The Frequency Reading Series presents
Saturday, August 11th, 2PM
Bruce Covey, Gina Myers & Meghan Punschke
The Four-Faced Liar
165 West 4th Street
West Village, Manhattan
Friday, August 10, 2007
Frequency tomorrow
I'm probably going to miss this, but if you're in NYC...
Thursday, August 9, 2007
Two Magicians, er, make that three
So I'm still reading this (behemoth) novel I started on vacation (though I'll probably finish it this evening): Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. It's set mostly in England, in the mid 1800s and the two title characters are practical (as opposed to theoretical or academic) magicians.
They may as well be poets. (In fact, Clarke does set them up as literary rivals, squabbling over articles and headlines, commissions and laurels, and hoarding important rare books.) While they both hope to restore English Magic to its former glory and popularity, they are very much at odds about how to do that. Norrell is traditional and conservative, and also happens to be controlling, hypocritical, shrill, and extremely arrogant, willingly hurting others for his own gain. Strange takes a more experimental approach to magic, and is portrayed as a better, though still flawed, fellow: he's heroic in wartime, socially charming, well dressed, a generous mentor and teacher, etc. He also happens to be an arrogant prick, but his abuse of others tends to take the form of neglect rather than malice. As Strange (who's been taught/apprenticed by Norrell) gains in skill and reputation, the inevitable rebellion and break-up occurs right on schedule, and he publishes a hotly anticipated book, overturning all of his old teacher's opinions. The elder magician suppresses it (making copies disappear, enchanting them so they appear blank, and finally buying and destroying all the remaining stock), naturally. Norrell takes on no more pupils. Strange takes on several. Because the theoretical magicians and public at large are confused: when there are only *two* magicians in England, and they do not agree, how can we know which person is correct?!
I also read this in Maine & found it to be wholly awesome. And I started a certain 7 vol. kidult series too, finally. Bloom's remark that it's not really reading or dumbed-down is fucking retarded. (So far I still like P. Pullman better, but I've got 6 more to go.)
They may as well be poets. (In fact, Clarke does set them up as literary rivals, squabbling over articles and headlines, commissions and laurels, and hoarding important rare books.) While they both hope to restore English Magic to its former glory and popularity, they are very much at odds about how to do that. Norrell is traditional and conservative, and also happens to be controlling, hypocritical, shrill, and extremely arrogant, willingly hurting others for his own gain. Strange takes a more experimental approach to magic, and is portrayed as a better, though still flawed, fellow: he's heroic in wartime, socially charming, well dressed, a generous mentor and teacher, etc. He also happens to be an arrogant prick, but his abuse of others tends to take the form of neglect rather than malice. As Strange (who's been taught/apprenticed by Norrell) gains in skill and reputation, the inevitable rebellion and break-up occurs right on schedule, and he publishes a hotly anticipated book, overturning all of his old teacher's opinions. The elder magician suppresses it (making copies disappear, enchanting them so they appear blank, and finally buying and destroying all the remaining stock), naturally. Norrell takes on no more pupils. Strange takes on several. Because the theoretical magicians and public at large are confused: when there are only *two* magicians in England, and they do not agree, how can we know which person is correct?!
I also read this in Maine & found it to be wholly awesome. And I started a certain 7 vol. kidult series too, finally. Bloom's remark that it's not really reading or dumbed-down is fucking retarded. (So far I still like P. Pullman better, but I've got 6 more to go.)
