Mark L. Van Name's Blog, page 199

Where you should be Friday night, August 10, 2012

(which is tonight as most of you read this) is, if you live in the Research Triangle Park area, the Deep South Bar in Raleigh. The reason is simple: Ben and Sarah will be performing there as The Camaraderie. 

I'll be there to catch their show, so if you come, be sure to say hi.

Want to watch me write?

Come to Chicon, the World Science Fiction convention in Chicago over Labor Day weekend.  There, on Friday afternoon at 1:30 p.m., I will spend half an hour being one of the Writers Under Glass.  This unusual program item will run for a lot of the convention; I don't know yet exactly how much.  The way it will work is that a large group of writers will spend half an hour each writing in an open area in the convention.  Each will write for half an hour.  Each will pick up where the previous writer left off.  The goal is to complete a story, presumably at least a decent story.  If I understand things correctly, the writers will all sign the manuscript, which the con will then auction.

I've never done anything like this, so it should be a very interesting experience indeed. 

Another frustrating aspect of being a midlist writer

Earlier tonight, I had occasion to go into my local Barnes & Noble store.  While there, I fell victim to a trap that ensnares many writers:  I walked back to the SF section to see how many of my books were in stock.

Remember that on May 29, about nine weeks ago, No Going Back appeared. That novel was, I believe, my best to date, and all the reviews of it--few though they may be--have been glowing.  So, I thought there was a decent chance my local store would have one or two on the shelves.

Nope.  No copies of No Going Back.  Nada.  I have five novels out, and all that my local store had on offer was a single paperback copy of Children No More.

This kind of information is deeply demoralizing, but it is also beyond my control.  As I have to remind myself constantly, all I can do is write the best books I can. 

Still, this sucks.

Who am I rooting for in this coming weekend's UFCLightweight World Championship fight?

Am I going for the challenger and former champ, Frankie Edgar, or the reigning champion, Benson Henderson?

Hmmm.

Yeah, that's the champ with three of my books.  Yeah, I'm pulling for him, but not, truth to tell, because he's reading my work.  I'm backing Henderson because he's a pleasure to watch, an awesome fighter, and, well, because he's going to win.

 

Invisible Wounds

Earlier today, I received this email message.

Dear Mark,

Thank you for your book: Children No More. My name is David Taransaud. I am an Art Therapist for children and adolescents, a speaker and a trainer at the Institute for Arts in Therapy and Education. After being made redundant earlier this year, I decided to use my redundancy payment to travel to Northern Uganda and set up an Art Therapy service in an orphanage for former child soldiers and young people affected by conflict and trauma.

I came back ten days ago and I am hoping to return in a few months to carry on with the work. This is quite an ambitious project that I have so far managed to finance on my own. I have just finished editing a short movie I made while I was there. As you'll see, I am no Coppola or iMovie genius, but it's real! I would be grateful if you could take the time to watch it. http://youtu.be/_AmdJNE2XLA

If you think it's appropriate, I would appreciate if you could forward the link to your many followers or possibly add it to your Blog. I'm hoping it'll help to promote the awareness and the sponsorship of war orphans at the orphanage and with a bit of luck, raise financial funds for further resources. By sending this email, I am keeping my promise to the Kitgum's orphans that they won't be forgotten and I will do my best to raise awareness and help them in any way I can. So I thought of you! I have been told that I have ridiculously large dreams, but they sometimes come true.

And please feel free to give my email address in case people want more information about this project or would like to know how they can support the children at the orphanage.

davidtaransaud@yahoo.com

Thank you very much.

Warm wishes, David

Here's the video.



I found it very moving, as I'm sure you will, too.

After the flap about Invisible Children and Kony, I can understand that some folks may feel reluctant to help in this area.  The problems are real, and the children need help, but I cannot say that I have visited these children myself and verified all of this; I have not.  That said, as near as I can tell from a little Web research, David is a genuinely good guy trying to do genuinely good work.  You can Google him, and you can get more info on the orphans at http://paderorphanscareproject.webs.com. I obviously intend to support that group. 

I don't have all that many readers or followers of any sort, but if this moves you, if you would also like to support it, please contact David (davidtaransaud@yahoo.com) or Richard Akena (pocpuganda@yahoo.co.uk), the director of the orphanage, and see if you can help.  I suspect even a small contribution would mean a lot. For example, David noted in a later message that just since his video went live, which is a bit over a week ago, the orphanage has received enough contributions to enable them to order 50 bunk beds--which means that kids who for the past six years have been sleeping on dirty floors will now get to have beds. 

Finally, if you want to send toys or childrens' books, those would be awesome.  David said he saw only two such books while he was there, and both had pages missing.  The address is

The Pader Orphans Caring Project
PO Box 5
Kitgum
Acholibur sub country
Pader District
Uganda

Helping 50 kids won't change the whole world, but it will change their world, and it will be another good step in the fight to help those kids abused by war.  Please think about it. 

Golden opportunity for a foodie at Chicon

If you're a foodie, you've almost certainly heard of Alinea, the restaurant at which Grant Achatz became a culinary superstar. One of the best meals of my life was my dinner there quite some years ago.

