*Once* gets an honourable mention in the Globe and Mail's Top 100 Books, in Jim Bartley's (first fiction) top five section. My story "Hello Hello" (which is not in my book, if you are keeping track of these things) is in the current issue of Rampike Magazine, on choicer newsstands now. And, back to *Once*, it got a lovely review in Simon Fraiser University's The Peak. Oh, and more pictures from the Windsor readings over at Thirsty.
Wow. All this, and it's raining? Doesn't seem to suit the mood, now, does it?
Tonight you're doing something / this fix is more important / than you are
RR
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Cheesy Photo Blog
A bit before *Once* came out, I mentioned to a friend that I would be occasionally getting to do out-of-town readings. He responded, "You'll have to get a cheesy photo blog to record it all, then. All the big authors have them." And I was totally set to do so, although I'm not entirely sure if he was kidding or not (Joe?). I even bought a new camera (Mayumi) partially so I could. But...I didn't. Part of the problem of is being *on-stage* while doing these readings, along with often being too flustered or embarrassed to ask anyone to take the pictures. And really often being too flustered to remember to take pictures of things other than myself. And Mayumi breaking down fairly often when I remembered. And Blogger *hating* to upload pictures from a Mac. And assorted lazinesses.
No more!! I remembered to get the camera out, I asked photo-favours, I geekily begged people to sit still and show me their salads. And, once I patiently spend 45 minutes doing laundry while Blogger uploads, I will now I give you:
*Salon des Refuses Redux, Windsor (November 27) and Waterloo (November 28): Cheesy Photo Version*
(note: I made the first few pictures teeny in an effort to make the upload quicker; no dice, so the rest are normal size. Just click on'em for versions where you can actually make out what's going on. No offense to the first part of the trip)
The Detroit skyline, as viewed from across the Detroit river, standing in Windsor, being agog at how attractive Detroit is in person (but across water).
Short-story (and other things) author Mark Anthony Jarman being attacked by aliens and/or public art, at the waterfront.
Short-story author Heather Birrell, her husband Charles Checkitts, and their charming daughter Maisie, all getting ready for the reading.
Biblioasis and Canadian Notes and Queries publisher Dan Wells introduces the show.
Beautiful and brilliant The New Quarterly editor Kim Jernigan, with a salad worthy of its diner.
Charles and Maisie listening to Heather reading "Impossible to Die in Your Dreams."
Mark reads from his story "A Nation Plays Chopsticks.
After the reading, the post-reading drinks, a drive, the other post-reading drinks, a little sleep, a lot of French toast, playing transformers and a lot of talk, we were all still cheerful. That would be Dan, Kim, Me, Mark, and TNQ Managing Editor Rosalynn Tyo.
I am not over seeing *Once* just casually hanging around with real books, and maybe I never will be. The book sales table at the Waterloo reading.
Bruce Johnstone, chair of *The New Quarterly*'s board, opening the evening and chatting with the crowd.
Writers waiting to read. Like cats waiting to spring.
Me, reading. Awesome how ten years after it was pointed out to me, I still do that thing with my foot when I'm nervous.
What an amazing couple of days.
Good morning Starshine!
RR
No more!! I remembered to get the camera out, I asked photo-favours, I geekily begged people to sit still and show me their salads. And, once I patiently spend 45 minutes doing laundry while Blogger uploads, I will now I give you:
*Salon des Refuses Redux, Windsor (November 27) and Waterloo (November 28): Cheesy Photo Version*
(note: I made the first few pictures teeny in an effort to make the upload quicker; no dice, so the rest are normal size. Just click on'em for versions where you can actually make out what's going on. No offense to the first part of the trip)
The Detroit skyline, as viewed from across the Detroit river, standing in Windsor, being agog at how attractive Detroit is in person (but across water).
Short-story (and other things) author Mark Anthony Jarman being attacked by aliens and/or public art, at the waterfront.
Short-story author Heather Birrell, her husband Charles Checkitts, and their charming daughter Maisie, all getting ready for the reading.
Biblioasis and Canadian Notes and Queries publisher Dan Wells introduces the show.
Beautiful and brilliant The New Quarterly editor Kim Jernigan, with a salad worthy of its diner.
Charles and Maisie listening to Heather reading "Impossible to Die in Your Dreams."
Mark reads from his story "A Nation Plays Chopsticks.
After the reading, the post-reading drinks, a drive, the other post-reading drinks, a little sleep, a lot of French toast, playing transformers and a lot of talk, we were all still cheerful. That would be Dan, Kim, Me, Mark, and TNQ Managing Editor Rosalynn Tyo.
I am not over seeing *Once* just casually hanging around with real books, and maybe I never will be. The book sales table at the Waterloo reading.
Bruce Johnstone, chair of *The New Quarterly*'s board, opening the evening and chatting with the crowd.
Writers waiting to read. Like cats waiting to spring.
Me, reading. Awesome how ten years after it was pointed out to me, I still do that thing with my foot when I'm nervous.
What an amazing couple of days.
Good morning Starshine!
RR
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Readings of the Week
I just now realized the irony that my last post was a little blog manifesto stating that Rose-coloured is about reading and writing, when all my recent posts have been about publicity, bread and kisses. I'll get it together shortly, promise: a real short-story review is upcoming.
But first, a little more publicity (no more bread or kisses; we are very professional here at Rose-coloured):
Tonight is the newest incarnation of the Pivot Reading Series, starring Daccia Bloomfield, Catherine Graham and Mike Knox, starting at 8pm. I'm looking forward to going back to Press Club and seeing CG and MK read for the second time each, and DB for the first. And of course, the always-awesome Carey Toane, as the MC.
A rival event for this evening is Mark Jarman reading from My White Planet at This Ain't the Rosedale Bookstore. Much I loved *My White Planet*, I'd normally be sad to miss the reading but I'll be doing a couple readings along with Mr. Jarman, tomorrow and Friday nights both, so this diappointment is less distressing than it might be.
See us, Heather Birrell and Russell Smith read some short stories and then talk about the form at:
Salon des Refuses Redux: Windsor
Art Gallery of Windsor
401 Riverside Dr. W, Windsor
7:00 pm
Salon des Refuses Redux: Waterloo
November 28, 2008 at 7:30 pm
Conrad Grebel University, Great Hall
Obviously, some of these events are a bit of a hike/drive, but all are heartily recommended.
Into the blue light of the flame
RR
But first, a little more publicity (no more bread or kisses; we are very professional here at Rose-coloured):
Tonight is the newest incarnation of the Pivot Reading Series, starring Daccia Bloomfield, Catherine Graham and Mike Knox, starting at 8pm. I'm looking forward to going back to Press Club and seeing CG and MK read for the second time each, and DB for the first. And of course, the always-awesome Carey Toane, as the MC.
A rival event for this evening is Mark Jarman reading from My White Planet at This Ain't the Rosedale Bookstore. Much I loved *My White Planet*, I'd normally be sad to miss the reading but I'll be doing a couple readings along with Mr. Jarman, tomorrow and Friday nights both, so this diappointment is less distressing than it might be.
See us, Heather Birrell and Russell Smith read some short stories and then talk about the form at:
Salon des Refuses Redux: Windsor
Art Gallery of Windsor
401 Riverside Dr. W, Windsor
7:00 pm
Salon des Refuses Redux: Waterloo
November 28, 2008 at 7:30 pm
Conrad Grebel University, Great Hall
Obviously, some of these events are a bit of a hike/drive, but all are heartily recommended.
