*To read or add to the 160 comments on this post, click here. And thanks for visiting.*
Steve the dog on summer vacation.
LitPark goes on summer vacation beginning today, and I have a few things to wrap up before my link-to-Tommy-Kane contest winner, Laura Benedict, gets a moment to shine.
Some interesting end-of-the-season stats: The single search phrase that brings the most people to LitPark is “Daniel Handler.” And if people didn’t spell and mispell his name in so many ways, the winner would be “Peter de Seve.” The photo that brings the most people to LitPark is Josh, half-in-drag. The highest number of clicks to LitPark come from my MySpace page and second from Neil Gaiman’s blog. Some of the creepiest people find LitPark in their search for Ritchie’s street address. And the spam filter has bagged over 4,000 porn links.
Oh, right, my answers to the Questions of the Week (I’ll keep it short today): My phobias are snakes and very small spaces. This seems to include sleeves, which is why I’m almost always in a tank top, even in the winter. Favorite Hendrix tunes are Crosstown Traffic and Little Wing.
Thank you to everyone who lurks and plays here, and particularly to those who answered the Question of the Week: Simon Haynes, Nathalie, lance reynald, Colin Matthew, amy, Lauren Baratz-Logsted, PD Smith, Michael D. Williams, Alexander Chee, Richard Cooper, Lori Oliva, Betsy, Aurelio, Nicole, Kimberly, Rachna Vohra, Alexi Lykissas, Robin Slick, Anneliese, Laura Benedict, Lee, Ric Marion, Michael, Stephanie Friedman, Gail Siegel, A.S. King, bruce bauman, james spring, Mark Bastable, Sarah Bain, billie, Carolyn Burns Bass, and Jody Reale. And to Tish Cohen for hanging out with us.
I’m off for the summer - to Montana (to see my brother) and France (just because). Mostly, I’m finalizing my book for St. Martin’s while Mr. Henderson is building me the coolest office ever - you have to go through my wisteria tunnel to get to it! I’ll leave the comments open so you guys can hang out here or post announcements as you like. Have a great summer. Write lots. And play lots. xo
Okay, here’s Laura. Her piece is brilliant, but you’ll find that out soon enough. (And thanks to Pinckney for doing the html on this one. And then thank you even more hugely to my O. Henry award-winning webmaster, Terry Bain, for translating that code to something Mac-friendly!)
*
Meet Howard Richard Baugh, my grandfather. Born in 1904. A civil servant, stamp collector, constant reader, diabetic, yellow-dog Democrat. Certainly not a murderer. I wont say that he was a peaceful man because I remember him angry, often, mostly over baseball and politics or the lateness of dinner. Though he was always gentle with me.
I never set out to write about anyone in my family. They are too tender, too charmingly insecure, and I dont want them angry with me. Maybe I thought that my grandfathers being dead made it okay. Maybe.
Amanda Cockrells spring writing workshop at
This is how the house lives in my dreams: I dream of its basement, of the shelves and shelves of canned goods stacked behind cracking window shades hung to keep the dust from them, of the well-swept concrete floor where my mother said she roller-skated as a child, though I can hardly imagine anyone wanting to play down there, of the off-season clothes hanging like human shadows in zippered bags from the ceiling. I dream these thingsreal things that I knewbut there is something else, a dream-thing: the secret room at the bottom of the stairs.
I was, perhaps, ten the first time I had the dream. My grandmother leads me down the stairs to show me the door, and though she doesnt say anything, I know that its important. There is a hallway behind the door, and three rooms. The rooms are identical, painted a peaceful blue, each with a single, white bed over which hangs a large crucifix. My mother is in one room, lying on the bed with her eyes closeddead or sleepingand my grandmother shows me herself lying in the second room. Neither of us is afraid, and I am unsurprised. But I know what is waiting in the third room: the bed is empty, but I know it is for me.
Is it any wonder that I would write about this house that lives so vividly inside me? My grandfather is a part of that place, inseparable from it. My grandmother, too.
They puzzled me. They ate almost every single meal together. But they slept in separate bedrooms and spent most of the day apart: he went to the library, the post office, the grocery or to whatever discount store had something useful on special. When he returned, he would write down every single penny spent in a ledger. My grandmother? She cooked, she read, she watched soap operas, she cleaned. Sometimes she went to bingo, taking me with her (beginning when I was five or six) to the smoke-filled church hall where she would give me a single card to play.
But there was tension, and isnt it always tension that motivates us? There was a distance between them, something that went unspoken. I didnt find out until I was in my thirties that my grandmother had been married before, to a young man who died when his appendix burst after being sent home from the doctors office, undiagnosed.
Everything Id ever wondered about my grandparents fell into place with this piece of information. I cant know what their relationship was really like. Perhaps they had resolved her past between them, early on. Perhaps they were just exhausted from my grandfathers raucous snoring. Perhaps it was the lack of air conditioning in the house. Perhaps it was all in my head. But the tragic/romantic explanation appealed to the drama queen in me.
What better way for me to make sense of their story than by making it my own? My first efforts at fictionalizing that ineffable tension were weak. Im not good at literary nuance, that artful play of language that telegraphs emotion rather than broadcasting it. I need the broad stroke: nascent fears become murderous impulses, small irritations become grand jealousies. And so, H.R. Baugh, a man who liked control and who lived an ordinary existence filled with everyday frustrations, became a murderer. My grandmother, a smart, reticent woman became the repressed romantic heroine who was so desirable that she incited violence. I love that juxtaposition of reality and fantasy, the inherent conflict. I dont think my grandfather was truly capable of murderbut the anger and conflict I witnessed (or imagined) as a child lodged somewhere deep in my brain. A writers brain makes some startling rationalizations.
It took six major revisions before In A White House, a story of domestic discomfort written for a literary workshop, became The Erstwhile Groom, a story of broken hearts and multiple murders. It was a turning point for me, an acceptance of my vocation as a thriller writer. It is a gentle pieceas murder tales go. As I wrote in my regular myspace blog recently, my current writing is populated by rougher characters: the angry heroin addict with a thing for his sister, the childless woman whose grip on reality is tenuous at best, the twin succubi, the faded rock star who slides, effortlessly, into murderous madness. But I think I would have to draw the line at putting twin succubi in the same scene with a character who bears even a slight resemblance to someone I loved with my childish heart. The Erstwhile Groom will appear this summer in Ellery Queens Mystery Magazine, a wonderful magazine of short stories featuring mystery and murder, but very few incest-driven heroin addicts.
I dont think Im finished with my grandparents, or their house. I sure hope they dont mind.