I'm going again on the Thursday of Chicon (and will, of course, report on the dinner here), but due to paranoia I have two spare tickets for a 9:30 p.m. seating on Wednesday, August 29. Alinea handles reservations differently than most restaurants: it sells pre-paid tickets whose cost includes the meal and gratuity. Each ticket entitles you to the tasting menu, which is your only choice. You have to trust Achatz and his team to deliver something great--which I do. (Beverages and wine pairings are an additional cost you pay while there.) The pair of tickets I have cost $531.60. If you'd like to buy them, a process that involves Alinea itself so they can make sure no one is scalping the tickets, let me know via
If I don't have any takers within a week, I'll put them on offer via Alinea's normal mechanisms.

This is a chance to secure a meal that is certain to be amazing.

The first person to ask for them gets them.

How much do I want to see this movie?

Oh, yeah, that much.

You know where I'll be on November 9.

The joy of Josh Ritter

Wednesday night, Josh Ritter played at a local club, Cat's Cradle. As I mentioned yesterday, I rushed from the plane, which landed late, straight to Carrboro to catch the show. (I regret missing the opening act, but I arrived too late for it.) Less than five minutes after I reached the spot where I like to stand, Ritter bounded onto the stage.

When I say "bounded," I'm not indulging in hyperbole.  He quite literally moved by leaps, running and jumping his way to his guitar and then the microphone. A huge smile lit up his face, he backed up and screamed with what appeared to be sheer joy, and the show began.

Two hours later, the main set ended.  Less than five minutes later, he bounded onto the stage again, every bit as energetic as he was at the start, smiled as broadly as before, screamed again, and launched into a fifteen-minute encore.



If he wasn't singing a serious song, he was smiling whenever he could, during instrumental portions in songs, during breaks, any time he could.  The picture above is the best one I got, but you can't see his expression due to the lights (though you can see a larger version by clicking on it).  The joy of the music, the joy of performing, was always there, suffusing him, powering him, pouring out of him into the audience.

The audience responded with its own joy, and for two and a quarter hours all I saw around me were happy people.

The show marked the third time I've seen Ritter live, and it was easily the best.  I love his music, but even more I love how much joy and passion he brings to performing. This guy should be selling out stadiums, having number-one albums, enjoying a rep as a performer everyone knows. Instead, he's playing Cat's Cradle, not selling every ticket...

...and giving the show his all. 

In his wonderful song, "Snow Is Gone," Ritter sings this bit:

I'm singing for the love of it,
have mercy on the man who sings to be adored

I believe him.  I don't know him, but watching him perform, I utterly believe him.  I'm sure he has plenty of depressed times, and I have to believe that all the realities of his life are not to his liking, but when he steps onto the stage, he brings the joy. 

More, I believe he's right in those lines.  He really is, and I and every artist I know should listen to him.  

When I fret over the reception my writing receives, over how I'm selling or why I'm not winning awards or any of the other noise that fills my head, I would do well to recall these lines, smile, and take joy in the fact that I'm so very fortunate that people pay to read my stories. 

If you get a chance, go see Josh Ritter.  Bring your joy.  You can be damn sure he'll bring his.

On the road again: Bay area, day 3

I'm on a plane now and will shortly have to shut down.  From the moment we land, I'll be rushing so I can catch as much as possible of the opening act for Josh Ritter--and then, of course, Ritter himself.  I'm quite looking forward to the show and will write about it tomorrow.

Today was another of those travel days with a six-something wake-up, so I didn't start the day very happy.  That said, the first leg of our travel went well.  When we landed in DFW, we had only 40 minutes to make our connection.  That time evaporated as people filed slowly off the plane, so by the time we hit the terminal, we were down to 25 minutes.  Fortunately for us, the connecting flight was rather late, so late that we had time to eat delicious Red Mango parfaits, do some work in the Admiral's Club, stroll to the new, very close gate, and then wait some more.

Even better, at the gate I learned that American had upgraded me, so the flight home was pleasant and, thanks to the on-plane bandwidth, quite productive.

All in all, it's hard to complain about travel that works out this way, even with the rough start.

Now, I must shut down.  Soon, Josh Ritter live!

On the road again: Bay area, day 2

I can say so very little about work travel days that I often end up resorting, as I am here, to a meal description.  Fortunately, tonight's dinner was a very tasty affair at Los Cubanos, a place I've eaten in the past. We started with croquetas, had small house salads (pleasant but unremarkable), and then my entree was a Cuban classic, ropa vieja.  This version featured the beef in a dish with peppers and olives and a lot of juice, and it was darn tasty.  Mix a bit of beef and some rice and black beans in each bite, and you have a definite taste treat.

The only disappointment was the dessert, an indulgence that in retrospect I would not have permitted myself.  I tried the quatres leches, which came in a sundae cup and was far less satisfying than most of the similar dishes I've had over the years.  Of course, that didn't stop me from finishing it, which was an error on my part. 

On balance, though, I have to recommend Los Cubanos if you live in the area.