Girls and Miscellanea

Okay first I have to talk about the girls you've featured in your last post. Jennifer Beals, I think we're pretty much done there. Agreed. Shaken upon, sealed with a curt nod of the head. Absolutely.
Jodie Foster, I thought I was the only one. I have never known if it was all right to crush on a lesbian. I mean, obviously it's all right, but does it say anything about me that I'd rather people didn't know? And then there's the whole Reagan assassination/Hinkley/James Brady in a wheelchair thing, which seems like so much history now, but at the time I found exciting and troubling because it confirmed to me that yes, the young Ms. Foster was a worthwhile crush. Not only worth a few sleepless and self-flagellating nights, but perhaps even more. Perhaps even some reckless deed. I'd never thought of assassinating a US president but I had considered the delivery of some well-placed karate chops to an annoying photographer (yes I used to dream of karate chops. Taking karate lessons was a major downer; I waited and waited and was never taught how to incapacitate someone w/a strike to the side of the neck).
But let's get to Kim Richards. I'd never heard of her. Had to google her. Can understand, from looking at the pictures of her early work, you a young man on a cold winter's night could fall in love with that cute, wholesome face, could build an entire system of youthful fantasy around her movements and inflections on the TV screen. I could see it. I grew up in Michigan and our attic was unheated; in the wintertime you could see your breath hang in the darkness of the room. I had to develop a healthy fantasy life just to ward off hypothermia. I'd have slotted Kim Richards into my rotation, I can assure you.
Good choices, all.

Thanks for the advice about telling the story. Just tell the story. It's always true, always always true. Most of what I talk about can be used as an excuse for not writing and when I do that, it's curtains. Once I get obsessed with technique it's difficult for me to get back to telling the story, so thanks for keeping me on the straight and narrow.

One thing that has been very helpful to me lately is this concept of "writing about writing." You sent me a link to some advice on writing a novel and one of the things that was mentioned there was the idea of journaling in order to solve problems with your story. I've been doing that lately to really good effect. I've done that in the past, but only when I was completely whipped. Starting that process a bit earlier has been a boon to me. Writing about writing. I love it. It's just the sort of thing I would love. As a matter of fact, I was thinking; too bad I can't just generate all the artifacts *around* the writing of a novel w/out generating the novel itself. If that were permissible, I'd be considered prolific, trust me.

Hope you enjoy the blue ridges of Kentucky there, Steve. Hope you and your two strapping sons are treated well and that your boys are both given football scholarships to the university which you are visiting.