Little sleep was had yesterday due to my big Japanese test. I'm not going to jinx myself by speculating how I did but I studied pretty hard for it.
Went through the Guild in a sort of haze but managed to have a good time none the less. Played a fun little game called Frontier. Hugged Danielle some and hung out with my mooks.
Work was the hardest part just sitting around trying to stay awake but I managed(and get to do so again tonight.)
Today I'm lying in bed(at the moment) with a mischievous and restless Danielle. I should probaly get off here and take care of her ass right now in fact
Later
Cuddles
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Page Summary
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FETISHISED FACE SURGERY OR FFS IS RAPIDLY EMERGING AS A SEXUAL ORIENTATION
Made for me specially by Miffy! <3 Does it mean anything if you dream of someone with scars on one side of their face and maimed arms? What if its also an extremely beautiful (to you) you member of the opposite sex and they give you nothing but sass?
Between nablopomo, grading, and advising, I've had a very busy week. Unfortunately, I was too busy to write any memorial haiku, not even for poor Soupy Sales.
Jonathan, the MC, had told me someone requested I "read" my Marcel Marceau memorial haiku. Being an accommodating fellow, I started of with that. I also apologized to any Soupy Sales fans in the audience for not having a haiku. I then briefly spoke about the whole positive/negative thing (as you may have guessed, it's one of my pet issues.) "And to demonstrate" I added " I will now read a poem that is both negative and uplifting". And I read Chesterton's poem. I think people enjoyed the poem. One of the baristas asked me for the title and author of the poem again, so I'm guessing she wants to read it for herself. That was somewhat gratifying. And it is a wonderful poem. If you want to read it, just click the poem's title above.
I know, I've been posting a lot of videos and other random things lately, but I saw this and couldn't resist. LittleKuriboh's hilarious insanity always makes me feel better when I'm a little down. XD posted by Neil
There were 38 independent bookshops around the land who had Graveyard Book parties. The people at Harpers somehow got it down to 11, and they sent them to me to judge the winner. The winner gets me for a signing in December. I watched the 11 videos/descriptions/ photos. I watched them again. I watched them yet again, this time with Lorraine, my assistant, watching too and saying helpful things like, "They are all so good. Whoo. Don't know how you'll make a decision. Look at that! They're line dancing to Monster Mash! And that Death is on stilts, isn't he. Is that a horse? A horse in a store? These are amazing." The fourth time, Woodsman Hans wandered in from the deep woods (where he is making a pond) and watched them too.Then I made my decision. I called Elyse Marshall at Harpers and told her. "Ah," she said. "I'll have to check with the lawyers to find out if you can do that." So we wait. ... I posted the Amanda Palmer current East Coast tour dates here last night. http://www.amandapalmer.net/afp/upcoming-s Today it occurred to me that in the past when I've had friends on tour, I've often done special "Neil sent me" things, where people who come from this blog get some special free thing, which a) is nice for the people who get the free thing and b) tells the person on tour that people are really coming from the blog. I did it with Thea Gilmore (who is starting a new UK tour next week. People in the UK, go and see live Thea Gilmore, for she is wonderful: http://www.theagilmore.net for dates and venues.) I've done it for The Magnetic Fields, who, incidentally, have a new album coming out on Jan 26th. And then there's the Green Goddess restaurant in New Orleans, where you can mention the "Mezze of Destruction" to tell them you came from here and get sent something wonderful to eat or drink. (It changes, depending on what chef Chris DeBarr feels like making.) I should do it for Amanda. I called her up and told her. She called me back. "Beth and I have put our heads together and come up with a code phrase for people from your blog," she said. "So they say it and get a special free thing from the merch table." "Fire away," I said. "We think they should come over to the merch table and point to this poster... ![]() ...and say 'That chick in the yellow corset crowdsurfing looks kind of hot. I wonder if she's dating anyone?' And then they get something for free." I said I thought that was a very bad idea, because people might say that anyway, and it was an awful lot for people to remember. And what if they sold out of that poster early that night? I said, "What about any variant of 'Neil sent me from his blog?'" "Absolutely not," she said. "That's boring." I told her to leave it with me. And then I stared at this screen glumly, with nothing happening in my head, and real work I should be doing starting to nip at my heels. So I turned to the Oracular Orb of truth at http://www.neilgaiman.com/oracle/ and I clicked on the orb and shook it. It gave me a quote from a few years ago, when Maddy took over the journal and posted pictures from the Hellboy set. If you go to one of Amanda Palmer's shows on this tour, wander over to the Merch table, and say that you found about it from some strange man's blog. And something good will probably happen. (If they just stare at you, tell them it was me, and this blog. If they keep staring tell them that the chick in the yellow corset in the poster looks like she probably has a really nice boyfriend.) .... This seemed like a very good cause to me: Hi Neil, I am a long-time fan, and