been even nicer if she hadn't sounded so surprised, but I'll take what I can get.
bw
Just my humble opinion but I also liked the comment:
"Novels aren't supposed to be authentic; they're supposed to be magic."
I feel he's saying that non-fiction must be authentic, based on fact, and verifiable. A novel, however, is partially taken from life, from fact as the author knows it, but mostly it's magical in the aspect of the story and totally fictional. The characters should be fictional because writing about real life characters exactly as they are is boring, I mean they come out flat and boring on the page. The story, the characters, the plot all have to be bigger than life to sustain the interest of the reader.
The way the author then weaves the story and breathes life into it and into her characters makes it all seem real on the page, and that is the magical part.
However, if you do weave any facts into your fictional story, real life characters, history, politics, books, music, etc. you must do your homework and get it right or your reader will toss the book against the wall. The same goes for the believability factor. It's called the willing suspension of disbelief. If the reader can't do that, and become totally immersed in the story believing it is really true, if he or she is sitting around going "hell that could never happen," then you've lost the reader and the magic is gone.
rg
Mary - Thanks for the comment on the shoulder problem. I have also been having problems with my shoulder for a while now and thought it was just from sleeping on it. It will definitely take myself to a good chiro and have my neck looked at.
This blog is so great - so much to learn from so many smart folks. For instance, I thought I was the only one who stood at the stove reading while cooking meals (my DH really gives me a bad time about that - I just ignore him). It's very cool to know that there are other fanatics out there.
My...Tom the old coot was sure on a tear the last post he did. I notice we haven't heard from him since. BCB had a great answer for him as did several of the other CBs (BCB was first). Always good to get another point of view.
Scope Dope - you hang in there. We all are behind you 100% Sending warm and fuzzy thoughts your way. Take care.
jwghim
Jenny was going home instead of (to) Mass
RG: I agree with you completely re authenticity and believeability, but not sure that was what Treuer was talking about, exactly. He was referring to a particular writer and his work and how he represented it:
I think he [Alexie] presents a very narrow portrait of Indian life in his books, then promotes it as, 'This is what Indian life is like; this is what real Indian rez life is like.' I'm Indian, and my life isn't like that. I went to summer camp, Camp Chippewa for Boys. I learned to shoot, I learned to camp, I learned all kinds of things. And it was on the reservation!
"Alexie's work is taken as 'authentic.' And it's that atmosphere of authenticity that I rebel against. Novels aren't supposed to be authentic; they're supposed to be magic. What I'm saying in the User's Manual is, 'stop reading these novels as educational material, and start reading them as literature. They will last. As cultural documents, they just don't hold up."
Certainly that can be applied to other works of fiction as well, but in this instance he was being very specific about one man's work and assertions about it representing an entire culture. At least that's how I read it.
bw
sxggd: well, duh
RG: Can't something be authentic without being an actual event?
Seems to me the best stories are not so much about far out things happening as they are the what ifs. Things that usually don't, but could. And its the what ifs that make it magical. Most of us have lives that no one is going to base a novel on. But, what if ...
A writing team has a group of fans. The fans travel to a writers conference to meet the writers and each other. Never met before, only know each other from a blog.
And what if a murder takes place in the hotel.
And what if one of the writers is a suspect
And what if our intrepid band of fans solves the mystery.
So. You have a set of authentic people, events, locations. In and of themselves not novel-worthy. But you mix in a 'what if' or two, and just maybe you have magic. Its not true to life, but it doesn't lack authenticity either.
Tjashh: The Indian hotel manager at the writers' conference.
MCB: Ahem. Can I please have a word with you? Out in the hall.
WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO DO HERE, YOUNG LADY?! Are you giving The GAM permission to kill me by saying it would be magical? And, BTW, not to disrespect the CB's crime-solving abilities, but there would not be much of a mystery to solve if I turn up missing, would there?
Geez. That was mean.
You know, I think I won't talk to any of you for a week or so after Nationals. See who gets all in a panic THEN. Ok, probably no one. But still.
bw
All right. Fine. We'll come to your place for spaghetti.
Happy now?
bw
All right, all right, keep it moving folks. No gawking at the two in the hall . They're... um, discussing. Yeah, that's it. Keep them away from frying pans and everything's fine. Keep it moving over there, yeah I'm lookin' at you. What are you, some kind of sicko? Oh. You are. Well all right then, /you/ can gawk. Everybody else, watch it.
Yes, exactly MCB. I think there-in lies the magic. You take a little fact from life, something authentic and start weaving.
BCB, Truer was speaking of something specific in that article. Advising the reader to not take the fictional work as being authentic to the Native American culture, or in some ways, not entirely true.
I however loved that one comment because I thought it could be applied to writing in general. But see what happens when you take something out of context? Hah.
It's like those little sound bites from a television interview and the interviewee is sitting at home going, "No, no that's not what I said. I mean I said it, but not there in that part of the conversation. Those bastards they've taken it completely out of context."
Oh Tom the old coot is going to have fun with this one. (grin)
Geez, you all heard her. She's trying to get me killed, I tell ya.
MCB, I have witnesses now. Right? Um, hello? You all heard her, right?
She's probably been a spy for Him and Her all along. Getting all friendly and then, WHAM! Right when you least expect it.
You know what this will do to my grim paranoid suspicious nature, right? I'll probably never sleep again.
[she knows I'm kidding, right? MCB?]
bw
Oh dear. Either she's laughing too hard to type or we need someone to go over to her place with smelling salts.
MCB, I know that when, um, that is if, um .. start over. I know you would never try to harm me or cause anyone else to harm me. OK? At least you wouldn't be stupid enough to announce it on the blog. Not that you ever would. Harm me.
You ok?
Geez, can't even have a little pretend tantrum without everyone getting all upset.
bw
It does look suspicious... you were the Person Last Seen with mcb and now no one knows where she is... hmmmn.... (voice trails off into an ominous silence)
zvzhitr - someone who specializes in hits on zvz's
It is rather an ominous silence, isn't it? I don't know whether to be concerned or not. But if she posted that comment and then went out for the night, I may have to kill her myself. [yes, I'm kidding. geez.]
Maybe she's helping her dad fix something?
bw
So, ok, I didn't read all those mystery spy novels for nothing. I know how to look for clues and use deductive reasoning. Plus I sit quietly in the back row and pay attention.
Monday, MCB posted at 5:27 pm and then not again until 7:36 pm.
Tuesday, there were several after 4:00 pm with the last at 5:18, then again at 7:30.