Laura Benedict’s debut novel, Isabella Moon, will be published in September by Ballantine Books, with a second thriller to follow in 2008. Her short fiction has appeared in Ellery Queens Mystery Magazine and a number of anthologies. In October, Press 53 will publish Surreal South, a short story anthology she co-edited with her husband, Pinckney Benedict. For the past decade, she has also reviewed books for The Grand Rapids Press (Michigan) and other newspapers. She lives with her family in rural southern Illinois, a lonely, enchanted sort of place that offers excellent inspiration for writing thrillers. Visit her at www.laurabenedict.com, or read her regular blog on her MySpace page.
159 Comments
Oh, Susan! Thank you for this wonderful peek at Laura and her life. Have a great vacation– we’ll keep the teeter-totters warm and hold a good swing for your return.
And to YOU, dear Laura, this was so FUN! It’s always enlightening to learn an author’s influences and the backstory that gives them their unique voice, but even more lovely when it’s someone you know and truly like. You were a gorgeous baby, are a gorgeous person, and I wish you all the luck in the world with Isabella Moon.
Great essay, Laura. I enjoyed it very much.
Susan, have a wonderful, relaxing summer. Your new office sounds perfect.
We have the same fave!!! :) :) :) (Little Wing, for those of you who missed it!)
Susan, you’ll be missed this summer! I’m forever grateful to ‘She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named’ for introducing me to Mr. H and thereby you (& Green-Hand and Bach-Boy) and consequently your amazing talents and continual inspiration!
Laura, a beautiful essay for sure! Oh, I can’t wait to hit Amazon and ordering my summer reading list and adding yet ANOTHER LitPark regular to it (even if Isabella Moon will actually be on the Autumn order…) YAY!
My summer blessing to all of you is this: May it be a constant 72-degrees and breezy in your brain!
Laura,
I chuckled along with different bits and bobs “hanging like human shadows,” but you made me LOL at the “drama queen,” followed by your baby picture.
Thank you for that.
Ever since I got my dog, and find myself out at all hours to take him for his business, I feel the allure of thriller writing. I see things that were never seen during the usual daylight hours in the neighborhood - going between my car and the front door. Now I see a lady who gets behind bushes and stoops - what’s she doing there? And a man, once a month, walks around the big apartment complex tossing handfuls of something into the bushes - what’s up with that?
Anyhoo - just wanted to respond that this was a fun read.
Thanks and Happy Summer to All!
Welcome to my life, Anneliese! Doesn’t the guy tossing things into bushes just make you think of Hitchcock’s/Cornell Woolrich’s “Rear Window?” It’s a whole novel right there! I’m so glad you laughed. It was fun to write–though I had anxiety dreams last night that my mother would hate it….
Thanks, Margy, Kimberly, and Myfanwy for giving it a read. Though I have to draw the line at “gorgeous,” Margy. I was as bald as an egg until I was three.
Laura - This is just a fabulous piece and I have a lot to say about it, and will once I come out of my fog. I missed my first train back from the city last night and had to catch the 1:41. People are different at that time of night. At 4-ish, when I got home, I had to walk 7 blocks from the station. I’m so so so tired and trying to type in the writing I did yesterday in between conferencing and socializing.
I’m a little nervous about mentioning all the great people I spent time with yesterday because I don’t like leaving people out and I can’t possibly name everybody. But…. I spent a nice long time with Robin Slick, finally met her son (the great Adrian Belew drummer), and lots of time with Tish Cohen and Patry Francis and Bella Stander (we all had African fusion dinner together). Talked with Miss Snark and Lauren Baratz-Logsted and Carolyn Burns Bass and Renee Rosen and Mark Bastable and Jessica Keener and Jason Boog and Robin Grantham and A.S. King and Mark Sarvas and Budd Parr and Dan Wickett and Darrin and the man who was once Mad Max Perkins. I said hi to Michael Cader but he was so cute I got nervous and ran away.
Tonight’s the last night of Chinese school until summer break. Wheee! I owe lots of people mail, and I’ll get to it. I have to finish this chunk of edits first and thanks for understanding.
Oh, hey, MySpace people. Speaking of Neil - there’s now a MySpace page for his movie, STARDUST, coming soon with Robert De Niro, Michelle Pfeiffer and Claire Danes. It would be nice of you to “friend” STARDUST: http://www.myspace.com/stardustmovie
I’m going to try to link the trailer. We’ll see if it works. And remember - the book is always better.
Stardust Trailer
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I want to thank everyone who linked me. You are all a great bunch of people. This is one of the best on-line communities around. Plus you are all so smart and of course we are all lucky to have Susan.
The trailer works great. I can’t wait to see this film–what a visual feast!
Tommy Kane, you are delightfully pithy.
Hmmm. Well, at our last Chinese class, we found out there’s two more classes to go. This is kind of how my head’s been since I got my book edits.
Margy, Myf, Anneliese, thank you.
Kimberly, you haven’t been over since our February global warming bbq, have you? We’ll have to fix that.
I like you, Tommy Kane. I’m glad you’re here.
Laura, Neil has 3 movies coming out this year, and I’m even more excited about the other two: Beowulf (he did the screenplay adaptation) and Coraline (which is a freaky little book, and the guy who animated Nightmare Before Xmas is doing it). I’ll bet movie folks come calling for your book, too.
Ack. Beowulf. I have adopted it as my own personal spiritual/ancestral history: the tale of the really angry blonde people. Seamus Heaney’s translation is a miracle and all others should be banned as methods of high-school torture. And Coraline. I may swoon, right here.
Heaney’s translation is an absolute masterpiece. I’m the one in the bookstore who sits on the floor in the corner with every single translation of a book turned to some very particular passage, and I go back and forth between them with my strong opinions. And most translations fail somewhere - they have to - you preserve the poetry and rhythm and it costs you the layered meaning, and so on. I love Robert Fagle as a translator. And was it Merwin who did Purgatorio? Someone did the most phenomenal translation of Dante, and I can’t think of who it was. Anyway, this is me procrastinating typing in my notes because I wrote them too small all around the edges of the paper so I have to keep turning and turning it. One very last tangent: I saw Heaney read in NY (at that big library that looks like a museum) a couple of years ago, and when he read “Digging” (the one about potatoes) - God, and with his accent - my legs went to jelly. You’d have thought I was at a Beatles concert.
Okay, back to work. Glad to know another geek. Don’t get me started on Virgil.
oh wow…I mean WOW!
I love my family in ways only a writer can, but I’ve not yet thought of pushing the limits that far…
now the mind reels… (insert the writer staring above desk at a few family photos, wondering.)
and some interesting recent events in Lance-land may land him spending considerable time with family in the near future…that and I need a break.
still considering hitching my way to Montana.
