Today is the birthday of Annie Dillard! Happy birthday, Annie! It's also the birthday of Larry Niven, whose books I read as a teenager. Also that of Luise Rinser, Cyriel Verschaeve, Rosalie Amstein, Jannetje Fisherman-Roosendaal, Watze Cuperus, Trijntje "Nine" van de Schaaf, William Lilly and Edmund Cooper.
Every day is the birthday of a writer. And that's a good thing.
In other news, last night Mighty Reader and I watched an episode of Agatha Christie's "Poirot" (with David Suchet) on PBS. Why is that important? Because it finally convinced me that the Literary Lab should in fact do another writing contest. And this time it should be...a serially-written murder mystery! What fun it will be! Details to follow, but first: is there any actual interest in this? I envision something where I'll write the first chapter of the mystery, introducing the setting, the corpse, and the investigator. Subsequent chapters will be written by you fine folks in a competition and you'll get to introduce/investigate suspects and clues, and someone (that'd be another of you lot, in a competitive round of writing) will have to tie it all up in a final chapter, reveal the murderer, and explain all the clues that will have been scattered about during the telling. Sounds impossible! Sounds like a mess! Anyone interested?
In other, other news, I have a bit of a headcold, but it's still Friday and that's reason to celebrate. Happy weekend, all!
Yay for birthdays!
ReplyDeleteAnd for awesome contests!
But not for headcolds
Or the snow on my lawn this morning.
I thought you said you couldn't get PBS?
Michelle: It turns out that if we put the antenna on top of the mantlepiece and point it to the north by laying it on its side, we can get four channels, one of which is the local PBS affiliate! Which means that we could've watched the David Tennant/Patrick Stewart "Hamlet" on Wednesday night. But it comes out on DVD next week, so we'll likely just buy it. I have (and here's no surprise) a growing collection of "Hamlet" versions on DVD.
ReplyDeleteHere's a quote from Ms. Dillard:
"You have enough experience by the time you're five years old. What you need is the library. What you have to learn is the best of what is being thought and said. If you had a choice between spending a summer in Nepal and spending a summer in the library, go to the library."
Nice! I only got to see half of that Hamlet, but what I saw was excellent. We'll be buy it as well when we have the money. We have a growing collection of Hamlet versions, too. And Macbeth. That's my husband's favorite. :)
ReplyDeleteI caught a little of that "Hamlet". It was weird seeing Dr. Who and Captain Jean Luc Picard doing Shakespeare.
ReplyDeleteAs for the mystery, I say, "Bring it on!!"
Scott, That contest is more than I can handle, but it will be fun to see what you come up with. I'm going to have to check out that Hamlet. It sounds great.
ReplyDeleteAs for Annie Dillard's comment about experience, I think you can never have enough. I'd choose to go to Nepal.
I think the contest sounds like a lot of fun! I think I'd be willing to stick my neck out for that. I would love to see the finished work. I'll have to break out some old Agatha Christie novels to get a feel for it.
ReplyDeleteHope your head cold is better soon!
I don't mean to be a attention magnet, but today is also my birthday.
ReplyDeleteMy thirtieth to be exact.
How in the hell did that happen, to me of all people!
Brandon: It happens to most of us, and it comes as a surprise. In two years, I'll be 50. I cannot believe that. It has no reality, no meaning to me. Just yesterday, it seems, I was in a punk band and planning my next tattoo. Now I'm getting bifocals and buying wrinkle cream. But that's a win, because I have survived long enough to bitch about it! So happy birthday to you! I wish you decades more to be baffled by!
ReplyDeleteShelli: I am beginning to have ideas about the detective, the setting, and the cast. If enough people want to play, it could be fun!
Lois: I am of two minds re Dillard's comment. On the one hand, Nepal would be cool, but on the other hand, if I want to be a writer, I should spend a lot of time reading. So, huh. Don't know.
Chuck: For me, the only Dr. Who that mattered was Tom Baker. David Tennant will always be the DCI from "Cracker" in my mind. Stay tuned for the mystery!
Michelle: Got a recommendation for a version of "Macbeth?"
Oooh! I wanna play!
ReplyDelete