Today her last post was at 5:30.
She works in DC and lives in MD so, poor girl, she has a bitch of a commute. Plus she now has me for a stalker.
Barring unforseen explosions in the nation's capitol, she's going to walk in her door any minute now, say hello to her dad, log on to this website and LHAO at all of us for worrying about her.
Bet.
Either that, or I'm going to call the police and make something up until they find her.
bw
Between Authentic and Magical - just my two cents. When you say magical - do you mean not of this world? To suspend our belief of what is real? Kind of like in Buffy, we believe that that world could exist. If that is the case, then the authenticity is in the ability to make us believe in the world you created with those rules you created for us. Does that make sense?
If magical means to enjoy the moment, or the HEA in a novel, or the magic in connecting with a character or something of those lines, then authuenticity is in the ability to make everything realistic, to ring true, that this is the way this person would really behave in his/her job or in that cituation. I doubt I'm making any sense whatsoever, but di I ever?
Where is the spagetti Dinner? I'm hungry.
BCB - You know, you are sweet, to check on her like that. You have her schedule down pat.
Well, first she tried to get me killed, and then she tried to make me think I killed HER. Which I still might. So I had no choice but to investigate. Grrr.
bw
See, she just commented over on the other post. And now she's reading, and now she's laughing.
Hi, MCB, you little witch.
bw
Barring unforseen explosions in the nation's capitol, she's going to walk in her door any minute now, say hello to her dad, log on to this website and LHAO at all of us for worrying about her.
Well there was a huge watermain break on Connecticut Avenue, not an explosion, but otherwise ... (and actually I take the subway so even the watermain thingie wasn't an issue)
But it was sweet of you to worry. Just for that, we'll bump someone else off. Who could we kill off that would make either him or her look suspect? Ah ha! (cries the fictional detective) NEEDLES!
And the spaghetti was good :~D
I think we'll move the assassination to NJ in Oct and bump off a certain smart-aleck person who lives in MD and works in DC. That's what I think. I guess we could make it a two-for-one and bump off Needles at the same time. Harder to solve that way.
I need to go eat dinner. Which is not spaghetti, thank you very much.
bw
Hey, its my plot. Bump me off and you'll never know how it ends.
RG said: Advising the reader to not take the fictional work as being authentic to the Native American culture, or in some ways, not entirely true.
Well that's a good point. Something can be authentic and yet not, versa vice, true to life. So you can't read a book about a bunch of bloggers who go off to NJ and someone gets killed and the bloggers (who have read a zillion mystery/suspense/action/thriller/romance books between them) figure out that it was really the butler in the latrine with a ...
Okay this one needs a little work.
vhavcjc: The mysterious European countess whose jewels get stolen, thereby sending the inspector on a wild goose chase.
MCB: Bump me off and you'll never know how it ends.
Hey, we bump you off, YOU will never know how it ends. And the rest of us are pretty good at making stuff up. You should hear what I was going to tell the police to convince them to find you.
It would have been a serious, top secret matter of national security. Probably take two, yes TWO, 10-man SF teams to do the S&R and E&E and B&N and CPR.
Geez, I shouldn't get her started, she'll disappear again.
bw
kdszxgm: kids, don't swear, zaza (e)xpects genuine mercy
Ha! Double dueling blogs. A dueling blog inside a dueling blog. He said/she said, versus MCB said/ BCB said. We have Shane offing Agnus who in return is trading up to the carpenter. Then we have BCB and MCB whipping each other with spagetti and conspiring to off each other in NJ. Ohhhh, this is getting good.
vmxqput - vixon moot, xavier quit prying underwear today.
Scope Dope, so sorry about your eyes. Online games is (are?) a good idea--I like to play Bejeweled and Bookworm on PopCapGames.
A book I think of as both authentic and magical is TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, if you think of "magical" as meaning "evoking another time and place and making you feel you are there."
mcb: Sounds rather like the plot of BIMBOS OF THE DEATH SUN by Sharyn McCrumb, except it's set at an SF con.
Maybe we should have something like a Secret Santa game, only each CherryBomb draws the name of another one she's supposed to kill....
ffaukma -- Freakin' Felons Are Us--Kiss My Alligator
I had to go back and check, but yep, I did note the context I was deliberately taking it out of. For a minute there, I was envisioning the members of REM gathering for my lynching. As is, I believe it was just misdemeanor quote abuse. No lynching necessary. No really…Tal put down that rope…BCB don’t look at me like that…No, Mary…I beg you…no the other Mary…hasn’t there been enough violence tonight?
(Glad you made it out okay so far, McB. Secret Death Santas- I don't know how you're always able frighten and amuse me at the same time Tal.)
I think I like really liked the idea of that quote, even out of the context. I was thinking about the magic that a good novel brings into my life. Which led me to think about how some books don’t have the ring of authenticity but still make magic. Those thoughts ended with those questions.
Then in the comments on the last post, McB mentioned the story of when Bob got hissed at for not having JT say “I love you.” in the first draft of DLD . I can see that as an authentic move for JT. Did the decision Bob made to include the magic “I love you” change who the character JT was in his head, or did he just have to find the right circumstances for JT to say it authentically? I’m pretty sure it was the latter, but I also think there are some authors who would have made similar changes without keeping the feeling of authenticity.
That was the quandary I found myself internally debating ALL DAY. Does an author knowingly ask me to suspend my beliefs in their book, or is their version of authentic just different than mine? Anyway, thanks for humoring me on this topic.
Well, you all just wore out cherry magic sheryl who just read about 50 comments to me. What to say?
"Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you're scared to death" - Earl Wilson
Now that you all know, I'll just have to borrow some of your courage. Just for today.
I would love it if you all came for spaghetti. Dinner will be served tomorrow night at 6:30pm You can bring the dinner too as I'm not cooking these days. I have room for 4 at the table but we can expand. I'm sure the dog will give up her chair. lol
Okay, I'm supposed to tell you all that I'm the one typing so that Scope Dope doesn't get blamed for all the typos. How's that for motherly love, I ask you? - CMS
Lbooth came back. Where the hell has she been? We're happy that she's back.
CMS - NO dead bodies in NJ!
SDCB - Not in my hotel. And tell BCB that she really must be paranoid because I read that. Where did she get the idea that MCB was bumping her off? /.)
rg Your profundity knows no bounds. Well put.
(heavy sigh) I think we're finished.