Into the blue light of the flame
RR
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Journals, Diaries, Logs, and Blogs
I've always been rather worked up over journals. As a bookish kid, I was forever being given pretty little notebooks in which to record my deep thoughts, and thus was perpetually disappointed that I didn't have any. So many adorable diaries, fabric-covered or pleather-covered, some with little tiny keys, and only the first dozen pages filled. Even when I managed to keep one for a few months, it was deadly dull going--a routine litany of school, piano and arguing with my brother. And months-long absenses, followed by passionate exclamations of self-disgust, and resolutions to be more faithful. The most interesting material in those old journals is all rather meta-journal.
And yet, the absolute worst thing imaginable was my journal falling into the hands of a parent, sibling, school frenemy or, horror of horrors, a stranger. Who knows, I don't actually remember now, but I think I was actually keeping those books as a record of my *artistic progress*, or possibly as notes for my autobiography. Oh dear.
Good thing the internet came along and allowed me to be a bit more focussed in my journalling. Of course, as an adult, I can make a better effort at the interest factor--I no longer play the piano nor argue with my brother (much), and I definitely don't feel bound to keep anything so dull as a *record of what actually happens to me*.
Because, you know, who cares? Of the 1000s of actions anyone takes in a given day ("make microwave oatmeal," "have 3-minute conversation about insects with neighbour," "get hit by door on way off bus") only a few are even vaguely interesting, and even fewer are relevant to people who aren't going to be eating that oatmeal (or plagued by those insects).
Rose-coloured is mainly a public space for me-as-a-writer--what I'm writing, what I'm reading, what's being said about my work, what I'm saying about other writers. I try to keep interesting. For more boring matters, I do keep an everyday workbook, on paper, wherein I describe the work that I managed that day on whatever story I am absorbed in. Those entries are quitte regular and quite painless, being mainly a sentence or two each. And then I keep a reading log, where I write don't titles and authors and, again, a sentence or two about what I thought.
I guess I *am* a record-keeping type, after all, in my way. Making this blog was my reward for finishing my Master's thesis, and I've rarely so enjoyed a self-given gift. I like to write through my ideas to know what I think, and I like to know what others think, too. It definitely makes my day when someone responds to something I've written, be it in print or on-line.
So, if you've read this far, thanks for reading, and thanks for thinking about stuff I think about. I guess I natter a lot, but I do enjoy it.
Something underground / gonna come up and carry me
RR
And yet, the absolute worst thing imaginable was my journal falling into the hands of a parent, sibling, school frenemy or, horror of horrors, a stranger. Who knows, I don't actually remember now, but I think I was actually keeping those books as a record of my *artistic progress*, or possibly as notes for my autobiography. Oh dear.
Good thing the internet came along and allowed me to be a bit more focussed in my journalling. Of course, as an adult, I can make a better effort at the interest factor--I no longer play the piano nor argue with my brother (much), and I definitely don't feel bound to keep anything so dull as a *record of what actually happens to me*.
Because, you know, who cares? Of the 1000s of actions anyone takes in a given day ("make microwave oatmeal," "have 3-minute conversation about insects with neighbour," "get hit by door on way off bus") only a few are even vaguely interesting, and even fewer are relevant to people who aren't going to be eating that oatmeal (or plagued by those insects).
Rose-coloured is mainly a public space for me-as-a-writer--what I'm writing, what I'm reading, what's being said about my work, what I'm saying about other writers. I try to keep interesting. For more boring matters, I do keep an everyday workbook, on paper, wherein I describe the work that I managed that day on whatever story I am absorbed in. Those entries are quitte regular and quite painless, being mainly a sentence or two each. And then I keep a reading log, where I write don't titles and authors and, again, a sentence or two about what I thought.
I guess I *am* a record-keeping type, after all, in my way. Making this blog was my reward for finishing my Master's thesis, and I've rarely so enjoyed a self-given gift. I like to write through my ideas to know what I think, and I like to know what others think, too. It definitely makes my day when someone responds to something I've written, be it in print or on-line.
So, if you've read this far, thanks for reading, and thanks for thinking about stuff I think about. I guess I natter a lot, but I do enjoy it.
Something underground / gonna come up and carry me
RR
In my salad days...
when I was green, I thought that one kind of writing was much the same as another, and if I liked to write fiction, I would like just as well to write non-fiction. More fool me, but I did briefly work on The McGill Tribune, where I was treated very kindly despite the fact that I was a piss-poor student journalist, and actually too nervous to conduct a proper interview.
Now that I am older, wiser, riper, and know better my own strengths and weaknesses, I am delighted to be writing fiction, where you never have to interview anyone, among so many other things I don't have to do if I don't want. And I am delighted, too, that one of the real student journalists, Diane Salema, at the Trib wrote such a lovely review of *Once*.
Cheers to full circle, or near enough.
A scapegoat falls to climb
RR
Now that I am older, wiser, riper, and know better my own strengths and weaknesses, I am delighted to be writing fiction, where you never have to interview anyone, among so many other things I don't have to do if I don't want. And I am delighted, too, that one of the real student journalists, Diane Salema, at the Trib wrote such a lovely review of *Once*.
Cheers to full circle, or near enough.
A scapegoat falls to climb
RR
Monday, November 24, 2008
Minor pleasures
Because there can never be too many, here are some minor pleasures to try:
1) Telling strangers their dogs are cute.
2) Getting an up-to-date phone book and recycling the old one.
3) Touching paper over glass. Seriously--the nicest sensation. There was an ill-placed window in the changing room of my gym that they just recently papered over (I never noticed it before, but that doesn't bear thinking about) and I am now in love with touching that window. Cold through dry--I can't explain it. It's lovely.
4) 14 second video of a kitten falling asleep.
4 a) The fact that when I mentioned this at a party, everyone wanted to see.
b) The fact that when we searched this on someone's iPhone at the party, there were *pages* of sleepy kitten videos
c) Other people's iPhones, one of the only things on the planet that inspire technolust in me.
5) A peck on the cheek.
6) Feeling smug about buying nothing on Buy Nothing Day
They always did the best they could.
RR
1) Telling strangers their dogs are cute.
2) Getting an up-to-date phone book and recycling the old one.
3) Touching paper over glass. Seriously--the nicest sensation. There was an ill-placed window in the changing room of my gym that they just recently papered over (I never noticed it before, but that doesn't bear thinking about) and I am now in love with touching that window. Cold through dry--I can't explain it. It's lovely.
4) 14 second video of a kitten falling asleep.
4 a) The fact that when I mentioned this at a party, everyone wanted to see.
b) The fact that when we searched this on someone's iPhone at the party, there were *pages* of sleepy kitten videos
c) Other people's iPhones, one of the only things on the planet that inspire technolust in me.
5) A peck on the cheek.
6) Feeling smug about buying nothing on Buy Nothing Day
They always did the best they could.
RR
Friday, November 21, 2008
Honours
*Once* was chosen as one of Quill & Quire's 15 Books of the Year, an extraordinary honour, especially when you consider what other books are on the list--I was particularly thrilled that Claudia Dey's Stunt was included, since it's one of *my* favourite books of the year.
Of course, with this honour comes an attendent one, which is Least-Suave Performance by a Female Author at a Newsstand. Sorry, Jeff and staff, I did try to be cool. It's just not in me.
Are we human / or are we dancer?
RR
Of course, with this honour comes an attendent one, which is Least-Suave Performance by a Female Author at a Newsstand. Sorry, Jeff and staff, I did try to be cool. It's just not in me.
Are we human / or are we dancer?
RR
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Good List
1) Apple bread from Cobbs.
2) Pretty sparkly snowfall before you're sick of it (give me another two weeks).
3) Not getting hit by a car (so far), on this, the worst driving day of the year.
