friendly collision

Received a nice e-mail yesterday:



"I can't believe Inkspot no longer exists. For some reason I thought it would be around forever. I was perplexed by the pointer to Xlibris, until today, when I searched for your personal Web site under your name and learned about the acquisition. My condolences. My guess is, it's like receiving an advance from one of the major pub houses and they wind up not publishing the book."



I was also invited to speak at a writers' conference in Washington in a couple of months. I had to turn it down...I tend to be pretty anal about doing copious research before doing presentations/panels, and I wouldn't have enough time to prepare; I've only just started back into my writing. I did ask for them to consider me for next year, though. :-)





Last night, a bunch of friends came over to watch the premiere of "Enterprise", the new Star Trek show. I was feeling somewhat apprehensive because of the unusual mix of people. I tend to hang out with my music-type friends in completely separate venues (e.g. conferences, going to visit them by myself) than my other friends, and wasn't sure how well the different personalities would mix. Last night's crowd consisted of:


- Me and Jeff.


- My Urban Tapestry music partner and friend, Allison Durno.


- Bryan Fullerton, my technohero. He's been busy lately keeping the CBC Web site running properly. I met Bryan when he used to work for Interlog; Inklings wouldn't have existed without him.


- Craig White, editor of MapArt, Toronto Film Festival buff/media personality (he interviewed Gwyneth Paltrow!). Jeff and I have known Craig for ages.


- Ruth Anderson, from Winnipeg. Ruth lives in "the Bhigg House" with Dave and Elizabeth Clement (see below). She's in Mississauga right now doing on-site software training for a company client. She can juggle fire!


- Dave and Elizabeth Clement, from Winnipeg. Both super-nice people; they're doing a 90-day road trip around Canada. I've known Dave for a long while, and have a real soft spot for him. He's one of the most talented musicians I know. He and Tom Jeffers perform as Dandelion Wine; I have all their albums. He was inducted into the Filk Hall of Fame in 1999. Okay, I'll stop raving about Dave now.





Anyway, I needn't have worried. :-) Everyone got along...unusually good people chemistry, in fact, with none of the awkward moments so common in situations where people of different backgrounds and contexts get together. Allison's Blatherchat comment on the topic:



"It became pretty clear to me last night why everyone at Debbie's place had such a good chemistry- there was just a deep-seated love of Star Trek there that you could really sense. Funny, I would have said I had become plenty cynical of Trek over the last several years, especially in the Voyager years, but sitting there last night watching the premiere of a new Trek series with a group of like-minded people just felt like going home. There was that same anticipation, same anxiety it would be bad, same hope that the show would beat expectations, same excitement as I've felt with the premiere of each Trek series and movie. And at each commercial, Jeff would mute the TV and the opinions and reactions would fly while Deb kept insisting, "Push the mute button, it's coming back on! Hurry up! We'll miss something!". I felt kind of returned to my fannish roots (Trek brought me into sf fandom), it was great fun."



Because of Dave's presence, I found myself seeing the television show with a different perspective. Scenes without dialogue, for instance, needed to be briefly explained, since Dave was unable to see what was happening on the screen. Or in the case of the Klingon dialogue, the subtitles needed to be read aloud. After the first few minutes, the extra explanations along the way felt like a natural part of the process; I noticed we all started doing it.


As for the show, we all gave it a tentative thumbs up. I definitely liked it way more than the premieres of any of the other Star Trek spin-offs. I had also expected to hate Scott Bakula (sp?), but found myself actually thinking the guy was okay in this role. No actor got on my nerves right away, unlike with the other shows. Hm...guess I'll have to check out the first regular show next Wednesday.





After hashing out our thoughts re: Enterprise a bit, Dave played some music for us (in response to my gentle nagging). I -love- listening to Dave sing. His voice is like chocolate, rich and velvety and of immense comfort. One of Craig's comments made me laugh: "So can we do this every Wednesday? Watch the premiere of Enterprise and then sing?"