have even met you backstage at a Tori show (though that was many years ago!). I am writing to ask a bit of a favor. About 10 years ago, I appeared on 20/20 with Tori, speaking about sexual violence. Since then, I've stayed close with Tori whose been a mentor of the best kind. I also started a nonprofit, Pandora's Project, that provides support, information, and resources to rape and sexual abuse survivors and their supporters. We operate Pandora's Aquarium, an online support group with more than 20,000 registered members. Recently, I was named a 2009 L'Oreal Woman of Worth for my volunteer work with Pandora's. I was chosen for this honor from more than 2,500 applicants. Now, one of the ten 2009 Honorees will be selected as the national honoree through a public online vote. Her cause will get an additional $25,000, and a lot of media exposure. This is the first time L'Oreal has recognized a sexual violence organization, and becoming the national honoree would allow me to shine a spotlight on this issue that affects so many women and women. Voting is easy - people just need to go to the url below, enter their email address in the box on the right, and click the "submit vote" button. Each email address is allowed one vote, and voting ends November 24. http://www.womenofworth.com/Honorees/Hon I am wondering if you might be willing to send people to this voting link via your (infinitely popular) twitter or blog. I understand if it's not something you can do, but my experience running a small-budget nonprofit tells me it's always wise to ask! Thank you for taking the time to read this. Shannon Lambert I'll plug it happily. Your correspondent asks "Will you be reading the original version where the wolf actually is killed, and not the 'oh my goodness our kids can't hear about death' version in which they bring him to the zoo?" I fear she's in error; in the original version, written by Prokofiev, Peter snares the wolf, then convinces the hunters NOT to kill it, but to take it to the zoo. I've been researching, and that's what I found out too. Wikipedia has a list of changes made in various versions of the story (Disney, for example, had the wolf not eat the duck). But the wolf was always taken to the zoo... TWITTER" I know the phrase "political correctness" tends to be overused. But it's still a useful term. The adjective before "correctness" suggests that it is something to be distinguished from plain old ordinary correctness. And perhaps that it isn't really correctness. It's not really any of my business but I'm getting irritated over the unemployment of my two youngest roommates. Not so much that they don't have jobs, it's that they seem content to stay that way and let their moms pay their rent. Whenever I'm working a less than fun job to put myself through college and pay my own bills I get annoyed with people who just sit on their asses all day making a mess in the apartment. Saturday, November 21st DJs Spider and Sanity Ana We will also gladly take any donations of old coats and blankets, and make sure they get to those places that are running drives this season -- Charlotte is supposed to have the coldest, snowiest winter in a few years, and we know you've thought about it, but just can't make the final pieces come together. We'll take care of it for you! Wednesday, November 25th ![]() I think the flyer says it all, but yeah, we're gathering the old Thursday gang for a reunion at the Breakfast Club on WEDNESDAY, the night before Thanksgiving. I have a confirmation from DJ TinTin that he's down for the fun, and I know that a ton of people have already expressed excitement about the night (Cuz most of us don't have to work the next day!) Saturday, November 28th ![]() Spellbound is a weekly Alternative, Darkwave and Industrial event in Washington, DC Saturdays from 9pm 'til 2:30am Located at 1823 L Street NW, Washington, DC The door policy is 21+ with proper ID Cover charge is $7. Spellbound's 3rd Annual Freak Bazaar! Come out early and shop local artists and vendors. Then stay for a night of music and dancing. Spellbound's hostess Lori Beth presents DJ's Spider and Kangal -- REUNITED (cuz it feels so good?) ![]() And if that picture doesn't tell you how long we've tagged on decks together....I'd say he was half the man he was then, but it totally wouldn't come out right! But it's been at least 3 years since we've spun together like we used to at Purgatory (including some crazy ass tag-team matches atthe end of the night), and I'm fully expecting a HUGELY good time :) Plus it's been almost a year since I've been in DC, and this time Pet is actually coming along! WHEEEEEE! Work sucked tonight in that it's freezing cold and pouring down rain. I feel waterlogged. It's the wind that got me more than anything else. posted by Neil
Went in to KNOW radio station in ST Paul today and recorded an introduction to the NPR MORNING EDITION "Open Mike" piece I've been recording on audiobooks, and heard the edit. Asked them to see if they could find a bit more time in the piece for Audible founder Don Katz, who did an amazing interview and was pared down to about a sentence in the current edit. It'll go out in the next ten days, and as soon as I know when it goes out I'll put it up here. I talk to David Sedaris, Martin Jarvis, Don Katz and veteran audio producer/director Rick Harris in it.Also popped in to DreamHaven and signed a bunch of books. The piles of books have grown so high, and the administration was proving so hard for Greg now that he is a one-man operation that I'm no longer personalising books there. But lots of signed books now in for the Holidays at DreamHaven's Neilgaiman.net site. Spent much of the rest of the day driving