Who else is crazy enough to visit NYC at Xmas during a mass transit strike?

Don't ask.

Okay, I'll tell you anyway. Julie, Eric, and I went to see Santa yesterday to put in our Christmas requests.

We had so much fun! We went to the Dickens Christmas at Strawbridges Department Store and it was empty (what's this about our ecomony doing so well, Dubya-you- illegally-spying-on-Americans idiot liar?) so we all took turns reading the story out loud. The tale is inscribed on these lovely wooden scrolls throughout the exhibit. Eric played Scrooge, Julie was the narrator, and I played all of the ghosts and the nephew, Fred. We were laughing our asses off but it's really a very beautiful and well done display and of course half way through I started crying because I remember taking them every year when they were babies and reading it to them...and then I started thinking this is the last Christmas we'll be together (even though that's probably not true and now I suddenly learn that not only will Julie and Matt be here another year, if Eric's girlfriend Carolyn gets into Temple University, she wants to live here, too? Ho ho ho, the more the merrier, what do I care. I think Eric was teasing me, but who knows. It's all good.)

When I saw Santa sitting there all by himself -- not even a line to see him! -- I begged the kids to have their photo taken and even though I'm pretty sure they wanted to shoot me, they're good sports and it ended up that all three of us did it -- and yes, I agree, that's a horrific picture of yours truly, half sitting so that I look like I'm only five feet tall and with my scarf pulled so tight my face looks like it's going to explode and what the hell kind of hair day was I having but nonetheless a very good one of the kids and I doubt I'll ever be able to look at that photo in the future without bursting into tears.

In other news, this you can't believe. The Chicago Tribune talked about the ten best films of 2005 -- said there were none -- so instead named the ten best performances by an actor. Take a look at this list and try not to faint:

Some favorite performances of the year, in no particular order:

Amy Adams in "Junebug," Sarah Silverman in "The Aristocrats" and "Jesus Is Magic," Terrence Howard in "Hustle & Flow," Matthew Goode in "Match Point," Will O'Connor as himself in "Rock School," John Pierson as himself in "Reel Paradise," Ed Harris in "A History of Violence," Kevin Costner in "Rumor Has It . . . ," Claire Danes in "Shopgirl."

Yep, that's right. There it is in black and white. Will O'Connor, as himself, in "Rock School".

Hahahahahahahahahaha - that's great.

If you don't believe me, here's the link so you can see it for yourselves.

Okay, I will be in New York City all day today hanging out with Julie, doing some shopping...we're eating at this incredible restaurant in the East Village which of course I will review in a future post...we're gonna go see the tree at Rockefeller Center...maybe ice skate, who knows..

ETA: Oh god, I just heard on the news there is New York City transit strike. And Julie wants to go everywhere from the upper West side to Tribeca. It's like forty below zero outside. Ah well, there's no getting out of this. I'm going to be doing the polar bear thing and walking for miles through throngs of tourists in the city for the holiday...at least fifty per cent of whom would normally be on subways and busses. You can't walk down Seventh Avenue as it is without getting crushed...I can't even imagine what today is going to be like.

But of course I will tell you tomorrow...

(Wait: I think I may have talked Julie out of going. Being the calm, non-paranoid person I am, when just watching CNN, seeing the streets mobbed already at 6:00 a.m., and hearing about 150 pounds of dangerous commercial explosives being stolen in New Mexico, you can just imagine what I'm thinking right now about the crowded streets in New York. It's really unbelievable. Bush is so busy spying on people "for our own good" he's completely neglected protecting places like, oh, those which house commercial explosives, nuclear power plants....arghhhh.....WHY ISN'T THIS ASSHOLE BEING IMPEACHED? Oh. Right. "Dick" Cheney is VP.)
*********
Breaking news:

Yes! We are not going to NYC after all. Of course I'm going to make it up to Julie bigtime by taking her to lunch at one of Philly's best restaurants today and then out for some more shopping -- arghhh, isn't that what the internet is for -- and after that, we're gonna spend the rest of the afternoon baking some more cookies. Then Gary, Julie's dad, is picking her up and taking her out for some more shopping tonight, after which she is sleeping at her boyfriend's parents' home in the suburbs. And Eric is spending the night at Carolyn's, because it's her father's office Christmas party tonight and he's invited and I guess that means I'm gonna be all alone with the dog this evening and I will try not to be too unhappy about that!
*********
Mark your calendars!

Eric and Julie have an upcoming show at the Troc from 2:00-7:00 p.m. on New Years Eve where they will be joined by several local bands and the Rock School All-Stars. Eric and Julie will be performing together with Sweatheart, and Eric will be on drums with Flamingo. Look for two future shows in January when Eric will be with the Shannon Penn Band at World Cafe Live and Grape Street Pub.

