Deeds & Words

I’m writing an action adventure novel set in the future. It’s not too far in the future, only about 70 years, but there have been some geopolitical and socioeconomic changes in that time.

My main character is meeting with someone who drinks coffee. Coffee is more rare in his world than it is in ours. I want him to react to the smell of the beans as they are ground and later brewed.

Except. . . what does coffee smell like?

In America right now, at least in California, everyone knows what coffee smells like, even people who don’t drink it. You could compare other scents to the smell of fresh coffee. We might not know what gen machai tea or ouzo smell like, but coffee is ubiquitous.

Not so for my guy’s culture.

I started asking people, beginning with the Sig-O. “How would you describe the smell of coffee to someone who’s never smelled it?”

I got a typical Sig-O response. “I wouldn’t. I’m not the one with the imagination, you are.”

I expanded my survey to people who work around the beverage all day, starting with two baristas at the Peet’s Coffee across from my office. They struggled and got into a debate over “spicy” versus “peppery.” Both words are good.

My next coffee expert was Steve, the owner of Cheeko’s Corner, next to Fiesta Market. The question stumped Steve more than anyone else. “It’s. . .acidic. Oh, wait, that’s a taste. It’s. . . earthy?” I said chocolaty. He was dubious. He also came up with peppery, and then, “Bitter. No, wait, that’s a taste again.” He said a coffee taster friend of his told him that coffee has more “taste notes” than red wine.

This was all interesting but it wasn’t helping. I started inhaling the scent of the fresh-ground coffee beans in the morning, trying to imagine what that would smell like if I didn’t know it was coffee.

I came up with:

–Chocolaty
–Spicy (but peppery is good too)
–Smoky.

One or more of those words will make it into my character’s musings, while his business associate is brewing up the java.

The business associate also has a macaw. How to describe one? I googled “macaw pictures,” and looked at a bunch. Then I described what I’d seen. Something things are just easy.

When you’re thrashing around in the dark water of an early draft with both hands clenched around the neck of a serpentine swirl of recalcitrant prose—in other words, deep in rewrite—suddenly doing things like blogging, or checking Facebook, seem terribly important.

There’s a technical writing term for this. It’s called procrastination.

Some people pretty it up by putting “creative” in front of it. Many words just sound better with “creative” in front of them. Here are some; creative tension, creative license, creative differences. Like them, procrastination sounds somehow more planned and more acceptable when it’s “creative procrastination.”

I sometimes indulge in true creative procrastination. This is when I know that I’ve got to work something out, and I can’t do it all consciously. So I wash dishes or pull weeds or go for a walk. Okay, I usually go for a walk. And that walk is likely to involve the purchase of a coffee drink. And while I’m doing those activities, I’m working hard mentally, developing and discarding solutions, trying to fit pieces together, trying to spin the story to change its trajectory, developing a motivation for someone. Usually in two or three days I wake up with an answer.

That’s not the kind of procrastination I’m indulging in now.

I’ve hit a large section of what is known as “back-story.” It’s important that the reader learn certain things about my main character and that they do it by seeing him in action, not by hearing it from someone. This is, however, a large section, and it slows down the momentum of the book. I figure I need to cut about seventy-five percent of it.

I don’t want to.

It isn’t that it’s deathless prose. It’s just that figuring out which is the twenty-five percent that gets to stay is really, really difficult. I don’t want to face it.

In my spare time, I have to choreograph a fight scene in a small deserted train station.

Hmm . . . I don’t believe I’ve updated my Facebook Status recently. It would be irresponsible of me not to. Guess I’ll just pop over there for a while.

The highest praise for a stage villain is when the audience still hisses during his or her final bow. Bronwen Shears, who plays the devil-in-a-ballgown, Milady, in the Sonoma County Rep’s production of The Three Musketeers, accepted this accolade with a perfectly Milady-like smile at her curtain call after last Friday’s show.

