Ciao, Italy. Non dimenticare di essere meraviglioso. ]]>
Ciao, Italy. Non dimenticare di essere meraviglioso. ]]>
Frak would absolutely burst into a billion tiny pieces due to art overload here. It's wonderful.
]]>Here are the two memes, if you would like to repeat them:
Create the Soundtrack of your life:
1. Open your iTunes library and set it to Shuffle.
2. Press play
3. Write the title of the song playing next to the first question (that song is your "Opening Credits")
4. Every time you go to a new question hit the next button TWICE
I will be ignoring this rule so that I can do the second meme in this one note... I AM A MEME KILLER
5. Don't lie and try to pretend you're cool. Feel embarrassed like us all.
The second meme is: First 35 songs random on your iTunes, which is the only instruction. So, basically, I'm going to fulfill the first meme then list the rest to satisfy the second meme. Cool?
I'm prefacing this by saying my iTunes is a collaborative junky mess of songs I've used for some reason or other, songs I actually listen to, songs I dredged up from my college Napster downloads, raw interview files, and other such things that really don't relate to, you know, my life. Just FYI.
Opening Credits
"Mother," by John Lennon
(LOL! Appropriate, no?)
"Mother, you had me, but I never had you." LOLOLOL.
Waking Up
Track 12, Eddie Izzard, "Definite Article."
Here's what he's saying: "It is weird with languages. We don't care for languages. English people just go oh, no, we'll just go around and shout, 'Hello!'"
First Day at School
"I Think We're Alone Now," Tiffany
Oh, this is just too good.
Falling In Love
"You Can Look (But You Better Not Touch)" - Bruce Springsteen
HOW DOES ITUNES KNOW?
Losing Virginity
More Eddie Izzard, this time from Dress 2 Kill (and this is beautiful):
"A lot of people in Church of England have no muscles in their arms...they just sort of hang loose. 'Hello, how are you? Yes, come on in, come on in, how are you?... right, we'll now sing hymn 405 and please can you sing it in your dreary voice? Thank you very much."
Fight Song
"Chapter 33k," Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, J.K. Rowling. SERIOUSLY.
"That is between Harry and me. Now, listen closely, Severus. There will come a time after my death - do not argue, do not interrupt - there will come a time when Lord Voldemort will seem to fear for the life of his snake."
"For Nagini?" Snape looked astonished.
"Precisely. If there comes a time when Lord Voldemort stops sending that snake forth to do his bidding but keeps it safe beside him under magical protection, then, I think, it will be safe to tell Harry."
Dumbledore took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
Breaking Up
"Shooting Star," discotronic, from some random disco thing I downloaded. LOL. Umm, OK. But here are the first lyrics, I kid you not:
"Where were you to hold my hand, do the things that we had planned?"
Prom
"Settle for Nothing," Rage Against the Machine
OK?
Mental Breakdown
"She Doesn't Laugh at My Jokes," Jonathan Richman
"I got a fine sense of humor but she doesn't laugh at my jokes."
Driving
"Two Worlds," Phil Collins.
This meme now FAILS. Phil Collins has never been driving music.
...oh and now that I listen to it I realize it's a remix of the song from the Tarzan soundtrack. EVEN WORSE.
Flashback
"Most People are DJs," The Hold Steady
I cannot grasp the relevance.
Getting Back Together
"A Summer Wasting," Belle & Sebastian
"...I spent the summer wasting, the time was passed so easily. But if the summer's wasted, how come that I could feel so free?"
Wedding
"Maquiladora," Radiohead
Which first came up on my iTunes as "Beautiful Trouble," which I prefer not to acknowledge.
Birth of Child
"Voldy Baby," from the JS track. HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAAHHAHAHAHAHAH.
Loserish people who believe in the divining power of memes would find this funny, but NOT as funny as I do. Oh, LOL.
Final Battle
"Molly's Loaded," a mashup. Appropritately high energy.