The Beatles/Pink Floid (ha - blame Neil Gaiman)

Allie Hauptman and Eric's last show at Indre Studios, Spring, 2005

I'm way busy today but let me just say that last night Beatle's show at Indre Studios was amazing! Stand-outs were Sinead and Lynne on Blackbird, every song with Foster, Gina is just a joy to behold as is Natasha, Rachel (man, can she sing), Hannah...other stand-out songs were Helter Skelter, Ticket to Ride, Taxman, Golden Slumbers...wow...here's what Dylan, General Manager of Philly Rock School had to say about it on the Rock School Forum Board:

"i saw the future of rock school, and it was strong and beautiful.
thank you.
-dmc "

Coming from Dylan, I think that's high praise and I felt the same way, though I have to admit I was all choked up going back to Indre for the first time since Eric's final performance with Rock School at the Zep show last spring. I kept looking around to see if other parents with whom I'd gone to shows for the past seven years like the Hauptmans and the Pollocks were there but of course they weren't...you know, as I said yesterday...things change, kids grow up, time fries, blah blah blah. Anyway, I had a blast last night and Gary had an even bigger one helping Nero out with the show. Nero is awesome! Well, so is everyone connected with the school. I sang along with every single song, and I wouldn't want to be Nero, trying to pick out the greatest 2-3 tunes for the Best of Season Show in January.
*********
On Neil Gaiman's blog yesterday: Errata Silp
posted by Neil 12/17/2005 01:13:00 AM
"In the previous correction, David Gilmour was, of course, spelled David Gilmore . We trust there will be no further Pink Floid typos of any kind, unintentional or otherwise, in this blog."

I couldn't resist dropping him a note:

"Roger Walters thanks you very much".

Okay, I'm off to do whatever it is frazzled people do less than a week before Christmas. Ha ha - this is what a Jewish girl gets for marrying a gentile and raising her kids without religion but with a Christmas tree and many presents. Hell, my agnostic but still Jewish parents never even fulfilled the entire eight days of Hanukah. Okay, yeah, they did, but by the 8th day, my gift was something like a can of olives. (But hey, I love olives!)

xo

Marty D. Ison

Disillusionment and Metamorphosis by Marty D. Ison

So I know I talk a lot about Zoetrope Virtual Studios, which is Francis Ford Coppola's generous contribution to writers/artists internationally, but I really have met some incredibly talented people there. Because by nature I'm an introvert content to stay alone at home and be somewhat reclusive, for the past couple of years Zoetrope has been my social life. Yeah, yeah, of course I've met many people from Zoetrope in the real world, too, and I must admit, I've had some, um, very good times.

One man I met a couple of years ago is named Marty Ison. I was originally drawn to his incredible poetry and just knew from the way he wrote that he had to be an artist as well. So we got to talking, and I find out, yeah, he is -- even an art school grad -- but his stuff is all dusty in the attic; he hasn't painted in years, blah blah blah. Naturally me being me could not bear to hear that and asked to see a digital photo or two of his work.

Needless to say, when I saw the extent of his talent, I gasped, and asked to see more. I could not believe he wasn't painting anymore, and we talked about that back and forth, and trust me, I'm not patting myself on the back or anything, but I guess something I said must have touched a nerve, because after a long dry spell, Marty took out his paints and the next thing you know, he's got a gallery down in Florida where he lives representing him and um, his paintings are going for almost as much as I paid for my house.

Anyway, in addition to the above, Marty is now art director at one of the best 'zines around, Smokelong Quarterly (Have I mentioned a story of mine is in their anthology along with Steve Almond and Stuart Dybeck? Hahahahaha - only a few thousand times, I bet). In their brand new, spectacular issue, Marty is interviewed and he actually mentions me to the point where I started crying. Okay, I was teary eyed before I got to my name because when you read about Marty's childhood, you'd have to be made of stone not to get emotional. Read Marty's interview right here. And after you have finished reading it, click on Smokelong's main page and enjoy the awesome short stories and interviews in this issue. They are all really something special.

And to view more of Marty's extraordinary artwork, follow this link.

*************

So I heard the Beatle show at Indre Studios really rocked last night -- I cannot wait to go tonight. I made an error in yesterday's post -- Eric will not be there this evening, he's got a gig in Delaware, but Julie will be accompanying me and it's gonna be weird to return to Indre with Julie sitting next to me instead of me watching her on stage, but hey, time moves on, or as my favorite waiter in Chinatown once remarked to me when I came for dinner with Julie and Eric and he hadn't seen them since they were babies -- "Wow. Time fries".

I love that.

Yet another bizarro Neil Gaiman coincidence, or, "that bitch, Robin Slick"

Yeah, that photo of Neil Gaiman definitely deserved to be reposted. Ho ho ho, Merry Christmas to me.

Nah, I have a reason for putting that pic back up which I'll mention at the end of today's entry. But who needs a reason? I'd make it my permanent screen saver but you know, that would make me weird. Ha, not really, it's more like I won't do it because it's already been done by an internationally respected, happily married female writer pal of mine who lifted it off my blog last week for that very purpose but then had to replace it with Calvin and Hobbs when her husband saw it. (Ha ha - hi there, anonymous writer pal -- don't worry, I won't out you and I agree, Calvin and Hobbs are way cool.)

Besides, I have the infamous one of Eddie Vedder's arm around me post-pizza dinner for my computer wallpaper.

