IFOA Sun
Topic: Writing Outings
Monday 2:43pm 23Oct06

Round Table Discussion with:
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Kiran Desai, Jonathan Safran Foer, Gautam Malkani

Where and what is home when you no longer live in your place of birth?
the difference of being an African in America versus an African American.

The style and form of their novels. With the internet and our different ways of getting information the novel form is bound to change - cutting and pasting ideas.

Yes yes these authors will be added to my wish list.

Round Table with:
Rawi Hage, Simon Ings, Randy Boyagoda, Yasmin Crowther

Exile and Homecoming
Immigration allows an invention of oneself rather than a reinvention. The ability to leave the past and who you were behind.
Exiles take culture with them

Even a villain should have a chance to tell his story.

the difference between leaving or wanting to leave.

an Exile says/believes - "I'm eventually going to return." He/she is longing for a Utopian version of the place that they've left.

What is the burden of the imaginary homeland?

When we write fiction we are playing with our experimental selves taking trips we've never taken, doing things we've never done.

"I would never talk to him at home."
That was the statement regarding a man out side of his homeland that moved to England and was appalled when a lower class person from his homeland spoke to him. It was one of the things we laughed at when I first moved to Toronto and became friends with some French people. "In Montreal, we could never be friends."

Kate Grenville
We can live with a fair degree of doublethink.
Whipping up fear is a way of getting things to go the way you want. IE, the government, the media.

Round Table Discussion with:
Deborah Eisenberg, Nicole Krauss, Colson Whitehead interviewed by David Eddie

Colson talked about taking notes in the city, putting thoughts into strangers heads.

Why do you write?
Writing is an act of freedom. Why not write?

Writing to follow untraveled paths. Writing about the disruption of our view of ourselves.

The perversity of the reader - The perception of the public that when we write fiction we are hiding the truth (is this autobiographical?)
When we write non-fiction we're making things up.
It brought up the topic about James Frey. Why can't his book just be inspiring and help who it helps?

It's better to say you have written a fictional memoir or a personal history.

Round Table discussion with:
Yves Beauchemin, Alon Hilu, Bernice Eisenstein and Marisha Pessl interviewed by Ken Alexander

the idea of re imagining history
looking at the slight chance that he did do it. Alon's book specifically is about playing what if with the facts that are there and the information that isn't and creating a history of someone that works with the slight chance that he did do it.

Pushing history and memory uphill.

We don't know the people who are closest to us.

Kate Grenville is the woman with the great lines to quote.
"the local is now where the universal resides."

Oh and Philippe Dupuy drew a self -portrait for me after I'd shown him the self-portrait that Sherman Alexie drew for me many years ago. Philippe's self portrait is him as an alien with six arms, three antennas, a tail and two feet. ha ha!

No real notes from the Going to Print Round Table discussion...

EY

IFOA Sat
Topic: Writing Outings
Monday 12:34pm 23Oct06

The big bonus is that Starbuck's is giving out complimentary coffee during the festival. Can we say, too much Decaf? Yup!

Mark Z. Danielewski
wrote House of Leaves... add to my wish list.

Jonathan Safran Foer questioned Mark about what the Z in his name stood for. Mark said that he'd decided that he wouldn't reveal it until he told his wife of which he hasn't met yet. That went into a conversation about that which is hidden. Closed Doors - What is behind those closed doors? Family history that is behind closed doors or kept secret. His father was in a work camp (concentration camp) in Dachau. He went from being in a work camp to becoming an avant garde film maker. His dad, in his younger days performed in other languages that he couldn't speak in. He'd learn the piece and could perform it like it was his language. Fascinating the spirit of humans. What we can do when we're motivated and possessed.

In my notes I wrote... Language he could perform but not understand.

Questions posed to think of when writing:
How will I show things that are private to me?
Who is the witness of this story?

The act of looking. Looking for the history. Looking behind closed doors. Looking for the secrets. He said that his father used to call him the drill because he'd drill him daily about his life prior to coming to the States. What stories families tell.

He talked about enjoying things now that you know that your dead parent would enjoy. That his dad would be into ipods and downloading and all the gadgets. I think in the same way about my mother.