Laura- BRILLIANT piece of writing.
Wondertwin- all my best to you for the Summer, I’m deadly jealous of the wisteria tunnel. We have to find some time to regroup soon, but I’m diving deep into the cave for a while; fear not….I have flares.
Have a great summer everyone; and whatever you do….write it out!!
I’m glad you have flares, Wondertwin. And don’t forget the Reese’s. You don’t want to find yourself in a cave without Reese’s peanut butter cups.
Thanks, Janet, for sending me these photos from Saturday.
Nancy, Maddy, me, Mr. H, Ritchie, Candy, Kathy’s hands
Usually around 3 or 4am, people start to sit around in a circle and pass a guitar around. I like to be uncooperative because I only sing in the shower. Mr. H brings his own guitar because he plays flamenco, which involves a lot of tapping and banging on the wood, and he doesn’t want to hurt Ritchie’s guitar.
me, Mr. H, Candy
Summer without Susan and LitPark — as if it weren’t already hard enough to write while trying to avoid squirt gun crossfire and sunburns. Don’t they have Internet in France?
Just kidding. I hope you have a wonderful summer that includes at least one squirt gun fight (but not at the airport).
It was so nice to meet some of you in person at Backspace. I’m feeling like a very lucky woman today. Having books in my life is wonderful enough, but to have books AND other people who love them and write them — it doesn’t get much better than that.
And now, if I can get myself off the computer, I’m going to wander the streets of New York, while thinking about roller skating in the basement, and the secret room at the bottom of the stairs. (We had one, too. We would fill it with coats and, when we weren’t too terrified, we’d jump into them. Good times.) Thanks, Laura.
I’ll try to be less of a lurker!
Laura - this was a lovely piece. The description of the basement is masterful.
Susan — great photos. You are so busy! You need a break. Have an exhilarating AND relaxing summer.
Beowulf. The Heaney translation is so great. At Bennington I wrote an essay about all the different names for the dragon. You just HAVE to read that book out loud. It’s irresistable.
Gail–Yes! My daughter and I read the Heaney out loud when we homeschooled. Irresistible is a great word for it. Thanks for liking the piece, Gail.
Robin–a real secret room? I’m so jealous. (It *is* hard to get off the computer, isn’t it? I think I’m addicted….)
Hi, Lance! I figure that the people close to me always assume they’ll see themselves in my work, so I might as well go ahead do it. I’ve always loved the saying: “Just because you’re paranoid, it doesn’t mean there isn’t really something to be afraid of.”
Laura — It was at my aunt’s house. They rented, and the landlord had sealed off the door (at the bottom of a stairway) that opened to the basement. So, when you went halfway down the stairs and turned the corner — there it was. Dark, steep, musty . . . if there was a light, it never worked. It was a very old house with a winding staircase and three floors — in downtown Cleveland. The third floor was empty, so we’d pretend that all manner of beast and fiend lived up there.
As you see, I’m back on the computer. ;~)
Laura, what a wonderful essay. Amazing.
Robin G., Susan, Lauren, Mark, Amy/Stella, Carolyn, Karen, Tish, Patry et al…I can’t believe I got to meet you and what a blast that was. I’m still on a high from it.
I don’t know that I’ll ever recover from the David Morrell lecture but between that and hanging out with all of you, I’ve been writing since daybreak and my poor husband just said to me, “Aren’t we eating today?”
No. No, we are not. I want to go back to the Algonquin and drink martinis and eat those weird little bar snacks and nothing else satisfy me. But he’s insisting on pizza so what can I do.
Susan, you don’t want to know what Eric said when I showed him the photo of you and Ritchie but I will tell you anyway. “Remember when I told you I really liked Sue and she was really pretty? Oh my god, Mom, she’s like in Scarlett Johanssen (sp?) territory.”
And he dug Ritchie’s boots. But said “Please don’t buy them for me - I know you and how you operate but I’m a Converse All-Stars kind of guy. Now if you’d like to buy me a couple new pair of them…”
Have a great summer, everyone.
xo
Robin G, it was so great to finally meet you in real life and to have some time in the diner together.
And this is funny - Robin posted something about the conference on her blog, including this, in which she calls me “almost terrifyingly vulnerable.” It’s like I got a psychic reading or something. (Robin Slick, you got a psychic reading, too. How come no one ever describes me as “cool”?!)
Gail, you’re right, I need to slow down. I miss you. I could use another one of our roadtrips and talk-a-thons.
Robin, Tell Eric I love him forever. About the boots, that was the first time in a long time R didn’t wear bells on his boots. You’ll have to look out for the character in my novel with the bells tied to the shoelaces.
Robin G–Wow. Who could make up such a place? Isn’t it strange how it’s now this gift, just waiting in your mind to make whatever you will of it? *sigh*
Robin S–Thank you so much. And your son has excellent taste in women!
Thanks Laura, what a wonderful piece! Thanks too for that super definition of ‘literary nuance’: “that artful play of language that telegraphs emotion rather than broadcasting it”. That’s a nice phrase. (And not the only one here I hasten to add!)
Enjoy your wisteria walks to your office Susan & to others at Litpark: have a great summer …
Susan – Maybe you’re so cool that it wouldn’t be cool to say you’re cool. Have you thought of that? :~)
Laura – That’s exactly what I thought when I was writing that down. Well, more along the lines of “And why haven’t I used this somewhere?†Thanks for inspiring me to bring it back to the surface.
Robin S. – I think my hubby was a little overwhelmed by the Backspace fallout, too. You’d think he’d be used to me by now.
David Morrell gave me goose bumps. I was also happy I’m not the only one who has vivid daydreams. Now I can stop thinking of them as “hallucinations.â€
Thanks, Peter.
I’ve heard the most incredible things about David Morrell’s speech, not just here. If anyone taped it and wants to link it here as an mp3 or youtube, go for it.
Kenny, are we still on for soccer if it rains?
Brian, you made me laugh so hard this morning! I won’t tell you which part.
Okay, back to my book…..
Peter–You’re so nice. Thank you!
Susan–This has been a blast. You have so many wonderful, generous readers. A thousand thank-yous for letting me be part of the fun.
I can’t wait to read the book, hear about your summer, and see what you have up your dainty sleeve for the fall!
(And I’m jealous of your wisteria bower/office already.)
I scored one goal today at soccer (big assist from Romanian Pete). Other than soccer, I’ve been working all day on “the difficult chapter.”