Yes, I know. I'm not only weird, I'm pathetic, too. But hey, good on me, I have mastered the fountain pen! I love it! Oh, I could do a dissertation on flex nibs now. I let Julie write with it yesterday and she went crazy. It figures she'd get into that, too (nervously clutching my checkbook).

So I know I've talked about my friend, author Tom Saunders, and his wonderful short story collection, Brother, What Strange Place Is This? but today I simply must direct you to his blog, where he from time to time posts his short stories, poetry, and examples of his awesome photography. Up right now is a short story Tom wrote (dated December 1, 2005 in case he posts something new before you read this) called Delayed Action which just blew me away, and you can read that, and the rest of Tom's blog, right here.

Eric is at David Ivory's studio this morning laying down some more tracks and that's all I'm saying on that subject for now. He's a very smart, complex kid with tons of talent but he's got a lot of soul searching to do as concerns his future. Gary and I are doing our best to both gently guide him and let him work this out himself but oh my God, it's so hard not to interfere. I have to keep reminding myself that by the time we were his age, we were already out on our own and we've hopefully raised him to be an independent thinker. But in any event, I feel pretty confident he's going to be a big star and having grown up in the music business, I know it's a crap shoot and there's more than talent involved, but Eric's got it all going for him (including two parents who insist that he not take a full time job which would limit his ability to tour and gig so we continue to throw money at him so he can pursue the dream...and buy me a place in the UK when he makes it, ha ha).

Julie is happy as a clam having taken her last final yesterday and is officially on a three week winter semester break. She spent last night baking these truly obscene Christmas cookies while I hung out in the living room on the computer yelling stuff into the kitchen like "Are you making a mess in there?" just to aggravate her.

She made two types of cookies which she invented (yep, she does that and she's amazing) -- one which will make her famous if she ever decides to market them -- a lovely toasted coconut number topped with melted chocolate. The other "experiment", however, I have rather aptly named "booger cookies". Because you see she made lemon shortbread -- totally delicious - but we were out of confectioners sugar so she decided to use this green crystalized stuff we had in the house instead, which you sprinkle on Christmas cookies as decoration. But Julie being Julie had to take it a step further because I mentioned that I think confectioners sugar is merely regular granulated sugar that's been whipped, so she decided to stick it in the mixer and for some inexplicable reason, added a few drops of red food coloring. When she got a very unpleasant brown result (d'oh), she immediately added some more green, which rendered the sugar and food coloring into a thin, olive green liquid. She glazed the yellowish lemon cookies with them, and when I broke out into hysterical laughter and called them "booger cookies" she tried to make them prettier by adding chopped almonds on top.

Trust me, it did not make them look better -- more than ever the topping appears to be something you'd find in a disgusting, used hankie. But here's some advice if you come over the house today. Eat one anyway. They are awesome tasting -- just shut your eyes when you take one and don't think about it.

One final reminder -- please go see the Paul Green School of Rock Music tribute to the Beatles at Indre Studios - the shows are tonight and tomorrow night at 8:00 p.m. Details are in the post below. I will not be at tonight's show because I'm going to stay home and wrap presents (translation: stay home, get drunk, and fuck off at the computer) but I will be at tomorrow's performance for sure. Especially as I've been promised a midnight dinner out afterwards with Gary and the kids because both Julie and Eric are attending as well to support their dad. Gary and Nero have worked really hard on this show and are thrilled with the result, so I am really psyched for both of them and the set list is amazing. Okay, well, for me, there are only maybe five Beatle songs out of their whole catalogue which I don't like (can you say Octopus Garden or Maxwell's Silver Hammer?) but even the very worst Beatle song is still a million times better than Jesus Take the Wheel. Don't worry - I have not forgotten my plan to CRUSH THE JESUS TAKE THE WHEEL MOVEMENT and will probably go full steam ahead with that project next week.

Or not. Depends on how much last minute Christmas shopping I need to do. But in that case, the week after for sure!!!

Anyway, here's the Gaiman bit I was talking about. Because I am (a) an egomaniac or (b) an insecure, paranoid individual starved for attention/affection, or, if I want to be completely honest, I am both (a) and (b), I google myself to see what's up in my world that I might not know about and now I've found a new and better toy, google blog search. Or just plain blog search, or icerocket blog search. Lots of fun, that. You can type in your name and find out who is talking about you in their on line diaries. So imagine my shock to see an entry a couple of days ago that said in its title "That bitch Robin Slick!".

I'm a bitch? I am not! Crazy, yes, a big overgrown kid, for sure...but a bitch? Oh man, you should have seen me when I first read that. I went white; my stomach fell...I was fucking terrified. What did I do now? But despite feeling like I was going to vomit from anxiety, I couldn't help myself, I clicked on the link, and it took me to a woman's blog...a woman who calls herself "Liarbyrd" I do not know but who also lives in Philadelphia and also did NaNo (National Novel Writing Month) last month. Apparently, she blogged her novel...and one of her characters was "Robin Slick, an aging groupie". Err...it was kind of hard not to take that personally and get all, well, uber paranoid, but rather than get upset, I decided to be flattered instead. Anyway, I go to her blogger profile page and see her favorite writer is Neil Gaiman. Too funny. Anyway, I checked her out further; didn't read anything which would indicate she's a lunatic or had any personal vendettas against me, so I moved on and went back to working on my current book. End of story, right?