4) Brilliant Kerry Clare takes her Passion for Reading to Ottawa (this is more good for the citizens of Ottawa than me, since I can't go; lucky citizens!!).
5) Coming Attractions 08 now in select bookstores, with a bestiary on the front, and stories by Daniel Griffin, Alice Petersen and myself. A gorgeous little book!
Another place that's really swish
RR
2) Pretty sparkly snowfall before you're sick of it (give me another two weeks).
3) Not getting hit by a car (so far), on this, the worst driving day of the year.
4) Brilliant Kerry Clare takes her Passion for Reading to Ottawa (this is more good for the citizens of Ottawa than me, since I can't go; lucky citizens!!).
5) Coming Attractions 08 now in select bookstores, with a bestiary on the front, and stories by Daniel Griffin, Alice Petersen and myself. A gorgeous little book!
Another place that's really swish
RR
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Admirable Words
I have read in the past about a (famous?) writer who seeks inspiration by writing out texts by other people that he/she admires, just to enjoy the sensation of such great work flowing from his/her fingers. Do you know who this author is? If so, let me know and I'll give credit for this great idea! In the meantime, I'm going to start trying it--typing out material I like, just to see if there's anything in the rhythm of the text that I can learn from. Also, I think having reproduce a text letter by letter forces me to read with much greater attention. So what follows will not be cut'n'pastes but actually my own little fingers at work, and thus will likely contain some typos. I hope this will be a regular-ish Rose-coloured feature, a little more high-calibre reading material than I generally provide myself.
Thank you. Thank, my friends. Thank you for coming here on this beautiful Arizona eventing. My friends, we have -- we have come the end of a long journey. The American people have spoken, and they have spoken clearly.
A little while ago, I had the honor of calling Senator Barack Obama to congratuate him. To congratulate him on being elected the next president of the country that we both love.
In a contest as long and difficult as this campaign has been, his success alone commands my respect for his ability and perserverance. But that he managed to do so by inspiring the hopes of so many millions of Americans who had once wrongly believed that they had little at stake or little influence in the election of an American president is something I deeply admire and commend him for achieving.
This is an historic election, and I recognize the special significance it has for African-Americans and for the special pride that must be theirs tonight.
I've always believed that America offers opportunities to all who have the industry and will to seize it. Senator Obama believes that, too.
But we both recognize that, though we have come a long way from the old injusticies that once stained our nation's reputation and denied some Americans the full blessings of American citizenship, the memory of them still had the power to wound.
A century ago, President Theodore Poosevelt's invitation of Booker T. Washington to dine at the White House was taken as an outrage in many quarters.
American today is a world away from the cruel and frightful bigotry of that time. There is no better evidence of this than the election of an African-American to the presidency of the United States.
Let there be no reason now...Let there be no reason now for any American to fail to cherish their citizenship in this, the greatest nation on Earth.
Senator Obama has achieved a grea thing for himself and for his country. I applaud him for it, and offer him my sincere sympathy that his beloved grandmother did not live to see this day. Though our faith assuresus she is at rest in the preseence of her creator and so very proud of the good man she helped raise.
Senator Obama and I have had and argued our differences, and he has prevailed. No doubt many of those differences remain.
These are difficult times for our country. And pledge to him tonight to do all in my power to help him lead us through the many challenges we face.
I urge all Americans...I urge all Americans who supported me to join me in not just congratulating him, but offering our next president our good will and earnest effort to find ways to come together to find the necessary compromises to bridge our differences and help restore our prosperity, defend our security in a dangerous world, and leave our children and grandchildren a stronger, better country than we inherited.
Whatever our differences, we are fellow Americans. And please believe me when I say no association has ever meant more to me than that.
It is natural. It's natural, tonight, to feel some disappointment. But tomorrow, we must move beyond it and work together to get our country moving again. We fought-- we fought as hard as we could. And though we fell short, the failure is mine, not yours. I am so...I am so deeply grateful to all of you for the great honor of your support and for all you have done for me. I wish the outcome had been different, my friends.
The road was a difficult one from the outset, but your support and friendship never wavered I cannot adequately express how deeply indebted I am to you.
I'm especially grateful to my wife, Cindy, my children, my dear other...my dear mother and all my family, and to the many old and dear friends who have stood by my side through the many ups and downs of this long campaign.
I have always been a fortunate man, and never more so for the love and encouragement you have given me.
You know, campaigns are often harder on a candidate's family than on the candidate, and that's been true in this campaign.
All I can offer in compensation is my love and gratitude and the promise of more peaceful years ahead.
I am also--I am also, of course, very thankful to Governor Sarah Palin, one of the best campaigners I've ever seen...one of the best campaigners I have ever seen, and an impressive new voice in our party for reform and the principles that have always been our greatest strength...her husband Todd and their five beautiful children..for their tireless dedidcation to our cause, and the courage and grace they showed in the rough and tumble of a presidential campaign.
We can all look forward with great interest to her future service to Alaska, the Republican Party and our country.
To all my campaign comrades, from Rick Davis and Stever Schmidt and Mark Salter, to every last volunteer who fought so hard and valiantly, month after month, in what at times seemed to be the most challenged campaign in modern times, thank you so much. A lost election will never mean more to me than the privildge of your faith and friendship.
I don't know--I don't know what more we could have done to try to win this election. I'll leave that to others to determine. Every candidate makes mistakes, and I'm sure I made my share of them. But I won't spend a moment of the future regretting what might have been.
This campaign was and will remain the great honor of my life, and my heart is filled with nothing but gratitude for the experience and to the American people for givign me a fiar hearing before deciding that Senator Obama and my old friend Senator Joe Biden should have the honor of leading us for the nest four years.
I would not--I would not be an American worth of the name should I regret a fate that has allowed me the extraordinary privilege of serving this country for half a century.
Tonight--tonight, mroe than any night, I hold in my heart nothing but love for this country and for all its citizens, whether they supported me or Senator Obama--whether they supported me or Senator Obama.
I wish Godspeed to the man who was my former opponent and will be my president. And I call on all Americans, as I have often in the campaign, to not despair of our present difficulties, but to beleive, always, in the promise and greatness of American, becuase nothign is ineveitable here.
Americans never quit. We never surrender.
We never hide from history. We make history.
Thank you, and God bless you, and God bless America. Thank you all very much.
(Text of John McCain's concession speech, Tuesday November 4, 2008, as reported by the Associated Press)
"...no association has ever meant more to me..." Wow.
RR
Thank you. Thank, my friends. Thank you for coming here on this beautiful Arizona eventing. My friends, we have -- we have come the end of a long journey. The American people have spoken, and they have spoken clearly.
A little while ago, I had the honor of calling Senator Barack Obama to congratuate him. To congratulate him on being elected the next president of the country that we both love.
In a contest as long and difficult as this campaign has been, his success alone commands my respect for his ability and perserverance. But that he managed to do so by inspiring the hopes of so many millions of Americans who had once wrongly believed that they had little at stake or little influence in the election of an American president is something I deeply admire and commend him for achieving.
This is an historic election, and I recognize the special significance it has for African-Americans and for the special pride that must be theirs tonight.
I've always believed that America offers opportunities to all who have the industry and will to seize it. Senator Obama believes that, too.
But we both recognize that, though we have come a long way from the old injusticies that once stained our nation's reputation and denied some Americans the full blessings of American citizenship, the memory of them still had the power to wound.
A century ago, President Theodore Poosevelt's invitation of Booker T. Washington to dine at the White House was taken as an outrage in many quarters.
American today is a world away from the cruel and frightful bigotry of that time. There is no better evidence of this than the election of an African-American to the presidency of the United States.