Empathy starts in the imagination.

Style seemed to be the theme of the weekend as a whole. Things that I want to do in my writing. A novel that is set up like a scrapbook and the more you delve into the scrap book the more the story is revealed.


Gay Talese
interviewed by Sandra Martin

What is my true home? another theme that ran through the weekend. When you are from somewhere else and you reach a point where you're not of that place nor of this place.

What is it about others I can relate to, find myself in?
Of course Gay is for immersing in the area that he wants to cover. Living with the people etc.

He read from his book, The Writer's Life... my wish list!

His piece was about going to Calabria which made me chuckle to find out that he was Calabrese (or Calabrian). All the Italians I know that are Calabrese never say they are Italian they always say they are Calabrese. He even mentions that in his piece. We're so attached to where we come from.

He discussed eavesdropping on the stories of others. Personal stories. Knowing the personal info of others. You can see how he could become the type of writer that he became.

He uses fictional techniques in non fiction.

"Work is like the art of hanging out."

He likes subjects an Historian wouldn't write about. Writing about the ignored people. People on the fringes. The lady that carried Frank Sinatra's hair pieces. The third horn player in his band. People that were not known but were affected by his life.
He said that the history we most think about was written by fiction writers.

Both Gay and Mark Danielewski mentioned Herman Melville - not successful as a writer while he lived but the audience, the readers decided after his death that he was a worthwhile writer.

Philippe Dupuy and Charles Berberian
Graphic Novelists.
They work together. They showed some drawings trying to explain how they work together. One drawing of two guys sitting across the table from with both of them holding on to the same pencil. Another one showing one guy drawing with the head of the other on top of his.

They said they can't really explain how they work together other than saying that they sit down and discuss the story and from there one starts to draw, the other adds to it and it keeps going that way until it's done.

I especially want to add them to my wish list...
Imagine if I bought every thing I wanted?

Their comic series Monsieur Jean basically started with the idea of a 17 year old writing a letter to the man he'll be in his 30's.

They are interested in telling really sad stories in a funny way; building bridges between the past and the present; loners, outsiders, bohemians.

Jaime Hernandez
of Love and Rockets fame. - hmm - Wishlist!

the characters write it I just have to take them somewhere
Kill someone you know not a character that just arrived in the last issue.
Our duty to have characters of our own ethnicity. We have lots of stories to tell. Yes he discussed that when he and his brothers were delving into comics that all comic characters were white. That they couldn't come up with many stories for white characters but when they made their characters Hispanic they had lots of stories to tell. They realized that if they didn't write stories with their own people no one else would.

Ran into Paul Quarrington and asked him about his musical recommendation that I know he tells his students. He said that he recommends listening to symphonic music to help with structure.
it's a good thing I bought all those Beethoven !

EY

What Day is it?
Mood:  bright
Topic: WC - Daily Practice
Monday 12:17pm 23Oct06

Slept for 12 hours. I've only been up a couple hours now and trying to get a little bit of everything done. Just cleaned the bathroom, going to write for a bit, work out, got to cook some carrots and cauliflower and then on to the next thing.

Running down to Harbourfront for 4pm for a round table discussion on Going to Print. Plus I'm invited to a couple receptions as a Patron member the major one being with the authors tonight.

Went out for drinks with a friend Saturday night and the beer was going down far too smoothly for words. Of course our conversation about death and funerals and the behaviours of people certainly helped with one beer turning into five. The "experts" that get the grieving riled up and paranoid. I'll have to delve into that in writing at some point.

Zelda and Picasso have been playing lots and cracking me up. In the midst of teasing Picasso Zelda's tail was banging on the bed, she noticed her tail and proceeded to attack that forgetting all about Picasso. Freak!

Not much to say...

EY

Morning Pages
Topic: WC - Daily Practice
9:33am Saturday 21Oct06

Still groggily awake and moving slow. Made a big breakfast to rev up my engines for the day ahead.