Milady, on the page, on the screen, and on the stage, is a wonderful villain, or more accurately, villainess. (There is nothing gender neutral about her). I doubt the book would even have worked without her silken, deadly presence. Shears rose to the occasion, playing her alternately as cold, mercenary, sexy, seductive and faux-virtuous when the situation required. I almost think Shears took her inspiration from an earlier silken, deadly character, the Marquis de Merteuil from Les Liaisons Dangereuse. She is a perfect foil for the more innocent characters of Constance and this production’s new character, Sabine, who, dressed as a male servant, accompanies her big brother D’Artagnan to Paris.

Ken Ludwig, who wrote this adaptation of Dumas’s novels, substituted a tomboy younger sister for D’Artagnan’s servant Planchet. I was skeptical about this, but it worked. Sabine is a multifaceted character, irreverent but loyal to her brother; impulsive and brave; virtuous and girlish. She even succumbs to a crush on Aramis (Derek Fischer). Emily Brown inhabited the part completely, even though, as the Sig-O pointed out, “Oh, yeah, I’d believe she was a boy.”

Benjamin Stowe’s D’Artagnan, even saddled with a little sister, was convincingly hot-headed and warm-hearted, and he had some good fencing moves.

Richelieu, as played by Eric Burke was a good match for Milady, and the most hilarious performance of the night was John Shillington as King Louis. The bee-keeping scene alone. . .

The pacing of the play was odd in spots. The ball scene, for instance, seemed too long, while the last 20 minutes rushed an assassination attempt that happens off-stage, the confrontation between the dour Athos (Keith Baker) and Milady (which isn’t even needed in this version), and a discussion of the famous carte blanche, the original get-out-of-jail-free card. All of this zooms past us so that we converge at the convent in time for Milady’s ultimate act of villainy. Some of this is what comes of squeezing two novels into two hours, but it still could have been smoother. It is hard to tell whether this was a problem with the direction or with the writing. Since Ken Sonkin’s direction was so good otherwise, especially the action scenes, I’m leaning toward the writing as the culprit.

Ludwig’s language shifts between courtly and contemporary. That works perfectly. This was the gala night, with an audience well lubricated by wine. We cheered the musketeers, booed the Cardinal, hissed like a clowder of angry cats at Milady, and even shouted, “No! Don’t do it!” to a character who seemed poised to make a fatal mistake. (Alas, that character did not heed our helpful warning).

Costumes were gorgeous, from the sweeping capes and cuffed boots of the musketeers to Milady’s traveling dress of duponi silk that shifted colors from blue to pink and her stunning ballgown, glittering in silver and lavender like a diamond.

And sword fighting! Lots!

Catch this show if you can. It isn’t highbrow and it isn’t perfect, but it’s galloping good fun. The kids will like it too. Say it with me, now; “All for one, and one for all!”

This is Amy.  I met her in the Jughandle State Reserve on the way home from vacation, where I was going for a walk and she was writing a song.  Her voice reminded me of the Waifs.  That’s a compliment.  She graciously let me take her picture.  I hope she has great success with her music!

Suspense! Plot twists! Glamorous women in lovely costumes! Duels! Mysterious characters entering from the audience to make audacious pronouncements! And that was just the live auction.

One key to fund-raising success seems to be free-flowing alcohol. The Rep’s Theater Appreciation Night Gala had as much Balleto Vineyards wine as you could want and a keg of Lagunitas IPA. (The Sig-O was pleased to see that). The Ives Park event was well under way when we got there at five forty-five. The auction started about seven, and the Three Musketeers raised curtain about seven-thirty.

The Rep got a $25,000 NEA grant to provide live theater in middle schools and high schools. The grant is a matching grant and the Rep needed to raise the first $25,000 to collect the NEA funds. With all the cuts to schools, the things that bring mathematics and reading to life, things that inspire kids to learn, are gone, and programs like this are the remaining slender lifeline to real education, so this event was important as well as fun. Tickets were higher than usual, and I added a donation when I purchased mine, just to support the Theater in the Schools program.