This is for Ken, Liesl, Chimamanda, and anyone else who might be interested. From the NewPages blog:
Call for Submissions: Narratives of Africa
a.magazine: nonfiction narratives of Africa — due to launch in 2007 — is the first exclusively nonfiction literary magazine dedicated to publishing Africa’s stories by writers from across the globe, and, most importantly, emerging and established writers who call the continent of Africa their home. a.magazine is published quarterly, available in U.S. bookstores and to subscribers worldwide.
Okay, back to my book.
Nice story, Laura.
It seems that even if you had try to avoid placing your story in that specific house, it would have still come to haunt you.
Have a nice holiday Susan.
Enjoy it all. (where in France are you going ? The nosey froggy’d like to know.)
Thanks for fixing that glitch, t.
Laura, it’s been so great having you here and seeing how you work behind the curtain.
Nathalie, I’ll be in Paris some, and then we’re floating on the Luciole for a week with wine and olives and baguettes. I miss my pets something fierce when I travel. That’s the tough part.
Well done, Laura. The dream is creepy (and wonderful) and reminds me of a dream my aunt recently shared where she walks into a room barely large enough to hold the coffin placed within it. She moves the coffin away from each of the walls so she can paint them. Crazy. Fabulous. Like your dream. Thanks for guest-hosting. Thanks, Susan, for sharing your space. Have a great summer. I’m jealous of your wisteria-covered secret writing world.
I just finished my novel edits. They were so hard. I had to hammer out one emotional scene after another and rebuild the ending after I’d torn it to bits. God, I’m crying like a baby.
Thanks to everyone who sent notes of support, thanks to those of you who watched me fall apart this week and didn’t leave me.
God, this was hard. I’ve been wanting to cry for days and haven’t had time. I’m making up for it now.
Well done for the edits, Susan.
If you need tips about Paris, send me a note.
N.
Nathalie, thank you. I haven’t been to Paris in years and could definitely use a list of must-sees.
Conference photos are starting to come in. Someone sent me this teeny tiny photo. If anyone has the full-size version, I’d be happy to post, as long as everyone in the photo is cool with that. I’m second on the left.
Second on the left again. This is our panel, and we’re obviously listening to our moderator, Jeff Kleinman, crack us up. Renee Rosen, on the end, was the nicest surprise to meet. We share an editor. The others I already knew. Mark’s a crack-up, himself.
This photo comes from Carolyn, who posted a bunch of others in her MySpace picture folder.
Susan,
My favourite area in Paris is Le Marais (Start walking from Musee Beaubourg toward Place de la Bastille, because it hosts loads of old buidlings, boutiques, art galeries, restaurants, theaters and bars.
Oh and at least 2 nice tea shops (Mariage frères, 30 Rue du Bourg Tibourg and Le Palais des Thés - 64 Rue Vieille du Temple)
And the isles (especially Iles Saint Louis) …
A few restaurants (In Marais)
A classic Brasserie: Boffinger (near Place de la Bastille)
3 rue Bastille
Le Dos de la Baleine
40 r Blancs Manteaux
A (tiny but excellent) vegeterian:
Le Potager du Marais
22 r Rambuteau (that’s near Beaubourg)
And plenty of alternatives anywhere…
Drop me a line if you have special queries, since I have no clue about what might interest you.
N.
Nathalie, thanks so much for this. I’ll definitely use it!
And Oprah just picked Jeff Eugenides’ MIDDLESEX for her book club. Wow, this pick and the last are really good, and what a hell of a run Jeffrey’s having on his book.
I am NOT writing today! I feel great, and my mood is swinging back to (my) normal.
Josh, yes, I think so. I’ll email you. I’m many hundreds of emails behind. I’ll get to them tomorrow.
Sorry to make so many announcements, but for those still hanging out here, this is from Jill Gurr, a past guest on LitPark:
CNN has decided that another story about a man with tuberculosis should be aired tonight in our place.
Therefore, they have postponed the segment on Anderson Cooper 360 featuring Create Now! until next Friday, June 8, 2007. The program starts at 7:00 pm and repeats at 10:00 pm. Our segment will most likely be aired between 7:30 and 8:00 pm (and repeated between 10:30 and 11:00 pm), but please check your local listings for the exact channel and time. Tune in next Friday night to see some of the troubled youth whose lives have been changed as a result of Create Now! programs.
If some other newsworthy program takes our place again, please check the Create Now! website at www.createnow.org for an update.
Thanks,
Jill
More good news for a friend and former LitPark guest. This is Bruce Bauman’s news:
From the Hollywood Reporter…
NEW YORK — Warner Independent Pictures is closing a five-year deal to co-finance and co-produce up to 30 films with new production outfit Volume One.
The move comes as WIP, the specialty film division of Warner Bros. Pictures, looks to add films to its pipeline under new president Polly Cohen. Under terms of the arrangement — which will cover as many as 30 films over a five-year period, whichever comes first — the companies will co-finance and share ownership on the titles.
The companies are looking to jointly produce films in the $5 million-$40 million range. Financing on the projects is likely to be split evenly. Both companies will develop projects to bring to the venture.
New York- and Los Angeles-based Volume One, run by financier Dean Leavitt and producer Gina Resnick, is in the process of raising funds for its share of the alliance. The company is expected to have a strong presence at May’s Festival de Cannes as it ramps up the venture.
WIP declined comment on the deal. Leavitt did not return a call for comment.
Volume One, founded last year, is serving as an executive producer on Terry George’s dramatic thriller “Reservation Road” for Focus Features. The outfit also optioned “And the Word Was,” Bruce Bauman’s novel about a man’s struggle with tragedy.
Resnick’s producing credits include the indie films “Imaginary Heroes,” “Prey for Rock & Roll” and “Thirteen Conversations About One Thing.”
Leavitt previously served as CEO of wireless and payment services company U.S. Wireless Data.
Since founding Volume One, Leavitt has met with several indie distributors about establishing potential film-financing deals.
damnit…
Oprah is on a roll again isn’t she?
I’m gonna have to read Cormac when I finish with my muses, huh?
hey…
how about the grotto?
and, should I do a dispatch? The Grotto files?
xo-LR
oh.
and if it still exists.
The Cafe Del Rio, Paris.
PBR, Coronas, awesome chimichungas.
Lance! You poked your head out of the cave!
That Cormac book is really dark and rough, so just make sure that’s what you’re in the mood for. It will take you to some spooky places.
Let’s hope Cafe Del Rio didn’t go the way of Au Pied de Cochon. I’m definitely going to check out all these recommendations. I’m starting to wonder if I still remember how to speak French. I guess we’ll see when I get there….
xo
Oh, and p.s., a word of warning. I almost lost my MySpace account yesterday for trying to attach a John Lennon song. Don’t mess with the Beatles, huh?