Death Scene
"Creep," Radiohead, which is so haunting that it seems like a good death song.
Funeral Song
"Come Ye," India.arie, to which I never never listened.
End Credits
"With Arms Outsretched," Rilo Kiley
From an album called The Execution of All Things, a hopeful track after songs about devastation and widespread geoharm.
And 19-35, to finish the meme
19. Chapter 35c, HP&DH, the Dumbledore and Harry meeting at the end of the book.
20. "Vince the Lovable Stoner," The Fratellis
21. "Caveman," Jimmy Eat World
22. Some recording from 6/14/2007...Alex Carpenter is definitely singing...but there's only a small audience, which means it really was from 2007...OH! This is when he sang at the MuggleNet book event and tried to teach the audience the "bah bah bah's." I had no idea I'd recorded this. Fun!
23. "Be Here to Love Me," Norah Jones
24. "I Can't," Radiohead
25. Track 23, Definite Article, Eddie Izzard. The bit about...actually i have no idea what he is talking about! Oh, it's an encore about the Beginning of Time. :)
26. "Please Come Home for Christmas," Bon Jovi. One of the best recordings of this song.
27. "I feel fine," the Beatles
28. "The Order," The Remus Lupins
29. "If We Can Land a Man on the Moon, Surely I Can Win Your Heart," Beulah
30. Sean's 'Loud,' John Lennon
31. "Friends of P.," The Rentals
32. "Break My Body," The Pixies
33. "Peggy Sue," John Lennon (I have more JL than I thought)
34. "Tie Your Mother Down," Queen
35. "Everything In Its Right Place," Christopher O'Reilly.
There. TWO MEMES, ONE POST. I am a meme master.
(This is synched from my blog, penbitten.com, for those on Facebook. Facebook users should also note that I'm tagging people ACTUALLY mentioned. I kinda hate it when it says "So-and-so mentioned you in a note," instead of, "so-and-so just wants you to read their note so will pretend they actually mentioned you." Facebook needs a "wants you to read their note" tagging option.)
A brief respite from the q-and-a for booktalk!
The first time I asked, on our PotterCast vlogs, what people were reading, I was rewarded with an unbelievable glut of recommendations. I knew PotterCast listeners were heavy readers but I had no idea how excited they'd be about talking about books. Therefore I try and talk about a book I've just read on each vlog, and this has turned into doing Monday night live chats where we talk about books and what we think they mean. It is literally some of the most fun I can have online, because I work alone at my desk, whether it's Leaky or research or something else, and getting to interact with Leaky fans / Harry, A History readers / PotterCast listeners / book lovers is always exciting and rewarding. Fighting with taxes all day, or spending hours ripping my hair out over what project to settle on next, can really be frustrating, so I find myself really looking forward to the immediate interaction and the thoughtfulness our group of listeners / watchers always brings to intelligent discussions. I've always felt sort of strange / discomfited by the idea that someone would enjoy watching us on the Internet, but bringing our joint enthusiasm about books to it has deflated all the weirdness and made it feel like an awesome, enormous book club that meets on Monday nights.
Anyway, I've been asked frequently by these guys to make a list of what I've read / am reading. Here it is, though I am sure I'm missing things. And I'm going to try and do Amazon links because authors need their stuff bought. (And you should buy that stuff in person, at an independent bookstore, ideally. If you must buy online, then use the links.)
This year's (incomplete) reading list so far (a "*" indicates a re-read):
(There's also, now, a cool MyLeaky group to keep track of all this reading! Awesome!)