That's the trouble with dictation - never know when to stop typing and just listen
Sweet dreams, everyone from both of us
no skipping the verification, "I never skip them"
blue ajobsyuu
ah jenny owes bob some yec, utter ursula
timed out - green jmxcp
jenny maims her (e)x critique partner - CMS
jenny makes exceptionally critical prose
I got smacked for not including Scope Dope's verification sentence - Sorry
This one is all hers
blue cinfss
crusie interprets nora's free sentence structure
Downundergal - I have some information about your head pains if you want to email me at sopf101@yahoo.ca
This might help you
green gtrfkcne
girls try reading for kicks, crusie needs exercise
Yes, don't not leave out anything that SDCB says or does. We must know her exact words, it's a moral imperative!
CMS: You're not done yet. Here is more:
Lori, we humour you, you humour us, we're a happy family. Kind of like Barney, only not purple. It works out. BTW, I rather like the idea of Secret Death Clown Santas -- that ought to scare JJ to death right there. Maybe Bob, too.
Now here is where my path diverges from some of you: I didn't care whether JT said I love you -- for that character, it was just as believeable (to me) that his actions spoke waaay louder than his words. But it is expected in a romance that both H/H will say it, no matter they have known each other mere days. But it doesn't always work for me, depending on the characters. Don't know what Bob's thought process was in adding the words, but it makes sense to me that both J&B made some compromises in blending the two genres and maybe that was one of them. But I also think Bob is enough of a professional that, if he had to have JT say it, he did it in a way that was authentic for him (B & JT).
To further blaspheme, I DO NOT CARE about the HEA. I've heard many, many people say they read to get to the HEA and it makes them feel good. Pffft. I think that is the boring part (and why the book ends there, duh) and I wouldn't miss it if they skipped it. I'd much rather close a book believing they continued to have adventures, hassles, fights, disagreements, great make-up sex, more misunderstandings -- all the interesting stuff that had me turning pages up to that point.
Re suspended disbelief: Yes, as a writer I think you are asking that to some extent every time you sit down to write a story. Otherwise you'd tell about the lady down the street and how she goes out to get the newspaper in her pj's every morning at 7:45 and then goes inside to have a second cup of coffee. Most of real life is boring, and you're telling about the day that is different. So you make stuff up that sounds "real" and hope enough of it rings true that the stuff that is magic and poetry will hold someone in thrall and make them want to suspend their disbelief that it could really happen in their life. Make it so effortless that they don't realize that is what they've done. If they have to work at it or even think about it, you haven't done a very good job. And yes, Tom (yeah you, over there in the corner), that includes making gender differences realistic.
IMNSHO, good writing is poetry, even if you're beating the crap out of someone or sliding a knife along their throat and then calmly having breakfast once your hands stop shaking enough to hold that cup of coffee. It has rhythym and magic and beauty. Well, it should.
See? Now you have humoured me. At great length. [grin]
bw
okay then, I'll just sit here with a tape recorder all night. But you'll have to deal with G-G when I can't fix her bracelet because the tendonitis in my wrist is killing me from all the transcribing I'll have to do. Sometimes SDCB talks in her sleep!
We're sitting here arguing over whether I have to do the verification sentence or not. I don't but "it's an easy one" so here goes
red annzi
another nosey
we've turned into Bob and Jenny bickering over what to say
SDCB - another nosey neighbour zaza insists
CMS - now I don't have to do it because you did
SDCB - LMAO Little bugger
BCB- Yep, that would scare me! I had to laugh at the barney comment. When we first got our 72 inch TV, the one in the family room that no one watches anymore because they have to watch the one in my room on the vibrating bed. Anyway, I had been a little annoyed with DH because I didn't know the damn thing was so big. He kind of left that out when he bought it. Anyway, when we first tested it out, we popped in a Barney video for middle child, then youngest and only about 2 (now 12). Well, Barney came on like larger than life and my kid ran screaming. he had issues watching that TV for about two months.
Now on to JT and the words I love you. I'm probably going to get shot for saying this, and what the hell do I know, not much. But when that scene came up, and JT just kind of said the words I stopped dead in my tracks and went back and re-read. I really hadn't expected him to say it, even under those circomstances and frankly I kind of chuckled and thought to myself, "Yeah Bob, you took one for the team." I mean, it's not that I didn't believe he loved her, hell his actions showed how much he loved her and the whole trust issue with the previous sex scene, well that really said it all. Then there was the talk with who, LaFarve? about making sure she was taking care of if something happened to him, well, again, that kind of spoke volumes.
With all that said the "magic" in that one was that I didn't care that it seemed slightly out of JT's character to just say it, it worked because it felt real. Make sense? Well, doesn't matter because I really don't know what the hell I'm talking about.
Now off to bed. I'm tired.
eyyicaon - eat yummy yams in californa and ohio, not!
JJ: Stop it. Yes you do know what you're talking about and you said it very well. If they shoot you for saying it, they're going to have to shoot me, too, because we said essentially the same thing. Want a blindfold? Cigarette? Nah, me neither.
And you must have trimmed those nails because there was a noticeable scarcity of typos. ;-)
bw
Oh Yeah, I got my nails done today and had a pedicure! It was awesome. I so needed to pamper myself. Really, I love my kids and they are great, but summer is sooooo long. DH has been traveling a lot and the kids are doing this, that and the other thing. The hardest part is none of them drive (15, 12, 9), but they all have lives. I put 250 miles on my car in the last two days alone! It's not like they are asking for the world, they are doing constructive, healthy stuff like playing golf, going to hockey clinics, swimming and generally being good kids, but I have no time to myself right now.
When DH is home I get a lot of help from him. His office is in the house, and he really likes being involved with the kids, so he'll offer to drive one somewhere, or take one to play a few holes of golf in the evening, but when he's gone, he's gone and it's just me. I can't wait for Atlanta! I know it's a business trip for me and all that, but it's my time away from husband and kids. I'm not wife, mother, driver, counselor and everything else, I'm just me, the writer.
Okay, that was a good rant. I needed that.
Onward and upward - most likely to bed, although my goal had been 10 pages today and I've only gotten 8. Might bring my laptop to bed with me. If I do, might log on one more time before bed.
jmrmx - jenny move, running moot, xavier.
SDCB dicatated:
rg Your profundity knows no bounds. Well put.
I think my eyes must be getting tired. I'd originally read that as "your profanity knows no bounds." Hafta tell you, I was pretty impressed, RG. Well, profundity is impressive too ;)
puivvkh - the sound make by a martini drinker who started to spit out the olive pit but then noticed Martha Stewart creeping up behind him with a a critical expression and a very sharp letter opener.
