Random recommendations

[catherineldf]

of worthwhile things read or listened to in the last couple of weeks:
Comic - "Polly and the Pirates," Issues 1 and 2. Ted Naifeh, Oni Press. I love this man's work! "Courtney Crumrin" rocked. "Polly" is much lighter fare so far but definitely a great deal of fun.
Graphic novel - "Ghosts of Hoppers" by Jaime Hernandez. One of the great things about Maggie and Hopie (of Love and Rockets fame) is that they are drifting into cheerfully dysfunctional middle age. Like much of their audience including yours truly. Well done, as is the majority of the Bros. Hernandez work.

Books:
"Vintage" by Steve Berman. Edgiest YA ever! Great read and characters you got really fond of.
"Spirits that Walk in Shadow" by Nina Kiriki Hoffman. Fast, fun read. More great characters.
"James Tiptree, Jr: The Double Life of Alice B. Sheldon" by Julie Phillips. Wow. Not a cheerful read but a very, very important one. Beautifully written biography.
This was part one of my new Tiptree obsession. I'm also finishing up a collection of her short fiction, "Her Smoke Rose Up Forever" (Tachyon).

Music: "One Day it Will Please Us to Remember Even This." NY Dolls. Just because I had finished reading "The Good Faeries of New York (also recommended) and was thinking about Johnnie Thunders in our local indie music shop. They still rock, even without JT.

Comments

[mroctober.livejournal.com]

Much flattered.

[catherineldf.livejournal.com]

Write more! (Said in an enthusiastic yet nonpressuring sort of way).

[mroctober.livejournal.com]

Holly learned to be curious when she was old enough to realize that her parents referred to anything wicked, and thereby interesting, through proverbs. She would ask her father why he would fill the bathtub with awful smelling liquid and soak berries. "Every path has its puddle." The only puddles she saw were the ones her father knelt in as he stirred the tub. Not that she minded; she never did care for Saturday night baths.

At dinner, Holly's parents toasted each other. Often. Their glasses stank like the tub. So did her parents by the time the fruit cocktail was served. Her mother waved a letter over her tiny bowl. The ink was lavender, which meant Gramma, who had hair that matched the ink. "She's threatening to turn you in--"

"Us in," her father said.

"--if we won't share." Her mother's hand dipped and a corner of the letter sopped up syrup.

"Let her pay like everyone else."

"She's my mother."

Holly waited for the ink to run into her mother's fruit cocktail. Gramma lived way on the other side of the city and Holly had never made the trip on her own. She wondered what the walk would be like during the day. Or at night. "I'll bring some bottles to Gramma." She felt her parents' sudden stare. "Bottles of whatever," she mumbled and quickly spooned a slice of peach into her mouth.

"A good wife is no sheep." Her mother toyed with the faux pearl necklace at her throat.

Father slapped his hand on the tablecloth. "The sheep is never too old for the wolf."

Holly pushed away from the table. "Just let me know when you want me to leave."

[catherineldf.livejournal.com]

You know of course that once you begin feeding my habit, I'll only want more. :-)))
Is this spontaneous or a wip?

[mroctober.livejournal.com]

Spontaneous.

[mroctober.livejournal.com]

Gramma lived in a brownstone on the quietest, oldest block. So quiet, so old, that the trees on the sidewalk had overgrown their wrought iron cages and formed a thick woods that isolated the block from the rest of the city.

[yadda yadda yadda]

Lying with his back to a tree was a wolf. Holly had never seen a wolf before, though she had read about them. None of the books mentioned they wore silky red vests or wide-legged trousers.

"So I imagine the first thing you’re asking yourself might be, 'Is that handsome fellow a stranger?'" The wolf winked at her but kept his smile close-lipped. Too late, though, for when he spoke, she glimpsed small but sharp teeth.

Holly rolled her eyes. "Everyone talks to strangers these days. Why bother to talk to someone dull? I'll never learn anything that way."

The wolf clapped his hands. He wore kidgloves. One had a stylish S embroidered on the back. The other P. "Too true. I'm all for the new."

"You speak very well for an animal." She wondered if he'd be offended after she spoke.

"Six years of elocution lessons at Ms. Dinde's Finishing School." He rose to his feet. He paced around Holly, while she turned to keep him in her sight. "Oh, but she'd 'Tsk, tsk' over you."

"How can you take so long at a Finishing School? That makes no sense."

"More dollars than sense, my dear departed mother would say." The wolf rested one hand on his furred cheek a moment. "If she were departed." He sighed so deeply that Holly was sure it must be false. "And if I had a mother."

"Everyone has a mother."

The wolf shrugged. "Maybe I'm special." He lifted one edge of the napkin covering Holly's basket. "What have we here?" He sniffed at the bottles.
Holly slapped his snout. "I don't think you finished Finishing School at all."

Nice

[muneraven.livejournal.com]

Hmmm . . .you know a lot about making gin in a bathtub . . .

I wonder how really bad-tasting that stuff was.

Re: Nice

[mroctober.livejournal.com]

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing :)

Re: I adored the Tiptree bio

[mroctober.livejournal.com]

I added more...

Re: I adored the Tiptree bio

[catherineldf.livejournal.com]

So you did! Thank you! :-))))
I particularly love the 'yadda yadda yadda.' Pure poetry. Well and the wolf, the bathtub gin and the proverbs.

I adored the Tiptree bio

[muneraven.livejournal.com]

Not only did it make me want to go back and read SF from that era, particularly Tiptree, it also made me want to read some history about her MOTHER'S era. The book just made everyone and everyone seem fascinating. Easily the best bio I have ever read.

Re: I adored the Tiptree bio

[catherineldf.livejournal.com]

Julie Phillips did an amazing job. She really makes the era and the frustrations that Sheldon experienced come alive. It was very depressing though - I spent a lot of time being very, very grateful I was born a lot later.

Ghosts of Hoppers et. al.

[evilroygato.livejournal.com]

GOH was great! Totally loved it, and I've really enjoyed the evolution of Maggie/Hopie.

Did you get all the way thorough to the bitter end of the Tiptree. I think as of this writing, Erin still hasn't read the end.

Re: Ghosts of Hoppers et. al.

[catherineldf.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah! Read it in its entirety. It's a hard read but the ending doesn't come as a big surprise, though it was somewhat worse that I had originally thought. The suggestion that her husband wasn't consenting at the end and the phone calls to his family were quite creepy.
GOH is a fun read; now I have to know what happens to Izzy. :-)