duncandahusky

[	Tags	|	catering, holidays, menu, movies, parties	]
[	Current Location	|	My Desk	]
[	State of Being	|	mellow	]
[	music	|	Carbon Leaf - Under the Wire	]

takaza

justincheetah

calapurr

dexcat

roho

genet

steviemaxwell

linnaeus

• Asian mixed green salad with baby bok choy, scallions, and snow peas, tossed with a sesame vinaigrette and toasted sesame seeds


• Potatoes with kosher salt, Tellicherry pepper, and garlic, grilled in foil


• Boneless, skinless chicken breasts, brined and wrapped in thick-sliced bacon, grilled to perfection


• Grilled Arrachera (marinated skirt steak) tacos with corn or flour tortillas


• Old-fashioned pound cake served with a raspberry coulis and fresh whipped cream


• Fudgy Texas chocolate cake with (or without) toasted pecans

theferrett

• I have an unfortunate tendency to overrely on plot, actually stomping down on character moments in order to hit the, and I quote, "essential" elements of the plot I'm aiming for. Not good. Must unshackle myself from the need to get to that final sentence where it's supposed to be.


• As competent prose writers, we tend to be so inside our head that we forget to explain what's happening in there to an outsider. The number one thing I heard was, "I'm not sure I get what's happening here...." Be just a little more explicit about the fiddly bits than you think you should be (but then the danger is overwriting, which I may have overcompensated into).


• I am constitutionally incapable of being in the same room with people when they are critiquing my manuscript. Every pen-stroke upon the page is like a little sword-swipe at my heart. I have to leave the room.


• Being around writers who work in entirely different thought processes as they create is amazing. I plot. Others work purely on instinct, getting to the end of the story without a single scrap of planning. Others lay down the symbolism they're trying to hit before they can continue. Others have to walk around, storing up visual imagery to lay down 'pon the page. It's so neat, getting these little windows into other people's heads.


• Kelly Link is a warm, wonderful human being who I adore. That said, when she couldn't remember precisely how old she was, we had to Wikipedia her to tell her. This amuses me to no end.


• Eighteen very good writers all looking at the same manuscript? It's funny how much disagreement can break out about a lot of things, but the core problems with any story have (at least thus far) generally stayed the same.


• Writing six stories in six weeks, when all of your bad habits are being exposed and you're trying very hard to stretch and write new stories? Very, very hard. Some people only write two stories in their entire Clarion time; before, I would have wondered how that could happen. Now, I totally understand that when you're struggling to form new instincts, writing becomes very, very strange and very, very difficult.


• The Clarion experience is intense, but the folks here know what they're doing. We've had a lot of sit-down talks about the publishing industry, but we've also had several sit-down talks about the psychological experience of Clarion and where the wheels tend to come off the cart for people. This week's assignment? Get at least six hours' worth of sleep a night, and skip at least one of the sit-down talks to concentrate on writing. Yes, we know it's exciting and you hate to hear the summary the next day from all your excited friends, but actually applying fingers to keyboard is what will be most useful in the long run.


• One week in Clarion time == three weeks in regular time. Maybe a little more.

asperger [alonglongtime]

Meat company settles suit over harassment of employee with Asperger's Syndrome

A New York-based meat fabricator and distributor will pay $70,000 to settle a disability discrimination and retaliation suit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced June 18, 2008.