Let there be no reason now...Let there be no reason now for any American to fail to cherish their citizenship in this, the greatest nation on Earth.
Senator Obama has achieved a grea thing for himself and for his country. I applaud him for it, and offer him my sincere sympathy that his beloved grandmother did not live to see this day. Though our faith assuresus she is at rest in the preseence of her creator and so very proud of the good man she helped raise.
Senator Obama and I have had and argued our differences, and he has prevailed. No doubt many of those differences remain.
These are difficult times for our country. And pledge to him tonight to do all in my power to help him lead us through the many challenges we face.
I urge all Americans...I urge all Americans who supported me to join me in not just congratulating him, but offering our next president our good will and earnest effort to find ways to come together to find the necessary compromises to bridge our differences and help restore our prosperity, defend our security in a dangerous world, and leave our children and grandchildren a stronger, better country than we inherited.
Whatever our differences, we are fellow Americans. And please believe me when I say no association has ever meant more to me than that.
It is natural. It's natural, tonight, to feel some disappointment. But tomorrow, we must move beyond it and work together to get our country moving again. We fought-- we fought as hard as we could. And though we fell short, the failure is mine, not yours. I am so...I am so deeply grateful to all of you for the great honor of your support and for all you have done for me. I wish the outcome had been different, my friends.
The road was a difficult one from the outset, but your support and friendship never wavered I cannot adequately express how deeply indebted I am to you.
I'm especially grateful to my wife, Cindy, my children, my dear other...my dear mother and all my family, and to the many old and dear friends who have stood by my side through the many ups and downs of this long campaign.
I have always been a fortunate man, and never more so for the love and encouragement you have given me.
You know, campaigns are often harder on a candidate's family than on the candidate, and that's been true in this campaign.
All I can offer in compensation is my love and gratitude and the promise of more peaceful years ahead.
I am also--I am also, of course, very thankful to Governor Sarah Palin, one of the best campaigners I've ever seen...one of the best campaigners I have ever seen, and an impressive new voice in our party for reform and the principles that have always been our greatest strength...her husband Todd and their five beautiful children..for their tireless dedidcation to our cause, and the courage and grace they showed in the rough and tumble of a presidential campaign.
We can all look forward with great interest to her future service to Alaska, the Republican Party and our country.
To all my campaign comrades, from Rick Davis and Stever Schmidt and Mark Salter, to every last volunteer who fought so hard and valiantly, month after month, in what at times seemed to be the most challenged campaign in modern times, thank you so much. A lost election will never mean more to me than the privildge of your faith and friendship.
I don't know--I don't know what more we could have done to try to win this election. I'll leave that to others to determine. Every candidate makes mistakes, and I'm sure I made my share of them. But I won't spend a moment of the future regretting what might have been.
This campaign was and will remain the great honor of my life, and my heart is filled with nothing but gratitude for the experience and to the American people for givign me a fiar hearing before deciding that Senator Obama and my old friend Senator Joe Biden should have the honor of leading us for the nest four years.
I would not--I would not be an American worth of the name should I regret a fate that has allowed me the extraordinary privilege of serving this country for half a century.
Tonight--tonight, mroe than any night, I hold in my heart nothing but love for this country and for all its citizens, whether they supported me or Senator Obama--whether they supported me or Senator Obama.
I wish Godspeed to the man who was my former opponent and will be my president. And I call on all Americans, as I have often in the campaign, to not despair of our present difficulties, but to beleive, always, in the promise and greatness of American, becuase nothign is ineveitable here.
Americans never quit. We never surrender.
We never hide from history. We make history.
Thank you, and God bless you, and God bless America. Thank you all very much.
(Text of John McCain's concession speech, Tuesday November 4, 2008, as reported by the Associated Press)
"...no association has ever meant more to me..." Wow.
RR
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Intra-blog Naval Gazing
I've had a site-metre thingy hooked up for a while for Rose-coloured, but I don't get much use out of it. I don't know if it's a hard to intuit one or I'm just lazy (I suspect the latter, but it's Google Analytics, so you can check it out and judge for yourself) but I find it hard to learn anything useful from it. Or maybe there's nothing useful to learn from a site metre except for the number of people who look at this site every day. And GA *does* tell me that, with a helpful day-by-day line graph. I am pleased to note that in recent months there are more people reading this site than I have personally discussed the material with, which would be the point of having a blog in the first place. So we are moving in the right direction.
Hello new friends, anyway.
Sometimes, when I get ambitious (read: bored) I try the more advanced site tracking features, like the shaded map. From the varying shades of green, I now know that people in Sweden and Belgium have read this blog, which is puzzling, but hello to both of you anyway. I have also learned which sites link to mine, which I already knew, except for the one with "p*rn" in the title, which I refuse to click on to discover the connection. We shall let that remain a mystery.
And, after much skidding around the GA site, I figured out how to find out what people Google to get Rose-coloured (I have done this before, every six months or so, but then I forget how again). I know this is often very entertaining for bloggers, as people somehow wind up on lit-type blogs after searching "emo chicken gargoyle" or something equally inexplicable (and bound for disappointment on a lit-type blog). Less interestingly, but more profitably, readers of Rose-coloured generally search some combination of my name and the title of my book, or sometimes other authors that I have mentioned here. In fact, in the top 50 searches, there is only one that is funny, and that's a sort of sad one:
infected ink pen puncture
because I made a joke about that once, and I am sure the person who wanted info on that subject was not kidding. I am sorry, whoever you are, that I was flip about something that would be a serious problem if it actually happened. I hope that it is not very badly infected.
If something needs to be changed/now is the time to change it
RR
Hello new friends, anyway.
Sometimes, when I get ambitious (read: bored) I try the more advanced site tracking features, like the shaded map. From the varying shades of green, I now know that people in Sweden and Belgium have read this blog, which is puzzling, but hello to both of you anyway. I have also learned which sites link to mine, which I already knew, except for the one with "p*rn" in the title, which I refuse to click on to discover the connection. We shall let that remain a mystery.
And, after much skidding around the GA site, I figured out how to find out what people Google to get Rose-coloured (I have done this before, every six months or so, but then I forget how again). I know this is often very entertaining for bloggers, as people somehow wind up on lit-type blogs after searching "emo chicken gargoyle" or something equally inexplicable (and bound for disappointment on a lit-type blog). Less interestingly, but more profitably, readers of Rose-coloured generally search some combination of my name and the title of my book, or sometimes other authors that I have mentioned here. In fact, in the top 50 searches, there is only one that is funny, and that's a sort of sad one:
infected ink pen puncture
because I made a joke about that once, and I am sure the person who wanted info on that subject was not kidding. I am sorry, whoever you are, that I was flip about something that would be a serious problem if it actually happened. I hope that it is not very badly infected.