Felt a pang when Dave finally handed back my guitar because they had to leave. I don't know when I'm going to see the Winnipeggers next; I suspect it will be a long time. :-(


But I suppose that's part of what made last night so special for me, and why I'll not soon forget this brief and friendly collision of good friends from different areas of my life.


Today's Blatherpics:


- Dave Clement on the guitar last night.


- Watching the premiere of "Enterprise".


- Ruth Anderson on penny whistle.


- Dave trying out my harp for the first time.


Today's Poll:



At least once a week, do you ever make a point of listening to music as a purposeful activity? (i.e. not just use music as audio wallpaper in the background, but sit down and actually LISTEN to a piece of music)

enterprise

Jetlag is still wreaking havoc with my schedule. Woke at 4:30 a.m. this morning. An advantage to rising at such an early hour, however, is that I get a heck of a lot of work in before most people have had their first morning coffee. Sent out some queries, browsed more job and market boards, updated my WOM resource area. Two print magazines have expressed interest in my writing and we're discussing possibilities...wish me luck! I'm also catching up on Moira Allen's Writing World newsletter and site (Moira was Inkspot's Managing Editor). Excellent resource...any of you interested in writing should definitely check it out. Also be sure to check out Julie Duffy's online resource for writers (I met Julie when she used to work for Xlibris; she was always super-supportive of Inkspot and of me).


I usually delete spam without a second thought, but I had to be amused by a spam I received today with the subject header: "Have sex like a teen again!" I never -had- sex as a teen. It's become clear to me over the years how sheltered a life I led in my childhood. I used to be embarrassed about the fact; now, I'm happy about it. Go figure.


The new Star Trek series, "Enterprise" premieres tonight. I confess major skepticism about Scott Bakula's lead role, but am curious enough to watch it. Dave and Elizabeth Clement and Ruth Anderson (all from the Bhigg House in Winnipeg) are in town and will be watching it here with Jeff and me, Allison D., Bryan Fullerton, and Craig White (maybe Parki, but doubt it). If the pilot turns out to be a bomb, at least we'll have fun dissecting it along the way. :-)





Today's Blatherpics:


- Being tickle-attacked by Sara and Annie at the cottage. I shouted at Ruth to help me out, but she took a photo instead.


- Annie and Sara, drawing by Sara. Sara's wearing her school uniform in the picture.


Today's Poll:



Do you consider yourself to be a Star Trek fan?

woodpile revisited

(Edited and expanded 10:31 pm EST)


First of all, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my sister Ruth! :-)


Rainy and cold here at the cottage. Perfect for indoor activities, of course...yesterday, I woke up at 5 am (jetlag effects) and worked on my writing for eight hours without once wishing I was outdoors. Wrote 1000 words for my novel (not much, but I'm ramping up, eh? :-)), spent the rest of the time trolling job databases, freelance writing assignment listings, potential markets.


In the afternoon, Jeff and I decided to go to the Nature Artist Exhibit in Algonquin Park, then a quick lunch at the park Visitor Centre. When we got back, we discovered that the power had been off for a few hours (judging from when the electric clock in the kitchen had stopped). We lit candles and built a fire in my dad-in-law's woodstove, snoozed and read by candlelight for a while (I snoozed, Jeff read). We were almost disappointed when the power came back on. :-)


More cold wet weather today...we're leaving in a few minutes. I was up at 6 am; the boathouse was so cold that I had to start a fire before my fingers warmed up enough to type. Note to self: remember to bring gloves up for Thanksgiving weekend! We had used up our kindling over the weekend; building a fire without any kindling was a bit of a challenge. Solution: lots of newspaper and patience.


We cleaned up the cottage, packed up perishables, emptied the garbage. I chopped some kindling to stock up for Thanksgiving weekend. It was still raining, but I stood under the overhanging roof and swung the axe very carefully to avoid inadvertently chopping supporting timbers. :-) I became extra paranoid about axe blades ever since Jeff accidentally chopped off the tip of one of his fingers years ago when we lived out in the country.


