Dinner and WWD
Feb. 1st, 2003 09:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
magidLow-key dinner this week; I couldn't seem to muster energy for more than this, though I had thoughts of dishes to make.
Writers With Drinks was at the Lizard Lounge, and, as last time, I had a great time. I think there was a bit less smoking than last time, which was good for me, and sitting at a different table meant that the lights weren't aggressively in my eyes. Again, there was a band coming on after, but this time, they'd set up in advance. I wonder if they could've moved their keyboards a bit more out of the way, so the people sitting on that side wouldn't've had their view as blocked. Having an intermission was good, too.
And of course, thanks to Charliegirl (in spangly silver, with incredibly tall strappy platform heels to match) for organizing it all. (Strangely enough, WWD makes me think of old-fashioned entertainment, the kind of thing the people in the Little House books (not the TV show, thanks very much) would arrange, people speaking to entertain each other, in some form or another, be it readings or spelling bees or debates... it feels more self-sufficient entertainment, somehow, though Charliegirl gets professionals to read/perform.)
First up were the comedians, Brian and Mal (last time started with humor, too, and it works). They were very funny, and I'm not totally biased for having been the one to suggest the topic of "aardvark" for their performance art spoof. After that there was speed-dating, featuring BubbleBabble, who had just walked in. He was a good sport about it, getting to choose from Blog, Mike Brady, and Caesar (did he ever get the bag of croutons?). The LJ crew had some cheering opportunities.
They were followed by Susan Roney O'Brien, who read her poetry. I was particularly entertained by the cows saved from a horrible fate. There were couple of poems about Eve, and I got distracted thinking about how they wouldn't really work in traditional Jewish readings of the text, since Adam and Eve aren't even in the garden a full day. There are midrashim that say that had they made it through the first Shabbat still in Eden, the world would've been a very different place (I don't remember the midrash well enough to describe further.) And my mind drifted to the nature of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. When I was little, I thought that this meant there was a special one-of-a-kind tree, whose fruit imparted knowledge (a la computer chip implant, just a different means). I think it's the Ramban who says that it was just a fruit tree of some sort or another (one theory is the fig, since fig leaves seemed readily at hand just after), and the important part was the command not to eat from it. The action transgressing that command was what taught the distinction, not the fruit in and of itself.
In general, though, her poetry seemed to be better than her reading of it... the ability to write doesn't necessarily translate into the ability to read - my mind wandered in and out of her poems.
Jeffrey Carver read next, a selection from an sf book of his. He was another who doesn't read as well as he writes. My mind drifted some again, coming back to the topic at hand (someone piloting a spaceship through difficulties) more intermittently than I would've liked. I suppose it didn't help that it was a piece from the middle of something, not a stand-alone work.
After the intermission, Linda Bamber read some of her short fiction. She read very well, and I stayed focused on her pieces. I liked them, though the one about the woman who was abducted, raped, and murdered was a bit disturbing. Though now that I think about it, it's more because that was mentioned, rather than the story itself, which kept any details in the background, unnecessary to the story, other than the fact of it happening. The thought processes of a woman thinking about her session with her therapist was cool, too.
Fifth was Toni Amato, who read an erotic story. Wow. Just, wow. Incredibly sensual, intense emotions. Not like other erotic stories I've read, at all. And it didn't hurt that (s?)he read really well, also. There was the comment at the beginning that the whole story hadn't been read aloud in public before; (s?)he was always cut off before finishing. I can't imagine anyone doing that...
The last person was Helen Fremont, who read from a book of her memoirs, pieces about her parents. She, too, read well. It was interesting how her pieces went, not the straight narrative one usually expects after hearing "memoir." I wish I could write half so well.
Good to see so many people I knew there, too, most of whom are on LJ....