This is an old picture of the wisteria tunnel, two years old, I think, when I was just getting started with it. The door to my office is at the end of it. We’re doing electrics in there right now. Okay, I’m writing again today.
God, I feel like I’m talking to myself here, but I just checked the stats and we’re still in the few thousand page views range, so I’ll post for those of you who are still here:
Robin Slick has a full-wrap of the Backspace conference over at her place.
And if you haven’t seen Tommy Kane’s today, you have to read the words on the portrait he drew. I can’t even tell you how hard I laughed at that fiesty little rant.
not talking to yourself….
I still peek in now and then
xo-LR
Shameless plug for Booking It in New York City, my plog post of Backspace and the amazing chat I had at BEA with John Elder Robison, author of LOOK ME IN THE EYE (an amazing person who writes candidly of his life with Asperger Syndrome, a form of autism). John happens also to be the brother of Augusten Burroughs of SCISSORS fame.
Carolyn, what a great summary of the conference on your blog!
Alex, wow. Who loves Alexander Chee as much as I do? He’s positively shining over on Brad Listi’s brilliant Nervous Breakdown.
Green-Hand’s birthday is this week, and he wants sushi and pumpkin pie for the party. He has kind of a weird stomach like I do. His comfort foods are lemons (including the rind), pickle juice, jalepeno peppers, raw cranberries, pomegranites, anything with olives or baked heads of garlic. It’s fun to go out to dinner with him because he’ll try anything. In China, he ate a bird’s brain. In preschool, he wrote on some little paper that his favorite food was lumpfish caviar. He likes anchovies on his pizza. When he goes to birthday parties, he never eats the cake.
Next time we’re at open-mic, I’m going to see if I can record him doing Blackbird or Tangled Up in Blue. He’s a tiny little guy with a lot of confidence. He could care less if he sang on key.
Not to leave out his big brother, Bach-Boy does a mean version of Martha My Dear, but it’s hard to get him to play it live. He’s tough on himself when he makes mistakes. He had to do some American Idol like project at school so Mr. Henderson made this fun little video of him doing Let It Be. That’s Nelson Mandela’s prison number on his t-shirt.
Bach-Boy singing Let It Be
Obviously I’m having withdrawal issues with my blog.
Thanks to Jodee Stanley and Dan Wickett for linking to LitPark!
1) Laura, thanks for sharing your path to finding your path - I love that you made your granddad a murderer. (Usually the stories that spring to my mind entail me murdering my family.)
2) Sorry I’ve been an infrequent visitor to LitPark lately, Susan and everyone. (I’m being a good little writer-monk.)
3) Susan, have breakfast on the rooftop cafe of the Printemps department store in Paris at least once. The view from there is amazing, and although it’s “cafeteria” presented food, it’s quite fresh and high quality.
Happy summer everyone!
4) I know I’m a day late and a dollar short, but, Tommy Kane, I’m gonna link you on my site links soon too. I promise.
I just had the greatest talk with my editor this morning and all I can say is PHEW. I love her. Before the love, though, I was a wreck and phoned poor Ellen at 10 last night for therapy. I owe you.
Aurelio, I’m definitely hitting that rooftop. And thanks for linking Tommy. He’s doing car talk today so you should fit right in, motor geek. (The Hendersons, by the way, have a very sensible, used Volkswagon Golf. Golf? Gulf? Who knows? The important thing is it’s dark blue.)
Wednesday in the city:
Wednesday, June 13th (8pm), I’m going to see my friend, Pia, read from her new collection at the Happy Ending lounge. Happy Ending is my favorite place to do readings, but even better when I don’t have to take the mic and can just relax and listen to good writing. Antoine Wilson (who hangs out at LitPark now and again) will be reading, too. And Jack Pendarvis, whom I’ve never met, but I hear he’s a funny guy.
Thanks for linking me, Alex!
Susan - take a moment to visit two other places in Paris:
In the 11th Arr right around the corner from the Opera/Bastille, make sure to eat at Cafe de l’Industrie: tiny, quiet inexpensive and the BEST “l’oignon gratinee” around! (and you’ll easily avoid the horrible tourists across the street from the opera house) http://www.frommers.com/destinations/paris/D41507.html But make sure you go to the original - I guess it got popular since the last time I was there (sigh - too long) and they’ve expanded.
There’s also a fab farmer’s & flea market right there on the Boulevard Richard Lenoir (or was it Beau Marchais?) Don’t worry, it’s HUGE. You’ll find it! Great place for gorgeous and inexpensive jewelry!
And as for local shopping? Les Filles dans la Vanille (there are a few stores around the city - one not too far from La Bastille, actually) Adorable French fashion that you can actually wear!!! :)
For thrifting: La mouton a cinq pattes http://www.mouton-a-cinq-pattes.info/ (several around the city) and for museums - I’ll take the Picasso or Musee d’Orsay over the Louvre every time!
The particular shade of green really compliment ‘mes cheveaux rouge’ at the moment, so I’ll just have to happily wish you a wonderful trip and suppress, suppress, suppress! :)
oops - meant “really DOESN’T compliment…”
(and I guess I got excited - didn’t really bother to proof)
Hey, I’m all about cheap jewelry! It drives my father in law crazy because he’s bought me diamonds and pearls and jade and emeralds, and the necklace I always wear is the one I got in China for 25 cents.
So, Kimberly, if you want to, I can ask folks here if they want to be a part of the “waxing interviews.” Do you want to spill? I know James Spring waxes so he can at least share his experience. Mr. Henderson has a women’s study prof contact for you.
Green-Hand and 6 or 7 friends (8? Maybe I should do a head count) are having a slumber party in the basement right now. He got his first Fender stratocaster today. He was playing Back in Black with no shirt on this afternoon and I was cracking up.
Too funny…
I guess I could spill the news here about the new mini-doc I’m working on and see if there are willing candidates floating around on LitPark (although I assume most are writers who, like me, wouldn’t get in front of a camera for less than two years’ worth of mortgage payments…)
So - my question to the summer LitPark crowd is this:
Will you talk to me about waxing???
My current feature film, A PRETTY GIRL, is on hold for a while (our investors disappeared in April).
Some people would take that time to sit back, relax and enjoy the summer: drink a few too many cocktails at summer BBQs, spend lazy days finally catching up on all my back issues of the New Yorker in Central Park and working up the nerve to attend an open mike or two with my guitar and severely out-of-practice vocal prowess.
However, my pal I got this idea to make a short documentary. It’s called “Why We Wax” (for now) and we want to explore WHY women (and some men) choose to remove their (specifically) pubic hair and the social ramifications of being hairless “down there.”