BCB, no knocking off MCB, ok? I think she's supposed to be driving up to NJ with me. And if you knock her off, then who the hell is going to pay for my gas?!? (Geez, that was a JOKE, people!!)
I missed ya guys, but I was off having fun meeting another cool author. I kep raving about Joshilyn Jackson for a reason. If you haven't read her books yet, put them on your list. She's a great writer, and even better in person.
And I have to tell you this...I just walked upstairs to my bedroom to see why the lights were still on, as Shane went to bed an hour ago. Guess what I saw... He was laying there in bed...OMG, get your minds OUT of the gutter already!!... reading DLD! And he's half finished, and still reading!! I think it's fabulous, but I'm tellin you now, if he thinks he's gonna lay his hands on my signed WTT, he's lost his mind! He can get his OWN copy, like I had to do with BOL!!
njpbb
"Nooo Jenny, PLEASE!!" Bob begs...(as he sees the keyboard racing towards his head!)
haven't caught up on reading yet, just wanted to say hello. so hi! i'll be back sooner or later. later being a couple of days.
green: bgbqbue: a branch of BBQ that uses burbon and has big portions.
hope everyone is doing well.
OH - Hi! So glad you're back! Missed you.
Hi Dee! Missed you too!
Okay, really, it's time for me to hit the hay. Goodnight, really, this time for sure.
Ahhh, OH, I miss you. COme back! COOOME BAAAACK!!!
OH and Dee -- both back on the same day! Wow! Welcome back!
Hmmm... wonder what they were doing together. Up to no good, plotting no doubt. [grin]
And Dee, for your information, MCB is the one who was trying to get ME killed in Atlanta. I really don't need any help with that, thank you very much all the same. I was just defending myself.
Glad you got to see the other JJ and that you made the drive back safely. Did you wave at me on the way past?
OH: We expect a full report, tout de suite.
bw
Do y'all have any idea how much trouble I get into because of this group of nuts? I'm IMing my bf and I disapear cus I'm over here reading and laughing- he get's grumpy, or actually he used to get grumpy, now he's just resigned-
spaghetti dinner? I'm up for it- I have a few bottles of red wine on the shelf I'll bring- if SD's house isn't big enough we can do it at mine in a few weeks. Right now I have no lawn furniture so bring a chair but I have plenty of space
Magic in fiction? I'm willing to suspend belief up to a point. If the story is told right and everything moves I'm willing to go with the flow- but let's take vampire novels as an example... some of them are really well written stories about two people and odd circumstances and the chemical reaction that takes place, and oh yeah, one of them is vampire. Others are all about the vampire and cease to see the inhabitants of the story as anything other than a way to push vampires. There is no depth or reason for me to get past the first chapter.
Scope Dope- didn't find the eyepatches you mentioned at our evil empire- do you have a brand name I can work with? Because I think I found a cool decoration for them if I can just get one in my hands to make sure it will work
Dee- I hate you, just so you know- you're the one that kept talking about "Faster than Kudzu" and now I have another stupid blog addiction
speaking of blog addictions- I heard somewhere that you can sign up for something that tracks your favorite blogs and let's you know when they've been updated- anyone know anything about this?
I know there were a few other things I was going to comment on, but the heat is causing my brain to melt. (Don't know what I would've used as an excuse if it wasn't hot, because I know it has nothing to do with age or a skittering attention span.)
Hey Dee, Hey OH glad you're both back. Loved your comments Jen and BCB you are both very smart ladies.
Mary said: think my eyes must be getting tired. I'd originally read that as "your profanity knows no bounds."
Yeah well, that would be appropriate. (grin)
On the subject of profundity well, nothing original from me. Anything I said has been gleaned from other authors who are unafraid to share their writing secrets and I thank them. Plus I read a lot and I take classes, workshops, go to conferences. I'm always learning. I am merely a big ol' sponge soaking up every tiny bit of info I can get. Now I just need to find an American publisher and get some of these damn manuscripts out from under the bed. Get them squeezed between covers and planted on bookstore shelves. (grin)
rg
kwoyy keep wearing orange yellow yellow
rg- yep, because as soon as you get them out from under your bed and squeezed into covers I can read them and then they can find their way under my bed. (insert profound comment about the circle of life here.)
Someone earlier mentioned meeting in October and then it was followed up by NJ- so, I guess that means Oct 6-7 Somerset, NJ Put Your Heart in a Book Conference-- Is anyone planning on being Oct 20-22 Surrey, BC Canada Surrey International Writers Conference-- I'm still trying to see if I can find a way to financially swing it, but I would like to go- to make this dream a reality I even bought a lottery ticket today.
Now, I'm off to bed-
Conscripted cherry said:
Oct 20-22 Surrey, BC Canada Surrey International Writers Conference--I'm still trying to see if I can find a way to financially swing it, but I would like to go-
Me too. When I was at Bob's retreat he mentioned it as being one of the best conferences he has attended. I looked it up and was very impressed. However, I am going to RWA National, then the RWAustralia National and contemplating Australia again for 2007. The budget is totally shot, unless of course I sell a book. Heh heh.
rg
lioxc
little injured oxen cry
My grandmother was a Wise Woman who said many Wise Things in her time. One of them was "Dont't go to bed on your anger." I re-learned the truth of that last night. Of course, she didn't suffer fools gladly either.
Remember the other day when we were talking about hot buttons and how I claimed I didn't really have any anymore? Well, I was wrong. I do have one: self-righteous, smug ignorance.
I'm going to Lowes after work today to buy one of those steel cage covers for it.
bw
RG - You went to one of Bob's retreats? Lucky you. I had a critique done by him. He's very insightful and it was probably the best advice I've ever gotten on a manuscript before, on my writing in general. I'm working on something new and different and while doing the Hilton Head retreat is out of the question, for now, I've contemplated taking his course. He really is a fabulous teacher.
