Barfodder News, Updates, and what I've been up to.

I know, I know. I'm behind on the blog.

Cemetery Dance is sending the galleys this week, and Daniele Serra has done a beautiful Frontis Piece for the book. Have a looksie:



I'm still plugging away at Elements with Linda Addison, Marge Simon, and Charlee Jacob - which is proving to be a very dark journey (in a good way) for all of us.

Lets see...Last month and this month I did some traveling. Spent my little sister's birthday in Texas with the family, and then it was off to Waterwookie's wedding reception in Maryland. Which was kind of like a highschool reunion, along with several characters that I used to be in rock bands with before I moved to California in 1995. We all sat around with acoustic guitars (it took an hour to get them all in tune), and sang old butt rock songs. Unfortunately the only songs we all knew both the lyrics and the guitar parts for turned out to be either Skid Row or Pink Floyd...which was amusing in itself. It was a lot of fun, and it was great to see the old gang.

We stayed at my Auntie's house in Manassas, Virginia--which was beautiful and relaxing. We brought her and my Grandmama some fresh St. George cheese from the Matos Family Farm, and left a bottle of Longboard Syrah with a few Gisperts for my Uncle to enjoy, who was in St. Louis on a Harley road trip. Unfortunately the Muppet's grandmother of 98 passed away on that trip, so we had to cut it short and return home. She lived a very full life, I'm told, and passed away on her birthday.

A few weeks ago I mentioned the reading for Rudos and Rubes Publishing, which was a lot of fun. I read from their edition of The Guilt of the Templars, hoisted a few beers, and generally had a good time. John Shirley turned up, who I have not seen in ages, and it turns out he'll be giving a reading this Thursday night at the Edinburgh Castle, so I'm planning on heading to that as well.

My former editorial assistant from Spiderwords, Baine, is in town from Boston this week - we Bigfooted last night and then hung out at home, catching up over taco salads and champagne before he tripped the light fantastic over in the Castro.

Tonight we celebrate Michelle's birthday in Oakland (who also used to be my assistant back when she was a poor college student and I could afford her); tomorrow we celebrate Muppet Man's birthday in San Francisco.

I have finally given consent to get rid of my Liberace Meets Cleopatra style coffee table, which has lost its glass top and a leg in the war. I have always said I would one day get it fixed, but truthfully, I will never make the time... I put it up on Craigslist for someone who might want to refurbish it, but so far, I've had a lot of flakes make appointments to come and look at the table, that none of them kept. If you live nearby or have secretly lusted after (ok, ok--those of you who have loved it have never done so secretly) it for some time, drop me a line.

The new Liberace Meets Cleopatra coffee table will be this one, in case anyone thought I was toning down my taste in décor. I might even have a Happy New Gaudy Coffee Table party, come to think of it...once it's finally delivered.

Oh, and thanks to a coworker and former Macromedian, I finally got my new copy of the Adobe Creative Suite (yay!), which means the old Raingraves.com website will be getting an overhaul, and the revival of Spiderwords can begin...as soon as I get a new (used) laptop. Thank-you, thank-you, thank-you!

Labels: barfodder, family, friends, writing

posted by Rain at 9:47 AM

On Birthdays, Pirates, and Bond Cars

First of all, Happy Birthday to my lil' sis, Lindsey Rae! May dad make you breakfast and keep you in cordials (unless of course he's traveling, in which case hit up Unc).

I’m reliving a childhood happy place today by eating some red delicious apples and peanut butter, which seems to be a good thing, as I'm slightly hung over from the cigar bar adventure last night.

I took two pages of a story I'm working on to the bar and gave the guys a look. The general consensus was that its good - mmmm...piratey goodness. I'm popping my pirate cherry, since I've never written about them before. Monsieur Bullet will like this one a lot, methinks. Yarrrrr!

After a few martinis and cigars, Muppet Man took me to Tiramisu for dinner. Since the owner is a friend of ours, we relied on his discretion in regards to food and wine. Please to be noting: Handsome, smiling Italian men who own several restaurants will just keep bringing you food until you beg them to stop. After 5 courses, we begged. It stopped. But man, it was good!

Since Libitina is in Austin, she's asked me to ensure Muppet Man has a happy weekend none-the-less, so I proposed a trip to Napa, since the last time we all went it was a blast. "I think the Aston Martin is in the paddock this weekend," he said. Those are magic words, Aston Martin. The name's Bond. Rain Bond. How come Jim Henson never created a Muppet Bond? Nevermind... I promise to take pictures.

Lots of script editing was done yesterday for the day job, and most of that is out of the way. It’s swelteringly hot at the office. For some reason, they don’t air condition us down in the creative sector.

Portable fan. Portable fan. Portable FAN. Just need a PORTABLE FAN!

Labels: family, food, friends, writing

posted by Rain at 11:22 AM

Happy B-Day to...and Mad About Musicals

First of all…a very happy birthday to my littlest sister, Ash. May your day be full of mysterious intrigue, mischief, and love. Wish I was there to celebrate with y’all.

Secondly, joetech sent me this very interesting link – read the feedback. It will have you howling.

Finally, Muppet Man took Libitina and I to dinner on Tuesday at COCO500. Most excellent. The Saint George red from Greece was so wonderful. I have to say, you get a lot of bang for your buck there, and the wine list is small but diverse and complex in a very good way.

Friday is the Marketing department's happy hour. Guess what the theme is? Mad About Musicals, darling! Oh, you can bet I'm getting my Gay on. Several of the boys are bringing Liza. I'm bringing Ethel Merman. After they heard I'd be bringing Ethel, the Cher, Dolly, and streaming audio from the Big Gay Radio Station (see LJ blog link) entered the mix immediately, along with talk of my silver glitter Betsey Johnson heels (There's no place like home, there's no place like home!) and whose Tiara would be the biggest. The fun starts at 3:30pm...which I'm guessing is Vodka:30 (same as Beer:30, but harder on the liver). I saw a meeting request come across yesterday for an "after party" where they're moving the whole thing over to Jillians. Not sure I'll make it