If something needs to be changed/now is the time to change it
RR
Monday, November 17, 2008
The Day I Went to America
...was yesterday. Whilst there, I
Saw
--an inflatable and operational Ferris wheel, each car of which was filled with a lovable Christmas-related cartoon character. It was going backwards (cost: $US179)
--big hair
--7 massage chairs (cost: $400-600)
--infinite gum
--a brand of candy called "Palatable Pleasures" (cost: too much, considering)
--more than 4 purple houses (we lost track); one each that was teal, lime-green and salmon
--children making a scene
Heard
--nonstop Christmas carols, excepting one song by Genesis and one by Steve Winwood
--drawls
--"honey," "sweetie" and "darling" from people serving us in stores and restaurants
--children making a scene
--a refreshing lack of honking no matter how poorly anyone was driving
Consumed
--FOUR different kinds of pop, all unknown and unattainable north of the border($1.89 to $2.25, so worth it)
--one bite each of three truffles (these were being shared; it was complicated and messy, but very good)(Cost: won from a scratch'n'win)
--all-you-eat salad and breadsticks at Olive Garden (cost: ~$15)
--fistfuls of Trix on car-ride home (cost: approximately 1/8 of $3.59)
Purchased
--two pairs houndstooth tights (cost: $4 and $6)
--box of Trix ($3.59)
--2L (or Imperial measurement equivalent) bottle of Cherry Coke Zero ($1.59)
--2 3-packs of Orbit Bubblemint gum (cost: $3.59 each)
--*Midnight's Children* by Salman Rushdie (cost: $15)
Felt
--that things are very very slightly, almost imperceptibly, different since November 4 (cost: priceless)
(c'mon, you knew I was building towards that)
I found music/and he found me
RR
Saw
--an inflatable and operational Ferris wheel, each car of which was filled with a lovable Christmas-related cartoon character. It was going backwards (cost: $US179)
--big hair
--7 massage chairs (cost: $400-600)
--infinite gum
--a brand of candy called "Palatable Pleasures" (cost: too much, considering)
--more than 4 purple houses (we lost track); one each that was teal, lime-green and salmon
--children making a scene
Heard
--nonstop Christmas carols, excepting one song by Genesis and one by Steve Winwood
--drawls
--"honey," "sweetie" and "darling" from people serving us in stores and restaurants
--children making a scene
--a refreshing lack of honking no matter how poorly anyone was driving
Consumed
--FOUR different kinds of pop, all unknown and unattainable north of the border($1.89 to $2.25, so worth it)
--one bite each of three truffles (these were being shared; it was complicated and messy, but very good)(Cost: won from a scratch'n'win)
--all-you-eat salad and breadsticks at Olive Garden (cost: ~$15)
--fistfuls of Trix on car-ride home (cost: approximately 1/8 of $3.59)
Purchased
--two pairs houndstooth tights (cost: $4 and $6)
--box of Trix ($3.59)
--2L (or Imperial measurement equivalent) bottle of Cherry Coke Zero ($1.59)
--2 3-packs of Orbit Bubblemint gum (cost: $3.59 each)
--*Midnight's Children* by Salman Rushdie (cost: $15)
Felt
--that things are very very slightly, almost imperceptibly, different since November 4 (cost: priceless)
(c'mon, you knew I was building towards that)
I found music/and he found me
RR
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Unblockable
Something I've said in the past that, taken out of context, could make me seem obnoxious, is that I never get writers' block. I get too tired to write, or too busy, or too lazy, but if I am actually able to get myself into the chair to write, I can write. The concept of the intimidating blank page/screen is foreign to me.
Obnoxious, right? Well, obviously, there's more.
Anyone who wants their words in the wider world, ie., wants other people to bother reading them, had better be a perfectionist. To publish, or try to publish, stories that I feel to be sorta "meh" is a nightmare-ish construction to me--oh, the shame of letting strangers read a badly turned line.
I, however, am a perfectionist over the long term. As I type away, I am not exactly thrilled, but certainly ok with letting a bad line, an awkward scene, a hackneyed metaphor stand in a rough draft. Sometimes I just can't think of anything better right then and I'd rather get the whole thing laid out where I can see it before I start fiddling. It's ok with me if the fiddling and fixing comes much later. No one's going to sneak into my hard-drive in the night and read at it and laugh at my lameness. I'll get it on the 2nd draft, or the 3rd. There's always another chance; I write a lot of drafts.
People who get writers' block, I am given to understand, do *not* write a lot of drafts (since it's not a condition I suffer from, I don't know exactly--feel free to correct me!) They are willing to wait, cursor blinking, until they have it nailed--it takes longer for them to get it down on the page, but they get it right the first time. A novel concept for one like me, who has so far cut close to 1500 words out of a first draft and isn't even close to done. I was pretty sure those 1500 words weren't aces when I wrote them, but they were a bridge from where I was to where I wanted to go--I needed them at the time, although not any longer. That time spent writing what would be later deleted is my version of staring at the blinking cursor--writing garbage, or redundancy, or perfectly adequate narration for another story, is my version of writers' block
I figured this out with a friend who found the process of writing deadly slow, but her stories required almost no editing--by the time she got there, she was there, the story whole and polished. She was envious of my ability to just keep slugging, no matter my mood or doubts about the story or confusion about whether it even *was* a story. I was envious of her ability to say what she wanted to say straight out, with no excess verbiage or pointless digressions.
We realized that, though our processes were so radically different, from first word to final draft took us both about the same amount of time. Which is encouraging/comforting/non-obnoxious. And makes me feel a little better about the fact that another 1500 words could and probably shall be cut from this story.
I think the message here, if there's a message, is: any way you go, as long it eventually leads forward, is fine.
I'd certainly be curious to hear what anyone else has to say about blocks, drafts, and the way forward.
It stoned me to my soul
RR
Obnoxious, right? Well, obviously, there's more.
Anyone who wants their words in the wider world, ie., wants other people to bother reading them, had better be a perfectionist. To publish, or try to publish, stories that I feel to be sorta "meh" is a nightmare-ish construction to me--oh, the shame of letting strangers read a badly turned line.
I, however, am a perfectionist over the long term. As I type away, I am not exactly thrilled, but certainly ok with letting a bad line, an awkward scene, a hackneyed metaphor stand in a rough draft. Sometimes I just can't think of anything better right then and I'd rather get the whole thing laid out where I can see it before I start fiddling. It's ok with me if the fiddling and fixing comes much later. No one's going to sneak into my hard-drive in the night and read at it and laugh at my lameness. I'll get it on the 2nd draft, or the 3rd. There's always another chance; I write a lot of drafts.
People who get writers' block, I am given to understand, do *not* write a lot of drafts (since it's not a condition I suffer from, I don't know exactly--feel free to correct me!) They are willing to wait, cursor blinking, until they have it nailed--it takes longer for them to get it down on the page, but they get it right the first time. A novel concept for one like me, who has so far cut close to 1500 words out of a first draft and isn't even close to done. I was pretty sure those 1500 words weren't aces when I wrote them, but they were a bridge from where I was to where I wanted to go--I needed them at the time, although not any longer. That time spent writing what would be later deleted is my version of staring at the blinking cursor--writing garbage, or redundancy, or perfectly adequate narration for another story, is my version of writers' block
I figured this out with a friend who found the process of writing deadly slow, but her stories required almost no editing--by the time she got there, she was there, the story whole and polished. She was envious of my ability to just keep slugging, no matter my mood or doubts about the story or confusion about whether it even *was* a story. I was envious of her ability to say what she wanted to say straight out, with no excess verbiage or pointless digressions.
We realized that, though our processes were so radically different, from first word to final draft took us both about the same amount of time. Which is encouraging/comforting/non-obnoxious. And makes me feel a little better about the fact that another 1500 words could and probably shall be cut from this story.
I think the message here, if there's a message, is: any way you go, as long it eventually leads forward, is fine.
I'd certainly be curious to hear what anyone else has to say about blocks, drafts, and the way forward.
It stoned me to my soul
RR
Friday, November 14, 2008
Sleep camel
I learned that term from the Idler's Glossary, in a discussion about those who will *not* idle, who make a contest of activity and reserve leisure for unconsciousness. A sleep camel is one who stays up to all hours during the week, usually in order to work extremely hard, and then crashes out all weekend.
