Clarion Week Four

Joe Haldeman's The Forever War Reignited my Love of Sci-Fi
So, the Haldemans have been and gone. Nancy Kress is a distant dream. Michael Swanwick and Chip Delany seem like people from another age. Time is passing as fast as its ever done for me; I guess that's one measure of a great time.

Joe and Gay are like your favourite Uncle and Aunt (if you have such a thing): full of wonderful stories of a life well-lived, generous spirited, and a great source of fun. For the experiences that they've been through, I think that's a remarkable thing. In many ways, their lifestyle is the one I would most like to emulate. Writing is at the heart of their lives, but it is not the master of them. When Joe writes five hundred words in a day he is happy. And since he's an early riser that leaves plenty of time for other pursuits. They cook, paint, sing, and strum -- all activities that foster interaction, unlike the major part of writing. Perhaps that's why I see them as the closest I've come to role-models so far. Plus, they're very down-to-Earth, and I mean that in a good way. I believe everyone has too much shared experience for people not to be essentially the same. That's why it's so refreshing to see a man with an IQ over 150 acting like a regular guy without airs and graces. I hope to see them again someday.

Alex Shows Inexperience in the Skirt-Wearing Department
The anticipated 'Week 4' strife hasn't really materialised, although many of us are pretty worn down and near to scraping the barrel when it comes to forward momentum with the writing. I know, for me, because I didn't come here with anything near outline stage -- just random one line ideas and no characters -- I've had to spend a lot of time brainstorming and then letting the unconscious brew on things for a while. This has necessarily limited my writing time and contributed to the shorter lengths of my work (about 5000 words). I have a slight concern too much focus on short story writing will inhibit novel writing ability, but since I don't have any plans to write a novel for at least two years it's not a biggie. Plotting and writing a whole story in one week is very satisfying though. Even if it feels like a Herculean effort at times.

Aimee Affects the British-look -- Without the Bad Teeth
Some of the relationships through the class are getting scratchy. It's pretty much guaranteed in the pressure-cooker environment that characterises Clarion. We sleep, eat, talk, read, and write fiction. And we all care passionately about this. This makes people extra sensitive, so I'm not surprised it's happened. For my part, I avoid conflict like the plague and have stayed out of the brush-fires, although give me a couple of beers and I'll start shouting my mouth off. Which is exactly what I need from time to time which is what made last night at Harpers so much fun. Quite a few people have had partners over this weekend, and I'm envious of that. They look so recharged. Hi Tammy, btw!

Unfortunately, Clarion lost a couple of people this week. BK got a call from his new HR department the week before, and he set off for SoCal on Friday morning. Luckily for him, he had company for the long ride. BK, we salute you and expect great things in the future. Also, one of Liz's assistants, Sarah, had her last day on Friday too. All her help was much appreciated and I wish her well.

The Talented Mr. Levy
The blow of these departures was lessened somewhat by the Poetry Slam that was instigated by the Haldemans and held on Thursday evening before they left. On Sunday night we picked two slips of paper from two different envelopes. On one piece was written a SF trope and on the other a poetic form. I drew Monster and Double Dactyl. After consulting Wikipedia I was able to ascertain that the Double Dactyl was in fact the poetic form and not a relation of the pterodactyl. That probably tells me something about dactyls but I can't figure out what right now. Anyway, Thursday afternoon I boned up on double dactyls and discovered they're a very exacting form. It was a good workout for my analytical brain to come up with something that conformed. I can't post the piece because I've got great plans in store for those two stanzas. Mwa-ha-ha-ha!

The Slam itself was spectacular -- and not only because of Alex's sartorial flashes. I dislike 90% of poetry, but my Clarion classmates delivered hit after hit. Perhaps that means we wrote crap, but I enjoyed it -- so much so, that I agreed to compile the efforts in one script and hand it on to Liz to print out. After the recitals -- which I realised was a very subtle way for us to get more comfortable with readings (which hopefully we'll all be doing some day) -- we ate cake, sang, jammed, and played speed scrabble. All in all, a great night -- and one that made me want to learn an instrument, probably the piano.

Also, I've started telling everyone my dream of buying a property in rural, southern, France, and becoming a bohemian artist type who entertains and collaborates 52 weeks a year. Maybe it'll happen one day. For the time-being I'll enjoy each day as it comes.

Edes alomok.

Quotes of the Week:

Joe Haldeman - "Skateboards and video games, in my old age, scare me."

Joe Haldeman - "I'm too shallow to lose confidence."

[BACK] Liz, Nye, Shveta, Caillaigh, Aimee, Will, Steve, BK, Jemma, Michael, Casey, Rahul, Felice, Livia, Chris, Gay, Joe [FRONT] Brad, Vince, Will, Robert, Sean, Alex, Steve, Sarah