Where are we?

Which makes me a hypocrite since I vanished for awhile. Regardless, if we don't have time to meet, I see no reason why we shouldn't start shit here.

Xmas party was fun.

What the hell is a figgy pudding?

Hope everyone else's xmas was more tolerable than my own.

I went out to dim sum.

Okay, I've said stuff.

Someone post something more interesting.

Edges of Bounty

Check out this new book by a friend of mine. Haven't read the whole thing yet, but it looks very good so far ...

"Edges of Bounty: Adventures in the Edible Valley" is a book of words and pictures published by Heyday Books available is stores now.

http://edgesofbounty.com/

Book Sale in Berkeley

If you happen to be in the Bay Area on Thursday, October 16, check out the Super Sidewalk Book Sale put on by University of California Press. Located on the sidewalk (ah, but you guessed that) at 2120 Berkeley Way (between Shattuck and Oxford), the sale offers BARGAINS GALORE on UC Press books! Most paperbacks are $5, most hardcovers are $10.

Smartest One in the Room

In addition to being a most prolific and skilled writers of novels, Jenn Rossmann has now turned out Introduction to Engineering Mechanics: A Continuum Approach. In addition to knowing the ins and outs of your average fluid, she also does ten million other things REALLY REALLY WELL. I mean, when she moved across the country, California lost some serious points in its average IQ. And the writing groop itself, well, she was keeping us above the median.

Post-MFA doldrums

Here's the most recent post from an interesting blog about the writing-life as a career. Called "The Three P's of Post-MFA '08," the blog chronicles the search for employment of three 'professional' wordsmiths ...

The "Link" Between Creativity and Mental Disorders

"Experts say mental illness does not necessarily cause creativity, nor does creativity necessarily contribute to mental illness, but a certain ruminating personality type may contribute to both mental health issues and art."

Wow. That is some groundbreaking science. It never would have occurred to me on my own. I'm glad we live in a world where there are scientists and experts to uncover these mysterious connections for us. I hope we're paying them enough to do this kind of intellectual heavy lifting: "If you think about stuff in your life and you start thinking about it again, and again, and again, and you kind of spiral away in this continuous rumination about what's happening to you and to the world -- people who do that are at risk for depression." (That's Paul Verhaeghen--psychologist, novelist and one hell of an articulate guy).

Now if they can only tell me what defect in my brain chemistry led to the decision to pursue poetry rather than, say, astrophysics or nursing or some other, more-conducive-to-cash-flow vocation, we'll be all set. If they can come up with a drug to combat the aforementioned defect, that's even better.

Internal Consistency

Well, it seems that the administrator's account is gone forever. I have no idea what this means but I'm not the only one with this issue and Google is so far of NO HELP. A pox upon their "campus"... unless they come through. And I'll be fair if that's the case.

We read more of Jeremy's Debris. He was already inhouse when I arrived after bocce. I simply walked up to him, hugged him, and told him he was going to be our next member to be published. Speaking of which, Nick continues to share insider bookseller buzz on Nami Mun's book. And indeed there is a buzz.

But back to Jeremy. I would say Jen levied the deepest critique. It started with, "Anytime some guy wants to beat his daughter, I'm fine with it, but..."

This is what happens with fiction. It doesn't have to be morally acceptable as long as its internally consistent.

In other news, Jen has written 100 pages. She fears that the pages are not 100 pages toward a novel but 100 pages toward writing toward a novel. You know when you have to write and write and write in order to figure out what to write about?

Both she and Nick are in the queue, but we first anticipate reading words from our newbie. Meanwhile, does anyone want to read my personal essay for b-school?

Welcome New Member / Solutions to Writer's Block

I probably shouldn't say anything until we find out if he really does plan to return, but it looks as if we have a new member. Okay, now I won't say anything more, but the reviews are in and it's good.

I will invite him to contribute to the blog just as soon as I remember the administrator's password. Does anyone have it? I've totally lost it and the password to the email address too, which means I have to call AT&T and that will be just a barrel of monkeys.

I also have to add Nami Mun's new book to the sidebar. Have you all seen her dishy promotion photographs? In Christian's words, she looks HAWT. If that doesn't sell books...

A note on writer's block. There are several ways to solve it. Here are two ideas:

1. Attend groop and ask Nick what to do.

2. Make a several-hundred dollar bet with a friend. The bet is that you won't be able to write 50 pages in a month. Send the check in advance. Your friend cashes it if she doesn't see the pages.

Jen and I will report back on which works better. So far, Jen's solution, #2, seems to be winning.