I am very fond of sleeping, and try to do as much as possible, and yet I find myself more and more verging on the camel-type, popping out of bed bright-eyed on Mondays, only to be red-eyed and whiny come Friday. It's not *exactly* that I'm a hard worker though; more that I am an average worker who works on several different things, and also does a lot of random but entertaining non-work whenever the opportunity presents itself. For instance, this week I stayed up very late every night, doing the following:
Monday--Saw taping of So You Think You Can Dance, Canada? (go, Izaac!!) followed by work.
Tuesday--Read in support of Harold Hoefle's launch of the *The Mountain Clinic*, followed by hanging out at the bar, followed by work.
Wednesday--Fancy dinner with friends, followed by insufficient amount of work.
Thursday--Work.
What has happened to my life? It is full of frolic, obviously, but also marked sleep debt. I have to manage my time better. Or have less fun. Or something I'm too tired to think of right now. Whatever. Don't call too late tonight is I think my point.
You overthink
RR
I am very fond of sleeping, and try to do as much as possible, and yet I find myself more and more verging on the camel-type, popping out of bed bright-eyed on Mondays, only to be red-eyed and whiny come Friday. It's not *exactly* that I'm a hard worker though; more that I am an average worker who works on several different things, and also does a lot of random but entertaining non-work whenever the opportunity presents itself. For instance, this week I stayed up very late every night, doing the following:
Monday--Saw taping of So You Think You Can Dance, Canada? (go, Izaac!!) followed by work.
Tuesday--Read in support of Harold Hoefle's launch of the *The Mountain Clinic*, followed by hanging out at the bar, followed by work.
Wednesday--Fancy dinner with friends, followed by insufficient amount of work.
Thursday--Work.
What has happened to my life? It is full of frolic, obviously, but also marked sleep debt. I have to manage my time better. Or have less fun. Or something I'm too tired to think of right now. Whatever. Don't call too late tonight is I think my point.
You overthink
RR
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Toronto is so nice
I have ever been aware of this. The first time I apartment-hunted here, strangers on the streetcar practically collapsed trying to talk me out of living in what they thought were bad neighbourhoods (this story ends with me and my friends in a police stations with several cops trying not to snicker as they cross things off my list). It's not *exactly* been smooth sailing ever since, but certainly enough random acts of umbrella-sharing, lost-item-finding, and smile-giving have followed my progress here that I hold the whole town in high esteem.
Nevertheless, it is particularly nice when friends come from afar and the city shows itself off to best effect. And not just the museums and galleries, the zoo (oh, the gorillas, oh the leopard babies!!) and the restaurants. TTC, York Region Transit, shop clerks and strangers in the street, dogs on the street--A+ Toronto. Of course, it does help that the friends who visited are pretty amazing, also. A+ Winnipeg, also.
Anyway, so I've been gallivanting all week, which is the reason why that blog-everyday-in-November challenge that I was sort of unofficially doing is now no more. Oh well, we'll pick up where we left off.
The next writerly reading I'm doing is in Windsor, so perhaps I will find a new city to love. I've never been to Windsor, but I hear it is far away, so I'm not sure how many Rose-coloured readers can make it. If you can, or just are curious, it's here:
Thursday, November 27th
Mark Anthony Jarman, Heather Birrell, Russell Smith, Rebecca Rosenblum at a Salon des Refuses event
Art Gallery of Windsor / 401 Riverside Dr. W.
7:00 pm
And since this entry is already pretty random, one more thing: Journey Prize Stories 20 is out now, and looks gorgeous. I haven't read any of the stories yet except for the already-beloved "Some Light Down" by S. Kennedy Sobol, but if that's the standard set here, this is a must-read.
It's not what you say
RR
Nevertheless, it is particularly nice when friends come from afar and the city shows itself off to best effect. And not just the museums and galleries, the zoo (oh, the gorillas, oh the leopard babies!!) and the restaurants. TTC, York Region Transit, shop clerks and strangers in the street, dogs on the street--A+ Toronto. Of course, it does help that the friends who visited are pretty amazing, also. A+ Winnipeg, also.
Anyway, so I've been gallivanting all week, which is the reason why that blog-everyday-in-November challenge that I was sort of unofficially doing is now no more. Oh well, we'll pick up where we left off.
The next writerly reading I'm doing is in Windsor, so perhaps I will find a new city to love. I've never been to Windsor, but I hear it is far away, so I'm not sure how many Rose-coloured readers can make it. If you can, or just are curious, it's here:
Thursday, November 27th
Mark Anthony Jarman, Heather Birrell, Russell Smith, Rebecca Rosenblum at a Salon des Refuses event
Art Gallery of Windsor / 401 Riverside Dr. W.
7:00 pm
And since this entry is already pretty random, one more thing: Journey Prize Stories 20 is out now, and looks gorgeous. I haven't read any of the stories yet except for the already-beloved "Some Light Down" by S. Kennedy Sobol, but if that's the standard set here, this is a must-read.
It's not what you say
RR
Monday, November 10, 2008
The Week That Will Be
Rose-coloured is not a reliable source for goings-on-about-town of the literary variety, or any other; I largely post about events I'm actually attending/participating in, which is hardly a very wide gamut to run. I'm just not tapped in enough, and anyway there are plenty of lovely ways to find out what's really going on.
But this week I'm sort of on-the-ballish about cool lit stuff, and sad I cannot attend more. So I'm passing the ball to you, Rose-coloured readers: maybe *you* can go, and tell me about it?
Tuesday November 11, 7 pm
The Rivoli (upstairs) 332 Queen West
The Launch of Harold Hoefle's *The Mountain Clinic* with readings by Nathan Whitlock, Michael Bryson and Rebecca Rosenblum
Ok, so I'm in on that one, and it's gonna be awesome. But if you aren't in the mood for fiction on Tuesday, the other option is to check out:
Best Canadian Poetry Launch
Revival Bar, 738 College
That one's also at 7, so there will be no double-headers, sadly.
Then on Wednesday, the next incarnation of the Pivot Reading Series, which I also cannot attend, though I will think of it longingly.
Press Club, 850 Dundas West
Readings start at 8:15 sharp, by Alison Pick, Jeff Latosik and Sara Heinonen
Whatever you attend this week, have very much fun--and if you come out to the Riv on Tuesday, I will be happy to see you there!
I'm a door in a hinge
RR
But this week I'm sort of on-the-ballish about cool lit stuff, and sad I cannot attend more. So I'm passing the ball to you, Rose-coloured readers: maybe *you* can go, and tell me about it?
Tuesday November 11, 7 pm
The Rivoli (upstairs) 332 Queen West
The Launch of Harold Hoefle's *The Mountain Clinic* with readings by Nathan Whitlock, Michael Bryson and Rebecca Rosenblum
Ok, so I'm in on that one, and it's gonna be awesome. But if you aren't in the mood for fiction on Tuesday, the other option is to check out:
Best Canadian Poetry Launch
Revival Bar, 738 College
That one's also at 7, so there will be no double-headers, sadly.
Then on Wednesday, the next incarnation of the Pivot Reading Series, which I also cannot attend, though I will think of it longingly.
Press Club, 850 Dundas West
Readings start at 8:15 sharp, by Alison Pick, Jeff Latosik and Sara Heinonen
Whatever you attend this week, have very much fun--and if you come out to the Riv on Tuesday, I will be happy to see you there!
I'm a door in a hinge
RR
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Sundayness
Well, it's mid-afternoon and I haven't gotten permanently dressed yet (you know, you put on your sweats to go to the gym/post office/grocery store, but that doesn't really count as clothing, plus you have to start all over again once you shower) but at least my book got a lovely review in the Toronto Star. That makes me feel a little bit better about everything, including the fact that as soon as my hair dries from the shower, I have to go out in the rain.