Jennifer King, the assistant artistic director, and one of the staff, a vivacious blond woman in a slinky green dress, started off the auction. The one thing in the catalogue that had tempted me was the first lot, a set of ten fencing lessons from En Garde Fencing School. I was going to bid but the Sig-O reminded me that sharp objects and I don’t always play well together. I didn’t bid, but the lessons were very popular and started the auction off with just the right degree of frenzy.

Several flights of wine were auctioned off. After the initial couple of lots, the excitement began to plateau, so Scott Phillips, artistic director, began driving up the bidding. One wine flight ignited a bidding war between two people almost directly across the aisle from one another.

They auctioned off wine tastings and food and wine pairings for ten people each, and then they got to the big ticket items; a week at a vacation home in Ashland, Oregon, a Sun Trek hiking/camping tour of the Grand Canyon, and a week in Paris. By now the crowd was screaming. Once the formal lots were done, a woman stood up and said that if the audience in total donated one thousand dollars, she would match it. Hands shot up through the audience. Mine was one of them. A man at the back said that if the three other people donated one thousand, he would also. Scott pounced on that and broke it down to this; if six other people donated five hundred each, the man would match the thousand. Hands stayed up. They got the thousand for the woman’s match, and the three thousand for the man’s match. Scott announced that they had reached their goal. If everyone honors their pledge, they have the $25,000.

If I had a complaint about this part of the event it would be that the food was not plentiful. Looking back in the light of morning, I think that may be strategic. The Sig-O and I each had one savory gallette, a pastry filled with softened onion, mushroom, herbs, spices and a tiny bit of Brie cheese. I’m used to gallettes being fruit-filled but this was a pleasant change and added a contrast to my Balleto rose.

After all the money-spending and fun, the play began. This is a new play, based on Dumas’s novels, and I’ll say more about it in my next post. Here’s a teaser, though; audience participation was high!

But let’s face it, now is the hard part — because the history is clear — every time we come close to passing health insurance reform, the special interests fight back with everything they’ve got. They use their influence. They use their political allies to scare and mislead the American people. They start running ads. This is what they always do.

We can’t let them do it again. Not this time. Not now. (Applause.) Because for all the scare tactics out there, what is truly scary — what is truly risky — is if we do nothing. If we let this moment pass — if we keep the system the way it is right now — we will continue to see 14,000 Americans lose their health insurance every day. Your premiums will continue to skyrocket. They have gone up three times faster than your wages and they will keep on going up.

Our deficit will continue to grow because Medicare and Medicaid are on an unsustainable path. Medicare is slated to go into the red in about eight to 10 years. I don’t know if people are aware of that. If I was a senior citizen, the thing I’d be worried about right now is Medicare starts running out of money because we haven’t done anything to make sure that we’re getting a good bang for our buck when it comes to health care. And insurance companies will continue to profit by discriminating against people for the simple crime of being sick. Now, that’s not a future I want for my children. It’s not a future that I want for the United States of America.

President Barack Obama
August 11, 2009

Some fun facts about health insurance companies, courtesy of The Rachel Maddow Show.

In 2000, the profit for health insurers was $2.4 billion annually.

In 2007, it was $12.7 billion annually.

Between 2000 and 2007, the number of uninsured Americans rose from 38.4 million to 45.7 million, so those increased profits did not come from more premiums. Hmm. Perhaps they came from more expensive premiums.

The annual compensation package for a CEO of a health insurance company is, on average, $11.9 million.

In 1993, companies spent 95% of their premiums on claims. In 2007, they paid 83% of their premiums on claims.

I wonder why they don’t support health insurance reform.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Tom Felton
2009, Directed by David Yates

“It was Snape. It was always Snape.”
Harry Potter

CAUTION: May Contain Spoilers

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is about a boy trapped between a code of honor and his own conscience. He is part of a group of wizards who have been under attack by a powerful enemy for several years. Some of them have been imprisoned, and some have had to hide to protect themselves. Only recently has the boy been accepted as a full equal. Now, the leader of the group gives this boy an impossible assignment. To fail could cost him his life and the life of someone he loves. To succeed, he must join forces with a man he knows is aligned with his enemies.