Nope, not in my world. Cos' yesterday I couldn't resist it -- I blog searched her again to see what other names she's called me in her NaNo novel and what other adventures my aging groupie character got into, and I almost fucking fainted when I saw a post titled Neil Gaiman Answered My Annoying E-Mail. So you know I had to immediately click on it, and ha ha, as you will see, she did write to him and was lucky enough to have her letter posted and commented on in his blog (which I'd even read a few days ago), but she neglected to sign her name. So she gets the great man's attention, but anonymously! Oh man, that is so something I would do, maybe I can't be angry at Liarbyrd whoever she is after all.

And of course you know I could not resist leaving her a little note on her blog to the effect of Nah nah nah, Neil Gaiman may have published your post in his blog but he came and visited mine and left a comment.

But how weird. Here's this woman from my same city -- I don't know her and let me tell you, the writing community in Philadelphia is SMALL and we all know each other -- she just happens to love Gaiman (okay, we all love Neil so that's not too much of a coincidence), but in one week, I find out she's writing a book with my name in it, Gaiman comments in my blog, and answers a post she writes to him in his blog.

Coincidence? I think not!

Man, life is strange. Oh well. Go see the Beatle show at Indre tonight. Or tomorrow, and come up to me and say hi. I'll even give you some cookies...

Later
xoxo

How cool is this?

Eric Slick reminding me scarily of the late John Bonham

It must be twenty below zero here today. I'm sitting at the computer wearing a black turteneck, jeans, and a huge zip up black sweatshirt over the whole mess. I'm tempted to add a black wool cap to the mix. I mean, I have a fire roaring in the fireplace, the heat turned up to high, and I'm still freezing. I'm not used to this in Philadelphia! Not on December 14, anyway. My poor son just left for the day -- he's got hours of rehearsal ahead of him and a long walk to the train and back. I don't expect him home until late tonight, when it will probably be like an ice skating rink out there. Oh the life of a musician. I am pretty sure he's got a gig this weekend but I know better from past experience than to advertise it here too early because these things change all the time. I will, however, strongly advise you to attend the Rock School Beatle show at Indre Studios in Philadelphia either this Friday or Saturday night because I hear first hand from the assistant music director of the show (ha -- Gary, Eric's dad) that it's unbelievable. It's one of those shows where every kid is enthused about the music; everyone's learned their songs; the harmonies are beautiful...Gary loaned them his sitar for a song or two as well as a couple other of his vintage axes...so I'm really psyched to attend. Also, following the Friday night show, there's a CD release party for Jukebox Zeros (hey, that's an awesome name) at the Pontiac Grille (okay, actually, it starts at 9:00 p.m., I'll just get there late) which is my friend Joe Ankenbrand's new band. I've known Joe since high school - he's been drumming for decades with musicians all over the city and had some success in Europe several years ago with a band called Bunnydrums. I think Kenn Kweder is in this latest band, but I'm not sure. Speaking of Kenn, he's got the world's greatest collection of names for his collaborations: Over the years he's founded:
# The Nasty Cookies 1969
# Wasted Lunch 1970
# The Band Aids 1971
# Franny and Kenny Band 1971-1974
# Kenn Kweder and his Secret Kidds 1975-1981
# The Tom and Jim show 1977-1986
# Kenn Kweder and the Electric Kwede Orchestra 1981
# Men from K.W.E.D.E.R. 1981-1984
# Men From P.O.V.I.C.H. 1984-1985
# Kenn Kweder and the Radio Church of God 1986
# Kenn Kweder and the Radio Church of KWEDER 1987
# Kenn Kweder and The Employees 1988
# Kenn Kweder and the Indian Guides 1988
# Kenn Kweder and the Memory Banks 1988-1989
# Kenn Kweder and the Few 1989
# Kenn Kweder and the Couch Dancers 1990
# Kenn Kweder and the Enablers featuring the Co-dependents 1991
# The Elvis Presley Tribute Show (20 piece band) 1989
# Kenn Kweder and the Rolling Blackouts 1992
# Kenn Kweder and the Greedy Little Miser Weasals 1993-1994
# Kenn Kweder and the Trustafarians 1995-1999
# Kenn Kweder and the Mechanical Athiests 2000
# Kenn Kweder and the Men From WaWa 2002

Cool, huh.

So how about this news I found last night on Yahoo and which I'm sure you probably all saw but I'm posting it anyway because it excites me...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Legendary folk rocker Bob Dylan to host weekly radio music show


Bob Dylan will start a new career as a radio DJ when he launches a new weekly music show on XM Satellite Radio next March.

The station said on Tuesday the show would feature music hand-picked by Dylan, writer of some of the enduring classics of popular music since the 1960s such as "Mr Tambourine Man," "Like a Rolling Stone" and "The Times They Are A-Changin'."

"Dylan will offer regular commentary on music and other topics, host and interview special guests including other artists and will take emails from XM subscribers," XM said.
************
You know, I wasn't going to do the satellite radio thing, but hmmm...

