TDG CEM Day 5

[greygirlbeast]

Chilly and mostly sunny here in Providence.

Gods, I slept almost eight hours. Not good.

Yesterday, fourth verse same as the first. Pretty much. It had skipped my mind, day before yesterday, that The Drowning Girl: A Memoir – like The Red Tree – contains fictions within fictions. That is, whereas The Red Tree contained "Pony," The Drowning Girl: A Memoir contains "Mermaid of the Concrete Ocean" and "Werewolf Smile." Which, essentially, turns reading through a ten-chapter CEM into reading through a twelve-chapter CEM. Plus, there's the long "Back Pages" section at the end, which is sort of like...I don't know. It's not an epilogue, not in any conventional sense. It's almost like end notes that continue the story. Anyway, we managed to reach the end of Chapter 5, before Geoffrey arrived yesterday evening. Today we start on page 146 – the beginning of Chapter 6 – out of 277 pages. With great luck, we'll make it through chapters 6 and 7 today.

When this CEM is in the mail and on it's way back to Manhattan, I've promised a three-day break from work for me and Spooky. Out of this house, that's the most important part. No house, no fucking internet. I think we may just pick a direction and start driving. I have hardly taken a break since...never mind. Best not to think about that.

We were sitting on the stoop about 5:30 p.m. yesterday, waiting on Geoffrey. I was having a cigarette, and we were watching these four little boys across the street. And they were little boys, say eight to ten. And one of the younger boys was so adept with profanity that even we were taken aback. We heard one of the others say, "That boy sure swears a lot. Damn." And then Geoffrey arrived, bearing some volume of lost Derrida. Something like that. I never really found out, because when it comes to deconstruction and post-structuralism, I still have enough scars from college, and I don't touch the stuff. But, I knew Geoffrey meant well.

And I should go. Pages and pages.

But first, because all things on the internet vanish and I'm trying to make a permanent things, I present our evidence that Nicolas Cage is a time-traveling vampire:



After while, crocodile,
Aunt Beast

Comments

[readingthedark.livejournal.com]

It is the near-unfindable progenitor. The lost source. But I already knew that we would remain on opposite sides of that particular chasm. At least we have most everything else in common.

(And it was wonderful to see you both, as always. If I were awake when I left, I would've written a note. But now I have sort of done it here..)

[greygirlbeast.livejournal.com]

It is the near-unfindable progenitor. The lost source.

I see, well enough, where D and D fit together. I do. But I hate eggplant, and I love ice-cream sandwiches. And if you could prove to me we'd never have ice-cream sandwiches without eggplant, I'd still hate eggplant.

At least we have most everything else in common.

Except that faith you have in the future of open source sims.

But now I have sort of done it here..

Indeed. It was very good to see you again. But it was weird going to bed so early.

[opalblack.livejournal.com]

Some how I've managed to go from taking about four days to squeak out about 300 words, to writing more than 2,500 in a single night. I blame the weather.

I have manticores. Manticores that are closely related to sphinx, but prefer dead baby jokes over cryptic riddles. This part is making me smile.

You really do deserve a couple of days off. You work so hard.

[greygirlbeast.livejournal.com]

You work so hard.

I think I passed that about three years ago.

[opalblack.livejournal.com]

At least. Possibly five or more. Remember to breathe sometimes.

[jomacmouse.livejournal.com]

This part is making me smile.

Although I've no idea at all of what you are actually writing, that part is making me smile too. I have spirited
I have manticores. Manticores that are closely related to sphinx, but prefer dead baby jokes over cryptic riddles. off to my personal commonplace file. I hope you don't mind.

[opalblack.livejournal.com]

I don't mind at all.

It's called Grimly Frostgate and the Exploding Chesticles. It's part queer fable, part pop culture lampoon, mostly juvenile humour and excessive violence. Lots of swear words and fart jokes and people getting punched in the crotch. It started life as a joke, turned into a creative pressure valve, and then became my primary writing project.

The original draft of the first few pages is on my LJ
http://opalblack.livejournal.com/100249.html

It's very silly.

[jomacmouse.livejournal.com]

Nothing wrong with that sort of silly. I was particularly amused by the javeralang thrower being disqualified if it went through the smallest hoop - you don't see that sort of thing in J K Rowling...

[opalblack.livejournal.com]

It owes a literary debt to the same tradition JK Rowling writes in (I wouldn't be the person I am today without Roald Dahl, and neither, I suspect, would JKR), but an even greater comedic debt to the Alternative comedy scene, as per comics like Rik Mayall & Adrian Edmonson. And, to be fair, my brother's twisted, twisted brain.

Other things you don't see in JK Rowling are angry dwarves punching people in the crotch for sport, jelly babies that don't stop screaming after you rip their heads off, transgender teenagers, morris dancers with enormous genitalia, pneumatic stoats, and, of course, manticores telling dead baby jokes. And, you know, pretty much everything else in the entire story...

But, as I say, for all the silliness, it's a queer fable. What it's *about* is gender and sexuality. I'm most pleased that I have been able to combine the different elements effectively so far. Somewhere near the end, Grimly will find out that he isn't under a curse, and being a boy who was born a girl is just something that *happens*. He'll also come out as gay to his friends, and when asked why he didn't just be a girl will tell them that's not how it works. But I'll find a funny way to do it, because tortured, literary, self-referential queer exposition scenes are SO not my thing right now.