Unfortunately, the boy isn’t Harry Potter. He’s Draco Malfoy.

There’s something a little odd when one of the villains of the Hogwarts cycle engages more sympathy than the titular hero. A lot of the blame, or more accurately, the credit for this problem goes to Tom Felton, the actor who plays Draco. In Half-Blood Prince, Malfoy ceases to be the traditional spoiled bully of boarding-school novels and becomes a man, facing the ultimate consequences of his toxic belief system. Felton expresses Malfoy’s conflict, fear and rage with economy and virtuosity. It doesn’t hurt that he is now over six feet tall. Draco commands attention whenever he is on the screen.

Daniel Radcliffe, in contrast, doesn’t get the showcase in this cinematic outing. Harry is a subdued, obedient soldier to Dumbledore, never questioning, never rebelling; in short, never acting like Harry Potter. He moves passively through this movie, facing no conflict until the very end, and even then, without much emotional reaction.

Some of the problem here is structural. The movie does not have an A storyline, or a plot. The subplot of Draco and his nefarious assignment is the most compelling conflict in the movie, until the end.

In fairness to the film, it’s hard to pull a 150 page through-story out of a 600 page novel. Rowling used this slow book to serve up several large, steaming helpings of backstory. The “plot” of the book largely concerns the dark wizard known as Valdemort, but we get backstory information on Snape and even Dumbledore. In the book, Harry confronts the reality of his father as a teenager and learns, against his will, the reason for the animosity Snape holds for him.

The movie skips over all of that, giving us one scene of the child Tom Riddle. Harry’s charge is to draw an accurate memory from the mind of the new Potions Master, Professor Slughorn. Slughorn collects celebrities and is susceptible to flattery, and long ago had a telling encounter with Riddle, the boy who became Lord Valdemort. To avoid facing the truth of his own carelessness and moral cowardice, Slughorn has altered the memory. Harry, however, spends almost no time pestering him for it. The scene where he finally evokes his mother’s memory, and Slughorn surrenders, is emotional and well-played. It’s one scene in a two-and-half hour movie.

The film is beautiful, the acting just fine and Felton is awesome. The special effects used for the Death Eaters on their rampages is visually compelling, but the lack of true conflict for our heroes meant that I never fully engaged with the movie, even with Dumbledore’s death.

No studio would ever do this, never risk their market share and the ire of their built-in billions of fans, but wouldn’t it have been cool if they had taken a chance on Half-Blood Prince, and made Draco’s story the main one? Felton could have totally pulled it off. Grint, Watson and Radcliffe would have been able to display their acting chops by playing the characters the way Draco sees them, not the way they see themselves. Audiences would have been on the edge of their seats, chewing their nails. “What is he doing? Is he going to succeed? Don’t let him succeed! But I feel bad for him! I want him to have success. Wait, no, I don’t!”

Never happen. Never, never happen. But it would have been so cool.

Fort Bragg gets overlooked in comparison to its cousin Mendocino, a picturesque village about ten miles to the south. Mendocino benefits from a dramatic approach. Heading north , the visitor swings around a curve in Highway 1 and sees, across an expanse of glinting, rushing ocean, a sweeping headlands dotted with white and yellow Victorian buildings, tall-spired churches, punctuated with dark green firs and cypress. Mendocino is small, peppered with beautifully restored mansions. It is hard to resist the slightly sinister statue of Time and the Maiden atop one of the local banks.

Fort Bragg is more pedestrian. The mouth of the Noyo Harbor does not have the same drama, and a traveler who stays on the highway may be fooled by the line of shopping centers, casual dining restaurants and gas stations. The Guest House Museum, on North Main, and the Grey Whale Inn, are two exceptions, but generally, Fort Bragg’s charms are off the beaten path.