Jake from Jake's Pens came to my rescue again and forwarded me a link for wonderful journals, ink, etc. that work best with fountain pens. The name of the site is Pendemonium, and I do believe, after giving it much consideration, that I will order either a Fabriano or an Exacompta. (Click on stationary, that will take you to journals, click on that...and help me decide!). The Exacompta has more pages inside, but I'm tempted to just buy the leather journal itself with refill pages because that would seem to make more sense. And as I was embarrassed to admit yesterday, yeah, yeah, I do want a pretty cover, too. So...help! Which one should I buy? (Of course, me being me, wants to buy all of them, see them in person, and whichever I reject I'll regift or use for other projects).


Okay. Julie's at Drexel University taking her finals all day; Eric is out practicing the drums until tonight; the dog is sleeping on my foot...I should just end the blog post now and do some actual writing, right?

Right.

Ho f**king ho

How and when did Eric and Julie change from the above into this:



Please excuse me. I get all sentimental around the holidays and while the second photograph is from the Rock School premiere in late May of 2005 out in LA, the first photo I guess is from around 1993 or 1994 when all I had to worry about was having poster boards in the house for elementary school projects and making sure no one from the outside world told my kids that Santa wasn't real. (I managed to perpetuate that myth until Julie was in 6th grade and Eric in 5th grade and I don't care what they might say to the contrary, that is the TRUTH. And Eric was the one who told Julie!)

In that first pic, we were on vacation and we'd just come down the water slide. That was the first and only time I'd ever committed that act of terror, and after making several deals with God once I got to the top of the slide, yeah, yeah, I did it. Even my getting to the top of the slide in itself was no small feat because as normal people who enjoy that sort of thing (and who the hell are you?) are aware, you have to climb and climb and climb many stairs with throngs of over-active kids clutching huge tubes...and oh, have I mentioned in addition to being a lousy swimmer I also hate heights and tend to get claustrophobic when teenagers are pushing and shoving each other while next to me and we're fifty miles up in the air and a fall over the railing would result in certain death? So why I allowed the kids to even talk me into that debacle in the first place I have no idea...must have been during my Xanax period.

Kidding, kidding.

Anyway, I did in fact sit in the tube and allow myself to be pushed by a sixteen year old, gum cracking lifeguard into the chamber of terror where I screamed my bloody head off the entire time as I scraped my elbows and shins all the way down on whatever that thing is constructed of -- it's like freaking sandpaper and it also took the nail polish right off my fingers and toes, by the way. And if that experience alone wasn't gruesome enough, the grand finale resulted in my catapulting ten feet in the air into a pool of gross water way over my head.

So that explains my hair in that photo.

In other news, you would think that now that I'm no longer in nine to five world, I'd have Christmas all under control this year, but it's just the opposite. I have exactly two presents bought, and while the tree is up, it's half-assed because I swear I'm missing an entire box of ornaments and it's a box of the good ones - handcrafted gifts from friends, ones I made myself during my oh look at me I'm so crafty phase, and even a complete set of both the Three Stooges and The Beatles. The family of course thinks I'm crazy and tells me nothing is missing, but how could they not remember Moe, Curly and Larry? Or John, Paul, George, and Ringo? I would not dream I had these ornaments!

Or would I? Oh god, I feel so crazy anymore, I'm not sure if I dream half the shit that happens around here. Stupid female hormones. Grrr...

No, we have those ornaments. I just remembered the clincher. We have two angels - a pink Julie and a blue Eric, who sleep on clouds, that their grandmother bought for us when they were babies. Aha! Now the family will believe me when I tell them this box is missing!!!

Unless of course I dreamt about the angels, too, and the idea of Julie and Eric ever being angelic is just wishful thinking...

Har har.

Anyway, continuing on with this zoo of a house, as anyone who has visited knows, I still have all of my vinyl, and it's a pretty extensive collection spanning every decade (ha - I even have 78s and an old Edison crank up to play them on), requiring six huge built in shelves which take up a substantial portion of my living room wall. Last time I counted, and yes, once I was crazy enough to do stuff like that...before I had kids, I guess...I had over 5,000 records. Of course when Julie was born in 1986, that's kind of right when I started buying CDs, so maybe the 5,000 figure is still correct. To make a long story short, we were in the kitchen baking Christmas cookies Saturday night when we heard a huge rumble and then a crash. All six shelves collapsed, record albums spilled out everywhere; the complete stereo/tape/CD system went a-falling, too, and well, oh bitchcakes. Besides the fact that we had to hang new shelves -- not easy when you have exposed brick walls as your "wallpaper" -- I then had to put 5,000 albums back in alphabetical order.

I'm still not finished. I'm up to "L". But luckily it appears that everything still works, even the...snort...turntable. And thank God, not one album sustained even a scratch. I know because I checked. Hey, I have some serious collector's stuff here, like, original Beatle records only sent to members of their fan club in the sixties and tons of bootlegs plus stuff I bought in Germany and the UK that you just can't get here.

Okay, enough about my freaking record collection.

You can always tell when I have more major Julie or Eric music news that I'm sitting on and can't spill because my posts are inane bullshit like today's.

Sooo...if it's gossip you're wanting from me, you'll have to wait a few more days.