I won't be able to attend Surrey, BC Canada. I do three conferences a year, and I space them out. Right now with the kids it's all I can manage. I think I mentioned before my husband travels, a lot. He's pretty much gone tuesday-thursday. Then we have the weekend hockey thing. My kids play travel hockey, so I could have one kid in Syracuse, one kid at home and on kid in Buffalo, all on the same day. It's very hard to manage. As it is, I just found out middle child has a tournament in Vermont the weekend of NJ. I'm sure the other two kids will games that weekend. We'll probably send middle child with another family for the weekend. Half of his team has been together since they were like five. My best friend's son is on that team, so she'll probably take him while I frolic in NJ and husband stays home with the other two. Yeah, it's crazy, but I know where, who and what my kids are doing and they really do love it. My daughter is trying to figure out a way to get a scholarship to a prep school and she really wants to play college hockey. Okay, enough. I need to check e-mail - then go to hockey.
bcb - those hot buttons are dangerous. I've got a ton, but I have a bigger problem. It seems I can't stay mad at the man who pushes those buttons for very long. I've even tried to go to bed mad, but it never works. He always manages to say or do the right thing (never an apology), but something that makes me give up on being mad. Good luck!
JJ: LOL! I didn't go to bed WITH my anger. [shudder] I left it all over there on the last post. Good riddance.
Have fun being chauffeur mom today. I went through my share of those years and it is exhausting, I know. But fun, too. And you're right, you do know where the kids and, who they're with and that they're doing something active and constructive.
PS- I think I read on his site that Bob isn't doing the HHI retreat anymore, so don't feel bad about not having time for it. Maybe he'd consider one just for the CB's...
bw
OK - been leaving you CBs to play -have written 20 000 words in last 5 days. Finally got the H and H into the sack which I thought would happen right at the beginning but they were stubborn and went when they wanted to not when I wanted to!! Bloody recalcitrant characters.
rg - oh yes Oz in 07. The Cherry herself...we'll chaperone together.
scope dope - I'm confused, did I complain of pains in my head? I dont think I did. I dont have pains in my head - other than the kids of course - did you mean someone else?
mary - pissed myself laughing at the olive, Martha Stuart verification. Very funny.
lijykem - lil jenny can
DUG: I, too, thought you had mentioned migraines. Not that you had one currently, but that you got them. Someone did.
Awesome writing output! I'm envious. Too many distractions in my life just now, this blog being one of many, and I haven't been productive. I'll re-focus after next week. Or, more realistically, three weeks after that when DD18 leaves for college.
bw
I just read, and now can't find, someones comment about signing up to get notices when blogs are updated. You can use a newsreader or aggregator. I use Bloglines. You can enter either a blog's feed or address and compile a listing. It will keep track of when blogs have new posts. It does not, however, update when comments are added.
Hope that's what you meant.
No sorry bcb - the only headaches I get are self inflcited ;-) must have been someone else. Wine is catching up with me in my thirties.
But whoever it was - contact scope dope. Sounds like she has just the thing.
DUG: No worries (do you all really say that, or is it just in movies?). I didn't mean to give you migraines without your permission. My headaches lately all seem to be an occupational hazard.
Speaking of which, off to do that bring home the paycheck thing now.
I sure hope J or B posts something today -- I feel a need to cleanse the palette in my brain. C'mon guys, a little sorbet? Please? Just one spoonful?
bw
Scope Dope said ... And tell BCB that she really must be paranoid because I read that. Where did she get the idea that MCB was bumping her off? /.)
Thank you! I never named names, did I? No, I did not! I could have been bumping off anybody. It was going to be Nbimhj, the manager's nephew who works in the hotel as a bellboy. But I'm having second thoughts. I'm not carrying my own luggage.
Dee said .. OMG, get your minds OUT of the gutter already!!
But its so happy there. In all seriousness, kiddo, more than willing, nay happy, to share expenses.
CC said ... let's take vampire novels as an example... some of them are really well written stories about two people and odd circumstances and the chemical reaction that takes place, and oh yeah, one of them is vampire. Others are all about the vampire and cease to see the inhabitants of the story as anything other than a way to push vampires.
Excellently put.
BCB: self-righteous, smug ignorance - oh, yeah. I've run into that one before. Do you not just want to smack the s**t out of them? Its for their own good, really.
Jen-T: Sometimes you gotta have a "ME" day. No matter how willing we are to shoulder the burdens, its nice to set the load down once in a while.
Somebody did mention ice-pick migraines. I thought it was Jen, actually. Jen?
On those 3 little words. I actually thought the way J.T. said them - an off-hand, throw-away comment - fit his character. He's not gonna go all YEC, but he knew it was important to Lucy and said it while he had the chance.
oesockkj: Its a river in the SE U.S. named after a long-lost Indian tribe.
bcb are you okay? It sounds like your life is a little hectic right now which is producing what you call being ornery and cranky and tired? Is everything all right? Can we help? You can tell us. We are the cherry bombs and we love you. I was always told that about going to bed angry too.
down under gal I was positive that was you that said you had migraines. I just wanted to let you know about a new prescription, a neuological pain killer that works. But since it isn't you....Whomever it is contact me.
green iolixlx
Independent, Olivia liked intelligent Xavier, loving Xavier.
Oh, BCB, you were great on that other post. Heh. I got the slut comment underneath my quote. Boy did I see red on that one. But I didn't respond because I knew if we ignored him he'd get tired and go play elsewhere.
Jen- I also had a fabulous critique done by Bob and it was so helpful to my writing. I blush every time I think of it. On alsmost every page he'd written, "nothing happening" "no action" "still nothing" "way too much smiling and chuckling." 'Twas true 'twas true.
I reworked that manuscript, tore it apart, changed the arc for the heroine and used it as a writing tool. It will never sell because it's a total mess. But, the new WIP is light years away from the one I wrote last year. I'm so excited about it and my critique group partners love it. One of them was on a plane coming home from Hong Kong and reading my submission. She said she had to look back at the name because she couldn't believe I'd written it.
Heh.
rg
afceg
a few characters eat goanna
No ice for Migraines. My husband gets them, actually they are crippling. He takes medication to help prevent them, but they come in clusters. He does take imatrex, but that only helps with the nausia, not he pain. Bascically, dark room and sleep.
I on the other hand suffer from stress headaches. Ice helps them. I'll take a hot bat, and put an ice pack the back of my neck and forehead. Weird, huh?
Okay, for those of you going to Nationals - please contact me via my e-mail, jtalty@talty.com. Thanks.
P.S. conscripted cherry didn't mean to ignore your question. cherry magic sheryl has all the eye patches at her house so she said she will give you the name of them when she blogs next. She is working right now so she has no access to the patches or a computer. That is really sweet of you to design me a patch and when I get it, I will wear it with pride. Thank you. /.) That's me. One Eyed cherry bomb.
green gvfqi
Give very few quotes, Irene.
