sniffle, cough!
Oct. 30th, 2007 05:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ellenkushnerI've just come down with a cold, and am hoping to head the worst of it off by, sadly, staying home when I'd rather be at McNally Robinson Books for the Interfictions reading/signing tonight! Sorry, Delia, Veronica, Tempest & Mattt. I know you'll put on a good show for the folks. Anyone who's seen me in the past two days (you know who you are) - wash your hands a lot! Last night had a lovely dinner with Colleen Doran, who's in town for her McNR signing tomorrow night; then we went down to the East Village for a small party being given for the visiting Australian publishing folks, who are spending a few days here on their way to the World Fantasy Convention. Had a wonderful talk with Jonathan Strahan, and finally got to meet Margo Lanagan, whom I worship as a goddess - what a writer!! And she has a fabulous smile, too. Got to introduce Colleen & Cassie Clare to each other, too. And utterly neglected to say Hi to Garth Nix, because I was too distracted. Good thing I'll get another chance at all these folks this weekend at WFC.
LJ-savvy friends assure me you will not think me an annoying name-dropper if I share my delight in another wonderful New York Moment with you. Just a week ago tonight I was meeting friend & neighbor Alicia Svigals (great klezmer violinist, one of the original Klezmatics) for drinks after she'd put her kids to bed. We'd been sitting in the bar of Turkuaz (on lovely low-lying cushions with a round brass tray in front of us to hold our drinks) when who should walk in but another neighbor: the great Yiddish singer & composer/poet Michael Alpert (also of one of my favorite bands, Brave Old World). He joins us, drinking raki, and we have a great conversation, including his companion, who covers education for the New York Daily News. This is what I thought living in NYC was going to be like! So nice to know it sometimes is. (Including when Michael starts speaking Polish to the waiter, and it's old home week in Turkuaz... I was back there with my parents for dinner on Friday night - my mom got a coupon online, as is her wont... then they went off to see Stoppard's Rock'n'Roll, while Delia & I went downtown for the punk rock version of a kabuki play, Drums on the Waves of Horikawa. Like a lot of experimental stuff, it was interesting, successful in patches. It's playing through Nov. 17 if you're curious.
Back to bed now, but it's been nice speaking with you - or at you. I'm nearly finished reading the galleys for Michael Swanwick's forthcoming novel, The Dragons of Babel, which so far is pretty splendid - I would have finished this morning if I hadn't fallen back asleep instead. Michael's started a blog for Dragons of Babel which is just as entertaining as all his writing - and his first entry contains not just some amusing insights on the writing life, but a complete listing of "Entities, Places, Things" in the book. If you scroll down to the end of the "S"s you will be very amused.
LJ-savvy friends assure me you will not think me an annoying name-dropper if I share my delight in another wonderful New York Moment with you. Just a week ago tonight I was meeting friend & neighbor Alicia Svigals (great klezmer violinist, one of the original Klezmatics) for drinks after she'd put her kids to bed. We'd been sitting in the bar of Turkuaz (on lovely low-lying cushions with a round brass tray in front of us to hold our drinks) when who should walk in but another neighbor: the great Yiddish singer & composer/poet Michael Alpert (also of one of my favorite bands, Brave Old World). He joins us, drinking raki, and we have a great conversation, including his companion, who covers education for the New York Daily News. This is what I thought living in NYC was going to be like! So nice to know it sometimes is. (Including when Michael starts speaking Polish to the waiter, and it's old home week in Turkuaz... I was back there with my parents for dinner on Friday night - my mom got a coupon online, as is her wont... then they went off to see Stoppard's Rock'n'Roll, while Delia & I went downtown for the punk rock version of a kabuki play, Drums on the Waves of Horikawa. Like a lot of experimental stuff, it was interesting, successful in patches. It's playing through Nov. 17 if you're curious.
Back to bed now, but it's been nice speaking with you - or at you. I'm nearly finished reading the galleys for Michael Swanwick's forthcoming novel, The Dragons of Babel, which so far is pretty splendid - I would have finished this morning if I hadn't fallen back asleep instead. Michael's started a blog for Dragons of Babel which is just as entertaining as all his writing - and his first entry contains not just some amusing insights on the writing life, but a complete listing of "Entities, Places, Things" in the book. If you scroll down to the end of the "S"s you will be very amused.