The Percy Jackson and the Olympians series (you can get the boxed set here; the fifth book comes out in May):
The Lightning Thief
The Sea of Monsters
The Titan's Curse
The Battle of the Labyrinth
The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins
The Great Gatsby*, F. Scott Fitzgerald (needs to be read now and then)
Looking for Alaska, John Green
An Abundance of Katherines, John Green
Let It Snow, John Green, Lauren Myracle, Maureen Johnson
(Note to Nerdfighters, don't shout Paper Towns at me: I read that in 2008, please drop your rocks and let me pass unharmed)
Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell
The Time Traveler's Wife, Audrey Niffenegger (I love this author's name)
The Audacity of Hope, Barack Obama (which I started in 2008 but didn't quite finish until 2009)
Currently Reading (I am always reading a lot of books. I need to have one open to suit every mood, so that I can dip right in when I need to):
The Season*, William Goldman (I read this once-a-yearish but it's been two now; one of the best writers ever, and I think I even prefer his nonfiction to his fiction)
Movies in 15 Minutes, Cleolinda Jones (this is not yet out in the states but I scored a copy: she is so funny she will make you cry. Google "Twilight in 15 Minutes" to see what I mean.)
Absolutely Maybe, Lisa Yee
Marcelo in the Real World, Francisco Stork
Team of Rivals, Doris Kearns Goodwin (this is long and takes forever and I'm reading it uber-slowly)
Most of Edna St. Vincent Millay's collected poems* (This is a constant-read; it is always on my currently reading list because it hangs around my apartment for opening at spontaneous intervals; I want more poetry in my life, recommendations please?)
Eat, Pray, Love, Elizabeth Gilbert
Such a Pretty Fat, Jennifer Lancaster
Everything and More, A Compact History of Infinity, David Foster Wallace (recommended by Rosianna)
Several nonfictions that are research and therefore I feel protective about the topics and don't want to talk about them just yet.
Other books I want to read in 2009
The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, E. Lockhart, recommended to me often by Cheryl.
The Graveyard Book, Newbery-winning Neil Gaiman :)
The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, M.T. Anderson (volumes I and II, of course). This is one of those books I feel like I SHOULD read, and despite everyone telling me how amazing it is my wish to read it hasn't reached anything above "but I really ought to" yet.
I'd like to reread the His Dark Materials series because it's that good.
A re-read of The Catcher in the Rye would be nice, as I remember nearly none of it.
And more. I'm forgetting books I've read, books I'm reading, books I want to read. I'd like to read ALL THE BOOKS. Ughh, to stop time and read all the books.
As always, suggestions are always welcome! Because clearly I'm not reading enough things at once! And you should list yours, and treat this as yet another meme.
]]>1. "Dollhouse" is about girls who are frequently "imprinted" with new personalities (I'm not making the Twilight joke, I'm not); make up the personality/lifestyle you'd like to have and tell me about it.
2. Favorite book that you hated in high school?
3. Television show you would wipe off the face of the earth if you could?
4. Mangos or avocados?
5. Edward Cullen (or for the sake of argument, Edwina Cullina) or your first boy/girlfriend?
6. Ocean or lake?
7. Has the economic crisis affected you, and how?
8. Are you done with your taxes?
9. What's your dream job?
10. Finish this sentence: "If I had a billion space bucks, I would...."
(Space bucks are just imaginary dollars. :D)
]]>Kim has four questions:
1. What would you do if faced with an ant invasion of your home?
Well, I'd scream, cry, run, spray the place with a pestilent hue, and move into a new place with nothing but me, the clothes on my back, and a roomy duffel bag to sleep in at night.
2. Which would you choose if you had to give up either coffee or HP for life?
Oh, coffee. I've tried to give it up cold turkey a few times before to limited effect. But I couldn't give up my HP books, which are early in their becoming-worn-and-harried stages. I couldn't give up my dream of reading it in Italian, either.
3. How difficult / easy was it to write Harry, A History?
That depends which day you chose to ask. There were days when it flowed easy and free. There were days when I felt like my head was going to explode. Right before deadline I got stomach-achingly sick - seriously, it was like six cases of cramps at once, and I am sure, now, that it was psychosomatic. Every time I would get to this point, in the last two months before my first deadline at least, my temporary personal assistant, Jo, in her cute little British accent (coincidence, I swear), would pop her head in and ask, "Bit of Guitar Hero?" Because that's what destressed me. Guitar Hero. I'd play for 10-15 minutes and feel better.
