My life is an emotional roller coaster.

[bironic]

Things have been pretty up and down lately. Not really a roller coaster, since nothing traumatic has happened; more like bobbing up and down at sea. Last week, for instance, went something like:

Remixes up! synn, the best friend I've ever had, is moving halfway across the country unwillingly. Great House episode! Favorite co-worker left. Hung out with moonlash_cc and got to see Neil Gaiman again! New guy who replaced person who left before favorite co-worker left was fired, leaving us with a skeleton crew. Remix author reveal and meta! Usual Sunday evening existential panic. New SGA episodes! Meant to compliment an LJ acquaintance but she took offense.

Sigh.

However. Somehow I managed to write & post about 6,000 words of fic this month, which isn't a hell of a lot but is still almost twice as much as I'd done from January through March. And along with that, there were three Remix meta posts and 11 House fic recs for crack_van.

The thing on Thursday was fun, too. On top of the joy of several hours in the brilliant company of moonlash_cc, fangirling over Wilson and chatting about various other subjects, the program itself was wonderful. One by one, five writers (including Neil Gaiman, hence why we went) got up on stage and told a "true" story for 10-15 minutes with no paper in front of them. The stories were for the most part excellent -- all except one, really, because it was moralistic and she kept stumbling and repeating herself. Pico Iyer spoke about Yemen and being an Indian traveling after 9/11; someone whose name I've forgotten, who is the CREEPIEST MAN ALIVE with his cartoon-spooky voice and big eyes and gapped teeth and fluttering hands, told a hilarious tale about going home to depravity in Savannah; Jonathan Ames had a poignant story about the night he sent his six-year-old son home to Florida, got drunk and high, and nearly married a transsexual; Leila Lalami (beautiful name!) told us how she'd quit her Silicon Valley job to write a book just before the company was acquired by Google; and Neil Gaiman talked about arriving in London on his own after a trip to Germany as a teenager only to be stuck in Liverpool St. Station because his parents, who were supposed to pick him up, had gone on holiday. Really interesting and admirable to see people who work on paper get up there and just talk, even if they'd written out and more or less memorized their stories beforehand.

And today is maddy_harrigan's birthday, hooray! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MY FAR-AWAY FRIEND. I MISS YOU.

I've been doing a crappy job at keeping up with everyone's LJs, which makes me sad. I hope it doesn't make you sad. How are you?

Comments

[theninth.livejournal.com]

I saw Neil Gaiman at Balticon last year. He's... adorable. He's a very natural speaker, too. He was the guest of honour at the convention, and instead of doing the usual "talk about yourself for 90 minutes" he read two stories and a poem. It was easy to forget he was reading and it really felt like he was just telling a story to you. Course, his writing is like that, which is one of the reasons I like him.

[bironic.livejournal.com]

He does seem very comfortable in his own skin. This was the second time I got to see him (attended a reading/signing once when American Gods came out) and he was just as charming. The ubiquitous all-black ensemble with leather jacket, his hands in his pockets.

Course, his writing is like that, which is one of the reasons I like him.

Yes -- listening to him talk is like listening to him read, and vice versa. It's one of the reasons I really became a fan after that first reading/signing -- there was a voice and a personality irreversibly infusing his written words after that.

[nightdog-barks.livejournal.com]

*smiles*

I'm pretty good, especially after all the wonderful notes and fics from yesterday.

I saw that you recced Letters of Transit and The Annals over at the Crack!Van -- thank you! Got a small reply this very afternoon for the former -- apparently I've made another person cry! I really have to start using my powers for Good and not Evil. Heh heh heh.

Meant to compliment an LJ acquaintance but she took offense.

Oh dear. LJ is just so frustrating sometimes. I'm sorry to hear that.

The Thursday Author thing sounds just amazing; Neil Gaiman is one of my favorite writers also.

Here's hoping the rest of your Tuesday is better!

[bironic.livejournal.com]

Yes, you seemed to have quite a fandom birthday there, you lucky dog! And you're quite welcome for the "Letters of Transit" rec. It was one of the first stories that came to mind when I settled on the month's theme.

Yesterday was horrible in a want-to-throttle-all-clients-and-how-about-everyone-else-while-we're-at-it sort of way (even though it's not their fault, it's the workload), but today was better -- thanks for the well-wishing.

[kabal42.livejournal.com]

Not keepy-up-y doesn't make me sad. I sometimes can't keep up either, so fair must be fair. It does sound like you've had a very mixed time there! I hope there gets to be more of the good stuff soon.

Suddenly, after more than a year of feeling like life's relatively crappy - and a month of just weirdness - good stuff has suddenly fallen my way. If it might cheer you up to read, my last post is about that. If it wont, then just skip reading it :-)

[bironic.livejournal.com]

Yes, I did see that and am happy for you! Yay tickets and new flat and things!

[kabal42.livejournal.com]

Whee! Thanks! :-D Now the world "just" needs to feed my friends nice experiences too.

[catilinarian.livejournal.com]

That sounds like a fantastic event. I love hearing good authors just talk - some can't do it at all, unfortunately, and I'm afraid I might fall into that category if I was asked, but some do it brilliantly. I think of those as the natural storytellers, for whom writing their stories down is almost incidental - just a way to reach more people. (For me, the writing itself is the crucial element, and sometimes I have to remind myself not to let the writing crowd out the story.)

Sometimes you'll even get political writers and commenatators who are natural storytellers like that. I heard a retired ambassador and writer speak at BU once; I don't remember many of his professional points, but I still remember the stories.

And I would have loved to hear the Liverpool Street Station story.

It's wretched that Synn is moving away. I'm really sorry.

Don't worry about not keeping up with my LJ, at least - I haven't been able to spend as much time reading your latest fic as I'd like, so we both have some catching up to do! (Plus I owe you an email from ages ago... I suck :( .)

It's brilliant that you're writing so much, though.

[bironic.livejournal.com]

some can't do it at all, unfortunately, and I'm afraid I might fall into that category if I was asked

Me too. That's part of the reason I'm so respectful (and/or envious) of people who can not only get up and talk seamlessly but are good at both talking and writing.

Plus I owe you an email from ages ago... I suck

I thought I was the one who owed you an email, and that's been weighing on me. I haven't been able to sit down on a weekend and clear my mind enough to write the long letters to people I want to. Not always busy, just hardly ever in the right frame of mind. For months.

It's wretched that Synn is moving away. I'm really sorry.

God, it's awful. Awful. I don't know what to do. I don't think she knows what to do. Bleh.