Horrific marketing campaign

Sorry to use our poor blog to promote my food-related interests, but I just saw a commercial that promoted High Fructose Corn Syrup.

That's right. That lovely highly-processed product that actually makes you CRAVE other calories is getting its own marketing campaign, which promotes it as "natural." If natural is growing high-calorie, low flavor corn and then processing it within every inch of its life, well...

And where is the marketing campaign for honey, raw sugar, apples, berries, etc.?

White People Like Writer's Workshops!

From the blog Stuff White People Like:

"It’s no secret. White people want to be writers. Why wouldn’t they? Work 10 hours a week from a country house in Maine or England. Get called a genius by other white people, and maybe get your book made into a film." ... more

Basic Meat Pie

PERIOD: Medieval/Renaissance | SOURCE: Various | CLASS: Authentic

DESCRIPTION: Basic recipe for a medieval/Renaissance-style meat pie

---

Medieval meat pies usually consisted of beef, pork, venison, or fowl, or a mixture of those meats. The meat was either broiled or boiled, then either used in small bite-sized chunks, or else reduced to a paste by mashing or "mortaring," and mixed with other ingredients. To make a basic medieval meat pie, choose your meat - a nice roast or even a cheaper cut will do nicely. Don't use pre-ground raw meat (such as hamburger) - it's not period, and will completely change the taste of your product. Use about 1 ½ lbs. for a pie that will feed 6-8 people. Broil or boil it until tender, remove from the broth or drippings and let cool. Chop in bite-sized chunks, mince very small, or chop small and pass through a food grinder or processor to achieve a paste. Mix into the meat any of the following: egg yolks (for liquid and binding), raisins, currants, nuts, cheese, dates, figs, a splash of wine, seasonings (ginger, salt, pepper, etc.) - be creative and have fun! Mix these ingredients either with the meat chunks or blend them in with the meat paste and place in a pre-baked pie shell . The final mixture should be a little too moist and just slightly runny - it'll stiffen up when baked, and the extra moisture will keep the pie from going dry. Liquid to use: egg yolks, wine, broth, etc. Medieval pies (sometimes called "bake metis" in Medieval days) were often topped with either a pastry shell (often called a "coffin") or "byrdys." (Medieval man had a reputation for eating practically anything with wings! "Byrdys" could be any small bird, ranging from swallows, sparrows, to game hens. For the 21st c. kitchen, small cooked chicken pieces such as small thighs or the "drumstick" section of the wing will do nicely.) After preparation, the pies can either be cooked at once or frozen in the raw state to be thawed & cooked later. When baking time comes, keep them in the oven until the pastry is golden brown. Meat pies can be served hot, at room temperature, or even chilled from the fridge. This means that the busy feast cook can make the necessary pies in advance, and freeze or hold refrigerated until the feastday. They can then be easily cooked or re-heated, or simply served at room temperature. (Be careful, of course, to not let the pies stand in the open too long. Food poisoning is period but as welcome as the plague.) One of the best sources that I know of for finding medieval pie recipes is Austin's Two Fifteenth-Century Cookery-Books (consisting of 2 period manuscripts) which has an entire section devoted to "Bake Metis."

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RECIPE FOR BASIC MEDIEVAL/RENAISSANCE MEAT PIE:

• 1 ½ lbs. meat (beef, pork, venison, rabbit, poultry, etc. or any combination), parboiled and in small chunks, ground, or mashed
• 1 9" pie shell (lid optional)
• cooked chicken pieces (wings, thighs, etc.) (optional)
• 4 egg yolks
• ½ to 1 cup meat broth (quantity depends on the dryness of the other ingredients - use your discretion. The final mixture should be on the wet side.)
• splash of red or white wine
• 1 to 2 cups TOTAL of any of the following, separate or in combination: minced dates, currants, raisins, minced figs, ground nuts (almonds, walnuts, etc.), grated cheese, etc. The variety of ingredients & the total amount used depends on personal taste.
• ¼ tsp. salt
• ¼ tsp. pepper
• 1 - 2 Tbs. TOTAL of any of the following spices, separate or in combination: ginger, allspice, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, cardamom, cubebs, galingale, etc. The variety of spices & the total amount used depends on personal taste.

Mix well all ingredients except chicken. Place in pie shell and top with either a pastry lid or the cooked chicken pieces. Bake in a 350° F oven for 45 minutes to an hour, or until the pastry is golden brown and the filling set. Serve hot or cold. Serves 6-8.

Kindle

Here's an article out of the times regarding the Kindle. I thought it would flop . I was wrong. What do you guys think? What will this do to the publishing industry?