RG - Ha! I had a little too much going on in my story. He actually told me I might have started the story too late, which when I think about it, he's right. I'd really like to take his course. I just might have to this winter or something.
SDCB - One-eyed cherry bomb! You are my hero!
Jen-T said ...He does take imatrex, but that only helps with the nausia, not the pain.
Sorry to hear the Imetrex doesn't help his pain. I've found it usually works great to relieve all my symtoms, but not ALWAYS. There are different kinds of migraines and different triggers all of which can make a difference. An ice pack at the base of the skull can help give temporary relief, just FYI. Hope he doesn't suffer them too frequently.
Lynn- thank you - bloglines was exactly what I was looking for- and it doesn't matter if it doesn't hit when comments are updated becuase this is about the only blog where I follow the comments-
Golly, I decide to have a computer-free day yesterday and you all run riot.
Hm. Guess that's normal for us.
Mary sez: I was going to suggest that we meet at Glamour-Geeks so we could taunt them squirrels, but now that she's got it fixed up so nicely I'd be afraid to drop e'en a single crumb on that MW carpet
No worries. The furniture is scotch guarded and the carpets are patterned so you'd hardly notice a stain. I figure that carpets, historically, went through a lot in deserts and their other native habitats so are pretty tough creatures.
I'll make brownies. When should I expect you all? Oh, and my place is about 750 sq. ft. Plan to be really friendly with your fellow cherrybombs if we're all crushing into my place.
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Margarita Cherrybomb said...
Hey, Mia. Welcome to the madhouse.
17/7/06 7:36 PM
==========================
Thanks. Glad to find the place.
Mini-Mia
Welcome, mini-mia
To the best blog in creation.
Back to poetry... Susan Andersen has the "fog" on one of her web pages. (susanandersen.com)
pjvon blue
please Jenny, visit only now
bon cheri bomb said...
"Alexie's work is taken as 'authentic.' And it's that atmosphere of authenticity that I rebel against. Novels aren't supposed to be authentic; they're supposed to be magic. What I'm saying in the User's Manual is, 'stop reading these novels as educational material, and start reading them as literature. They will last. As cultural documents, they just don't hold up."
This brings up a lot of writing, and reading, issues. One is that any writer who writes truly about his or her own culture still writes from his or her own experience. This will not be representative of everyone's experience, nor will it necessarily be an accurate representation of the overall culture. But, hey, we can still learn about a culture from it.
This is especially interesting in relation to all the furor over the guy, and of course I can't remember his name now -- ha! Found it: Tim Barrus, aka Nasdijj, who passed himself off as Native American, writinig a bunch of book which were praised as totally authentic...where was I going with that sentence. Anyway, furor, Anglo faking being Indian - Alexie was one of the authors who debunked the guy and was provably Native American and knowledgeable on the culture. So, I wonder if this is a part of that, or a result of that, or just one guy making a statement about the purpose of literature.
Then, there's the whole idea of getting all your knowledge about a culture from works of fiction. This is something that writers do all the time. It's particularly true in historical romance, like Regencies. New writers too often base their period details on what they've read. Unfortunately, that ain't such a good idea.
So, yes, educational, but not refernce works.
Who's Tom, and why is he an old fart? What did I miss?
zrctjmca (blue)
Zounds! Real cats take jumps madly cat-apult.
again:
oyuwdle (red)
Standard beginning to any expletive from Elmer Fudd.
I'm with those of you who don't think "I love you" is necessarily the most important thing for the hero to say - so long as he has amply demonstrated that he DOES and is truly committed.
BCB: as far as HEA is concerned, I assume that all the good stuff you mentioned (especially the make-up sex) will continue, as part of HEA (it's not all throwing toast). This is why I don't think it's a problem to have continuing series with married couples (e.g. the Amelia Peabody books by Elizabeth Peters), so long as there's something else to drive the plot besides suspense over whether the protagonists will commit to each other. That's what makes it "happily ever after" - the commitment to "ever after".
Or was that too obvious to remark on?
Louis mentioned Susan Andersen - I got her most recent Just for Kicks yesterday - it's a lot of fun!
rdkye: Ruthlessness denigrates knowledge you earn
uajrjtx: the name of the Gaul who invented dentistry
xjlcsxc: sorry, no can do.
zaza: I got the impressioon that Treuer's problem with Alexie was that Alexie was passing off his own work as being the only true relfection of that culture. And Treuer disagreed. I haven't read Nasdijj's stuff, but he lives/lived? around here somewhere and the local paper liked to make a big deal about him all the time. Until he was revealed as a "fake" and then there was an editorial reviling him as evil and manipulative and dishonest and... it made me sick to read their version of "this is why you can't blame us for not knowing even though we met with the guy several times and no he didn't look at all like a Native American, but he deceived us and what could we do of course we believed him we are professionals." Not that I thought it was bad form of them or anything.
I'll be quiet now.
No I won't. Diane: Yeah, I know we can assume all the good stuff will continue. I was just trying to say I don't really care if a story wraps it up all nice and neat with a big white wedding bow (and really, sometimes it just seems forced like the writer realized they only had five pages left to write and they're rushing it out the door) and all the story lines tie up with long-term commitments and probably babies in the near future. I wouldn't miss that part if they left it out.
bw
Scope Dope wrote: bcb are you okay? It sounds like your life is a little hectic right now
You are so sweet. I was so surprised when I read this, because no one ever worries about me. I don't mean that in a "poor me" way, just that really no one does. I could be curled up in a broken bloodied heap and everyone would just step over me and keep going.
No really, I'm fine. My life is always hectic, lately more so than usual. But it's not bad hectic. Ok, it is. But everything would be fine if there were more hours in the day and fewer people making demands. I'm being pulled in 9 or 10 different directions and my compass only has eight points, so I get a little frayed around the edges and sometimes have trouble finding true north.
Thanks for worrying. That really made me feel special.
bw
Jen-T: As Mignon McLaughlin said in THE NEUROTIC'S NOTEBOOK, "It is a woman's mission in life to deliver children--obstetrically once, and by car forever after."
You said: I'll take a hot bat,--Be careful on that climb up to the belfry!
etadhs --Eat, Tigress! A delicious human steak!
Zaza talked about relying on fiction to understand a culture and specifically historical romances. One of the most infamous mistakes I think, is the ubiquitous garderobe. Its been used in historicals as both a closet and a bathroom. Hey, I didn't live back then so maybe they were synonimous. But I looked it up the first time I read about its misuse and its apparently French, a combination of the words garde (meaning room or keep) and robe (meaning garment). And now Tal will come along and tell me I've done that all wrong so I'll throw in a disclaimer right now and say its been a while since I looked that up but the gist is there. Anyway, sure sounds more like a closet than a bathroom to me.
