I'm up here in my artist's garret with Chino-cat the landscape painter (he loves the outdoors), Mystery-cat the musician (mraw mraw mraw), and Sassy-dog the struggling actor (she's got the diva personality.)
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| Mystery and Chino |
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| Chino - being *helpful* as writer cats are wont to be |
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| Sasserooo! |
It's La Bohème, I tell you. I hope no one dies of tuberculosis.
When I was a teenager I'd visit my mother every summer for a month or two.
17 yrs old: I can remember when she was living with her uncle in North Vancouver; thumping away in a little office, at a typewriter all night until I saw her leave for work in the morning.
15 yrs old: Little historical house in Kingston, Ontario, which she shared with three other law students. She'd be in the living room watching TV and reading, and I'd be down the hall in the dining room slapping away at the electric typewriter. She'd always make sure to procure one for me--those big fat powerful ones.
13 yrs old: I can remember two different kitchen tables, when she housesat for two different people in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories (up by Alaska.) My soundtracks for my stories always consisted of my mother's music, and whatever was in the home she was in.
10 yrs old: When I was a child and she lived in Edmonton, Alberta I would sit on the floor of the living room making "newspapers" using various clippings and my own drawings. I had a beer ad called: Alcatraz Beer. The slogan was: "A beer for alkis, a beer called Traz."
When I got older and my trips were only a couple weeks cause I was working now, I didn't do much writing. So it's been a weird experience sitting up here typing away, while my mother is downstairs watching Dancing With the Stars and CSI. Sometimes I feel like I'm 15 again, in a good way. Recapturing that feeling of "pantsing"* my way through a comedy about a time traveling Shakespeare, or a comedic Middle Ages play, or some story about my friends.
My inner teenager has come out to play.
Today's Song - From one of the Yellowknife novel's soundtrack...
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* "Pantsters" make up a book as they go along, versus "plotters" who preplan.
6 comments:
What wonderful memories. Thanks for sharing.
What Judie said. I'm impressed that you've kept novels you've written. If I don't publish them, I usually rip them apart and use pieces of them in my next wip.
Also, do you know how much poetry I've lost track of over the years? Now I don't like writing poetry but at one point I loved it.
I used to write poetry in my twenties. I can still do it when necessary. I used to live in North Vancouver as well.I'll have to look up the exact years. I wonder if we ever passed each other, LM, I lived on Highland Avenue and then Chelsea way. But I forget, you are probably much younger than I.
*wants to read about time-travelling Shakespeare*
I'm being slandered! I've never watched Dancing with the Stars in my life.... So You Think You Can Dance is my fave tipple.
I lived in North Vanc from 1990-1993 on Canyon Blvd which is up the hill from Highland. Not sure where Chelsea is though. ;)
Yeah I barely ever touched poetry, except for humorous ballads. You guys are braver!
I didn't keep all these stories, but I remember many of them. Sometimes find pieces when going through my stuff.
The Shakespeare one wasn't as awesome as it sounds, lol.
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