10/31/2007

Halloween etc.

I probably should have picked up on this years ago (shows how sketchy my Catholic observance has been here in Australia), but the Feast of All Saints is not a holy day of obligation in Australia! I've just spent the last 20 minutes trying to find the mass schedule for tomorrow for both the cathedral and the little neighborhood Catholic church, and was mystified because it seemed like just another Thursday. Well, it is -- huh!

Tonight is, of course, Halloween. Margaret and some of her friends actually did the best they could to manage trick-or-treating, but it's always problematic here. Very few households actually do the candy thing, and quite a few people get very combative toward the poor kids, shouting and insulting them and pretending like it's grovelling to the Americans to give a kid some candy on Halloween. (Yes, by the way, literally shouting. At kids. And insulting them.) We had about a dozen kids come by our house, but we live up a horrific hill, which limits the numbers we get.

In other news, I can't see my horse until Christmas, as the farm he's boarded on is in lockdown due to equine influenza. That really sucks.

Tomorrow I start my NaNoWriMo journey: to see if I can write 50,000 words in 30 days. I'm not a particularly fast writer, so this will be quite a challenge to me. Partly it's because I tend to daydream a lot when I write, and partly it's because I feel I need to see as far as the next bend in the road, at least, so I can get my characters there. This will be an exercise in writing blindfolded. In writing chaotically, extravagantly, riotously. In subverting, and perhaps dethroning, the Writing Demons. I'll let you know how it goes.

10/29/2007

My WAY COOL KID

Okay. On Saturday during the day, Margaret passed her belt test (as I mentioned previously). In the evening, she had a key role in the school revue (as I also mentioned). Today, she received a "highly commended" medal for her science-fair project, which explored the relative effectiveness of crushed eggshells, coffee grounds, and tea leaves as fertilizers. Tonight, she has her usual rehearsal with the Illawarra Choral Society for their performance of "Messiah" in a month and a bit (she sings soprano at the moment, although she may eventually end up as an alto like her mom, only she already has a much better voice than I ever did or will).

I'm the mom. I'm allowed to brag.

10/27/2007

A show-biz family, I guess.

Margaret had a very busy day today (and, consequently, so did I). Not only did she have a belt test during the day (which she passed), but we worked on getting her science-fair display boards started, and then she had a massively huge performance in a massively huge school music review. She did an excellent job: sang well, kept her cool, helped keep the others on track.

Now: she was proud to do well on the belt test, and she's having lots of fun doing the science-fair project, but what really illuminated her day was performing. It's what she really loves. And why not?

Perhaps monetary riches will continue to elude us as we persue our various arts (although by global standards we're certainly prosperous enough, to say the least). But -- trite but true -- we've got other riches. Beyond compare.

10/26/2007

Wollongong premier of "The Salad of Success"

My rather startlingly well-traveled short play "The Salad of Success" has just had its Wollongong premier tonight (as part of the 2007 Workshorts Programme by Wollongong Workshop Theatre). This was a very cool birthday present for me, especially as the director and cast did a really, really good job. Several of the actors told me they had lots of fun doing the show, and I even got some positive comments from audience members.

Yes, I quite like writing plays.

Multilingualism

Every time I go back to the States, I see more and more things written in Spanish. And every time I go back, I hear more and more rants about it. I hear the rants in English, because my Spanish consists of a few courtesies and miscellaneous general words, and rants are usually not very courteous, and usually are very specific. So I admit I'm only hearing one side of the argument. But here are my thoughts, and they're in English, because I'm mortified to say that it's the only language in which I'm fluent.

I am thrilled that the United States is becoming multilingual. Thrilled. It can only be a good thing for the arts, for access to technical and academic information (yes, people who don't speak English can be smart too), for diplomacy, for international economic development work, for pastoral care, for social welfare programs, for political enfranchisement.

I hear many complaints that "It would cost too much to have all official documents in two languages". However, I notice that Switzerland, as one notable example, has four official languages, in which all official documents are presumably available, and it doesn't seem to have beggared them.

Then there's the tried-and-true "They came here, they should speak our language" argument. Oh? And why, then, aren't we speaking Dutch, or, for that matter, one of the Native American languages? And, now that you mention it, significant portions of what is now the United States were first colonized by Spanish-speakers. So...who should speak whose language?