I know that you don't wanna hear it / especially from someone so young
RR
I know that you don't wanna hear it / especially from someone so young
RR
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Adults in the eyes of the community
Here's P. and I exiting the bar (bat) mitzvah machine. I post this because I know some wanted to see what it looked like, and this is sort of a poor shot of everything, but it's the best I can do. And it does show us having fun, which is always a nice thing to have a picture of!
Friday, November 7, 2008
In the papers
Well, many great things, obviously, mainly about the American election and how this is the beginning of good things. I feel like many people are experiencing envy of Americans right now, and that is not something we experience very often. There's a great article in yesterday's *Globe* by Karim Bardeesy, though, about how Canadian polictics might experience a similar surge of empowerment. Dare to hope!
Also, there's a short article about me in the current issue of the Ottawa Jewish Bulletin. It's a good piece, but it's not online, so this information is really of use to you if you are a) in Ottawa, and b) know where to find that paper. But still, I'm pleased it's out there for those who meet both criteria.
Ok, so the title/theme of this post is something of a reach--I just had two disparate things to say and they both happened to be published in newspapers. But it's Friday and I am sooo tired. A few people have asked me today if I have plans for the evening and I do--curling up in the fetal position. Week of November 3, you have defeated me. But in a good way.
You're hot then you're cold
RR
Also, there's a short article about me in the current issue of the Ottawa Jewish Bulletin. It's a good piece, but it's not online, so this information is really of use to you if you are a) in Ottawa, and b) know where to find that paper. But still, I'm pleased it's out there for those who meet both criteria.
Ok, so the title/theme of this post is something of a reach--I just had two disparate things to say and they both happened to be published in newspapers. But it's Friday and I am sooo tired. A few people have asked me today if I have plans for the evening and I do--curling up in the fetal position. Week of November 3, you have defeated me. But in a good way.
You're hot then you're cold
RR
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Everyone is awesome today
1) Today Fred reminds us all that she predicted Tuesday's historic victory for Obama in July 2004. Today *I* would like to remind you all that I have been saying since the 90s that Fred is a genius, so really, reflected glory ought be mine. I predict further that somehow (from behind the scenes, most like) Fred also will do great things for government. Check back in 4.
2) Evie Christie's Desk Space is always awesome for literary voyeurism, but Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer's entry is bonus good because it not only talks about what she's working on, it features a clip!
3) The new issue of The New Quarterly arrived last night, packed with goodness, including the much anticipated "On a Picnic" by the amazing Kerry Clare.
I am well pleased with our universe at the moment, what with all of the above, plus a democratic president-elect, plus 15-degree weather in November, plus...oh, maybe I'll have some pudding now!
You're in then you're out
RR
2) Evie Christie's Desk Space is always awesome for literary voyeurism, but Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer's entry is bonus good because it not only talks about what she's working on, it features a clip!
3) The new issue of The New Quarterly arrived last night, packed with goodness, including the much anticipated "On a Picnic" by the amazing Kerry Clare.
I am well pleased with our universe at the moment, what with all of the above, plus a democratic president-elect, plus 15-degree weather in November, plus...oh, maybe I'll have some pudding now!
You're in then you're out
RR
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
The Enormity of the Task Ahead
Four years ago I went down to Florida to volunteer for John Kerry during the final days before the election. I had never been anywhere near a campaign office before, but the one I worked in contained exactly what I had hoped and expected it would: an immense swirl of positive energy and optimism. Surrounded by dozens of people who thought I as I think, who were willing to volunteer endless hours with endless goodwill for what they believed was the common good, I was filled with hope. I loved doing my little lists of get-out-the-vote calls, eating leftover Hallowe'en candy, chatting with impassioned strangers and believing wholeheartedly that change was good, possible and imminent.
Such was my blinkered (and coddled) worldview going into Election Night 2004, and profound dismay and distress was the result. I hadn't ever spoken to anyone who didn't think George Bush was a disastrous liability to America and the world, and therefore I thought such people did not exist. I couldn't believe that anyone would vote against (in my perception) their own ecomonic security, the solidarity of nations, diplomacy and advocacy for peace.
I left the campaign office in the afternoon and spend election night with my family, who are considerably more informed about politics (and everything) than I am. Around 2am, I had to be pried from my chair (a chair I still dislike for it's association with that evening) and sent to bed with the firm message that the situation was not going to change. If you've ever tried to explain anything to me at 2am, including where the bathroom is, you'll know I have a hard time absorbing information past midnight and I *did not buy it*.
I was so terribly disillusioned to be wrong.
Four years later, I spent election night at the home of lovely friends and a puppy with whom I have a dubious relationship. Last night, when the puppy hurled himself at my chest, I gave him a hug and whispered in his floppy ear, "Remember me, Mookie? Remember when I came to visit last time and you bit me? Let's not do that again, ok?"
And we didn't. The evening was so fun and easy, because we were *justifiably* confident long before we had any right to expect that. Unlike my long miserable night in 2004, things were fairly obvious at 9 and over at 11. I could not, however, go home, because we had balloons and blue cookies and noisemakers, the puppy and the speeches and joy to share. I have never made it to the speechifying before--I found McCain's "the fault is mine" concession speech deeply moving and personal. Obama's speech was glossier and while he said many things that impressed me, it wasn't amazing. But here's the crazy thing--he's got at least 4 more years of speeches. I'm willing to wait.
I'm still pretty ill-informed, cheerful and excitable about politics, but I'll never again be in such a happy bubble as I was in 2004. I know now that what I feel I know to be right is not universal, and that there is more to any issue than an everyday goofball person can ever imagine. I am sure I do not well understand any of the positions of Obama's that I so firmly endorse. But I am happy that I didn't give up on American democracy, and happy that, if I don't understand, there is someone in the most powerful office in the world whom I trust to get it.
Despite the two wars, the economic disaster, the health-care system and everything I don't even know about, I am filled with hope. And I'm so glad those little girls are getting a puppy of their own.
True patriot love
RR
Such was my blinkered (and coddled) worldview going into Election Night 2004, and profound dismay and distress was the result. I hadn't ever spoken to anyone who didn't think George Bush was a disastrous liability to America and the world, and therefore I thought such people did not exist. I couldn't believe that anyone would vote against (in my perception) their own ecomonic security, the solidarity of nations, diplomacy and advocacy for peace.
I left the campaign office in the afternoon and spend election night with my family, who are considerably more informed about politics (and everything) than I am. Around 2am, I had to be pried from my chair (a chair I still dislike for it's association with that evening) and sent to bed with the firm message that the situation was not going to change. If you've ever tried to explain anything to me at 2am, including where the bathroom is, you'll know I have a hard time absorbing information past midnight and I *did not buy it*.
I was so terribly disillusioned to be wrong.
Four years later, I spent election night at the home of lovely friends and a puppy with whom I have a dubious relationship. Last night, when the puppy hurled himself at my chest, I gave him a hug and whispered in his floppy ear, "Remember me, Mookie? Remember when I came to visit last time and you bit me? Let's not do that again, ok?"
And we didn't. The evening was so fun and easy, because we were *justifiably* confident long before we had any right to expect that. Unlike my long miserable night in 2004, things were fairly obvious at 9 and over at 11. I could not, however, go home, because we had balloons and blue cookies and noisemakers, the puppy and the speeches and joy to share. I have never made it to the speechifying before--I found McCain's "the fault is mine" concession speech deeply moving and personal. Obama's speech was glossier and while he said many things that impressed me, it wasn't amazing. But here's the crazy thing--he's got at least 4 more years of speeches. I'm willing to wait.
