Who’s Being Stimulated?

My mom called a bit ago to tell me she’d heard a story on CNN mentioning that a second economic stimulus payment is being discussed.  I’d be okay with a second payment so long as they take it out of Exxon Mobil’s record profits for last quarter.

NIN Concert Countdown 2

Two days left ’til the NIN concert.  I’ve pulled together my ticket purchase confirmations and downloaded a copy of the light rail schedule.  Hubby and I have been discussing our plans for the day.  Woohoo!

NIN Concert Countdown 1

Only three days left until the Nine Inch Nails concert at the Target Center in Minneapolis.  The excitement is building, especially because NIN is posting photos from the tour on its website.  Several photos show up each day.  Minneapolis is only the sixth stop on NIN’s Lights in the Sky Over North America Tour.  For an archive of past photos, check Dori Doreau’s NIN Blog & Media Archive.

Short Story Cycle

My talk at church went well yesterday, even though I was nervous and had a moment when my mind completely blanked.  When this happens (the blanking), I stop and admit it and then I’m able to move on.  This was my first public appearance wherein I talked about my Greenville book.

At the end of the talk, I asked if people had questions and they did – very good ones.  Someone asked what I read, thinking perhaps I concentrated on a particular period.  I don’t.  But I did mention my favorites:  Neil Gaiman, Christopher Moore, Frances Hodgson Burnett, a lot of nonfiction.  Someone asked how I knew anyone was going to want to read my book and whether it would be liked.  I answered by saying that after I’ve read one of my stories in writers group, the other writers tend to start talking about the story and the topics presented, rather than about the writing itself.  I’ve taken that as a clue that at least my writing isn’t getting in the way of my stories.  I later told the questioner that I can’t be sure that anyone is going to like my book, but that I wrote it first for myself and I’ll just have to wait and see how it is received.

One of the church attendees was a literature professor.  (He’s a friend – as were many of the other attendees – so this wasn’t intimidating for me.)  I had talked about finding the truth when writing fiction versus nonfiction.  After having done both, I think it’s actually harder to find the truth in nonfiction because there is always more to uncover as far as research.  The lit prof made a good point when he said that he advises his students, when memoir writing, not to confuse truth with Truth.  Got that?  Truth with a big ‘T’ is universal and deep, whereas truth with a little ‘t’ has to do with presenting accurate facts.  Fiction is better at uncovering Truth.  Nonfiction can also present Truth, but I think it’s harder in terms of discussing historical personalities and events.

After church, the lit prof told me that my book, which is a series of linked short stories, is part of a genre called the Short Story Cycle.  I had no idea.  When I started the Greenville series, it was going to be no more than two short stories because I figured I could do a decent job of writing fiction if I didn’t tackle a novel all at once.  I had tried writing a couple of novels prior to beginning Greenville, but didn’t get very far.  (Incidentally, one of those novels was going to be called the “People of the Book,” which I’ve just discovered is the title of a book by Geraldine Brooks.  How weird is that?)  Somewhere during the process of writing the first couple of stories, I heard an author on Minnesota Public Radio say that she wrote a novel using linked short stories because she figured it would be easier.  I totally stole the idea, not knowing that there was a term for writing this way.  The lit prof suggested I read a book – a short story cycle – by Sherwood Anderson called “Winesburg, Ohio,” so I’ll be looking for this the next time I visit the library.

In addition to discovering that Greenville is part of an accepted literary genre, I was also excited to hear that one of the people who heard my talk is part of a book club and she’s interested in being notified when the book is published so she can perhaps have her book club discuss it.  How cool is that?

(P.S. – I started working on a cover for Greenville today.)

(P.S.2 – When I looked at my husband during my talk, he looked a little teary.  I asked him about it afterward and he said he was all misty with pride over me.  Isn’t he sweeter than sweet?)

The Best Intentions

I was going to write a proper post about Neti Pots and other methods for clearing the sinuses tonight, but Hubby and I had to go grocery shopping before the weekend hits.  We’ll be going on a benefit motorcycle ride tomorrow and I’ll be speaking at church about my writing on Sunday.  The church talk will be my first official public engagement wherein I’ll be talking about my Greenville series.  While I’m on the cycle tomorrow, I’ll be mentally organizing my talk.  ‘Bout time I did that, don’t you think?