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/06/opinion/
06krugman.html?ref=opinion

WSJ Blog Watch: Linguistics and Grammar

Today's Wall Street Journal has an interesting Blog Watch discussion on linguistic and grammar blogs. The three blogs it notes all make good reading:

http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/ - With multiple posts each day, this blog covers a broad swath of linguistic issues.

MotivatedGrammar.wordpress.com - Linguistics graduate student Gabriel Doyle rails against linguistic prescription, or the notion that arbitrary but established grammar standards should be closely followed.

Spandg.blogspot.com - GrammarBlog approaches language oddities and mishaps with a lighthearted, irreverent tone. (And is headed with the tag line "Smug is good.")

An Angel Fell Out of the Sky

Sometimes we're just so happy to see each other, and one thing is better than the other, but the list of bests for this week were:

10. Marika's first first date of the day. Not a creep! (Always good.)

9. Roxie REALLY loved her bone, so it seems worthwhile to include this on the list. We can't forget our four-legged friends.

8. The new painting of a church that Jen has mounted over her bed. This area is now known as the sanctuary. Don't you forget it.

7. The fact the Jeremy had a stack. We love it when we get actual printed manuscripts to carry home in our book bags also full of Bridget Hoida and Nami Mun novels.

6. The chocolate cake with chocolate cream cheese frosting I made for Nick's birthday. I mean, let's face it. It was pretty darn good, especially considering I had only two hours notice. A little melty, but that's to be expected when you frost before the cake has cooled...

5. Jeremy's revised second version of the first part of the first chapter. We totally pictured the gesture that the angel made when he fell out of the sky this time, and exactly what happened when the main character bolted out of the Starbucks. All sorts of good revisions just like this.

4. Marika's second first date of the day. Also not a creep.

3. The car ride. Wait! Jeremy hasn't written that yet, but we know it's going to be GREAT.

2. Nick as M.C. Happy birthday, Nick!

1. We loved the Russian heroine on heroin so much. We loved being inside of her brain.

Jen Prices Herself out of the Market

Nick's piece was up this week with Marika leading. The first pizza came out of the oven at around 8:30. We ate and gossiped about Jeremy. Marika related that though Jeremy had just trudged through an exhausting sixty hour work week, was still managing to show up. At any rate, Nick brought in the whiskey and let it drop that his newest word "Sinjin" was Indian for "Cougar." Jen quickly informed Nick that in fact Sinjin was British shorthand for "Saint John". Jen shook her head, took a deep breath and stared out the window.

After a moment she said, "You know I'd never go on a second date with a guy who made that kind of mistake."

Laura nodded and related a similar experience with a fellow she was no longer dating who had tried to impress her with his use of Deus Ex Machina. Apparently, this is Greek shorthand for "Do me". Ben then made the colossal mistake of admitting that he hadn't encountered the phrase before and was promptly and accurately branded by Laura as a gameless imbecile. Marika said after which Jeremy arrived and, after having been briefed as the only date-able man in the room, remarked that he had once used "Slunk" while in casual conversation with his un-impressed girlfriend and her mother.

The second pizza came out at around 9:15. We ate around the burned edges and started in on Nick's piece. The writing was so good that we just sat around for an hour just reading lines. The couple in the story were vividly imagined, sexy, sultry and free of literary faux pas. In fact, the writing was so good that there wasn't any point to meeting that night. Really, we all should have stayed home since we were all really tired and overworked. I mean, what was the point?

About Character Names... a Groop meeting summary

Groop met a couple weeks ago or something like that and I took notes and here they finally are.

We are still getting used to Jen's gorgeous couches. We don't know what to do with ourselves. Sometimes someone has to fall off the couch just to feel normal again.

Marika turned in and basically our biggest concern (or so say my notes) was the name of her main character. My current vote is for Tamara. Other suggestions? We think it needs to be three syllables. Someone else remind me of the other criteria...

But names are important. Take our very own group. Marika's name means "faggot" in South America, and not referring to a bundle of twigs. Ben's mom's name, Suki, means "bitches" (that's more than one) in Russia.

Just think of the novelistic possibilities these very names present! Nick's response was: "I want Ben's mom and Marika to meet a Russian in South America." That sounds like a writing assignment to me.

Names. Pretty important.

My favorite reference for character names is Babyzone, particularly because you can look up names by ethnic and regional origin.

Jeremy admitted that he just keeps a baby name book on his shelf. We know he also has the book so as to get the girls. Now, if I had it on my shelf? See Jeremy's last post.

Essay About Love and Literature

While we're on the topic of love, this humorous essay from the New York Times is worth a chuckle or two. As it aptly points out, "Anyone who cares about books has at some point confronted the Pushkin problem: when a missed — or misguided — literary reference makes it chillingly clear that a romance is going nowhere fast."