Here are five fun places to go in town:

1. Old Town
From Highway 1 (Main Street/North Main) turn on East Redwood and drive about three blocks. Park wherever (no meters!) The area around North Franklin and Redwood offers antique stores, buildings from the early 1900s, and Racine’s. Racine’s used to be a general store back when they had general stores. Now it’s an art supply and stationery store. The week I was there they had hand-drawn life sized characters from Alice Through the Looking Glass in the window, drawn by staff. The art on the walls inside, whether drawing, painting or fabric, is done by the people who work there. Racine’s has paints, pens, pencils, pastels; canvases, calendars, cards; sketch pads, writing pads and stationery. It also displays an indulgent inventory of handmade and decorative papers. Staff are knowledgeable, helpful, friendly and interesting.

Directly across the street, Cheshire Books shows off new release hardback and paperback books and a small selection of used books. Judging from the row of books on the shelves behind the register, they do a brisk business with special orders too. Cheshire sponsors and hosts musical, poetry and reading events and is justifiably proud of its Harry-Potter themed “Hogwarts Breakfasts.”

If you keep walking north you will pass a kitchen store and a couple of nice boutiques. Turn left at Laurel and walk down to Headlands Coffeehouse for a coffee drink and a few minutes of nostalgia while you pretend that you remember the sixties. There will probably be a couple of kids outside with guitars, strumming and singing (and they may hit you up for change). I had breakfast at Headlands twice while I was in town. Both meals were satisfying and quickly served. The place fills up with students, young moms, tourists, and guys in their late fifties with grizzed beards and faded denims who look like they are clinging to that Woodstock lifestyle and maybe even have an agricultural project at the back of their property. Headlands features local artwork (a display of fabric art when I was there) and local live music in the evenings.

Back on East Redwood Drive, you can check out Larry Spring’s strange and intriguing office. Mr. Spring seems to be involved in physics and electricity and is a fan of Nikola Tesla. The space has never been open when I’ve been there, but the windows alone are fascinating. Next to Mr. Spring’s storefront is a fine used bookstore.

2. Guest House Museum
Located on North Main Street, this refurbished Victorian, originally built of all locally cut and milled redwood, overlooks the Skunk Train Depot. The museum has lots of information and artifacts related to the lumber industry, the railroad, shipping, and the 1906 earthquake. Exquisite stained glass looks down over the stairwell. Unlike most museums, Guest House has a liberal policy toward picture-taking inside the museum. Fort Bragg websites say there is an admission fee ($2) but I wasn’t asked to pay one. I left a donation though. There were no guided tours but a helpful docent answered questions and pointed out the fascinating “panorama” photos in the drawing room. Because they were done with a rotating lens camera, they create an interesting optical illusion, a curve in the road and the waterfront that isn’t really there.

3. North Coast Brewery
The brewery wasn’t offering tours the day I was there, but the astringent, yeasty smell of mash enveloped me as I walked past. If there is a beer lover in your life, the brewery is worth a stop. I went across the street to the North Coast Taproom and Grill for lunch, and bought a four-pack of Old Rasputin Stout for my significant other.

4. Noyo Harbor
Due north of the Noyo Harbor bridge is North Harbor Drive. Turn onto it (it only runs east) and follow it all the way down the hill to the harbor. Noyo Harbor is a working waterfront, not particularly touristy, but the curving inlet with its deep emeralds and blackish greens work their own magic. You can drive or walk out under the bridge to the jetty, watch the cormorants sun themselves on a rock and listen to the jeering of the ravens.

Where to eat? Chapter and Moon, an odd name for a distinctive place. From the outside the restaurant is very plain. Inside it is simple and clean, with wooden tables and windows providing a wide view of the harbor and the trees. The name is not, as I surmised, the last names of the two owners, but the title of a painting one of the owners did. Her work hangs on the walls, bright colors and ovoid shapes and swirls, with designs inspired by chaos theory and fractals. I had a Waldorf salad with Gorgonzola cheese and ripe pear instead of the apple. It came in a shallow wooden bowl as wide as my head that looked as if it had been hand-turned, with a small loaf of warm fresh-baked bread. The balsamic dressing and the mixed greens were a perfect contrast to the creamy pear and the cheese. The menu is quite varied and not cheap. Let this be your big meal of the day.

