Articles in month: June, 2009

The month of Sweethearts over at Readergirlz continues! Believe it or not, it is already June 17, so we’re over halfway through. Yikes! Here’s what’s going on:

• Live chat tonight at the rgz blog. 6 p.m. Pacific / 9 p.m. Eastern. (7 p.m. Mountain, 8 p.m. Central! And if you’re in Arizona…well, who knows. You can always check the world clock if you’re not sure.) It should be easy. The chat opens at 5:45 Pacific. You should just be able to go over to the blog, and see a chat box and start yapping! The address, once again: http://readergirlz.blogspot.com

• Yesterday, Sarah Darer Littman, whose book Purge is a recommended companion read to Sweethearts, posted to the rgz about that and about her own experience with food and body image.

• Also yesterday, the featured discussion question was: Jenna and Cam’s relationship isn’t really romantic, and it isn’t really platonic. Sara asks, “What is challenging about that kind of friendship?” Whoah nellie, what isn’t complicated about that? Add your thoughts.

I hope to see you at the chat tonight where we can talk about all things Sweethearts, or just So You Think You Can Dance!

…because I’m sure there are a lot of them. So there’s this band here in Salt Lake that I’m in love with, Fictionist, and I feel sort of evangelical about them. I started to mention this awhile back, and then I got sidetracked as I am wont to do and never did the follow-up post.

I heard these guys on our local indie station (which is a gem in itself) and was really impressed, then saw them live at a woefully underpopulated club and thought they were amazing. Nothing about them says “local band” to me – the production quality album is great (I bought it via iTunes, I’m assuming the actual CD is quality, too), the lyrics are thoughtful (with hints at deeper spiritual ponderings and you know how I love spiritual ponderings), the arrangements complex, and they are incredibly tight live—I don’t think the lead vocalist could hit a bad note if he tried, and the quality of musicianship by all of them is first rate.

And, maybe most impressive to me, was at that near-empty club they still gave a great show, despite the fact that a guy from the next band kept walking back and forth between the stage and “audience” (okay, me and my husband and like four other people plus the entourage) with pieces of his drum kit when he wasn’t busy laughing loudly at his own jokes. They did their thing and had a good time as if they had a full house. I love that. And I wanted to go up after and say I know what it’s like to go to an event and have 30 chairs set up and only have 2 of them filled, and I know, too, that you do your thing and have a good time, anyway, otherwise what’s the point?

It seems to me it’s much harder to break out as a musician than as a writer. Publishing has its issues, but the music business seems totally convoluted. If you can’t get on a Clear Channel station, is there any chance of going big? It’s such a narrow door to the kind of exposure you need for major success. Who knows what kind of great and worthy stuff is not getting through that door? This is why I listen to KRCL, subscribe to Paste, fire up Pandora, and take any and all recommendations from friends. And as your friend, I’m saying you should check out Fictionist and see if you like.

http://fictionist.net
You can preview the whole “Invisible Hand” album on their site.

That’s sometimes how I feel when I sit down to write a blog post. That’s when I know my brain needs to be in intake mode rather than output mode. Lately I only want input. Books, music, poetry, movies, and Gabriel Byrne.

Well hello, Dr. Paul.

But seriously, watching In Treatment brings back oddly fond memories of my own therapy days, which seem to be over. For now. I mean, it goes without saying that I could crack at any moment. I do miss the format: basically paying someone to be your friend, and listen.

Speaking of listening, I like what Roger S. says about listening over on the Horn Book blog today in re book and lit blogging. Listening is something I’m trying to do more of in general. That requires reducing the noise level, and that means missing out on some stuff. The fear of missing out is one of the major enemies to a balanced life, in my experience. Letting go of that helps immensely on the quest for sanity.

Meanwhile, the Sweethearts discussion continues on the Readergirlz blog (speaking of missing some stuff, I’ve missed some of the discussion questions, too…scroll down and check them all out). And, the live chat with me is coming right up! Wednesday, June 17th, 6 p.m. Pacific. I realize that for people in my time zone this means missing out on So You Think You Can Dance. We can talk about that, too. I’ll post chat instructions some time before Wednesday.

If you want to talk about other books, head on over to Chasing Ray where the What A Girl Wants discussion kicked off earlier this week. Register with the site to join in the talk.

Are you in Salt Lake? Come to the King’s English at 5 today for pie and aprons in celebration of Shannon Hale’s The Actor and the Housewife, which sounds like just what I need to read this rainy weekend.

My doctor emailed to let me know that the CDC is no longer processing flu samples to prove swine flu unless the patient is hospitalized. Currently it is assumed that flu A is swine flu. Awesome! I feel pretty good. Back to routine, though I tire out fast and am still sleeping like a log at night, for ten hours or so. /health update

Meeaaaanwhile, some randomness:

The Sweethearts discussion continues at the Readergirlz blog. The current question has to do with parents making mistakes. Check it out, add your response.

If you are in SLC and flu-free, come out to Shannon Hale’s event on Saturday for The Actor and the Housewife. Don an apron, win a prize!

I’ve been listening repeatedly to The Eels’ new album, Hombre Lobo. Good stuff, Maynard. (By the way, does anyone know what I’m talking about when I say ‘good stuff, Maynard’? Please say yes. I feel old enough as it is.) What have you been listening to?

I am slowly, slowly working my way through Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout, a novel in stories, and I don’t want it to end so I’m only allowing myself one story every couple of weeks. In between, I’m reading other stuff. How about you?

Being cooped up all week without the energy to do much more than sack out on couch does not make for a happy Sara. I did venture out for book event on Saturday, and it felt so good, but also wore me down. When will I stop sleeping 12 hours a night? Soon, I hope.

I did get to watch a lot of movies. I re-watched some favorites, like State and Main and Cop Land, and also new-ish stuff like My Kid Could Paint That and Gardens of the Night. Netflix adds more and more stuff to their watch-it-now service all the time; last night we watched about half The Show Off, a 1926 silent movie, in which Louise Brooks wears the most perfect dress (a picture of which I cannot find to show you). Then at 8:30, I fell asleep. Cuz that’s how I roll.

Tomorrow, flu be damned, I am throwing myself back into routine. Now that I’m through my course of Tamiflu, hopefully I can concentrate enough to write. It’s so hard to get back into a work when you’ve taken more than a week off! I hate it. Once I’m there it will be fine, but the initial transition is kind of hellish.