In the meantime, I'm off to play some more with my new fountain pen. I still haven't found out the best paper to use; I've been investigating journals on line and found some gorgeous ones but nowhere does it say "works well with fountain pens". Ha ha, I can't imagine why. So. If anyone reading this can fill me in on the best journal to buy for writing with pen and ink, please let me know. A link would be most appreciated. Especially a link to a journal that not only has superior paper but a pretty cover, too.

Hey, I told you I was hormonal.

Ho fucking ho.

Julie Slick, Eric Slick, and The Grammys

Okay, a coincidence? I think not.

For recordings released during the Eligibility Year October 1, 2004 through September 30, 2005 (Announced December 8, 2005)
*
Category 19
Best Rock Instrumental Performance
(For solo, duo, group or collaborative performances, without vocals. Includes Rock, Hard Rock and Metal. Singles or Tracks only.)

* Birds Of Prey
Stewart Copeland
Track from: Orchestralli
[Ponderosa]

Julie Slick with Stewart Copeland at the LA Knitting Factory (May, 2005)

* 69 Freedom Special
Les Paul & Friends
Track from: American Made World Played
[Capitol Records)


Les Paul with Max DiMezza on bass (hey, is that Julie's bass?), Eric Slick on drums, and in front with his head down, Rock School Uber Lord Paul Green at MPL Live, NYC (October, 2005)

* Beat Box Guitar
Adrian Belew
Track from: Side One
[Sanctuary]


Julie Slick with Adrian Belew at the Roseland Ballroom, NYC (October, 2005)


Julie's bass playing boyfriend, Matt Rothstein, with Adrian Belew

* Lotus Feet
Steve Vai (featuring Chris Opperman on keyboards)
Track from: Real Illusions: Reflections
[Epic/Red Ink]


Eric Slick with Chris Opperman at the Lion's Den, NYC (July, 2005)
**********


Eric Slick with Carlos Alomar, guitarist for David Bowie, etc., and President of the New York Chapter of the Grammys at CBGB's in NYC (June, 2005)



Marky Ramone with Joey Randazzo, Eric Slick, and Grace Hollander at Studio 4, taking a break while recording the Rock School movie soundtrack CD, produced by Phil Nicolo, President of the Philadelphia Chapter of the Grammys (January, 2005)
**********


Phil Nicolo in the studio being filmed by Don Argott, Director of Rock School, the movie

Oh, bitchcakes! (and in unrelated news, congratulations Chris Opperman!)

My absolute all time favorite picture of daughter Julie on stage.
**********************
Oh bitchcakes. Yeah, that's right. I said it. Oh, bitchcakes. And no, no, I'm not talking about Julie. Not today, anyway.

Don't know what bitchcakes means? Ha! You will. You'll be hearing it everywhere soon. Trust me - I know these things. It's the new "fucking insane" for 2006. Slightly more politically correct, don't you think?

Here's how it should be used in a sentence: "Everyone is going totally bitchcakes today."

Or, like the word "fuck", it is very versatile, and you can simply, as I did, say "Oh bitchcakes".

In fact, if my kids were smart, one of them would grab it as a name for one of their bands immediately. Because it was recently used by that author I said I wouldn't mention again, and immediately showed up right here.

Hey, congratulations to keyboard wizard Chris Opperman who played on Steve Vai's Lotus Feet, nominated yesterday for a Grammy! Yes! When Eric played drums on Chris' east coast gig in New York this past July, it was one of the highlights of my summer.

So get this. Amazon is having a sale. They team up two books together and offer a discount. So I find this out, and immediately do a search on Three Days in New York City. Oh, they've teamed up my book alright. You'll never guess with what. Okay, I'll tell you. "Erotica - My Dirty Thirties: Male/Female/Male" by Kelly Carr. Also, Amazon mentions that people who purchased my book also bought Dirty Thirties as well as a book by Emma Holly called "Strange Attractions". So if you are interested in a bargain and would like a copy of my book along with My Dirty Thirties, here is the link.

Personally, I think that is hilarious, but I much prefer Barnes and Noble. I recently learned that Amazon contributed heavily to the Bush campaign. So you know what that means. And, Barnes and Noble is far kinder to me. People who purchased my book there also purchased the following:

Afterburn by Zane
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
Nervous by Zane
Sex and the City by Candace Bushnell
Star by Pamela Anderson

If you are so inclined, Barnes and Noble has my book right here.

Seriously, for the millionth time, while Three Days in New York City does contain some, um, graphic sex scenes, it is a comedy about a very dysfunctional woman who meets up with a very dysfunctional man. End of story. It is not porn; it only gets the erotica label because the male character has "exotic tastes" which completely freak out the female character with what I hope are laugh out loud funny results. Okay? Okay.

Anyway, Eric had an incredible day at the studio recording with the Control Freaks yesterday and he should be there today only it seems we're having a bit of a blizzard here so they've called off recording and Eric's headed to Wilmington, Delaware for practice all day so that they can continue onward on Monday. Oh god, I wish I could tell you what else is going to happen next week in that regard, but I can't. Ha. How's that for a tease.

Yes, I know.

