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October 27th, 2007
06:01 am - Two more indications of quality parenting
1) X's surprising memorization of the entire book of Once More With Feeling, the musical episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
2) His ability to sing it, at the drop of a hat, with startlingly good pitch.
It's his mother, I tell you. I'm the one responsible for the superheroes. But I tell ya, there's nothing cuter than an eight-year old blithely singing along with all the parts of Walk Through the Fire. His personal favourite part, though, is this pair of lines:
Spike: No, I'll save her then I'll kill her!
Willow: I think this line's mostly filler.
(I'd like to take some credit for his fondness for the surreal, and his obvious metatextual leanings, but I think kids are just wired that way...)
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August 16th, 2007
10:33 pm - A conversation with my son
Me (to very sleeping child): X, your awesomeness goes to eleven.
X (still mostly asleep): That's like, one higher, dude.
Clearly we're bringing him up right.
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March 24th, 2007
02:53 am - Heh. Interesting meme.
From Paula...
Rules: Use the first letter of your name to answer each of the
following questions. They MUST be real places, names, and things. NOTHING made up! If you can't think of anything, skip it. Try to use different answers if the person before you had the same first initial. You CAN'T use your name for the boy/girl name question and you can't use a search engine. Now Go!
Your Name: Rob
1. Famous singer/band: Richard Thompson
2. 4 letter word: roam
3. Street name: Robson
4. Color: red
5. Gifts/presents: revolver
6. Vehicle: RV
7. Things in a Souvenir Shop: rings
8. Boy Name: Ron
9. Girl Name: Rina
10. Movie Title: Rashomon
11. Drink: rum
12. An Occupation: recording artist
13. Flower: rose
14. Celebrity: Roger Moore
15. Magazine: Robb Report
16. City: Rome
17 Pro Sports Team: Red Wings
18. Fruit: raisins
19. Reason for Being Late for Work: retrovirus
20. Something You Throw Away: rind
21. Things You Shout: Rock On!
22. Cartoon Character: Ronin
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January 11th, 2007
01:02 pm - a (self-serving) Public Service Announcement
I picked up this week's issue of Monday magazine, and was thrilled and delighted to see that I was nominated in two categories of their annual M Awards (the magazine's awards to the best of Victoria's art and culture, as voted on by their readers).
Now, I would never, ever ask you to go against your natural inclinations and vote for me (in the Favourite Prose Writer category) and Before I Wake (in the Favourite Fiction Book category). Never, ever. Although I would be really, really happy to win.
I just thought I would mention that the ballots are out there, with a deadline of Friday, January 26.
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January 5th, 2007
12:52 pm - Gotham City Bound
Or is it Metropolis? I can never get that straight in my mind...
At any rate, myself and clan Wiersema will be spending a week in New York City later this month. I'll be meeting with publishers and editors and marketing types, and we'll all be doing the standard trip-to-New-York stuff -- lots of museums, shows and wandering (weather permitting, naturally). Any of you Gothamites up for a coffee or a (pre-theatre) drink?
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December 13th, 2006
04:41 pm - Bright and early to the daily races
Is it odd that I find Mad World (the cover version by Michael Andrews and Gary Jules, from the Donnie Darko soundtrack, arguably one of the most depressing songs released since Nick Drake went over the wall) incredibly uplifting?
Thought so.
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06:15 am - Will it never stop?
When that I was and a little tiny boy,
With hey, ho, the wind and the rain,
A foolish thing was but a toy,
For the rain it raineth every day.
But when I came to man’s estate,
With hey, ho, the wind and the rain,
‘Gainst knaves and thieves men shut the gate,
For the rain it raineth every day.
But when I came, alas! to wive,
With hey, ho, the wind and the rain,
By swaggering could I never thrive,
For the rain it raineth every day.
But when I came unto my beds,
With hey, ho, the wind and the rain,
With toss-pots still had drunken heads,
For the rain it raineth every day.
A great while ago the world begun,
With hey, ho, the wind and the rain,
But that’s all one, our play is done,
And we’ll strive to please you every day.
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November 29th, 2006
02:04 pm - I want to feel it all slip away
In amidst the fun and frivolity and snow and psycho drivingness, I missed reading my Globe and Mail on Saturday. Too bad, really. It was a bad time to miss the Globe Books section...
This past Saturday Before I Wake was included in the Globe 100, their annual listing of the best books of the year. (If you're reading this in the US, the Globe 100 is the Canadian equivalent of the New York Times Notable Books list.)
Now that's a hell of a birthday present. I'm still vibrating.
Current Music: Counting Crows - Rain King (live)
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November 20th, 2006
11:41 am - Small good thing
There are some pleasures in life, minor pleasures, fleeting pleasures, that nevertheless make living a richer, fuller experience. Things easily overlooked, but ever so appreciated...
Case in point: the opening notes of The Who's Tommy.
I haven't had a cd of Tommy in... probably a decade. I probably haven't listened to it in at least that long.
And right now, on a blustery Monday at work, a month out from Christmas, I'm listening to it and grinning like a fool.
Current Music: Overture (from Tommy) - The Who
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November 15th, 2006
10:06 am - Charity begins at home
Apparently, Friday Dec 22 (yes, the solstice) is World Orgasm Day, an attempt to, essentially, re-wire the destructive energry of the world through international orgasm.
Finally, a cause I can get behind. Er... give my all. Um... lend a hand to? Hmm... give early, give often?
