Stuff

Jethro Tull is in my head. I don't mind. Skating Away is a good song. No really it is. Well maybe it's annoying but there are so many worse songs that skating away removed from expectations and all that other ways you really want to be or soemthing like that - it's not so bad.

Finally checked my yahoo account and got an updated story from a writer that sent along a very guilt-ridden letter. Kind of funny because of all the writers that I got stories from she was the most professional. I suppose I'm only gauging it by writers where I accepted their stories knowing that there were flaws but that they could be ironed out. She was the most willing to work with me. Such a relief since there were many writers that just acted like every word they wrote was a precious jewel beyond any criticism.

But I suppose it's not so bad. I mean Thomas Deja told me after a disagreement that "if you're going to have Harlan Ellison sized tantrums, you better have Harlan Ellison sized talent" and he was right. I just needed to go through even a fraction of the shit that he goes through as a full-time editor to see it. Talent is one thing but the ability of a writer to put aside ego and actually work with an editor is also important (well 10% important - I mean if there's nothing there in the first place the editor just goes "thanks but no thanks" and that's the end of it) because too many writers have this notion that the editor is the enemy. Even if they know the editor personally and like the editor personally, once the editor starts criticising the writer's work and suggesting changes, the writer will go into attack position. Even though the editor really wants to make the best story possible. That's not to say that editors are always right. Hell no. But if an editor consults with the writer on 5-6 things and the writer says that nothing needs changing and that the editor doesn't know what he/she is talking about because everything is perfect - well that's just not a writer that is going to get very far. Even an "I personally like the sentence but I can see your point so if you want to get rid of it, go ahead" or better yet a "I read it your way a few times and read it my way and I think the original still works better" proves that the writer is serious. Accusing an editor of performing taxidermy on a paragraph that sounds like mush isn't an endearing trait.

Of course the next time I edit an anthology I ask no friends for stories. Or no mostly unpublished friends for stories. And if they submit stories and I don't think they are ready I will reject them. No more of this "well it's good but there are places where it needs work" stuff. If the writer can't send a story that's ready for publication (with a few things that can be changed - no one's perfect) then I don't want to work with the writer.

Unless of course jourdannex sends me stuff because she is that good.

Been thinking a lot about this stuff. Sorry.

Just because I don't have to go to work in the morning

No real reason to stay up until 5 - especially since my productive writing ended around 1 in the morning. I might have another novel on my hands - if only because I'm not sure how to connect the two scenes within 6000 words or less. That might work except there's another novel that I want to finish (the one that I was writing when I was supposed to be answering the phones at Wells Fargo) and another that I want to start because the idea intrigues me. But if I make this short piece into a novel that might be cool. That's usually how things go. Maybe it will just be a short story or a novellette. It's nice to be off work so I can do this stuff, but tomorrow I just go to sell my plasma and then go to the movies. Lagoon stopped showing Before Sunset the bastards. I wanted to see that movie damnit. I suppose I'll go to Block E and see De-Lovely and COllateral. That's the most likely option.

So anyhow spoonfeeding is now talking about converting to Judaism - weird because I didn't know she was interested. I suppose that's how most of my friends reacted. When I snuck over to the Orthodox Jewish neighborhood it was only mildly more strange. My ex-girlfriend Melinda asked me if I was ever tempted to just go Conservative because when I was dating her I was first starting to think of converting and I had a real "Fuck the Orthodox and their sexist bullshit" chip on my shoulder which was a load of crap but it took me awhile to realize it. Most Jewish magazines and the likea re run by Conservative and Reform Jews and they have that chip on their shoulders and tehy like to present the most psycho shit that Orthodox Jews says to reinforce the stereotype. Sure there are some things in Orthodox Judaism that I don't like - especially not as a 21st century liberal that believes in Feminism, gay rights, non-elitism (ok that's a Minnesota thing), etc. but it's all negotiable. REcently a YU rabbi said that women can be witnesses to a marriage contract becasue even a monkey could do that job - now all the Conservative based Jewish publications are going to quote him without mentioning how prominent Orthodox Jews are really offended - especially Blu Greenberg.

But Orthodox Judaism does have one advantage in the bad reputation. If they can convince non-observant or less-observant Jews to go to and study with them, there's usually the difference between what they expect and what they see. Because Orthodox Jews are really nice (except for those assholes in Williamsberg, geez what was with those guys) and welcoming. Many do go baal tshuva due to the lack of assholes they find in Orthodox circles. Well actually my friend Blair went Baali Tshuva (or is going observant) because he's best friends with Peter Himmelman - who apparently went shomer shabbos, kosher, shomer mitzvot almost instantly without burning out. Or having to go back because he felt constrained. And eing a musician that can't give Friday night concerts is a challenge I imagine.

Well that's what i'm thinking about now. Still perplexed by another friend that claimed that she was trying to influence me into good behavior when I've spent many years becoming more and more disappointed in her. But that's a problem of growing up. It's funny but when I was younger I was attracted to all these seemingly tough girls but they always turned out to be much weaker than they appeared. Then I thought that Nanda was a wimp because she was always nice - well not to me after awhile, she could get real mean to me whenever I was getting on her nerves - but to others. I took that as a weakness. But I realized that she can afford to be nice to people because her self-image isn't wrapped up in being the most intimidating person in the room. She doesn't mind that she's not intimidating. She can be nice because she's strong. And healthy and well adjusted.

But then I noticed that trend in other areas too. I notice that Orthodox Jewish women (granted I'm not living in one of those neighborhoods where the women are supposed to be housewives and shopkeepers while husbands turn pages in yeshiva) are a lot more confident than Conservative and Reform women who might espouse some kind of sisterhood or feminist strength but act like walking talking storms of insecurity.