And, oh, yeah, there's the "If you let them keep speaking their language, they'll never learn English" poppycock. Okay, there's probably a grain of truth in this for those who arrive significantly post-lingually (as in, too old to easily learn another language). Heck, I arrived in Australia twelve years ago and I still can't even manage to get the accent right -- and I'm an English-speaker to start with. But (just to extend this example a bit) Margaret, my kid, has grown up here. She can pick up and put down any accent or vocabulary set she pleases, whenever it suits her. (Her American accent, in case you're wondering, is flawless. But it's not her everyday accent.) The kids can't help but learn the dominant language -- from television, from school (even multilingual schools, as far as I'm aware, still incorporate English into a hefty percentage of the day), from the kids down the street or on their sports teams, from the tap water.

So, all you who think a single, legally determined "official language" is a good idea, quit cowering: multilingualism is a force for good. Insularity and hypernationalism only make the world situation worse. Even if you don't have the time or the resources to learn another language, at least don't snap and snarl and yank the food bowl away from those who don't (yet) speak yours.

10/22/2007

No surprises here.

For those who know me, the results of this quiz will make perfect, perfect sense.





Which Star Trek: the Next Generation character are you?
created with QuizFarm.com
You scored as Jean Luc Picard

You are intellgent and introspective. You like spending quiet time reading or listening to music. You are a natural leader who prefers diplomacy to war.


Jean Luc Picard


80%

Worf


80%

Geordi LaForge


73%

Data


67%

Beverly Crusher


60%

Deanna Troi


53%

William T. Riker


40%




(It was a dead heat between Picard and Worf, finally decided by a tie-breaker: which of these statements is more important? "I enjoy classic literature" or "keeping in shape is vital"? I chose the former, because given the choice of seeing a Shakespeare play or running laps, well, no contest.)

10/20/2007

I'm getting old.

Margaret turns 12 in a few days. She has about a dozen friends over, boys and girls, and loud music. Pizza. Candy. The tray of fruit and vegetables is notable for its continuing pristine condition. There's also cake for later. And a Mr. Bean video. Excuse me, someone just turned the music up really loud.

10/17/2007

Fly, fly! Return to me laden with gold!

I currently have work out to about 15 people/organizations. I need to muster serious optimism for these send-out blitzes. Problem is, the more optimistic I need to feel, the more stupid I feel for being naive and chipper and hubristic. Pessimism feels knowledgeable, world-weary, experienced. Optimism feels ignorant and pitiable. Perhaps it's best just to ignore the whole optimism/pessimism thing entirely and, robot-like, Vulcan-like, keep sending.

"Persist! Endure!" I tell myself. And my self says, "Yeah, whatever. Hitting Send now."

10/15/2007

We! Have! The! Tickets!

To see David Tennant and Patrick Stewart in Hamlet at Stratford-on-Avon! Does life get any better? (I will now and for the next year or so be living in terror of the moment we take our seats and hear the announcement, "Tonight the roles of Hamlet and Claudius will be played by....")

The seats are fairly nosebleedy, but based on the seating chart the house doesn't actually look all that terribly big, so all should be well.

The piggy bank will be needing a lot of feeding between now and then. Hey, maybe I'll sell my novel and become hugely stinking rich in less than 12 months. (It could happen.)

10/13/2007

Never a dull moment!

Yesterday I got back from Brisbane and the premier of "The Salad of Success". Today the Illawarra Performance Writers' Group did a cold reading of "Salad", which I found fascinating and very helpful. The readers played the characters very like the way I had originally imagined them, and I was pleased when the jokes all got a laugh (the restrained delivery was helpful for that -- again, much as I had been hearing the lines in my head as I wrote).

The critiques after the reading were very positive, which was encouraging. Oddly, though, I felt a bit let down that they hadn't torn the piece to bits á la Clarion. My Clarion buddies would have been more relentless. Today felt like bouncing on a cloud of cotton candy, whereas a Clarion crit is like being dragged across blacktop. Although the latter gives emotional roadrash, it provides more information for improving the piece. It also, I found out today, develops whopper-tough crit-calluses. Which is a good thing, probably.

My thanks to the IPWG for the reading!

10/12/2007

Queensland is enlightened.

I have many hours before my flight back to Wollongong leaves, and I'm spending most of the day in the State Library of Queensland. Because! They have this huuuge barn of a room with dozens and dozens of computers and -- which is why I'm here -- absolutely free, whiz-bang-fast wireless Internet. If I didn't have my computer and (heavy) backpack to lug around, I'd sightsee through the rest of the library, which seems to be quite a happening place. (And I'm somewhat of an aficionada of libraries.)

Eventually I will settle in and write for a few hours, but right now I've been having too much fun checking emails and friends' blogs, and researching minor plot points for my current project.