Oh, bitchcakes.

Odds and Sods part 100940 -- and a moment of silence for the late, great John Lennon

No, I am not gay. Not that's there anything wrong with that.

Ha! I love this pic - that's my friend, the brilliant author, Maya, on the left. Her dad played with the Allman Brothers so she's had a life as insane as mine. Notice I am wearing my black NaNo t-shirt -- last year and prior years I actually won; this year...well...I made it to 35,000 words but hey, 35,000 words in thirty days is still nothing to sniff at. Once again, NaNo is short for National Novel Writing Month, which takes place during the month of November, and the goal is to write a 50,000 word novel in thirty days. No sense my posting a link to their site now, huh.

So a moment of silence for the late, great John Lennon. I cannot believe it's twenty-five years.


Gary and I got the news the worst possible way. I was half asleep and Gary was watching Monday Night Football on television and heard Howard Cosell announce it. We were so young to be married already (like, when most kids are just starting college) - my mom had recently died and we'd just moved into our new house -- I sat straight up in bed and Gary and I looked at each other in total disbelief. We immediately turned on the radio and with sinking hearts, we heard every FM rock station playing a Lennon song. We knew it had to be true but we were still in denial until the song ended -- and of course it was Happy Christmas (War is Over) which I have never been able to listen to without getting teary eyed since -- and the disc jockey was crying and taking calls from crying fans. Anyway, Gary and I went on a week long bender - we drank Irish whiskey straight from the bottle, smoked about three ounces of pot...ugh, it's hard to explain to our kids what it was like and what John Lennon meant to our generation, but we are very fortunate in that Julie and Eric, while of course loving new bands like the Flaming Lips and Shins, etc., also embrace our music as well. Hell, the two of them are the ones who turned me on to Frank Zappa. I was into British blues/rock only, which was in direct defiance to my jazz musician father. (Though he'd really have hated Zappa. Ha.)

They had a memorial service for John Lennon here in Philadelphia one day after it happened on the steps of the Art Museum, which is right down the street from where I lived at the time and still live, in fact, and they had Imagine playing over loudspeakers. When whoever was in charge asked for a moment of silence, the oddest thing occurred. It was a dark, gloomy day, and all of a sudden, the clouds shifted, parted, and the strangest single ray of sunlight illuminated everything. The crowd gasped -- it was totally surreal. Here's a photo of the museum - there were people crowded together on every step...yes, the same steps Rocky ran up (bleh).


Oh, I just realized this pic does not show the steps. Okay, well, you all saw Rocky (unfortunately, I'm sure) so you know what I'm talking about.

In other surreal news, Eric goes into the studio at 1:00 p.m. today and all day tomorrow with the Control Freaks and he's really stoked. Hey, we're all stoked. More on that in a future post. I've name dropped enough in that regard, but you know, until contracts are signed, etc. I'd better stay quiet on that front.

Speaking of new music (was I?), there are two guys out there I really like at the moment: Citizen Cope and Lewis Taylor. Trust me on this. They are amazing! Check them out and buy their music -- it's important to crush the whole Jesus Take the Wheel movement. Oh my god, I'm sure she's very nice, but Carrie Underwood makes me want to climb up in a tower with a high powered rifle.

And back for a moment to the Flaming Lips. Guess who else loves them? Pete Townshend of the Who! How do I know this? I found his blog! He's blogging an entire novel, complete with MP3s! Yes! (Though I was really surprised to learn one of his favorite authors was Patricia Cornwell. No comment, but can you say "formula"?)

Ah well, I'm sure there's more news and stuff going on with this crazy family and if I remember it, I will be back, but in the meantime, I am off to write.

But before I go, do me a favor. Listen to some John Lennon music today, okay? And may I respectfully suggest you google him and read about his philosophies and well, about his life, really. This blog is named in honor of his brilliant book of prose, poetry, and incredible artwork: John Lennon, In His Own Write. If you don't already own a copy, buy it.

Whoops - apparently I'm not writing yet. Eric, even though on his way out the door to go to the studio, left me with the DVD of Let it Be on the television. The camera just panned to John. Oh god, here come the tears again...

Peace
xo

What do Neil Gaiman and Julie Slick have in common?

I keep telling you, this is fate. Ha!

So. Neil? Julie?

Err...just so you know, Alice Cooper is a Republican.

But yeah, yeah, a hell of a nice guy, anyway.

(I obviously met Alice, too, on the night Julie performed with him but declined to have my photo taken. And of course that's Julie on the right, playing last year's Christmas present, the lovely Rickenbacker bass (refer to December, 2004 archives here for the story of the century about that debacle), and vocalist/guitarist Teddi Tarnoff on the left)

Okay, just so you all know, I had this post prepared yesterday but had it on hold, waiting for some more Eric news, which, unfortunately, I still have to keep under wraps.

In the meantime, what do you think happened? I got a post from Neil Gaiman himself in the comments section of yesterday's blog entry.

After my kids administered smelling salts and I stopped running around the living room screaming like a madwoman, I realized the implications of his post, which is as follows if you are too lazy to scroll down and read it for yourself:

"Neil said...