Next Saturday (not tomorrow), Hubby and I will be attending the Nine Inch Nails concert.  It’s only the sixth date on the band’s Lights in the Sky Over North America tour.  I can hardly believe that day is almost here.

Okay, bedtime.  Daughter is hinting that she wants to use the laptop.  Goodnight!

Drive!

Eldest Son and Daughter are learning how to drive this summer.  The requirements for driving are different now compared to when I was learning to drive.  When I was learning, teens could get a permit at age 15, but not be licensed until age 16.  We were required to take a driver’s ed class that covered the paper permit test (you know, the one that covers all the rules of the road).  Behind-the-Wheel classes were offered, but only kids from upper class families could afford to take them.  Once the permit was earned, we drove with a licensed adult until we felt comfortable enough to take and pass the driving test.  I got my permit at age 16 and didn’t feel comfortable enough to take the test until I was twenty.  I drove thirteen different vehicles before I took my test and then took the test in my boyfriend’s (now husband) 1974 Cadillac Sedan Deville.  Driving that car was like drivin a yacht.  Imagine parallel parking a yacht.  It was the only portion of my test that I really had difficulty with.  The person who gave me my test told me that I took too many maneuvers to parallel park.  I figured that you maneuvered until you got the thing parked.

Nowadays, kids have to go through a graduated driver’s license process.  This has been implemented because too many teens get into serious accidents.  Our kids took the driver’s ed class and took and passed the permit test.  While it doesn’t say this on the Minnesota Graduated Driver’s License site that I linked to, it was made pretty clear that our kids were also required to take a Behind-the-Wheel class.  They’re taking this class now and it’s still expensive, so this could prevent teens living in poverty situations from getting a license.  In addition, teens are required to drive for at least 30 hours (10 of which have to be at night) with supervision.  Our kids have a log they have to keep for this.  After 6 months and their minimum of 30 hours worth of driving, they can apply for a provisional license, which has its own requirements.

I’ve discovered that teaching kids to drive takes nerves of steel.  Giving up control of the steering wheel (and gas pedal and brakes) to someone who doesn’t know how to operate a vehicle is scary for this control freak.  (Daughter will be reading this, so I have to be careful here.  I don’t want to make her feel nervous about driving.)  When we first get into the car with one of the kids at the wheel, my shoulders get tense and my stomach knots.  I get hyper-observant, which makes me realize how much driving has become automatic for me.  After we’ve been in the car for a while and the kids are handling the car fairly smoothly, I start relaxing – not completely, because I’m still looking out for potential hazards for them, but I reach a state of reasonable relaxation.  I think they’ve driven about 4 hours or so each and it gets easier every time we go out.  Eldest Son and Daughter are conscientious kids when it comes to driving, so I have no worries for the long run.

Easter Eggs

My brain is fried.  Not totally, but it’s crispy around the edges.  I’ve been working on Easter eggs.  Not the color-me-purple, pink, green and blue shells of chickens, but the sorts of secret things hidden in video games.  Only my Easter eggs aren’t going into video games; they’re going into Greenville.  While not hard to produce, they are tedious, so I’m not finished even though I’ve spent an entire morning on them.

The Five People You Meet in Heaven

I mentioned the last time I posted that I was reading Mitch Albom’s “The Five People You Meet in Heaven.” I was half-way through when I posted, but I finished this morning.  Here’s part of what I said about the book previously:

“It’s good, but in the long run, I’m not sure how memorable it will be.”

Sounds a little snippy and since I wrote this, I’ve had a good think about it.  What I’ve concluded is that even the books I would consider to be among my favorites, I can’t say that I remember everything about them.  I don’t have a photographic memory, so I can’t mentally reread them.  The memorable-ness of my favorite books is reduced to a glow of fondness, an awe for an author’s writing skill, and/or a key point that gets woven into the fabric of my psyche.  It’s only after I’ve read books many times that the actual language and order of plot become memorable in a recall sort of way.  There are very few books/stories that I’ve reread often enough for this to happen.  Among them are  “The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe, “The Secret Garden” by Frances Hodgson Burnett, “Charlie” by Joan Robinson, “American Gods” by Neil Gaiman, and “Oh Say Can You Say” by Dr. Seuss.  (“Said a book-reading parrot named Hooey, the words in this book are all phooey. . . . .”)  Neal Donald Walsch’s “Conversations with God” series also had a profound impact on me, particularly “God’s” statement that Hitler went to heaven.  That’s heavy-duty stuff right there.  It certainly made me rethink things philosophically.