HEA. Okay, I usually assume that after the book ends they still have their ups and downs, hard times, laughter and tears. To me the HEA isn't about the rest of their lives being so wonderful and perfect. Its more that, hey I've found this person who is going to be at my side through those ups and downs and maybe things will get hard but this person will stick around until we work it out.
But its hard to get all of that into an acronym so I'll stick with HEA.
Authenticity. You know what? When it comes down to it a writer can make you believe the impossible if they do one thing right. The people. The characters have to ring true. They can be written larger than life or spotlighting one quirk or the other. But if you can believe that the character might be someone you could pass on the street, then you will suspend disbelief for the rest of it.
mcb wrote: But if you can believe that the character might be someone you could pass on the street, then you will suspend disbelief for the rest of it.
Yeah, I know, this is why I love Laurell K Hamilton. [big grin] I know what you're saying, though, and I agree. For me it is also whether the book is well written in a more general sense than just the characters. The more I learn about the craft, the more impatient I become if I see it being done badly. I think it was Deb Dixon who said in her workshop that when she was done with us we'd never read a book or watch a movie in the same way again, so if we wanted to leave before it was too late to go ahead and do so. As if. No one left. Writers might be crazy but we're not stupid. Well, most of us aren't.
bw
zspppggy: blogger telling me to zip it and go away? ok
BCB said ...
Yeah, I know, this is why I love Laurell K Hamilton
Ah, but while you are between those pages, don't you believe in the possibility of vampires?
LOL! For me, it's the tri-colored eyes in the other series. You know, the group that lives out there on the coast with OH and G-G. Hey you two, what colors are your eyes?
bw
spwereog: yep, that's what she calls them
Where is everyone? We had a salad, fresh rolls, and I bbq'd a steak in the pouring rain. Even got a big tub of strawberry yogurt but it was just SDCB and myself. : heavy sigh:
CC - I have the eyepatches at home. I'll have a look at them and send you the brand name tomorrow when I get home from work.
Who all are going to Atlanta? Just asking so we know not to send out search parties for everyone when we don't hear from them for a week. I'm afraid it will be silent here. Hah!
Welcome Bryan!
Did we chase off Tom the old coot? Perhaps the dis word BCB was looking for was disdain? I apologize. Poking the bear is disrespectful, especially when comparing romance to porn for whatever reason
CMS: Are you calling me a bear now, too? Geez. Thanks, OH, for starting that one.
And there is absolutely no reason for YOU to apologize for anything. I tried, but I didn't really mean it, which of course he picked up on right away. Selective perception, coupled with self-righteous smug ignorance.
Ok, I'm done with that. Really.
I'm off to practice being nice for next week, since Bob seems to lack faith in our abilities with regard to that particular skill. Will now attempt to have a pleasant conversation with DD18. If I can accomplish that I can handle anyone I happen to meet in Atlanta.
As far as anyone has admitted, RG, JJ, RSS (who has disappeared, so maybe she's already there) and I are going to Atlanta. And J&B. But they have laptops and will still be able to speak to you all. If anyone else from the blog is going either I have forgotten them (sorry!) or they won't admit it because they do not want to be seen with us in the real world. Too bad, because we are planning to be so nice and all.
bw
"a silent shroud over memories best forgotten."
BCB - is that your own? Its really good. If its yours, I'm very impressed. If not, whose?
I forgot Shannan. God Bless Shannan. (just like in The Sound of Music)
Shannan is a SF writer who lives in Atlanta and is not a member of RWA so she isn't coming to the conference, but has said she will try to come to the Literacy Signing. She recently made her first sale of something (a short story? I can't remember) in an anthology.
So Bob, if someone named-- never mind. Jenny. If someone named Shannan comes up to you two at the signing and looks like she might want to talk to Bob about SF writing, please remind him that this is Shannan and that she is a CB and ask him to please try to speak to her about SF stuff. Great. Thanks.
And Shannan, please come say hi to me at the checkout? I'm not as shy as Bob and I will talk to you.
BTW, had an interesting conversation with DD18. She was reading The Namesake and said it is a great book and to tell Christina when she gets back from Italy. Well, she called her "what's-her-name who was asking about it." I asked her what it was about and she said: "Read the back cover. That is exactly what it's about. It usually isn't, but with this book it is." Huh. A ringing endorsement of the publishing industry's ability to write blurbs.
I made her tell me what it was about anyway, even though I had read the back cover a couple days ago. So we had a perfectly pleasant conversation that lasted six minutes before she had to go eat pizza with friends. A bit long for those skittish editors, a bit short for a fellow writer, but I can adjust. I'm making progress.
Next up, a phone call with DS20, who will be DS21 next week, and who most likely won't answer his phone.
MCB: Hit preview and saw your comment. LOL! Well, I wrote it (yeah, I can be a drama queen, who would have thought), but it is now yours. A gift.
bw
conscripted cherrybomb I didn't know you couldn't comment on the blog. If you liked Imagination there are about four others on there now. Right now I am cheating and resurrecting some of the columns I wrote for the papers and some articles I wrote when I was in a writers' group. Soon I am going to run out and have to write more. Gee Whiz! Imagine having to write. I have been editing like crazy and I am still working on the story about my granddaughter as a little barn critter.
Welcome to Bryan and Mini-mia.
mcb you do ME days? So do I. I love ME days. Every so often Sheryl and I go on one together. I imagine we will do that before New Jersey to get manicured and pedicured. /.)
red rcopquyq
Robert come over quickly. Ursual really yecced Quigley.
SDCB said ... mcb you do ME days? So do I.
Oh yes. And Mom and I have "girl days" too. Usually envolves nails or hair and scones and coffee at Panera. Mom has a weakness for their scones. Then I have ME days which are sometimes as simple as hanging out in Barnes&Noble coffee shop eating THEIR scones, browsing the shelves, etc. ME days do not have to be fancy or expensive, they just need to be a time devoted entirely to you ... or me. You know what I mean.
BCB: That's so sweet! And I'm gonna use it too.