For most of the year, though, it wasn't that hard, because I'd been thinking about it for a long time and experienced a lot of it. However, in the final three or four months before a deadline, the entire world becomes a pressure cooker and while you focus on one foot forward, bird by bird, you are always mindful of that looming date when you have to let it go. I was pretty depressed the day I sent the book in; I thought it would be a moment of joy, and instead it was one of extreme panic cloaked by what must have been some thin version of post-partum. Then my Leaky friends came to visit and we had a party and that made everything better. :)
4. What major writing piece are you working on right now?
I am developing a seminal piece of nonfiction. It's called My 2008 Tax Return. Love, death and taxes, all in one, man. It's going to tear things up.
(More later, and if you have more to add, as always, hit the comments.)
]]>
Look at me, all answering questions right away. Old guy on a bike, indeed. It's late at night right now, so I'm only going to do a few.
Saya asks: any chance of you coming to DragonCon in September? The South misses out on a lot of the Potter fun - like any of the PotterCast tours, or WizardRock stuff, and I can't justify the plane ticket for LeakyCon though I'd love to be there... So I think it would be really wonderful if you could be at DragonCon (And even better if you can drag any of the other PotterCast folks down this way with you =)
We would ALWAYS love to come to any gathering of fans, but getting four people to and fro is a lot of money that we can't justify spending right now. I'd love to come myself, to do book stuff, and will definitely look into it. I've heard a lot about Dragon*Con (all good things).
Sharanya asks: When did you know that you wanted to write Harry: A History? Will you be writing another novel soon? PS: I'm sorry, I'm sure you've been asked this before, but I really haven't come across it anywhere, and I'm dying to know!
First of all, it's OK! I'm happy to answer whatever needs answering.
I first had the idea for writing a book about the phenomenon in 2003, sometime right before the first conference, Nimbus. I only know this because there was a panel there about publishing HP-related books, that I went to, for that reason. The idea got a little bit shelved for awhile. For a very short time it was teased around some Leaky staff as a kind of collaboration, a "let's list everything that's happened in fandom" kind of thing. But we never did any actual work on it. We just talked about it at three gatherings or so. In 2005 the idea started to gnaw at me in earnest and I read other books documenting cultural phenomena, and other nonfiction books that read as easily as fiction books, and started really exploring what Harry could become if I focused on it. I still thought it was a "one day" project.
Here's the part of the story I don't get to tell often enough, but love telling because it shows how seemingly random life can be (and why I believe it's not random at all): I was at a birthday party for a friend in October of 2005. Cheryl came with me at the last minute. I and the person whose birthday it was had a mutual friend named Rebecca; she was an acquaintance, I saw her perhaps once a year, I met her through the Rent fandom (such as it was in terms of what we mean now, when we say 'fandom'; I really use the term out of convenience and will expand on that in another post someday). I knew she worked in publishing, somehow, so introduced her to Cheryl, who she knew because the entire publishing industry is about the size of my fist. She asked what I was up to, I told her, and somewhere in the conversation I mentioned that "one day," I'd like to write a book about the phenomenon. She kinda nodded and we went on to other topics.
The next day she had written me an e-mail, reminding me that she was an agent at Writers House and was I serious about that idea? Because if I was serious we needed to meet for lunch. We met. She made it clear that I needed to get right to work if I wanted it out before the seventh book, or anywhere near it. I worked on Leaky, my job, and the proposal for the book throughout all of 2006, driving myself to near insanity and thinking I was going to give up the whole thing many times. I gained 20 pounds. In early December I was finally done. We sent out the proposal. I sent Jo a letter letting her know what I was doing. While we waited for the book to sell, and came to terms with the possibility (really, honestly) that it would not, I decided to leave my reporting job, even if it meant going home to live with my parents. January 17th was my last day. That night the staffers took me out and got me drunk. Right before I left for the party my phone rang. It was Rebecca, who was now my agent. The book was going to sell. I was going to be fine. I got to send out my goodbye e-mail with that information, and left the job with a real appreciation for what I had learned, the work I had done, and the work I was about to do.