Speaking of heaven, that brings me back to Mitch Albom’s book, “The Five People You Meet in Heaven.”  This book did everything a good book should do.  It drew me right in and kept me reading.  The language didn’t get in the way of the story.  The characters were well developed and I was immediately on the side of Eddie, the protagonist, who is transformed by the end of the book.  Albom was able to illicit an emotional response from me.  At several points throughout the book, I was in tears, especially at the end.  What seemed to be a predictable unfolding of the story at the half-way point became unpredictable at the end.  I didn’t see it coming.  For all of these reasons, I’d say Albom’s work is masterful.

I’m not sure it was memorable in the sense of me being able to recall the details of the story a year or two from now.  I won’t know that until time has passed.  What I will remember is that Mitch Albom can tell a tight, emotional story.

The Big Read – Albom & Poe

Nothing like getting right to reading something from The Big Read meme list I posted about not long ago.  The list was a top 100 of most read books and for the meme, I had to bold the ones I’d read and italicize the ones I intended to read.  One of my italicized books was Mitch Albom’s “The Five People You Meet in Heaven.”  I ordered this from the library this week and it came in the next day.  I’m already half-way through the book.  It’s good, but in the long run, I’m not sure how memorable it will be.  Dealing with what happens after death or in heaven has been examined so much in books and movies that it really should be its own genre, like sci-fi or romance.  The granddaddy of them all is Charles Dicken’s “A Christmas Carol,” which is also on The Big Read list.

In other Big Read news, I signed up for The Big Read Blog a few weeks ago.  Posts aren’t that frequent, which is just fine with me.  The site is run through the National Endowment for the Arts – a dot-gov site – so no comments or pingbacks are allowed.  (Your government at work!  Isn’t it funny that we can’t allow comments on a blog about reading in a democratic republic?)  Anyway, David Kipen posted a fabulously crafted commentary about visiting an Edgar Allan Poe museum in Richmond, Virginia.  Kipen says the following about the flagstone buildings the museum inhabits:

Poe never actually lived here, but we’re assured he visited the place during his army days sometime between 1827 and 1829, as part of a detachment attending the visiting Marquis de Lafayette. This is pretty much the literary equivalent of “George Washington Would Have Slept Here If He Hadn’t Thought Better of It and Slept Someplace Else,” but somehow it works.

The museum person in me is tickled by this, the need to sidle up to historical figures and claim them, even when the connection to said figure is tenuous at best.  Tickled, but also saddened.  I hear these sorts of claims to a particular local famous person so often that they’ve become humorous, but they’re also sad in that the people who do this don’t stop to think about how impressive their own families are.

I have to say, Kipen’s blog post makes me want to visit this Poe museum if I ever make it to the area.  I’m also intrigued by his idea of studying the handwriting of great authors to see what it can tell us, rather than having graphologists merely stick with the handwriting of criminals.  What do you think your handwriting would say about you?

Feeling Writerly

The past couple of days, I’ve been feeling particularly writerly.  As a writer, I have a continual writing-related narrative running through my head, sort of like a low-grade fever, but there are some days when a strong writerly feeling overcomes me and character descriptions, clever phrases, and bits of stories come with unusual ease.  It’s a nice feeling, although I may appear to be living my physical life in a fog.  Strangely (and this will contradict what I’ve just said), my powers of observation for tiny things seem to be heightened during this state.

During my latest bout of feeling writerly, the following thoughts have occurred to me:

1.  A phrase:  Way back in the forever ago.

2.  An observation:  The nether land between town and country – where one is so close to the city, one should be getting services the city gets, but the city and private businesses consider the property to be country, so they can’t be bothered to provide these services.

3.  A character:  A lonely man who collects very small metal things – used staples retrieved from recycled office papers, crinkled twisty-ties, and unwanted paper clips.

4.  Another observation:  A study in screen doors.  This I thought of while on a motorcycle ride with Hubby last night.  Riding through a neighborhood, I was struck by the differences in the screen doors and what this might tell us historically.  There were plenty of all-glass doors that are current and not screen doors at all, except that they screen the front door from rain and bird shit, I guess.  Then there are the one-third solid, two-thirds screen screen doors.  The most intriguing to me were the one-third solid, two-thirds screen, with one-half of the screen being covered by fancy metal grillwork screen doors.  Don’t those just speak of a particular era?