We’re looking for a diverse group women and men to interview: all ethnicities, sexual preference and hirsutosity (did I just make up a new word to define what one’s personal hair level is?)
Don’t wax? We don’t care!!! We’re searching for a wide range of strong opinions. We’d also really like to make a point to include the LGBT point of view as well as straight men and 50+ year-old women; we don’t want to just hear from white women in their 20s and 30s - how boring!
We will be conducting interviews (each will run about an hour in length) in NYC throughout July and are hoping to have it complete by the end of summer.
We’ll throw it out to a couple of festivals and see where it goes! No pressure - we’re really doing this for curiosity and of course… loads of fun!
So let me know if you’re interested in answering a few questions on camera! Our only requirement is that you are willing to speak unmasked. And if you don’t want to do it, but you know someone who would be game to play with us… feel free to pass this on!
We’re still looking for cultural anthropologists/women’s studies professionals (in addition to Mr. H’s contribution), willing MDs or OB/GYNs and individuals who have intimate knowledge about waxing in the adult film industry, since we all know that what is first considered fetish is all-too-quickly ’snatch’ed up (snicker snicker) by the fashionistas and turned mainstream.
Our e-mail for the project is whywewax@gmail.com and we’ll have our myspace page/blog up and running soon (code name: whywewax)
Thanks!
~Kimberly
ps - this is absolutely no budget, therefore we can’t travel anywhere beyond the limitations of the LIRR, NJ Transit or MTA/Metro North for interviews - so if you live in the San Pornando Valley, sadly, we can’t interview you. :(
Kimberly, I’ll stick a note on MySpace this morning and direct people to your note.
Thanks to PD Smith and Bella Stander for linking to LitPark. Bella and I hung out the other weekend, and she included some photos in her post. I’m on the left in both. The first one is me, Tish Cohen, and Jason Pinter, an editor at St. Martin’s.
The second one Miss Snark dodged out of in a hurry. Bella’s the tall one, I’m the one with my eyes half-closed and trying to squeeze into the photo. She identifies everyone else on her blog so go check it out if you can.
See you guys Wednesday at Happy Ending, if you’re there.
Are you off to Paris? Or have I missed the boat & are you back already?
My tip for a Parisian café: Le Boulanger des Invalides Jocteur on the corner of the Ave de Villars and Bd des Invalides. Wonderful Parisian atmosphere…and of course cakes!
Hope the editing is not too stressful…
Hi Peter,
I’m going to France late July. Before that, Montana - and we’re doing the breaks (rattlesnake country) this year so I need to find my kids some high high boots.
Anyone else lose their breath when they clicked on Neil’s blog this morning?
Ha ha - lose my breath? I had a full-fledged coronary.
Oh my god, do I have a waxing story, Kimberly. In fact, I have the waxing story to end all waxing stories. But do I have the guts to go on film and tell it? I’ve been going back and forth all day (yes, I know, get a life, Robin) and even written part of the story out though it’s forever, like, branded,in my brain.
oooh - Robin - you know you’ve got me curious now… :)
Ha ha - I’m afraid I would steal the show, Kimberly.
I’ve always thought it dishonest to call that particular depilatory process “waxing.” It needs to be called “ripping.”
As in a “bikini rip” or “I got my back ripped.”
And before I’m asked, no, I’ve never gone there, never plan to. shudder
Darn it! I’m in Northern California … I’d love to tell the story about the time I got my “ahem” waxed in the shape of a K. Yes … a K. Because I had a boyfriend who was in love with his own initials.
Or how a Brazillian means different things at different places and so this one time, just before leaving for Vegas, I was stripped entirely of my “ahem” and it was SUPER distracting for weeks and inordinately painful at the time. Moral of the story: ALWAYS CLARIFY Brazillian.
I’ve since gone the laser route, and next to getting LASIK it’s the best money I’ve spent on myself.
Further details about my cooch are available to any interested parties. :-)
Okay, I’m laughing too much to even know what to type. I have a feeling this little documentary’s going to be a hit. And Robin, I’m applying all the peer pressure in the world: do it, do it, do it, do it! If I can do a reality tv show, you can sit in Kimberly’s most awesome apartment overlooking Central Park and drinking marga margue mar well I can’t spell them, but you’ll be drinking them, and as always, you’re at the top of your game when you’re telling embarrassing stories. So YES. And then, I suggest Kimberly do an East Coast v West Coast wax off so Aurelio and Nicole don’t feel left out.
Kimberly, click on the Eric Spitznagel link (in the list of interviews), and you’ll understand why immediately. If you want to be in touch with him, I’m happy to do introductions. If he frightens you, it’s okay. It happens to him all the time.
It’s always good to end on a Neil Gaiman note, so Robin, let’s just say I lied when I said I lost my breath. That was supreme understatement. And now I’ve just deleted a whole lot, all to maintain the reputation I have of offering a moderately wholesome blog.
That link again: http://www.neilgaiman.com/journal/2007/06/two-photographs.html (And don’t forget you can click on the photos to make them bigger. God bless!)
Oh Nicole… how I would love to hear your story (I can’t even believe this is my new obsession!) In just the two short weeks I’ve let the cat (ahem) out of the bag, I’ve heard SO MANY STORIES!!! Nicole, did you know that have a design is now - trendily enough - called an “Australian” wax??? Gives “Down Under” a whole new meaning, eh?
So for the record, Rabin has agreed, and if pitchers of Margaritas are the truth serum of choice - then margaritas it will be! (I make the particularly lethal official “Margaritaville” margaritas (what else can you do when your home state is Florida and the state bird (should be) a parrot??? :) (any other Parrotheads here?)
FYI - our MySpace is now live: http://www.myspace.com/whywewax Won’t you be our friend?
Sue - I remember that interview! OMG! Hilarious!
And I promise to try from now on to proof more before clicking the “post comment” button
My apologies to RObin, and to those who abhor the misuse of parentheses!
Kimberly, I fixed your myspace link so it’ll click over now. Boy, I sure didn’t know a lot of this. I feel like I’m back in junior high and nodding my head, pretending I’m in the know. You know?
Hey, did you know Green-Hand still refers to you as “my director”? Here’s little Green-Hand in rehearsal at the Bronx Opera - in honor of his birthday today.
Are you serious??? “My Director?” I don’t know if I’ve ever had a more flattering title!
Happiest of birthdays to ol’ Green-Hand Henderson!
Thanks!
Under “etc.” today:
Dan Handler has a great piece called “Adjusted Income: A little money is actually a lot but a lot of money may not be much.” It’s from the weekend NY Times, on page 106 of the The Magazine. If anyone finds the article online, I’ll link it.