Truth to tell, the Waterman 52 is a wonderful signing pen, but it's only a so-so novel-writing pen. The nibs do lovely things on paper, but it's a little light and not the most legible pen you'll ever write with. My favourite novel-writing pen is probably the Lamy 2000 -- there's a write up on it at http://www.rickconner.net/penoply/misc.12.html
They retail for $145 but you can find new ones on eBay for half that..."

**********

Because guess what. Before getting that note from Mr. Gaiman, I decided to treat myself to the vintage Waterman fountain pen I mentioned yesterday after all (which, by the way, I learned was manufactured around 1926-1928), but since I have no idea even how to use one, I wrote to the seller with some questions. In a totally unbelievable for this day and age move, Jake from Jake's Pens, where I found the 52 vintage Waterman, is sending me the pen free of charge to try out. If I like it, I can paypal him; if I can't work it properly, all I have to do it return it. I'm kind of astounded by his generousity. Here's a copy of our correspondence to each other so you can all have a giggle at what a dork I am, but I cannot believe this kind of chivalry still exists:

Letter from me to Jake:

Hi - before I send off the paypal money for the pen, and you're going to think I'm a complete idiot when I tell you this-- but I've never written with one of these before and I want one because I'm a writer and a famous author I adore (Neil Gaiman) uses the same pen.

Sooo....my question is: Do I need anything else with this order? I'm assuming I at least need ink. Do I need extra "nibs" or whatever they are called? Do you sell this stuff and if so, can you put together a package for me and then tell me the exact amount so I can paypal it all at the same time?

I know, I know. This is so lame.

xo
Rob
************
Jake's response:

Hi Robin -
Don't worry about "lame" questions. There are not many of us left that actually write with fountain pens so having a "convert" is welcome. Even more welcome is a convert to vintage fountain pens.

Let's do this. Don't send any $. I will send you the pen and a bottle of ink so you can try it out. Actually I don't have any unopened bottles of the ink that I like, Parker Quink, but it is easy to get online. I do have some ink that I got at a pen show that isn't my favorite. You can have a bottle to try out the pen. If you like the pen, send payment for the pen only. Keep the ink, although I recommend Quink. (If you like the ink I send I have plenty more you can have for mailing cost only.)

Just send your address and I will get the pen and ink in the mail in the morning if the above is suitable to you.
Best, Jake
PS You do not need extra nibs, and, yes, the writing points are indeed called nibs. On quality vintage pens they are usually 14 kt gold and won't deteriorate. FYI they are 14 kt gold because 1920's ink was so corrosive that only gold could stand up to it. Today's ink is quite benign though.
*************

Seriously. How cool is Jake? Stay tuned for how this all turns out. But I am determined to do this and do it well. Only now it appears I have to also purchase a Lamy 2000 for writing my next book in longhand. I like what Neil has to say about that. He says using the fountain pen and writing in longhand slows him down...he takes more time with his writing and this helps him creatively. This is interesting to me and makes a lot of sense because I am sometimes stunned by the errors in my work when I strictly use the computer...when I print out what I've written, I see the same words used over and over; I see statements/thoughts which I begin but don't properly follow through...oh, it's a regular horror show.

And I rather like, no, love the idea of a vintage pen. And wow, a 14k gold nib. I'm really psyched. So I will save the Waterman for future book signings because you know, I sign thousands at a time. Hahahaha - well, I can dream, can't I? Hmmm. Now. To find out what Neil uses for paper. I picture him with beautiful leather bound journals, but of course if I research it I'm going to find out he uses black and white composition books -- you know, the kind we all used in elementary school and can buy three for a dollar at the discount store. But if I am going to be using a vintage fountain pen with ink, I think a beautiful journal with heavy expensive cream colored paper is in order, don't you?

But in other rather bizarre news, yesterday, before receiving his post, for the first time since I began reading his journal, I dropped Neil a note about all of this -- telling him that I'd bought the Waterman pen and I asked him what kind of paper does he use, etc. Because he usually publishes a Q&A thing from fans on his blog a couple of times a week but I never really expected to be chosen, and in truth, I'm pretty sure he stumbled on me via Google blogsearch or something and it's just an incredible coincidence.

Anyway, lest people start to think I'm the Kathy Bates character in the Stephen King movie, Misery, unless I have some momentous news, that's my last mention of Neil Gaiman for a while. Though he continues to be my hero writer-wise for 2005.

One final thing I will say on the subject, though, is that I've been really depressed this holiday season and have been struggling to write every day. While I haven't been able to pin down exactly why I've been so sad, I think, besides the war in Iraq and the other horrors in connection with the Bush administration, I'm still experiencing a let down following my return from England because I can't wait to go back, coupled with the fact that realistically, this is most likely the last year this family will all be together and living here at Christmas. Julie and Matt will surely have their own apartment by next December; Eric will be touring the world or living in that mansion, and I see myself alone with the computer, which will probably be the only thing decorated in lights.

But getting that comment from Neil Gaiman yesterday and the whole pen experience with Jake has me really flying high and excited to do some serious work today for the first time in weeks. Yay!

Oh, P.S. I am not taking the paralegal job. What was I thinking?????

Off I go, then.