Wait till she sees the little gift I left for her over on the other comment. [evil smile]
bw
wardrobe
1387, "room where wearing apparel is kept," earlier "a private chamber" (c.1300), from O.N.Fr. warderobe, variant of O.Fr. garderobe "place where garments are kept," from warder "to keep, guard" (see ward (v.)) + robe "garment" (see robe). Meaning "a person's stock of clothes for wearing" is recorded from c.1400. Sense of "movable closed cupboard for wearing apparel" is recorded from 1794. Meaning "room in which theatrical costumes are kept" is attested from 1711. (Online Dictionary of Etymology)
Merriam-Webster Online adds:
Main Entry: 1privy
Function: adjective
Pronunciation: 'pri-ve
Etymology: Middle English prive, from Old French privé, from Latin privatus private
1 a : PRIVATE , WITHDRAWN b : SECRET
2 : belonging or relating to a person in one's individual rather than official capacity
3 : admitted as one sharing in a secret - priv·i·ly/-v&-le/ adverb
which evidently led to:
Main Entry: 2privy
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural priv·ies
1 a : a small building having a bench with holes through which the user may defecate or urinate b : TOILET 3b
ncrgnru -- Now, Cherries--Robena Grant needs red underwear!
Yes BCB - "no worries" is used a lot over here. I say it a lot, actually.
There is a derivation of it - "no wucking furries" or shortened to "no wuckers" which translated means no f#@ing worries.
Yes, we are uncouth. I think we are stil rebelling against the English - with apologies to all our wonderful English CB's.
And yes rg I took offense to the slut reference by Tom too.
And for zaza - check out We Got Trouble Right Here by Bob and you'll know all about the old fart.
juaqssn - jesus, you are quick Shane. Strip now. ( sorry LITTE talking)
And yes rg I took offense to the slut reference by Tom too.
Oh I knew it was for me but I didn't respond. Well, I did and then deleted the comment. I said I found it interesting that men could have sex to find out if they were in love with the woman but if a woman did that she was tagged a slut? Huh. Then I really went off on there being no penis envy anymore and women being able to take care of themselves, thank you very much. And then I ranted about the sexual revolution and girls and their toys and how most men are wuckers (grin ... I don't really mean that) Oh and I also got in a bit about women not being the vessel for man's seed. I had such fun. Then I deleted it all because I knew that he was probably playing with himself while waiting for a response like that.
Tal, red underwear? Hell, I thought my shopping was all done, I'd bought the leopard, and the bright pink, got a few of those "Pink" thongs from Victoria's Secret, the purple with red feathers, oh yeah, and the one with the pearl string ...
rg
Ouch a thong with a pearl string, rg? OUCH!
I don't know how but I must have missed the slut comment. I must have been reading with my bad eye. Don't take it to heart, ladies. Just consider the source.
blue wxwgjwfo
Why Xaveir? Why give Jenny worries for others?
RG--It's much more fun shopping the Frederick's of Hollywood catalogue than Victoria's Secret. Victoria's Christmas catalogue doesn't have jockstraps with reindeer on them that play "Jingle Bells."
emiiflxf -- Even my illicit identity folder leaves Xavier fluffy.
==========================
At 20/7/06 5:40 PM, Louis said...
Welcome, mini-mia
==========================
At 20/7/06 10:02 PM, Scope Dope Cherrybomb said...
Welcome to Bryan and Mini-mia.
==========================
Thanks guys.
Mini-Mia
catch-up (that i know no one will read because you are all off around july 27th or so. oh wait, today's the 22nd? huh):
first deb comment was funny.
dee said "And dang it all, I missed saying goodbye to OH. And I will miss her! So if she happens to drop by and you guys see her, tell her hi from me!!"
i missed you too. (and yes, basically i copied this because i'm vain and like to collect compliments).
sickness: as you guys already said, ginger ale, club soda, (plain) crackers, chicken soup (unless you are so hot cause that just makes it uncomfy in bed as you sweat), tea, and water. lots of water. always with the H2O. makes you pee and flushes your system and water is always good for you (even if they never did prove that 8 bottles a day is good for you and that most of the water is polluted). so, water. oh, and for something or other brandy- or was it burbon?- helps. and salt water to gargle with if sore throat.
headaches: i get constant headaches, so mostly i ignore them. if bad take ibuprofen, drink gatorade, do certain relexology. if migraine lay down on bed, lights out, and try not to think/feel. try to go to sleep and normally when wake up it's managable.
poems: loved all the ones you did, esp the dirty ones (oh, come on, i'm 18, and you, yeah you, over there, and well, you too, both of you were laughing). only have 2 poems still memorized out of about ten (mostly shel), though i used to be able to do large blocks of Seuss dialogue.
"Little Abigail and the Beautiful Pony" by Shel (a classic)
Emily Dickinson:
Faith is a fine invention
when gentlemen can see;
but microscopes are prudent
in an Emergency!
ok, looked it up to get you a title: Part One: Life, LVI and the caps (didn't show them right) but saw that the line here is "For gentlemen who see", so not sure which is correct version (i like mine better)
but very cool i recognized them all
g-g asked "So why was Bob's thing squicky while the whole sister thing in Crazy for You is not squicky?"
ah, great response an then forgot (my mom kept stealing the computer from me), but just the way it was done, and also there was always that lust and they faught it and by the time they get around to it all three characters (hero/heroine and the sister) are in a place where it doesn't matter. the nun thing is icky. read a boo kwhere the guy had sex with one sister, that sister died or was kidnapped or someting and then started having sex with other sister. that was gross. it was tasteless. Jenny's book had taste (it did, Jenny, i wouldn't lie). i guess it's one of those "i know porn when i see it" things.
ok, didn't read article yet but there was something about magic is in the ordinary and it's fiction so having to suspend belief (to a point) is ok and something something...10 or so hour drive after little sleep (my mom snores WAAAAAY too loud) and you guys aren't reading this anyways so whatever. never believe everything you read fully and if you write always research the topic using reference books not other fiction books in that time period. my little adivce there that you all are missing.
BCB said "I could be curled up in a broken bloodied heap and everyone would just step over me and keep going."
you mean we weren't supposed to? kidding. couldn't stop myself, even if i am dead to the world. we love you and care about you. well, not so sure about Bob, but the rest of us give CB love to you. ok, scope dope and I give CB love to you. (i don't think anyone responded to this statement).
ok, welcome mini-mia and bryan. charity_s fell better. tigress: sorry about dad. zaza: glad mom recovered. scope dope: be careful! CMS: definitely good daughter.
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orangehands said...
ok, welcome mini-mia and bryan.
===============================
Thanks...
Mini-Mia
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