P.S. I know I’m still behind on mail. I’ll catch up tomorrow. The biggest problem is that I’m getting ready to close down the old account, so any mail that comes through there, I can’t actually respond to (it’s all disconnected on my computer) and have to cut and paste it into the new program. It’s a big pain, but I’ll catch up. Apologies if you’re waiting to hear from me.
Isn’t Tommy Kane’s story about the Hell’s Angels just wonderful ?
I would love to participate into Kimberly’s project but alas …
am stuck in blasted Rome.
Yes, wonderful. The stories. The drawings. The whole package.
Kimberly, can’t you travel to Rome to interview Nathalie?
Hm… for Nathalie, I would make an exception! :)
Oh, Susan, that photo of Green Hand is absolutely adorable. My son is graduating HS tonight and I’ve been going through withdrawls for a week.
I’d love for any LitPark playmates to drop in to my blog this week. I’m featuring three of our local Special Olympics athletes who are participating in the Southern California Summer Games this weekend. I’m hoping to get a ton of comments to forward over to them. If you have time, please stop by and cheer on these amazing young athletes.
Here’s the link: http://ovations.blogspot.com/2007/06/applause-for-these-special-athletes.html
As I have been on the wane, perchance to wax?
If this is soccer-Mike-P, it is very funny to know it takes waxing to get you to play at LitPark. I’ll see you Sunday. If it’s some other Mike P, welcome!
Oh and Susan, I did not loose my breath but did something wicked to my neck trying to figure out what he was reading… (those images don’t get nearly big enough - and they say that size is not important!)
And despite the pain, I still had a big fat smile on my face.
Really, Kimberly? :)
Nathalie,
Quando i certi soldi entrano nella mia borsa, sono a Fiumicino subito presto!
I’ll ask him what he’s reading. I’ll tell him that’s the reason we’re all clicking on his picture and trying to enlarge it.
Thank you for the link, Nathalie!
You’re welcome Susan.
I sent a note (the usual “ask Neil” way) asking what it was but since he has not yet updated his journal, I don’t know whether he intends to answer the question or not. If you ask him, maybe he will…
Heard some amazing writing last night. Pia’s story made me cry, wow, and it was soul-filling to spend time together. Antoine and Jack were awesome. Bought all three books; Pia’s is first.
Happy birthday to the lovely Kevin Dolgin.
This is us at KGB last year. From left: Roy Kesey, Pasha Malla, Grant Bailie, Darlin’ Neal, me, Kevin.
I feel a monster writing day coming on. (Thanks for the link today, Daryl!)
Well now, I just heard a song by The Specials and it reminded me of my favorite editor ever. I was talking to an agent about you the other day, TW. And I owe you mail. Give me till tomorrow.
Susan, give up on not blogging. Trust me, it’s not working for any of us and it’s a pain in the neck to keep scrolling down 75 comments. Why not just start a new blurb called “I’m Not Really On Vacation” and let us all go to town with our various observations, remarks, shout outs, good news, etc. — including you.
Ha! Yes, I’m obviousy having issues with taking a break. But my inner obsessive-compulsive personality can’t post a blog that doesn’t have a strict theme and a related interview. So you’ll have to live with the never ending comment thread - if you do rss feed, at least the newest posts will be at the top, right?
Oh, so Robin, the boys have their set list, and if you want to see the show it should be 3 months from now. Here’s the set:
Come Together
A Day in the Life
Hey Jude
Get Back
Eleanor Rigby
Helter Skelter
While My Guitar Gently Weeps
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
Strawberry Fields
Revolution
Back in the USSR
I’m Only Sleeping
She Said, She Said
Yer Blues
Happiness Is a Warm Gun
Taxman
Across the Universe
Good Day Sunshine
Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds
Day Tripper
Pretty cool, huh? Say hi to my favorite drummer!
Will we ALL get an invite to that show??? Sounds AWESOME!!!
Ah, that list of songs brings back such memories.
My husband was the assistant music director for Rock School’s very first Beatle show and he really butted heads with Paul Green over that set list because after Paul asked Gary to provide him with one, Paul then tore it up and only used half of it. Gary is a purist and felt that the kids should only perform songs from the early albums as the Beatles themselves never toured behind songs that appeared on Sgt. Pepper, etc. He also felt that the songs on the early albums were way more suited to beginner students. Paul is not a Beatle fan…arghhhh….and it was hard convincing him to even do a Beatle show because he equates their music to “muzak”. Double arghhh…see Mark Bastable quote about the Beatles to know how I felt about Paul from that point on. This was back in 2000. Paul’s favorite band? Pink Floyd. Need I say more?
Anyway, as it turns out, the kids did a great job but if your branch is able to pull off Revolution, you may be the first ever as that’s the song dropped every time due to the kids’ failure to “get it”…out of tune vocals, oy…I went to a few of the early rehearsals in 2000 and when they did Revolution I had to leave the room.
Your other son isn’t doing AC/DC? Are they both doing Beatles now? Btw, I will get her name for you, but an English professor at Columbia just enrolled her son at your branch. I think her name is Elizabeth Willen but I’m not sure.
P.S. Kimberly and Amy are coming to the Belew show in NYC next Monday…I mean, Monday, June 25. Any way you and David and the kids can make it or will you already be in Montana?
P.P.S. Are we all rushing out today to buy Sue Hubbell’s “Shrinking the Cat”? I mean, if it’s good enough for Neil Gaiman to read under that tree…
Well I went and rushed to buy Avram Davidson’s “Adventures in Unhistory” when he recommended it some months back and I enjoyed it immensely, so…
I am tempted.
I don’t take temptation. I like to have it safely out of the way. Buying the book night just be the thing.
Mmm.
An excuse to buy YET another book.
:)
Hi, LitParkers. Just dropping in to tell your friends about the Surreal South World “Book” Tour contest underway over at our MySpace. Laura and Pinckney Benedict have edited this truly remarkable collection of stories and poems, which won’t be released until October. But we’re sending one copy out into the world early. Check our blog for details and remember to enter every week. You may be one of the first people to get your hands on Surreal South — AND you could be the winner of the very first copy available anywhere!
Check it out
Good luck!
~sheryl, P53
Wow, Robin, and let me know if I should erase this, but I’m really glad PG is kind of hands off this school. The teachers are absolutely psyched about doing the Beatles, and it’s been an unbelievable experience so far, all one week of it. I think it’s a pretty impossible set list to call because there are so many songs I would have included. But I’m psyched about Happiness is a Warm Gun and Good Day Sunshine. They haven’t picked who’s on what song yet, although they heard Bach Boy play and immediately gave him Hey Jude.