Anyway, more info here: http://www.globalorgasm.org/
And for the record: no, I won't be giving at the office.
Current Music: Barenaked Ladies - One and Only
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November 6th, 2006
07:38 am - Warning Label
I believe I may have just stumbled across the best warning label ever.
It's from a bottle of Krazy Glue. (Please don't ask why I need a bottle of Krazy Glue in a hotel room. It's a long story, and it has nothing to do with with either the dwarf or the saddle. Don't ask about those either.)
Anyway, there's a whole list of things to do if your skin happens to come in contact with this stuff. In bold print, it reads: DO NOT SOAK EYELIDS IN ACETONE.
Right. Because I was planning to soak my eyelids in acetone. And of course, the folks who are apt to soak said eyelids are also those most likely to be reading warning labels.
DO NOT SOAK EYELIDS IN ACETONE.
Words to live by, those.
Current Location: Delta Chelsea
Current Music: Richard Thompson - Beeswing
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November 4th, 2006
06:57 pm - My process - a glimpse
So I'm sitting in the hotel room in Toronto, having just made a pot of fresh coffee (Why, I ask, has it never occurred to me to buy filters and Starbucks beans and actually make decent coffee in a hotel room until now? All those wasted years...), listening to Jethro Tull's Thick as a Brick, and all I can think of is having a bath.
I don't have baths. Ever. Yet all I can think is, "I've got a book I'm reading, fresh coffee, a toasty-warm hotel room, a couple of cigarettes left over from last night*, and a bathtub... what could be better?"
This is what happens when I try to write the new book...
(Edited to add - *to the women in my life who may be reading this, the above comment re: cigarettes was included merely as a means of appearing cool, and bears no resemblance to reality. I would never -- never, ever -- sit in a hot hotel bath smoking cigarettes and reading. Never.)
(Edited to add - *splash* Dammit. Dropped my Zippo...)
Current Music: John Fahey
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October 22nd, 2006
10:44 am - Greenwich Meme time
So I just got tagged by Scarbiedoll over at Martini's and Milk for this latest meme making the rounds. Against my better judgement...
( Read more... )
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October 19th, 2006
08:48 pm - For those of you not reading the other blog
A bit of an update:
I had a very nice email from the US this afternoon - Dutch rights to Before I Wake have sold to Luitingh-sijthoff! The deal came about at Frankfurt, and was finalized in the last day or so.
Negotiations continue apace in Hollywood, requiring some consultation and decision-making this afternoon. At some point I may be able to share some details, but right now I'm keeping everything pretty close to the vest, not wanting to put any sort of karmic whammy on the whole thing.
And tomorrow evening I'll be doing my first public event in Victoria for Before I Wake, a panel with Wayne Johnston and Kevin Patterson. For some reason, I'm feeling a bit stressed about this one. I think it might have something to do with the fact that (a) it's the hometown event and (b) I'm sharing the stage with such august company.
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/classic/energetic.gif) bouncy
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October 12th, 2006
11:41 am - It was gravity which pulled us down and destiny which pulled us apart
A little bit more media.
For those of you on the (Canadian) West coast, I’ll be live on North By Northwest on CBC radio Saturday morning, during the 7:30 am slot. The CBC website will provide you with your local call numbers.
And no matter where you are in the world, the podcast I recorded with my editor back in June is now available at www.booklounge.ca. Yes, this is a registration-required site, but once you take the plunge you can find me in the audio/video section. And while you’re there, you should listen to Kevin Patterson talking about his new book Consumption.
More as it happens.
Current Music: Idiot Wind - Bob Dylan
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September 28th, 2006
08:24 am - On radio today!
Long time no post.
Just wanted to mention that I'll be on CFUV, radio free Victoria (aka the UVic station) for a full hour today, from 5-6 pm PDT. If you're in Victoria, I hope you'll listen. If you're further afield, I think they do live streaming on-line, so you can listen too.
I'll be talking about Before I Wake, reviewing, and, I think, doing a PowerPoint free version of the talk I gave last week at the Gladstone on music and its impact and influence on me and my writing.
I hope you'll have a chance to hear it.
Details on call numbers and streaming at http://cfuv.uvic.ca/
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/classic/sick.gif) sick
Current Music: Rogue's Gallery
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September 7th, 2006
10:44 am - And speaking of freaks...
Which Historical Lunatic Are You?
From the fecund loins of Rum and Monkey.
(I confess that the question about a connection to Mark Twain was a tip-off...)
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September 1st, 2006
10:40 pm - The Greeks don't want no freaks...
...but clearly, they got them anyway.
( Read more... )
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August 22nd, 2006
06:51 am - Friends, roaming countrymen
.
Thanks to the good graces and thoughtfulness of a NYC-based friend, this blog now has a syndicated LJ feed at:
http://syndicated.livejournal.com/robertjwiersema/profile
Click, add, read, enjoy at your leisure.
(You may get several of the old entries all at once - I would advise you to consider this a bonus, rather than meaningless clutter on your Friends page...)
Thanks ebess.
.
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August 12th, 2006
11:34 pm - Come on you raver, you seer of visions, come on you painter, you piper, you prisoner and shine!
.
I've resisted this meme for so long... I thought I'd dodged it. But what the hell...
One book (from Whisky, and Victriviaqueen, and Ami, and others):
( Read more... )
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/classic/thinking.gif) contemplative
Current Music: Pink Floyd - Pulse
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