around, being a dad, taking a daughter and her friend to violin, all that normal sort of stuff, and listening to Martin Jarvis's Good Omens audiobook as I did so. I'm about half-way through it now. It makes me so happy, especially hearing Adam Young read in something sort of close to Martin's Just William voice. Weirdly, I found it easier to hear what I wrote and what Terry wrote than I could if I looked at the text (which I discovered a few years ago, when I proofread the Harper Collins edition). The text is a bit of a blur, after all these years, but listening I'd find myself going, "Me... Terry.... Me in first draft, Terry in second.... Terry in first draft, me in second.... My footnote to his bit.... His footnote to mine..." feeling vaguely like an archaeologist. Even spotted a couple of tiny continuity goofs we should have caught 21 years ago that I may call Terry about and correct in future editions. (Edit to add, here's a link for iTunes for the Good Omens book that will, I am afraid, almost definitely only work in the US and territories that buy books from the US.) I still haven't done the Big China Blog. Until I do, I should point you to Amanda's blog, at http://blog.amandapalmer.net/post/240943 (She has an East Coast Tour on right now - 11.12 Portland, ME 11.13 Northampton, MA 11.14 Brooklyn, NY (SOLD OUT) 11.18 Philadelphia, PA 11.19 Falls Church, VA 11.20 Carrboro, NC 11.22 Knoxville, TN. Go see her in concert. She's a wonder live. Tell her I said hi.) Hi Neil, I just read about your event in January, where in you will be narrating Peter and the Wolf. My husband and I are over joyed by this. We will hopefully be bringing our three girls up to see the performance. We did have one question though. Will you be reading the original version where the wolf actually is killed, and not the "oh my goodness our kids can't hear about death" version in which they bring him to the zoo? We are both, obviously, really hopeful that being you, and not afraid to scare children (thank you for that btw) will be speaking the true to the story version in which Peter shoots the wolf and then his dead body is paraded through the town as a trophy. Thanks for your time, ~Cecily PS- Do you know if there will be tickets for the event or the reception afterwards? It will be a long drive, and it would be nice to be prepared for either staking out seats all day or having tickets in hand. (We could not find any reservation information on the website) I'd forgotten - or never knew - that there was an alternative version. The script I was sent is the Zoo version. I'll investigate... And no, I do not know about tickets. I will find out. Dear Neil, Your Web Goblin offered to post photos of Coraline pumpkins, and when they were told this, my 8 and 11-year old daughters decided to make some. Here they are, along with 2 emoticon pumpkins and a turnip. http://www.steampunkfamily.com/wp-conten I used them to illustrate a ghost story: http://www.steampunkfamily.com/2009/10/p Three of the four of us were Coraline characters for Halloween. (The 11-year old went her own way as Susan Sto-Helit.) http://www.flickr.com/photos/37435081@N0 The Other Mother is the scariest thing I've ever been for Halloween. All the children (even the 4-year olds!) knew who I was, and I elicited much nervous laughter when I offered to sew buttons in their eyes. Thank you for being VERY SCARY INDEED I love how many families were Coraline families, this year. If, like me, anybody else was intrigued by your mention of Kenneth Grahame's other works and wants to read them with a minimum of searching, they'll be happy to know both 'The Golden Age' and 'Dream Days' are available for free on the always invaluable Project Gutenberg: http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/291 http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/270 Thanks for mentioning them in the first place; I'm always interested in children's lit of that time that has managed to slip through my net. - B. Bolander What a good idea. Two very beautiful, gently funny books by the author of The Wind in the Willows. I really enjoyed them, but stylistically they are, well, out of fashion, and will not be everybody's cup of Edwardian tea. Here's a passage that describes the illustration I put up yesterday, as small children steal through the house on a midnight expedition to obtain biscuits (ie cookies, if you are American): The Blue Room had in prehistoric times been added to by taking in a superfluous passage, and so not only had the advantage of two doors, but enabled us to get to the head of the stairs without passing the chamber wherein our dragon-aunt lay couched. It was rarely occupied, except when a casual uncle came down for the night. We entered in noiseless file, the room being plunged in darkness, except for a bright strip of moonlight on the floor, across which we must pass for our exit. On this our leading lady chose to pause, seizing the opportunity to study the hang of her new dressing-gown. Greatly satisfied thereat, she proceeded, after the feminine fashion, to peacock and to pose, pacing a minuet down the moonlit patch with an imaginary partner. This was too much for Edward's histrionic instincts, and after a moment's pause he drew his single-stick, and with flourishes meet for the occasion, strode onto the stage. A struggle ensued on approved lines, at the end of which Selina was stabbed slowly and with unction, and her corpse borne from the chamber by the ruthless cavalier. The rest of us rushed after in a clump, with capers and gesticulations of delight; the special charm of the performance lying in the necessity for its being carried out with the dumbest of dumb shows. |