One of my favourite cottage chores is chopping kindling. I love the smell of cedar, the feel of the wood splitting, and the knowledge that every piece of kindling will be used eventually. Funny how I keep getting back to my woodpile philosophy. I've reprinted this on a separate Web page, incidentally, and added a feedback forum in case anyone has their own woodpile comments.


Not looking forward to the motorboat ride across the lake in the cold rain, but I'm wearing so many layers of fleece and Gortex I doubt the weather will matter. :-) (what a temperature change from Tokyo!)


Jeff's ready to go, so must upload an abnormally short Blathering today.





Update: 10:37 pm


We got home around 2 pm, giving me about ten minutes to get changed and grab stuff for my meeting with my corporate tax lawyer. Looks like the Inkspot tax stuff is actually starting to wind down, the loose ends being tied up. I can't even begin to explain what an agonizing process this whole thing has been. My mantra again: I am never going to sell a company ever again. If I ever even start hinting that I'm thinking about it in the future, you all have permission to slap me silly.


Went to my sister's to celebrate her birthday with my family, had cake, rehashed our Japan trip a bit with my Dad (he's going to Tokyo in a few weeks).


Dead tired, but happy. :-)





Today's Blatherpics:


- Sara in the motorboat at the cottage.


- Reading a book to Sara and Annie at the cottage. They've recently gotten in the habit of jumping on the couch beside me with a book and asking me to read it to them. I am VERY tickled at their love of books, of course, so always say yes. :-)


- This photo was taken at the ryokan in Kyoto.


Today's Poll:



Do you consider yourself good at keeping secrets?

resume

Looking for work

The recent tragedy in the U.S. has had repercussive effects, as you all know. One is the major downturn in the stock market; Jeff and I have been having several intense talks about our finances lately, especially now that our sabbaticals are nearing an end.


Unfortunately it's going to be impossible for me to focus as much on my fiction writing as I had originally planned. Either I need to find enough freelance assignments to make a living fairly soon, or I'm going to have to find an office job again. I'm prepared to do the latter, of course (heck, most people have 9-5 office jobs; I know I've been very lucky thus far). But to be honest, I'll do nearly anything to stay a freelancer.


So...I'm brushing off my electronic resumé and diving into job search mode. If any of you hear of any paying telecommuting editing/writing opportunities in my realm of expertise, I'd deeply appreciate you sending them my way. I'm starting to regularly comb online job databases, particularly writing-related resources.


Ironically, I could really use Inkspot right now. :-) Since I no longer have that option, I'm compiling a list of writing-related job resources from scratch and adding them to the resources I already have for my Writer's Online Marketplace book site. I'm putting together column, articles, and nonfiction book proposals, browsing for short-term writing and editing assignments, and basically looking for anything that will enable me to earn money through writing and editing.


No matter what happens, however, I'm still going to make sure I have at least a few hours a day to work on my fiction writing. I'll go nuts otherwise. :-)


Many thanks in advance for any help any of you could provide!

Cottage

Spent this past weekend at the cottage with my sister and her family. Despite the steady drizzle, we still managed to find many things to do indoors and out. The focus activity was fishing...both Annie and Sara were very keen on doing some fishing, perhaps prompted by Sara's positive memories of the same last year. They ended up catching about half a dozen fish, but decided to keep just one. Jeff showed the girls how to clean a fish...Sara was fascinated by the process from a scientific process (Jeff was pointing out different anatomical parts, etc.), Annie got upset and insisted on letting her fish go.


Annie slept with me one night. She's a very athletic sleeper...do any of you know of young children like that? She turns to toss and turn quite a bit, and it's not unusual for her to end up sleeping at a 90 degree angle to the adult sleeping beside her, her head rammed up against your ribcage. I try moving her sleeping body into a more comfortable position, but inevitably I end up clutching the edge of the mattress to avoid falling off. Sometimes Annie will curl up and cuddle against me in her sleep, making sleepy noises. My heart melts during those moments, of course, making me easier fodder when she starts into her athletic routine again. From time to time, she'll reach out and pat my face very gently, as if to reassure herself that I'm still there.