And that is a much longer answer than your question demanded, but I wanted to get that story down. :)
As to the other part of your question: will I be writing another novel soon? I'm not making fun of you when I say, I haven't written a novel yet; novels are fiction. Don't feel bad, I'm on record calling my book a novel in We Are Wizards, and I cringe every single time I see it. :) But to answer your question, yes, I want to write more books and have several ideas (and have done some preliminary fuffing around with each of them). Right at this moment Leaky is demanding most of my time. I'm hoping that when tax season is over, and a few other things get cleared away, I can re-set up that wonderful writing schedule I demanded of myself in 2007.
More soon! If you read this and want to add to the growing question list, please do in comments.
]]>A long time ago, in a fit of laziness about this blog, I told people to post questions about anything and I'd answer them. It's been almost four years and I'm just about through them, so I'd like to invite that again: hit me! With the Qs! Leave them in comments and I'll make a list and get through them at least as fast as an old guy on a bicycle.
Meanwhile, I have been tagged by about sixtyfivehundrenty people on Facebook for this "25 things about me" kind of thing (I am NOT doing the Google Name meme, because every time I've tried it has come up way too dirty for my HP-fan-heavy readership). This list is not so much a response to that as a more generic list of things going on right now.
That's all I got on this cold night as I'm still stinky from the gym but lack the energy to rise and shower.
Give me questions and answers you shall have!
]]>To that end, as is typical, Andrew Sullivan has made a strong post that goes beyond explaining what's going on and well into talking about whether Israel's recent action is justified. Again, I don't pretend to understand, so I can't make judgments, and honestly I think judgment is about the last thing anyone needs over there right now. I just think we all need to make some effort to understand it, if a solution will ever be possible.
]]>
At first, we were just going to sit in my house and watch the results, perhaps with some alcohol on hand to dull any sad news. But Monday night, we went to Rockefeller Center to do something I'd never done there before: ice skate. And when we arrived we noticed that the square was decked out as though it were planning for a New Year's celebration, with large screens and flood lights and tents. We skated over a clear but buried map of the US. We went to Magnolia Bakery and got election-themed cupcakes (and when Sue's came out with an elephant on it I exhorted her to return it and get the donkey one, to the amusement of one of the staffers). It became clear that the city was gearing up for a party. That alone seemed to radiate confidence in the outcome, for New York doesn't party for John McCain.
So, on Tuesday, we arrived back there at 7 p.m., and already there was a crowd; MSNBC had put up two large window-washing apparati that had been covered in blue or red, and bore the name of Obama and McCain, respectively. Trailing out the bottoms of these machines were wide swaths of matching curtain, and as the electoral votes started to tally each machine rose toward a large projected "270," leaving a tongue of color waving to the floor below it and giving all of 30 Rock the impression that it was an enormous thermometer of democracy. We stood with the crowd and craned our necks, watching as the votes tallied, checking on our phones to CNN and FOX to make sure we could believe the results. We kept waiting for something to go wrong, for one state to head into recount territory, for a revisit to the nailbiting 2000 and 2004 elections. It just never happened.
Every time a state was called for Obama, the place went up. We cheered and jumped and hugged; the first time I was standing there for a big state's call (for we had been eating dinner during Pennsylvania's moment), was Ohio. The place seemed to quake. A few minutes after it was called a random and impromptu "Yes We Can!" chant went up, and I shed my first tears of the night. Everyone was talking to people they didn't know, was all smiles and sharing of stories, even walking respectfully around each other as they maneuvered the crowd, which is an experience I have never had in New York City in my life.