Dreamed that I was looking for new furniture at an Ikea like store. Couldn't find a bed that suited my needs. I woke up all achy this morning so clearly I wasn't positioned properly. In my dream, three youth came up behind me and tried to push me into oncoming traffic. I sensed what they were up to and grabbed a telephone pole in the nick. They lifted me up to throw me into traffic but someone came and stopped them. They followed me as I walked up the street and I was surrounded by other people who ushered them away.
In my apartment building I walked with two maternal women. They were a representation of my Mother and my Aunt Faith but they weren't them as they were white ladies. They walked with me as I started to feel the emotions of my pending death. They comforted me as I started to cry. Within me I felt the presence (intuition, higher power) that reassured me that I could trust, that I could depend on the presence - I've always been able to.

I know that death is an end of a cycle. I interpret it that way in the Tarot anyway. I'm often emotional when I have to let things go sometimes even when they're bad for me. Health wise, I've had to let go of bad habits. Relationship wise, I've had to let go of ideas/fantasies and justifications. That seems to be a constant. Mind you the space I've made for new people has been filled with people beyond my wildest dreams, people who I like and am already growing to love as kindred spirits. I think the emotions are a culmination of the fear of the unknown and learning to trust and the feeling of time that was wasted stubbornly holding on to tactics that no longer worked for me.

The new moon starts as of 10pm tonight. A new moon is a time to set new goals and start new programs etc. One of these days I will sit down and get out all the info for people who may be interested in following the moons. IFOA isn't the best time to do it.
Mercury goes retrograde Oct 28th to November 17th. And that is a time to keep the status quo. Don't buy any new electronics, cars. Don't sign contracts or start a new job because you will regret it. Communication is mixed up. If you make plans with someone, this is a time to confirm and reconfirm just to make sure you got the info straight.
You'll notice that you will come in contact with people you haven't seen or spoken to in ages. Blasts from the past. Either they will look you up or you will look them up. Mercury retrograde is a time to go back to projects that you may have been having problems with and reworking them. Starting a new romance isn't good but rekindling an old romance is great...

Here is a better description of it from Susan Miller's Astrology Zone
What happens when Mercury retrogrades? You miss appointments, your computer equipment crashes, checks get lost, you find the car you just purchased during Mercury retrograde is a lemon. (Or, you hate your haircut, the lamp you bought shorts out, your sister hates her birthday gift.) There will be countless delays, cancellations and postponements--but know these will benefit you in the long run. Don't fight them, although your frustration level and feeling of restlessness will be hard to cope with at times.

All machinery and things with moving parts--such as computers, VCRs, camera equipment, garbage disposals, and so forth, will reveal any weak links now. It is critical that you back up your data system and be more careful and vigilant than ever. Projects will demand more time and money than anticipated this month.

In matters of the heart, if your boyfriend or girlfriend breaks up with you or says something hurtful, take a wait-and-see attitude. Since Mercury rules speech, they may not mean what you think they are saying now. Let them have some space, and wait to see if they mean in October what they said in September.

When traveling, leave early and allow for extra travel time. Have all bags double-taped closed, count your belongings, double-check addresses and reconfirm appointments. Things get lost when Mercury messes us up. Take NOTHING for granted. The sector of your chart that Mercury happens to be skating through will be effected most dramatically, so check your forecast!

Why would the Universe give us Mercury retrograde? Because to move forward it is sometimes necessary to backtrack and reconfigure our paths in life. It is important to reconsider, repair, reflect, and reconnect. Mercury forces us to slow down and fix what's broken, and in so doing, rethink things. It also gives us time to get to projects we have put on the back-burner.

Some activities are lucky or actually improve when Mercury retrogrades. You are likely to bump into old friends that you haven't seen in years. Adopted children tend to find their birth parents during Mercury retrograde periods, or people locate their long lost siblings. Prosecutors often find clues to crimes that had previously remained unsolved for years. (Although sometimes the reverse is true--there is a greater danger, or example, that police can bungle evidence during a Mercury retrograde period, for clear thinking doesn't come easy for any of us then.) Mail that went astray weeks or even years ago shows up during Mercury retrograde. Some things that were lost reappear.