Today's Blatherpics:


Sample of the unusual flavour of potato chips I saw in Tokyo.


Today's Poll:



Have you been in the same job for more than ten years?

layers

(Update 12:07 pm: As I've mentioned before, our trip to Japan was motivated by the presence of our friend Alison George, who was in Tokyo helping to organize an event for the NBA. Sadly, the event was cancelled as of yesterday. Happily, however, it means Alison's on her way back to Toronto on Monday...YAY! Jeff and I are leaving for the cottage within the hour to hang out with my sister and her family. Have a great weekend, everyone. :-))


Today's Blathering is this month's assignment for On Display. Today's topic is "outward appearances."





I've read and heard all the sweeping generalizations...the Japanese are quiet, overly polite, repressed, organized, conforming, and (especially since the war), strongly influenced by the West. I can also see how a Westerner might even visit Japan for a while and see only what he or she wishes to see, coming away with the sure knowledge that all previous assumptions were true.


Even during our brief stay, however, Jeff and I sensed much more. There were days when I felt like I could almost fit in; I looked Japanese, after all, and as long as I only had to say arigato gozaimasu (thank you) from time to time, how would they know that I was actually a gaijin (a foreigner)? Or so I tried to convince myself.





But then came moments (more frequently as the days passed) when I felt as if everyone and everything around me except for Jeff was utterly alien, and that even if I lived in Japan for the rest of my life, I would never truly fit in. This wasn't because of anything anyone said or did; it was an accumulation of little things, a gradual recognition of many invisible "rules" in Japanese society that were incomprehensible to anyone who hadn't absorbed them throughout their life.


North Americans have their own set of rules, of course. Perhaps because I've lived in Canada all my life, these rules seem more obvious, blatant. And people who break them are usually told off right away or taken quietly aside and set straight. In Japan, however, I felt as if I was breaking a dozen invisible rules every minute, but the Japanese would never tell me. They were always polite, smiling, and never rude. The only time I saw any reaction to my gaffes was in the Kyoto ryokan, when I forgot to take off my garden slippers when I stepped inside the ryokan...I thought our two Japanese women guides were going to tackle me right there. :-)





I had been warned that a Japanese-looking yet Japanese-illiterate gaijin could elicit scorn from the locals, but I never found this to be the case. Everyone we met was friendly and helpful to the point where, in response to being asked how to get somewhere, strangers painstakingly escorted us outside buildings and along sidewalks so that they could make sure we were going in the right direction. Those who didn't have right answer would look genuinely distressed, so much sometimes that I felt rude for asking them for help in the first place.


Which is where my Japanese influences come in. Jeff said he learned a great deal about me during our visit in Japan. He didn't mean this as an insult (though I confess I bristled a bit at first until he explained)...he meant that he could see traits in me that had clearly come from my mother, who was born in Japan, and that our time in Japan helped him understand me better.





In truth, it helped me learn more about myself better as well, as bizarre as that may sound. I also appreciated even more how it must have been for my mother to move to Canada as a young woman, for instance. She learned to cook and dress like a Westerner, to speak their language and learn their set of "rules"...but did she ever feel as if she truly fit in?


The Japanese may have adopted some Western trends and clothing, but even in a few weeks it was clear to me that this was an outward appearance only. In reality, their true nature consists of many layers, most of which seem mysterious and incomprehensible to a gaijin, to the point where certain concepts are not easily translatable to English.


And yet there were moments during our visit in Japan when something would click and I'd experience a weird feeling of familiarity, a strong sensation of deja vu. It's almost as if a small part of me has always been in Japan, and I've only now just discovered it's there. If you find this explanation confusing, don't feel alone. I'm still sorting it all out myself. :-)


Whatever the reason, I know one thing for sure...I definitely have to visit Japan again.


Today's Blatherpics:


- Tokyo scene.


- I really liked this statue in the National Tokyo Museum.


- Schoolgirl on a Tokyo train platform.


- Tokyo scene.


Today's Poll:



Does your "public personality" accurately reflect what you're really like?