I'm still pretty ill-informed, cheerful and excitable about politics, but I'll never again be in such a happy bubble as I was in 2004. I know now that what I feel I know to be right is not universal, and that there is more to any issue than an everyday goofball person can ever imagine. I am sure I do not well understand any of the positions of Obama's that I so firmly endorse. But I am happy that I didn't give up on American democracy, and happy that, if I don't understand, there is someone in the most powerful office in the world whom I trust to get it.
Despite the two wars, the economic disaster, the health-care system and everything I don't even know about, I am filled with hope. And I'm so glad those little girls are getting a puppy of their own.
True patriot love
RR
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Rose-coloured Reviews The Incredible Bar Mitzvah Machine
Everytime I've heard tell, or even asked a pointed question regarding the The Incredible Bar Mitzvah Machine information has been vague, mainly regarding the history of the project and not what it actually does. This review will mainly follow that circumspection, as the mystery of what's inside is half the fun, and because the history and the outside of the project is a sufficient other half.
So! The Bar Mitzvah Machine was built in memory of the artist Charles Katz, who was talented, ironic, well-friended, Jewish and dyslexic. He was unable to complete the reading necessary for his bar mitzvah because of the dyslexia, and years later began to talk of a machine that would provide a stressless solution to this miss. He died sadly young, in his fifties, and because he was well-friended, there was an immediate urge to do something to commemorate his life and his loss.
The suggestion that the artists who knew and loved Mr. Katz actually *make* the bar mitzvah machine was mainly laughed out of the cafe, but someone wrote it up and submitted it to Nuit Blanche and, when it was accepted, the gang rallied and actually made it. The machine was a tremendous success at the 2008 event.
So what is it? A retrofitted photobooth with a tallis for a curtain )go to the link to see the pic--it makes perfect sense once you do). Inside is a touch screen that will take you through a very very *very* fast and loose approximation of the Hebrew texts necessary to become an adult in the eyes of God and the Jewish community. Then you emerge from the booth, and here is the best part, according to me--the artists and people waiting in line for the machine play the parts of your loving extended family! Cheering! Throwing candy at you! Photography and congratulations, maybe even a hug!
It's friendly, it's funny, and it may make you think about your community, if thinking is something you are inclined to do. And you get a certificate at the end that outlines your newfound adult responsibilities...mainly but not exclusively to do with party attendence.
Mazel tov!
I've been all right
RR
So! The Bar Mitzvah Machine was built in memory of the artist Charles Katz, who was talented, ironic, well-friended, Jewish and dyslexic. He was unable to complete the reading necessary for his bar mitzvah because of the dyslexia, and years later began to talk of a machine that would provide a stressless solution to this miss. He died sadly young, in his fifties, and because he was well-friended, there was an immediate urge to do something to commemorate his life and his loss.
The suggestion that the artists who knew and loved Mr. Katz actually *make* the bar mitzvah machine was mainly laughed out of the cafe, but someone wrote it up and submitted it to Nuit Blanche and, when it was accepted, the gang rallied and actually made it. The machine was a tremendous success at the 2008 event.
So what is it? A retrofitted photobooth with a tallis for a curtain )go to the link to see the pic--it makes perfect sense once you do). Inside is a touch screen that will take you through a very very *very* fast and loose approximation of the Hebrew texts necessary to become an adult in the eyes of God and the Jewish community. Then you emerge from the booth, and here is the best part, according to me--the artists and people waiting in line for the machine play the parts of your loving extended family! Cheering! Throwing candy at you! Photography and congratulations, maybe even a hug!
It's friendly, it's funny, and it may make you think about your community, if thinking is something you are inclined to do. And you get a certificate at the end that outlines your newfound adult responsibilities...mainly but not exclusively to do with party attendence.
Mazel tov!
I've been all right
RR
Monday, November 3, 2008
Big Monday
Well, I missed out on the chance to warn you that I was on Here & Now on CBC1 today (no podcast, sorry). Those who heard my short reading (from "ContEd") say it didn't suck. Of course, it was once again extremely entertaining to hang out at CBC studios.
I'm more on the ball in mentioning that I'll be reading at the Cool Jew Cabaret at the Leah Polsuns Theatre tonight. The show starts at 8, but I'd *strongly* advise you to come around 7 for the reception, which will include
a) food
b) a bar mitzvah machine.
And it's only Monday!
Poor helpless dreams!
RR
I'm more on the ball in mentioning that I'll be reading at the Cool Jew Cabaret at the Leah Polsuns Theatre tonight. The show starts at 8, but I'd *strongly* advise you to come around 7 for the reception, which will include
a) food
b) a bar mitzvah machine.
And it's only Monday!
Poor helpless dreams!
RR
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Nigel, Flannery, and Me
Nigel Beale and I sat down in a room filled with books to talk about what Flannery O'Connor says about good and bad short stories for The Bibliofile. Listen in here.
How sweet the sound / to save a wretch like me
RR
How sweet the sound / to save a wretch like me
RR
Quoting Hallowe'en
"At the Vietnamese butcher...where else would you get lungs?"
"Is this food? Oh, no, this is not food."
"Who are you? No, not your name, your costume?"
"This sex doll is not very sexy."
"This is what happens when you take apart a frog."
"There's goody bags!!"
"Well, that's very creative."
"These eyeballs stick to the wall."
"Why are you squeaking?"
Wife: "They don't get it. Nobody gets it."
Husband: "Well, it's what I'm wearing. I'm wearing it now."
"Oh my god, strobe light! Seizure! Run away!"
"The standard first-year university costume for girls is skank."
"Is it potato salad? Is it fish? What?"
"Can you move?"
Me: "Who are you dressed as?"
Man: "Mike Holmes... *Holmes on Homes*, it's a home renovation show."
Me: "I'm a girl."
Man: "Right. Nevermind"
"And he just started screaming, '7 of 9, 7 of 9!!'"
"I get it! Oh, *now* I get it! I do, I really do. Wait a second..."
"Wait for the really naked girl."
K (to me): "Ok, short people in the front for the photo."
Me: "Am I short?"
K: "Well, if you have to hop up and down to be seen, you are short."
Me: "I'm not hopping because I want to be seen, I'm hopping because I am cold. People can see me."
K: "Fine. Stay where you are then."
"What does dry ice feel like? Oh, it's wet."
RR
"Is this food? Oh, no, this is not food."
"Who are you? No, not your name, your costume?"
"This sex doll is not very sexy."
"This is what happens when you take apart a frog."
"There's goody bags!!"
"Well, that's very creative."
"These eyeballs stick to the wall."
"Why are you squeaking?"
Wife: "They don't get it. Nobody gets it."
Husband: "Well, it's what I'm wearing. I'm wearing it now."
"Oh my god, strobe light! Seizure! Run away!"
"The standard first-year university costume for girls is skank."
"Is it potato salad? Is it fish? What?"
"Can you move?"
Me: "Who are you dressed as?"
Man: "Mike Holmes... *Holmes on Homes*, it's a home renovation show."
Me: "I'm a girl."
Man: "Right. Nevermind"
"And he just started screaming, '7 of 9, 7 of 9!!'"
"I get it! Oh, *now* I get it! I do, I really do. Wait a second..."
"Wait for the really naked girl."
K (to me): "Ok, short people in the front for the photo."
Me: "Am I short?"
K: "Well, if you have to hop up and down to be seen, you are short."
Me: "I'm not hopping because I want to be seen, I'm hopping because I am cold. People can see me."
K: "Fine. Stay where you are then."
"What does dry ice feel like? Oh, it's wet."
RR
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