Music
Now Playing: One of Those Days - Whitney Houston
Topic: WC - Blogathon
It's funny how some songs if you just sample the right song in it I'll jam it until the cows come home. Whitney's One of those Days is one of them. She samples the Isley Brothers - Between the Sheets. Gwen Stefani also samples the same song in her tune Luxurious. It's the only reason I like the song.

The key, sample the right song. It brought up her cool quotient for me. I was like, wow, she picked an Isley Brothers song to sample? How cool and unexpected is that?

Pretty much anything that samples, Not Just Knee Deep passes the test for me. Not Just Knee Deep was a 15 minute song but the Funkadelic, one of George Clinton's bands who had their heydey in the 1970's. There isn't really any of those really big bands anymore either. Like Earth, Wind and Fire, Cameo, Tower of Power.

And Horn sections. I miss horn sections...

Clutter and Dust bunnies
Now Playing: Ordinary People - John Legend
Topic: WC - Blogathon
I'm attempting to attack the clutter and dust bunnies in my apartment. How does a writer not have clutter? I'd like to know. No matter how much I move paper and get new binders, I still seem to have uncontrollable clutter.

And why won't dust bunnies go away once and for all?
The only soothing thing for me right now as I attack is listening to Ordinary People. That song still hasn't gotten dry and I've listened to it at least a hundred times.

I'm wearing down or out on the whole blogathon thing now. I'd like to make it tow 12 hours which would bring me at two more hours to go. We'll see how that goes.

Man Bands vs Boy Bands
Now Playing: Touch me in the morning - Diana Ross
Topic: WC - Blogathon
Whatever happened to man bands? They were always so far superior to boy bands. Boy bands sing of pre-pubescent love. You know they don't really know what they are doing. They don't have the confidence to ensure that they will satisfy. But boy the Dells singing Stay in my Corner or the Temptations singing, well, anything.

Men's voices harmonizing telling you how they're going to satisfy you and you believing. The Manhattans singing I Really Miss You or There's no Me without You. There isn't a boy band on the continent that can make me believe anything the way the Manhattans made me believe. One day I'll have a man that will make me feel that way...

The main important voices to me in a man band - the deep down to the toes that rumbles in your ear to your heart; the falsetto - so few great falsetto's these days, and the tenor in between the two saying/singing what the other two just couldn't sing.

We need some good new man bands...

Love Scenes
Now Playing: Dangerously in Love - Destiny's Child
Topic: WC - Blogathon
I often wonder about love scenes in movies. When a character is making the love faces when they act out a love scene, how much bravery does that take?

I don't think I could look at myself in a movie making those love faces and be able to have sex again without being self conscious. And the noises, forget it! Something about the privacy that feels invaded even if you're acting, I think. this coming from a woman who writes two blogs. But believe it or not, I haven't written anything that I wouldn't speak about if asked.

Maybe I'll get back to my piece that I started writing hours ago. I can't believe that I'm still doing this.
It looks like it's going to rain...

IFOA Notes 7
Topic: Writing Outings
More notes and quotes from the International Festival of Authors

Janice Galloway
- Sex, death and power are her great themes
- versions of truth
- how something feels
- what hooks into my subconscious
- how you make sense of difficulties
- sending a fishing line down into the subconscius to see what it hooks into
- seeing a different life where the very best is available - It's for you too!
- get into the skin of others to find the bits of dialogue, story
- the dignity of the artist. I have the dignity of art to think of
- helpless fertility
- shouldn't need to know anything about these people when a reader reads the book
- all you need is a pen and yourself to be a writer.

John Ballaban
- 19th century Vietnam women have a strong place

Laura Restrepo
- when death is nearby life becomes more brilliant
- do it now otherwise when you go back it won't be there anymore (going home to a place that is warring)
- dying is not the worse thing that can happen to you, not being free is the worse thing
- the big adventure of living

Erlend Loe
- it happens all the time. someone goes through problems and goes down - gets involved in drugs etc. that's an easy story.
- can he bring some of what he was when he was younger into his current life
- there is no common project anymore... me generation shared sense of community.
- We can build our own religion today as opposed to 50 years ago
- start with self - how I feel, what I have seen then fictionalize it. Where I will stop in my real life, I will let my character delve all the way.
- Being true to the person you were when you were a child of 10 years. Take the best parts of that child and bring it forward
- When it rings true I know I'm on the right path
- respect for the small
- instead of going to the country for peace and to think he sends his character to New York to think and collect his thoughts.