It’s Not You, It’s Your Books

Write me a "love" story!

I remember once, many, many years ago, there was a groop assignment to write a short story about sex. And I remember that MJ very deeply and very seriously did NOT want to write a story about sex, until we reminded her that it didn't have to be about GOOD sex...

Since then, I have wondered about the wisdom of having given that assignment, for as proud as we all were of MJ for taking on that challenge and running with it to wholly new and unexpected places, there is now, and forever, imprinted in my memory, an image of Chinese takeout being used for inappropriate purposes in the depths of a darkened movie theather.



So, in that spirit, or really, in any spirit, and in tribute to MJ, a new assignment:


StoryQuarterly
announces the SQ Love Story Contest

Open to fiction and nonfiction entries, the contest offers a
First Prize of $2,500, a Second Prize of $1,500, a Third Prize of $750,
and ten Finalists each will receive $100.
Deadline for entries: March 31, 2008.
For complete details, please click here.

Progressive Reading Series 3: Benefit to Save Rent Control

Those of you who live in the Bay Area might be interested in this event ...

"Maybe politics in this country would be in a better place if people drank more, read more, and had more of a good time. A simplistic argument, yes, but it was this philosophy that lifted the Progressive Reading Series off the ground. On Saturday, March 15, the literati are out in force for intellectual fun and a cause: saving rent control in California. The lineup includes local superstar Amy Tan, punk-rock poet and comedian Bucky Sinister, Lebanese writer Rabih Alameddine, and novelist Jerry Stahl — whose career-igniting memoir, Permanent Midnight (and its 1998 Ben Stiller-starring film adaptation), delves into the harsh yet hilarious realities of drug addiction and television writing." [From Flavorpill]

I'm a Stahl fan and Amy Tan's no slouch either, so I might go.

groop therapy

Groop met late last night for a session examining a first chapter by Marika. Since the work is written in the mystery tradition, there was discussion of genre. Some baulked at the term, others embraced it, but it was agreed that critique of the work itself was important whether certain conventions were in play or not.

This prompted a meta-debate about the project of critique in general. Then such practical matters as narrative voice, pacing and how best to introduce the victim in a whodunnit were considered. Yes, writerly work is being accomplished.

As critique wound down, however, Nick brought up suicide. We've lost a number of friends and acquaintances to what is estimated to be the 15th most common cause of death in the world (just after diarrheal diseases) and by some strange coincidence my latest entry to the AJ Episodes discusses it (something I didn't realize last night).

This sobering topic was adroitly derailed when, in an act of conversational jujitsu, the discussion turned to Ben's blue belt ceremony.

Obamathon

Political fiction from Michael Chabon:

"To support Obama, we must permit ourselves to feel hope, to acknowledge the possibility that we can aspire as a nation to be more than merely secure or predominant. We must allow ourselves to believe in Obama, not blindly or unquestioningly as we might believe in some demagogue or figurehead but as we believe in the comfort we take in our families, in the pleasure of good company, in the blessings of peace and liberty, in any thing that requires us to put our trust in the best part of ourselves and others. That kind of belief is a revolutionary act. It holds the power, in time, to overturn and repair all the damage that our fear has driven us to inflict on ourselves and the world."

Writing Exercises

My notes from the first meeting of groop in 2008 can be re-purposed as writing exercises. Your submission of 350 words or less is due February 28. The winning short short story or beginning of a short story or beginning of a novel or poem or diatribe or autobiography will be posted to the website and will receive a secret prize (to be disclosed when we also reveal our get-rich-quick can't-believe-no-one-else-is-doing-this scheme in a few weeks.)

1. Start a story with the line: "One day, my grandmother decided that I should collect bells." (Jen)

2. White lies. Your thoughts? (Unattributed)

3. How do you put leaves on the poet tree? (Nick)

I look forward to your submissions.

In other headlines: Ben Delivers Delicious Narrative Voice and Nick Forgiven for Forgetting Stack

Episodes update

Romance and philosophy on the Mediterranean Sea, this month in AJ Episodes!

Guess what?

More SKIDOO love, this time from the Village Voice:

If only I were getting paid for all this pimping...

Mo' SKIDOO

Since the SKIDOO floodgates are about to burst, here's a sample of my appearance at the sold-out Egyptian Theater screening. Wish y'all could have been there.
Well, now you will be. Forever.

I'm Just Sayin'...

SKIDOO will be on Turner Movie Classics Friday January 4.
Set your TIVO and drop a cube.