n.l. thanks for the cold water push to get me to spill!

We all have to fight about something. And sometimes when we fight with each other, it’s just to make each other better at what we do.

I know I need it: cold water in my face at least three times a day.

And so do the people who won’t admit complacency rules their lives. Especially in the little city of Bakersfield, from where I write.

Let’s get people to riot about words, books, ideas, music, life… and then let’s celebrate making a difference at the end of the day; even if the difference is minimal.

Claudia - Hi! Glad you’re here! Send me the html for that link and I’ll fix it for you. Right now it’s not working.

Robin - Okay, Robin, I’m laughing like crazy during that first story and then plummeting on the next. I’m sorry about your friend. Both of those stories are worth reading in a book so hop to it. xo

Lance - How come I have no doubts about your book?

n.l. - A precious-metal apple on blue string? You are awesome. But this doesn’t mean the fight is over.

Shelley - You mean it? You think the diving coach loved me afterall?

I love the story you told and the I-ching quote. This you have to use in a novel because it’s spellbinding: She brought me gladiolas while I was sick in bed. She was wearing all red.

Michael - Welcome! Now, is this the Michael I know with the tattoos?

Here’s one of my stories of obsession.
At 17, I was obsessed with an artist that was two years older than me and one inch taller. She had long jet black hair and the face of an english preraphealite warrior in a helmut. She and I kissed long deep kisses. I would think about her all the time. Once I ran into her on my way home from a Sufi alchemical meditation retreat. She had taken acid. She said she could hardly see me because of the light coming off of my face. We kissed ecstaticly.
I lived in Cambridge and she lived in Boston and invited me to a late night party at her loft. Even though it was in the middle of a snow storm, I ran to her party and ended up catching pneumonia. She brought me gladiolas while I was sick in bed. She was wearing all red.
At one point, she asked me what I wanted with the relationship. She said she wanted to loosen grip and behold the mountain, a quote from the I-Ching. I took this quote to mean that she wasn’t sure if she wanted to see me romantically. It took a while to get used to the idea but when I finally accepted this, she phoned me from the Pentagon. She was having lunch with her father there and some of his coworkers. She thought of me because the Pentagon workers were so opposite from who I was in her eyes. She called to say she was interested in what I wanted in the relationship. I was confused and said I was ready to loosen grip and behold the mountain.
In retrospect, I think loosen grip and behold the mountain means to let go of your desire for what you want something to be and see what really is before you.

Oh, hell with it…

OK, yes, I think I have to move you into the third slot for the Bronze apple. DW still gets second place because he was a kid in a nudist camp, and Susan still keeps her #1 ranking for kicking ass and being the original apple pee-er.

This is all unofficial.

Except on Paperback Writer… where we also hand out apple pie.