They cancelled the AC/DC gig, so it’s all Beatles. Here’s some trivia - did you know Hell’s Bells is the only song I ever learned to play on the guitar? But I think it would have been hard to get my soccer pals out for that show. And who wants to damage the kids’ vocals.
Kimberly -Yes, you and Robin will get invites.
Nathalie - I love Avram Davidson. He’s one of the very few fantasy readers I’ll pick up - unless you count Italo Calvino. I never know what category he counts as.
Sheryl - Looking forward to reading that collection!
I’m off to walk with my neighbor. We’re going to talk in sign language the whole way, and hopefully I won’t walk into a tree - which has been done before. Having a great writing day and might even skip the last night of Chinese school to nail this chapter. Mr. H can take them. Bach-Boy’s getting all kinds of awards tonight - top of the class, first place in the speech contest, and some other one. Elements, maybe? Oh, Robin, we’re not free for that June date but if they’re playing in NY in August, I’ll move everything around to attend.
Ack, I’m late for my walk!
Can’t wait, can’t wait, can’t wait!
Hey, y’all. If you subscribe to the LitPark comments feed, you’ll get each comment delivered into either your web browser or your Outlook inbox. Way cool way to stay in play.
All right, Carolyn! Remind me to hire you as my publicist when the book comes out.
Kimberly, I can’t wait either.
Okay, so Bach-Boy has been studying immigration at school. Earlier in the week his class went to Ellis Island, and next week his class will end the year with a big multi-cultural feast. He was assigned Scotland–and since he and Mr. Henderson read far too much Terry Pratchett, he’ll be bringing haggis to school for the party. Haggis is meant to be served in lamb stomach, but we’re doing the skinless version. And it’s meant to have lung in it, which is actually illegal in this country, so he’s getting an Americanized version of it, also without the whiskey chaser. Can’t wait to find out who eats it.
haggis? scotland?
still in school?
once you remove the lungs, skin and single malt what exactly is left? and is he doing this whole thing in a kilt?
so many details omitted.
and are you sure you’re not interested in taking all of this into a mid-summers Blog post, this comment thread is getting out of control.
I don’t know how to do that whole linky thingy in here, but I have a bit over at TNB this weekend…after that I’m dropping under the radar for a bit. Unless something comes up over here in the neverending thread…then you know I’ll be in again… unless I do end up on the Montana highways (very tempted)
and a note on the previous music refs; do go see the Hell’s Belles if they play your town, seems they’re on constant tour and it’s always an amusing show (even if like me you think you’re almost too old for it)…something for everyone in the all girl cover band.
ok, back to the cave…shoot some flares if ya need me.
darnit, see….broken link.
lets see if this works….
Speaking of the All-Girl cover bands, while I was never much of a Zepplin fan,
I went to a benefit a few weeks ago, and Lez Zepplin (http://www.lezzepplin.com) is AMAZING!!! If you’re a Zepplin fan - I would highly recommend them (even if you’re not - they’re still a great night out!) Their 2007 Summer tour schedule has them playing all over the world - so catch ‘em if you can! (They’re back in NYC at the end of July…)
according to my spelling, I’m clearly not a ZeppElin fan… sorry folks.
One more reason to love Lance: http://www.thenervousbreakdown.com/lance_reynald
Funny band name, Kimberly.
And here’s Green Hand today, not wanting his picture taken. I also tossed a picture of Steve up on the main page because it seemed like it needed a picture.
We’re at this outside street fair kind of thing and I promised my friend I’d go see her son do some dance with this kid’s dance company. The kid is five. And all I can say is I was so seriously yucked out by the Jon Benet Ramseyness of these dances. The kids are all over makeuped. I could live with that. It was the nine year old girls shimmying in nurse’s outfits that came just to the underwear line. Something is really wrong with what we teach kids. There are so many other ways to dance.
He is so cute!
He looks a little like he is humouring you with that “C’mon hurry up, let me get on with my life” faint look in his eyes..
Okay, question here for anyone who is listening…two actually…I need to buy a wedding present for my nephew who I never see and his wife-to-be whom I’ve never met. I want it to be a, ‘wow, that’s a perfect gift and they’ll still have it in 10 years or use it next month’ (no picnic baskets please) and finally, my neighbor’s daughter is off to college and turning 18 so…what’s the best wedding gift you ever got and the best going off to college, turning 18 gift?? (I am thinking about the complete shakespeare as she’s, rather literary for 18)??? Oh and finally, I need to spend a reasonable amount of money not the $250 platter to go with their china…
I got the complete works of Shakespeare for high school graduation (the leather-bound, one-book version) and it came in quite handy when my crappy couch lost a leg… otherwise, I never cracked it. I like the Arden individual volumes much better.
However, I still use the 2-volume Shakespeare Lexicons (Dover) I also received to accompany it - 17 years later.
As for a wedding gift: to quote Bull Durham: “Candlesticks always make nice gifts”
:)
Hope that helps.
I insisted on a secret wedding to ensure we would not get gifts but our witnesses (we HAD to tell them) got us a certificate for a weekend in a spa,which is enjoyable and does not present any taste or storage issues.
For a going away present, I might suggest a cookbook of some sort (depending if she’s going to live on a campus - not sure if the students cook their own meals there - or outside, in a shared flat).
Or a practical thing that might ease her daily life.
Thanks Nathalie!
Sarah - I always buy off the registry list but I try to get the one of a kind thing. I was going to tell a story about wedding gifts but I think the person in the story might read my blog so I’m going to zip it. Everyone needs the complete works of Shakespeare.
Played Father’s Day soccer in 92 degree weather. I had cuts on my foot and they were worse after the game. Then we all trudged through the poison ivy to see an animal that lives in the woods by our soccer field. That it was still a great afternoon shows how much I love my friends.
Oh, p.s. Thank you to all of you who linked me to your Wikipedia pages. I’ve noticed. And thanks to the Steven Barclay Agency for the link!
Some announcements today:
Got a note from Doug Preston, who says the Monster of Florence program will air on Dateline NBC tomorrow (Wednesday, June 20, at 10:00 p.m.). Many of you know Doug has written extensively about this Italian serial killer, and if you click the Douglas Preston link, you can see the yelp he gave me a couple of years ago when he and his writing partner, Mario Spezi, were arrested and accused of being the killer. Anyway, Doug knows he’ll be featured prominently on this show, but doesn’t know in what way.
Other Doug Preston trivia: My “brother” is the voice on his audiotapes.
If you dig the artwork in the background, then you’d really love the shag carpeting!
~
More TV news from the person who doesn’t actual