It was like a New Year's Eve that mattered. A New Year's Eve that was going to affect all of our lives and this great hope we all shared.
Everyone was waiting for Obama to rack up the 215 that would make anything else irrelevant, for once California came in that would become 270. He was at 207, and the polls were finally about to be closed - everyone in the crowd knew how important that was, that those 55 votes would slide over and we'd be eight votes away. MSNBC had a clock up; so we counted down. Thousands of us, counted down like it was New Year's, expecting to only be cheering the polls closing - however as soon as we got to zero we got the best and most fitting surprise: they called the whole race. Game over. An already enthusiastic cheer turned into pandemonium. We hugged, we cried, we jumped. We chanted "Yes We Can!" and very quickly it turned into "YES WE DID! YES WE DID!" Cell phones were produced, Twitter might have exploded, Cheryl and I hugged and felt proud that we had canvassed in Pennsylvania, that we had done some small part above voting.
We waited with stiff nerves for the speeches. At first the John McCain speech wasn't going over well; people didn't seem to be happy that it started all about race. But that ebbed as John McCain became the guy we liked in 2000, and liked throughout the first half of this campaign season. As he spoke with honor and dignity and took blame and called on his followers to come together. Granted, it has probably been written for weeks, and it is the speech that he has to make to ensure he has a life in the political world at all after this grueling and, because of him, oftentimes exceedingly ugly campaign. But it was a great moment for him, and a fitting and elegaic end. His nostalgia was evident, and he seemed sincere, and by the end of his speech people were clapping for him and nodding their heads.
Jesse Jackson, weeping. John Lewis, having wept enough. Oprah Winfrey standing in the crowd like anyone else, tears sparkling in her eyes. The enormously funny shot of the White House immediately after the concession speech, where thousands of people were dancing right outside its gates. The e-mail that the Obama campaign sent out before he took the stage, reminding everyone that it wasn't just his victory but all of ours. Curling my hands around themselves and pressing them to my chest, seemingly trying to convince myself it had really happened. How could we have considered staying home?
Obama's speech was electrifying. He looked serene and happy, but not giddy or smug. He looked as though the enormity of his job had occurred to him - he looked as though he knows that this was very much the easy part. His call to Republicans was strong and touching, reminding them of their august past and that he won't forget them in the future. As he started repeating "Yes we can," we in the crowd did it along with him. My sister and I hugged.
Afterward, we started making our way to the subway. But something became clear: There was no way we were going home. Cars were driving along honking the whole way, people hanging out of them and screaming. Cheers were going up every which way; we were hi-fiving with each other on the streets. Everyone was videotaping everyone else, absorbed in the reaction. We passed by the FOX building and rejoiced. And then we knew we had to go to Times Square.
I have done NYE in Times Square, and I have witnessed the winning of a world series. This was like everyone's team had just won the world series. We stood at 47th and Broadway and drank it in, the cheering, the running, the people standing out of moon roofs with their Obama signs, the tourists taking pictures with one enterprising man's full cardboard cutout of the President-Elect. A man walked by me with a giant O painted on his chest. Alex scored a Tshirt exulting about the win. Another read, "Have you seen these men? Wanted for war crimes," and showed mugshots of the Bush administration. Every time the lights changed and the signal read "Walk," hordes of people would run into the middle of the street and simply dance until the light changed again or the police told them to stop. Chants of "O-BA-MA" and "YES WE CAN" dominated. There were balloons, and people kissing romantically or affectionately, people crying and simply screaming. No one was mean. No one was angry. No one seemed to mind the traffic it was causing. Obama's picture loomed from all the electronic billboards around Times Square.
It continued on the subway. You could say "Obama" very loudly and start a chant that way. I hi-fived with people I'd never met, and we all talked as though we were old friends. It was some sort of unwritten code that everyone who left at their stop was required to shout "Obama!" as they left.
We trekked home, put on the news, and fell asleep happy.