Last night was very fun: I met up with a bunch of Clarion buddies at our usual Indian restaurant, the one everyone went to after the readings at Avid Reader bookstore each Thursday evening. This was my third Big Clarion Reunion (New York, Conflux, and now Brisbane). It's always kind of poignant, because I miss my Clarion buddies -- that was one heck of an intense bonding experience.

10/11/2007

Don't miss while in Brisbane!

Blue Smoke Barbecue, in the New Farm area. As far as I know, it's the only restaurant in Australia serving real Southern barbecue. You can find it in the Brisbane White Pages (it doesn't seem to have a web presence). The pulled-pork sandwich is gooooooooood. The owner, Steve, is from Silver Spring, but he was too busy for us to have a hometown chat. Which is good, because if he's busy, that means the restaurant will flourish -- and be there the next time I'm in Brisbane! Mmmmmmmm, barbecue.... And, even better, barbecue I didn't have to spend 16 hours making! Or cleaning up from!

10/10/2007

Galactic premier of "The Salad of Success"

The young men and women who performed "Salad" last night did a lot of hard work on the show and you could tell. The directors made some choices that I was a bit dubious about, but, as legendary playwright and former Czech Republic president Vaclav Havel said, "If you want your plays produced the way you wrote them, become president."

It was very exciting indeed to see my play and hear my words -- those so, so familiar words -- as part of a performance. I really like getting my plays performed! Maybe I can manage to do more of that....

10/08/2007

It's not exactly Writin' Rations™, but I had to post it.

From my favorite barbecue site, Smoking Meat Forums (I doubt I'll be trying it, not least because Aussie bacon is a different thing entirely from the American bacon for which this recipe is designed):

Bacon Brittle

MAKES ABOUT 1 POUND
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking soda
1⁄2-3⁄4 tsp. salt
3/4 cup chopped pecans
1 cup cooked bacon bits (about 12 ounces uncooked bacon)
Grease or butter a large nonstick baking sheet.
In a medium heavy saucepan, combine the sugar, corn syrup and water over medium heat. Stir until the sugar dissolves and the syrup comes to a boil. Attach a candy thermometer to the pan, increase the heat to high, and cook, without stirring, until the mixture reaches 290 degrees.

Remove from the heat.

Stir in the butter, vanilla, baking soda, salt pecans and bacon bits. The mixture will foam.
When it stops foaming, pour the hot mixture onto the prepared baking sheet as thinly as possible. Use a silicone spatula or a buttered spatula to spread.
Cool at least 10 minutes before breaking into pieces. Store in a covered container.

10/04/2007

Yikes, I nearly missed Banned Books Week!

2007 Banned Books Week: Ahoy! Treasure Your Freedom to Read and Get Hooked on a Banned Book

It's not too late to read a banned book. (In fact, some would argue that it's never too late.)

10/03/2007

Okay, this is unbelievable.












THIS is absolutely the very best barbecue-related thing I've ever seen or heard of. Here's one photo from the page to which I have linked. You must go see the others!

Humanity, once again, astounds and thrills me.

Well, it's good to know I'm not the only one.

Simon Brown agrees. The story on the page is never as good as the glittering, crystalline story in your head.

"There's mud in my pen," I cried.

"There's mud in my head," Simon said.

Conflux is good for being reassured that just because you feel like your writing sucks, doesn't mean it actually does. At least, not necessarily.

Now: back to the mud pit. (Or, in this case, the coal mine. The characters are coal miners. And, as usual, I'm having agony after agony trying to end the damn thing. Endings. I hate writing endings.)

10/01/2007

Back from Conflux.

Had a great time at Conflux. I picked up my prize books for winning the short-story competition, and I got a lot of positive feedback and congratulations on the story, which felt great. (You can visit my web site to read it.) I got to see a few Clarion friends, and we're all still close in a very solid, tribal kind of way, which also felt great. I caught up with a number of other friends and acquaintances, which also felt great.

It was particularly cool that Margaret (my daughter) was there. She was focused and interested and courteous and took excellent notes (most usefully, at sessions I couldn't attend). She impressed everyone, if I do say it myself.

I was surprised to find that attending as essentially a hobby writer, as I did last year, is nowhere near as exhausting as attending as a working, subbing writer. Everything feels like it matters more, whether or not it actually does. Plus, last year I knew absolutely no-one there, absolutely no-one. This year there were dozens of people I knew, and they're all cool, so I wanted to hang out and interact with all of them. That takes a lot of energy for me, as I'm an unlikely introvert. (Yes, I am.) (No, really. I am.)

I'm hoping that next year I'll have a few paid-publication credits to my name. It could happen....