- grape juice
- vegan multi-grain flaxseed challah (done on time-bake again; I think the longer second rise helps the texture enormously)
- chicken soup with dumplings
- green salad (red-leaf lettuce, mesclun, grape tomatoes, scallions, pine nuts, balsamic garlic vinaigrette
- chicken baked with rice, almonds, raisins, garlic, some other spices, and (too much) cinnamon (I thought later to sautee onions and carrots to mix in and tame the cinnamon some, but I'm too lazy)(chickpeas would've been good with this, too)
- double chocolate bread pudding (I have tons left, plus another loaf of challah if I want to make more... anyone want some?)
Writers With Drinks was at the Lizard Lounge, and, as last time, I had a great time. I think there was a bit less smoking than last time, which was good for me, and sitting at a different table meant that the lights weren't aggressively in my eyes. Again, there was a band coming on after, but this time, they'd set up in advance. I wonder if they could've moved their keyboards a bit more out of the way, so the people sitting on that side wouldn't've had their view as blocked. Having an intermission was good, too.
And of course, thanks to Charliegirl (in spangly silver, with incredibly tall strappy platform heels to match) for organizing it all. (Strangely enough, WWD makes me think of old-fashioned entertainment, the kind of thing the people in the Little House books (not the TV show, thanks very much) would arrange, people speaking to entertain each other, in some form or another, be it readings or spelling bees or debates... it feels more self-sufficient entertainment, somehow, though Charliegirl gets professionals to read/perform.)
First up were the comedians, Brian and Mal (last time started with humor, too, and it works). They were very funny, and I'm not totally biased for having been the one to suggest the topic of "aardvark" for their performance art spoof. After that there was speed-dating, featuring BubbleBabble, who had just walked in. He was a good sport about it, getting to choose from Blog, Mike Brady, and Caesar (did he ever get the bag of croutons?). The LJ crew had some cheering opportunities.
They were followed by Susan Roney O'Brien, who read her poetry. I was particularly entertained by the cows saved from a horrible fate. There were couple of poems about Eve, and I got distracted thinking about how they wouldn't really work in traditional Jewish readings of the text, since Adam and Eve aren't even in the garden a full day. There are midrashim that say that had they made it through the first Shabbat still in Eden, the world would've been a very different place (I don't remember the midrash well enough to describe further.) And my mind drifted to the nature of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. When I was little, I thought that this meant there was a special one-of-a-kind tree, whose fruit imparted knowledge (a la computer chip implant, just a different means). I think it's the Ramban who says that it was just a fruit tree of some sort or another (one theory is the fig, since fig leaves seemed readily at hand just after), and the important part was the command not to eat from it. The action transgressing that command was what taught the distinction, not the fruit in and of itself.
In general, though, her poetry seemed to be better than her reading of it... the ability to write doesn't necessarily translate into the ability to read - my mind wandered in and out of her poems.
Jeffrey Carver read next, a selection from an sf book of his. He was another who doesn't read as well as he writes. My mind drifted some again, coming back to the topic at hand (someone piloting a spaceship through difficulties) more intermittently than I would've liked. I suppose it didn't help that it was a piece from the middle of something, not a stand-alone work.
After the intermission, Linda Bamber read some of her short fiction. She read very well, and I stayed focused on her pieces. I liked them, though the one about the woman who was abducted, raped, and murdered was a bit disturbing. Though now that I think about it, it's more because that was mentioned, rather than the story itself, which kept any details in the background, unnecessary to the story, other than the fact of it happening. The thought processes of a woman thinking about her session with her therapist was cool, too.
Fifth was Toni Amato, who read an erotic story. Wow. Just, wow. Incredibly sensual, intense emotions. Not like other erotic stories I've read, at all. And it didn't hurt that (s?)he read really well, also. There was the comment at the beginning that the whole story hadn't been read aloud in public before; (s?)he was always cut off before finishing. I can't imagine anyone doing that...
The last person was Helen Fremont, who read from a book of her memoirs, pieces about her parents. She, too, read well. It was interesting how her pieces went, not the straight narrative one usually expects after hearing "memoir." I wish I could write half so well.
Good to see so many people I knew there, too, most of whom are on LJ....