5. South of Town
In the ten miles before you reach Mendocino, there are several things to do. As you head south, you will come to the Glass Fire Gallery first, on your right. This art-glass gallery has a range of beautiful objects with a range of prices. You can pick up a special gift for someone who loves glass for under forty dollars, but you’ll pay a lot more for one of the glorious, ephemeral lamps or vases. If you’re lucky, you’ll get there when Buster Dyer is working with the glass in his studio, and you can watch. Buster has been working with glass since the 1980s and he does a great job of talking through what he is doing. He explains why the glass looks orange when it comes out of the oven,why he is putting a bubble in the center of it, and how he adds the colors.

Next door to Glass Fire is the Mendocino Coast Botanical Garden, the Garden by the Sea. General admission is $10. You can meander through a succulent garden, a woodlands garden, and a patch of heritage roses, pause in the greenhouse to admire fuchsias and begonias, then walk along the fern canyon pathway to the tongue of land that stretches out into the ocean. This year I thought the begonia/fuchsia display had less color and less volume than previously, but all that was balanced by the floral fireworks of the dahlia garden. The garden has a gift shop, of course, and a nursery. They offer some classes, and it’s a great place to take kids.

Down the road about another three miles is Jughandle State Reserve. This is a great place to stop and walk out to the water, watch the waves beat again the dark brown rocks, observe egrets and herons, with the seals barking in the background.

After all this, the photogenic Victorian hamlet of Mendocino just seems a little bit, well, anti-climactic.

Guest House Museum
343 N Main Street
Fort Bragg, CA. 95437

Racine’s
344 North Franklin
Fort Bragg, CA 95437
866.374.6972 • 707.964.2416

Cheshire Books
345 North Franklin
Fort Bragg, CA 95437
707-964-5918

Headlands Coffeehouse
120 Laurel Street
Fort Bragg, CA 95437
Headlandscoffeehouse.com

Larry Spring
225 E Redwood
Fort Bragg, CA 95437
Larryspring.com

North Coast Brewing Co.
455 North Main Street
Fort Bragg CA 95437
707 964-2739

Chapter and Moon
32150 North Harbor Drive
(707)962-1643

Glass Fire Gallery
18320 North Highway 1
Fort Bragg, CA 95437
(707) 962-9420
gfire@mcn.org

Mendocino Coast Botanical Garden
18220 North Highway 1
Fort Bragg, CA 95437
(707) 984 4352
Gardenbythesea.org

The last day of the Mendocino Coast Writers Conference, Denise Wakeman gave a presentation on the use of social networking tools for marketing. This presentation was held Sunday morning, and many participants had already gotten on the road, but at least 50 people stayed to hear Denise.

Denise was worth the wait, the chocolate dessert at the end of a tasty banquet.

Her basic message is that writers should use the following tools to market themselves and their product, which some us might call our book:

–A blog
–Social Networking Sites (Facebook, MySpace, etc)
–Twitter. (I know, it sounded weird to me too but she sells it.)

Denise started her career with blogs and she sees the power they have, but she has a good handle on how to use the social networking technology to locate your ideal audience. I learned more from her in five minutes about the power of groups on Facebook than I had ever heard anywhere before. She understood and spoke to the resistance many (most? all?) writers feel about self-promotion. Most of us chose writing because it is personal, one-on-one, and because we’re shy. On the other hand, if we have blogs already, we’re probably over that hurdle. The shameless self-promotion we see in others can make us feel queasy, but Denise wasn’t talking about that either. She recommends being genuine and helpful, creating an authentic voice, not just endlessly flogging your product.

As far as using Twitter, it doesn’t have to rule your life but it’s a way to keep your name out there. “If you’re a poet,” she said, “How about one haiku poem a day, for one month?” Hey, that’s a cool idea even if you aren’t a poet!

A friend of mine was talking a couple of weeks ago about how to generate interest in her blog which deals with literary criticism. I came away from Denise’s presentation with at least three new ideas for her. It was that practical and concrete.

When I got home I checked a couple of Denise’s blogs, just to see if she practices what she preaches. She does!