5.  Yet another observation, this one from today:  An Operation I.D. sticker.  The question that went through my mind was – Does this program still exist?  It was huge when I was a kid, but I don’t hear anything about it nowadays.  I thought maybe the sticker I saw was forgotten from an earlier time, but when I looked online, I see that police departments are still using the Operation I.D. program.  If you want to take part, supposedly you check in with your local police or sheriff’s department, where you are assigned a unique number to engrave on all of your valuables.  Once everything is engraved, you get one of those Operation I.D. stickers to post in a prominent place so that potential burglars are aware that anything they steal from you is marked and easily traceable.   Here’s info from the City of Rochester’s Operation I.D. program.  If you’re interested in Operation I.D., you’ll have to ask your local law enforcement if they participate.  I can’t figure out where the program originated at the state or national level.  Seems those folks are all too busy with Homeland Security and other things to promote Operation I.D. anymore.

The Bilderberg Group

Yesterday was a productive day. During the morning I worked on layout of the Greenville series. I finally figured out how to create a book file in Adobe InDesign. Doing this allows for each chapter to be numbered correctly in sequence. While it doesn’t sound like such a big thing, it certainly felt big for me. Adobe InDesign is a complicated program and I have barely scratched the surface of its capabilities.

In the afternoon I ran a few errands, including mailing some forms that have needed mailing for some time and stopping at the library to renew one book and return a couple of other. While there, I can’t resist checking out the stacks, especially the new book section. It’s a rare day when I don’t leave without at least three books in hand. Yesterday was no exception.

One of the books I found is called “The True Story of The Bilderberg Group” by Daniel Estulin. The Bilderberg Group is a collection of wealthy and powerful people who have been coming together once a year in various places around the world with the supposed goal of attempting to rule the world. (Moohoo wah hah hah!) I’m only 44 pages into the book and Estulin is presenting his evidence for his belief that the group is seeking world domination. Wikipedia indicates that ideas about the group’s desire for a one world government may be no more than conspiracy theories. Hmmm. I definitely need more information on this. You know, one way to discredit something is to call it a conspiracy theory, but if secret shenanigans and world takeovers are actually happening, then it’s not really a conspiracy theory in the negative connotation of the term, is it?

When I look at what happens on a local level, with a small group of leaders continually meeting in order to bring about change in the community, why wouldn’t this happen on a large-scale level álà The Bilderberg Group? The big difference seems to be that members of The Bilderberg Group have much more wealth and power and, thus, more influence to get things done. At the local level, most of these steering groups don’t seem to be able to steer much of anything and just end up spinning their wheels. Alas, while The Bilderberg Group may want to achieve world domination (moohoo wah hah hah!), there are plenty of factors that work against their goal, like other smart people. I mean, some of us didn’t fall off the rock yesterday now, did we? This group has supposedly been meeting since 1954. If its members are so powerful, why haven’t they achieved domination over the rest of us unwashed peons yet?

FtTP: Trent Reznor + Steve Vai

Hubby played some of Steve Vai’s music last week, Vai being Hubby’s favorite musician. Vai is one of those over-achieving musicians who writes all of his own music and lyrics, plays pretty much every instrument on his albums, and sings (though he has featured other singers). He knows how to do it all. He strikes me as being highly intelligent and he plays one mean-ass complicated guitar. (He can make it talk.)

As Vai’s music was playing, it struck me that he and Trent Reznor might make a good team on a project. Yes, it’s another of my efforts to Frankenstein the Talent Pool. Both Vai and Reznor strike me as being geeks, albeit really cool ones who don’t wear taped glasses and have slide rules or graphing calculators in their pockets. The description I gave of Vai above is pretty much the same one I could give for Reznor, except that Reznor seems to favor the piano or keyboard over the guitar and he wraps himself in the band name Nine Inch Nails, whereas Vai is just Vai.

The one barrier to a successful matchmaking between Vai and Reznor is that each has such a strong creative voice that they might come to fisticuffs over what course to take in making music. Reznor experienced a falling out with Marilyn Manson, another strong creative person, and while I don’t know the exact nature of their disagreement, I have to wonder whether their personalities are so similar that they drove each other nuts. This is the potential danger of bringing Reznor and Vai together. Still, I think this FtTP is worth the risk, don’t you?

I’m not the only one with this thought. Check out this thread on Steve Vai’s forum.