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Sunday, August 5, 2007
Where I Am Not Going
To Portugal though I'd really like to, to be a star, to Hell, to be a taco next Halloween, to hug that girl like crazy, to get across to your neck of the woods so I can hold a reflector for you on one of those shoots, to cut someones balls off at microsoft, to lose it!!!!!!!, to keep up the good work, to tell you a secret (I just had to download this bad boy), to f---ing kill Google, to make it up there this time!, to rip this damn computer apart and look for the gremlins, to win big so big it's burning a hole right through me, to try every last one this time, to snap on this heifer at work, to eat this entire gallon of Blue Bell rocky road (prefer Vanilla), to read this before I die, bridezilla on some eBay seller ass in about two seconds, to bed early and sober, to give birth to a kitten if my oldest boy ever says anything like this to me I damn near fell over one evening, to cry, to be one of those ppl who turns 30 and has a midlife crisis, to end up being the 300lbs vegan if I'm not careful, to puke, to run 9 miles in a few days, to get angry if I see something like it, to bite you hard and taste your tinny blood if you don't stop the self-defeating lies you've been repeating since the day you brought me, for Lasik once I turn 21 I hate putting on spectacles, to clobber him with my Floppy Bat, to simply have them declawed, to see one more lifesize hip-wiggling plastic santa, to start a Bitches Club and it's not going to be for women only, to marry Talina Atfield, to just create a rule to bounce emails regarding Ubuntu, to jump into the line grab a book and start SPOILING ALL OF YOU IF YOU DON'T SHUT UP ABOUT THE STUPID BOY WHO LIVED, to jump in front of a bus, and I am so not going there.
Friday, August 3, 2007
Not much to say...
...apparently. Been busy catching up since I got back.
And catching up I have been, because I just uploaded and ordered test copies of A Gringo Like Me second edition. Rawk. Now it's on to correcting the proofs for Drunk by Noon. Then I'll be sending my MS For Girls out to my editorial board (i.e. some of you lovely people) for comments. Moving along nicely, yes. (Uh, except I still haven't done my Dusie chapbook. I decided I disliked the poems I'd written for it rather intensely, so I'll have to come up with something else. I don't like being late, but I really just can't put those poems out; they will not do.)
One notable happening to report from my vacation in Maine last week: one day out in the kayaks in the bay, a pair of harbor porpoises hung out with us for nearly 10 minutes, swimming all around and under the boats. We'd seen them in the distance earlier in the day, on the way out to an island, but I didn't expect them to get close. Like the harbor seals, they're usually pretty wary. On the way back in to the falls, they surfaced behind me, and I heard them before I saw them, puffing air as they arced. (They are also called "puffing pigs" or "snuffers" because of this noise. And they loooooooove herring.) Gray with a bluish tint and white sides and belly and a small triangular dorsal fin. I could have touched them they were so close, but I thought better of it. Obviously I didn't have a camera in the boat with me, but they look like this. They must have been younger ones, because they were only about 4 or 4.5 feet long, and I read they get up to six. Anyway, it was "special."
And catching up I have been, because I just uploaded and ordered test copies of A Gringo Like Me second edition. Rawk. Now it's on to correcting the proofs for Drunk by Noon. Then I'll be sending my MS For Girls out to my editorial board (i.e. some of you lovely people) for comments. Moving along nicely, yes. (Uh, except I still haven't done my Dusie chapbook. I decided I disliked the poems I'd written for it rather intensely, so I'll have to come up with something else. I don't like being late, but I really just can't put those poems out; they will not do.)
One notable happening to report from my vacation in Maine last week: one day out in the kayaks in the bay, a pair of harbor porpoises hung out with us for nearly 10 minutes, swimming all around and under the boats. We'd seen them in the distance earlier in the day, on the way out to an island, but I didn't expect them to get close. Like the harbor seals, they're usually pretty wary. On the way back in to the falls, they surfaced behind me, and I heard them before I saw them, puffing air as they arced. (They are also called "puffing pigs" or "snuffers" because of this noise. And they loooooooove herring.) Gray with a bluish tint and white sides and belly and a small triangular dorsal fin. I could have touched them they were so close, but I thought better of it. Obviously I didn't have a camera in the boat with me, but they look like this. They must have been younger ones, because they were only about 4 or 4.5 feet long, and I read they get up to six. Anyway, it was "special."
Thursday, August 2, 2007
Chicken Bucket International
Note: The participants are not actors, & have not been compensated by Bloof Books or Jennifer L. Knox in any fashion. Also, you must have a Facebook account to view the group's pages.
While I'm on the subject, A Gringo Like Me.2 should be uploading this weekend and hopefully will be ready for purchase in the next week or so. (Meant to finish it up before I went away, but was afraid I'd make a mistake with the resized cover if I rushed.)
While I'm on the subject, A Gringo Like Me.2 should be uploading this weekend and hopefully will be ready for purchase in the next week or so. (Meant to finish it up before I went away, but was afraid I'd make a mistake with the resized cover if I rushed.)
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
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