Now is also a good time to dress old wounds, clean up relationships or to simply bury the hatchet. Some people have great breakthroughs in psychotherapy during a Mercury retrograde period. For salesman, it is a positive time to backtrack over previous contacts rather than call on new ones. It is a perfect time to schedule work on projects that you haven't had time to do and you've let pile up. Bring your resume or portfolio up to date, and clean out your closets. Take time to paint the house. Clear your decks.

Just try not to start new things. If you have to start a job during a Mercury retrograde period know that the nature of the job is likely to change dramatically over time. Perhaps the person you report to will leave, or your responsibilities will be very different from what you thought they would be. Or your company won't be ready to take you on, and you won't have much to do until things are reorganized. But remember, if this was a position that you tried for in the past, then you've got the vibes working for you rather than against you.

Lucky me the next retrograde period falls in my birthday. So I'd better make my plans before February and getting that tattoo I was thinking about is probably out of the question. ha ha!

EY

I'll go this way
Topic: WC - Daily Practice
Friday 1:55pm 20Oct06

I have three main goals for my writing vacation: write, work out, and eat healthy. I decided I should get going on the working out and went for my walk to go weigh myself at the pool. Should bring my bathing suit, might as well swim. Could call The Friend (formerly known as The Guy) to see if he's had coffee yet since he's on my way to the pool. Plus it's an excuse for a Starbucks decaf. Does anybody remember me saying that I don't drink coffee? Maybe I'm going crazy.

Sat outside with The Friend enjoying my decaf, talking trash and cracking each other up and saw Mr. Tall Wine buying contractor. Although his project is done in my building his new project is about three buildings away. "I still get to see you," he said.

After he left I mentioned that he'd bought me a bottle of wine. "Wine? I'm taking you out to dinner," says The Friend. Dinner has graduated from the Keg to Ruth Chris'. Big grin, rubbing my hands together.

On my way to the pool I ran into goldfish, got any two's(?). Made plans for Halloween.

Back in the day, before the babies came, Halloween was going to Bryant's crazy Halloween parties. He lived in a renovated school and everyone on his floor also had parties and you'd go from apartment to apartment. Mostly musicians, there would be microphones and instruments set up for the eventual continual jam sessions. The first year I'd gone was the year my mom passed away. I was numb and quiet. I toked a few joints because it evened out my emotions. I met a couple guys and hung out until 7 or 8am. It was Bryant's Christmas party. The amount of people that showed up was insane. I went to every party afterwards.

Halloween parties were a joke laughing at the costumes. I went as a disco girl one year. I was still had dreads then and I wore an afro wig that was so big that my friend Kevin couldn't stop laughing every time he looked at me. People believed it was my real hair. About a thousand strangers have a picture of me with that wig on. The last Halloween party I attended at Bryant's I wore coveralls borrowed from one of my guys at work. He hooked me up with a tool belt and a hard hat. I had to wear a tank top under neath the coveralls because they were so hot. The outfit did something for men! Too funny.

The last Christmas party we attended was just before Bryant's wife got preggers for the first time. We arrived and the party had been canceled. Bryant invited us in anyway. We sat and chatted and a couple more people came. We had an intimate party and drank their wedding wine and laughed and talked music and what not. I got home at 4am and slept through my alarms. Called work to say, "I'm still drunk but I'm on my way." My boys laughed at me all day. My boss shook his head telling me I was out of control. Of course that was the year that my two bosses and I went to every single contractors Christmas party. We ate for free and drank beer until we got too bloated then drank wine then turned to scotch. That was a crazy year. Of course we're all dealing with health problems now... ha ha!

I don't have that kind of stamina anymore but at least I had it once.

I'm having so much fun with The Friend that I have to ask, can a relationship get better than that? Isn't a relationship really a committed booty call? ha ha! But seriously, I'm 42 years old, not going to have kids, can't imagine getting married, ever. Should I bother worrying about soulmates and the like? Tall wine buying contractor is probably about 33 years old. I'm no Demi Moore, so thinking that I'm going to have a long term committed relationship with anyone ... I just don't believe. Watch me meet some hot God and get married and drop a kid at 44 years old! That'll teach me.

Wow! The day is flying by. Got to do the laundry and make the juice and go back to the writing and get out for another walk to build my steps up to 16,000 and maul Zeldooch and...

EY