[ashlyme.livejournal.com]

Good luck.

Every thing you tell us about this novel - the paintings, the stories within stories - whets my appetite for it. Much as I love The Red Tree (and that's a helluva lot), I want The Drowning Girl to knock it into a cocked hat.

But yeah, get yourself as far away as you can from it, too.

[greygirlbeast.livejournal.com]

Every thing you tell us about this novel - the paintings, the stories within stories - whets my appetite for it.

It is my goal to render this idiotic concept of "meta" meaningless, simply by overwhelming the paradigm.

Much as I love The Red Tree (and that's a helluva lot), I want The Drowning Girl to knock it into a cocked hat.

That is my intent.

[ashlyme.livejournal.com]

*this idiotic concept of "meta"*

Is it the label alone that annoys you?

[greygirlbeast.livejournal.com]

Is it the label alone that annoys you?

Pretty much. But more than that, it's the people with no sense of the evolution of fiction in the 20th century who think "metafiction" is something new, and worse (and more idiotic) bad.

[martianmooncrab.livejournal.com]

present our evidence

I stare at that tie.. its incredibly intricate...

[greygirlbeast.livejournal.com]

I stare at that tie.. its incredibly intricate...

This is one reason I've begun to wear ties and cravats, their forgotten formal beauty.

[ashlyme.livejournal.com]

I'd be tempted by that too, if I could find a decent tiepin. (I used to wear a yellow paisley cravat, tux, white shirt, burgundy waistcoat at college. Sartorially braver in those days - I miss them.)

[kathryn-aka-kat.livejournal.com]

I think we may just pick a direction and start driving.

That sounds like an utterly awesome idea. Please remember to do it!

[greygirlbeast.livejournal.com]

That sounds like an utterly awesome idea. Please remember to do it!

We shall. Next week.

[chris-walsh.livejournal.com]

Though remember, South or Southeast would only work for a certain distance until

(...unless Cait and Spooky then got a ride on the back of a whale! That'd be awesome!)

[greygirlbeast.livejournal.com]

Alas, I am aware, that east and south are out. Which is strange.

[chris-walsh.livejournal.com]

Unless Aquaman can get the word out in advance so a whale's waiting for you! (What could possibly go wrong?)

Seriously, once you do the trip, I really hope it goes well.

[spank-an-elf.livejournal.com]

Looks like in the mid 1800's they forget to put the stake through old Nick's heart. I can't believe the dead dude even has the bad hair.

[greygirlbeast.livejournal.com]

I can't believe the dead dude even has the bad hair.

Now, now. I like the hair.

[jdack.livejournal.com]

I present our evidence that Nicolas Cage is a time-traveling vampire:

Oh I am laughing, laughing hard, and Mondays are not laughing days. Thank you.

[greygirlbeast.livejournal.com]

You are welcome.

[stsisyphus.livejournal.com]

I present our evidence that Nicolas Cage is a time-traveling vampire...

Which brings up a question of whether or not he and Keanu Reeves are (im-)mortal enemies or otherwise.

[greygirlbeast.livejournal.com]

This will require thought.

Could I interest you, again, in SL cyberpunk RP? Or are you off RP for the time being? Or have I made you too many offers that have gone kerplooey?

[stsisyphus.livejournal.com]

Could I interest you, again, in SL cyberpunk RP?, etc.

I'm honored that you'd ask me again, I thought I was the one who went all kerplooey on you. I'm not off-RP, but I returned to CoX since I lost interest in continuing with the gear-grind on Rift. Going back to what you know, and all.

Unfortunately, there's something with SL interface/client whatever you call it that I can't exactly wrap my head around or seem to work without feeling completely out of my depth. It makes for a pretty frustrating break in immersion when I can't seem to operate basic controls. The hints of your cyberpunk scenes that you've posted here have always sounded quite engaging, though. Suffice it to say that you could interest me in cyberpunk RP, but my complete inability to use the program would put me off (and the degree to which I would likely need extensive and intense tutoring in it would probably would be frustrating for you/Spooky).

[greygirlbeast.livejournal.com]

Suffice it to say that you could interest me in cyberpunk RP, but my complete inability to use the program would put me off (and the degree to which I would likely need extensive and intense tutoring in it would probably would be frustrating for you/Spooky).

I seem to recall, from back when I actually thought I could make Howaard's End happen, that you were baffled by SL. But, truthfully, as long as you're not trying to build or script, it's like an MMORPG* for morons. You buy clothes, you put them on. You buy a shape, a skin, a katana, a pair of goggles, you put them on. You press this button to move forward, and that button to move backwards. You look around by rotating that viewer thingy. It's easy. Should you be genuinely interested, I'd try to show you the ropes. They're just not that hard. Most of it is very intuitive.

* One thing that's so hard for people to understand about SL is that it isn't a game. Or a chatroom. Or a social network. Or a sex site. It is, in fact, everything, and back before if became this vile scum at the bottom of the internet, it had great potential.