The AH Coffee Shop and Reading Room 02: A Comma (is a Restful Pause)

sharingfantasies said:

L'Amour was not a very romantic writer, although some of his heroes did have love interests. Grey wrote romance in almost every story. Grey had a huge influence on my love of Arizona.

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I grew up with L'Amour's books shelved with the rest of the pulp fiction. Zane Grey had a higher standing. I mentioned this before, but my dad did his Master's degree on Zane Grey. I read part of it, but don't remember it all that well. I think his subject was a single story, but his discussion placed it in the whole context of Zane Grey's work.

None of that was really very significant to me. I think we gain most of our cultural background from our mothers, and my mom grew up with the west as described by Mari Sandoz (who probably knew my grandmother--they would have grown up together). It was not the romanticized, glorified west of either Grey or L'Amour.

I might write a western--but not a western in the style of L'Amour or Grey. Reality out here can still be very dramatic without much fiction involved.

NotWise said:

I grew up with L'Amour's books shelved with the rest of the pulp fiction. Zane Grey had a higher standing. I mentioned this before, but my dad did his Master's degree on Zane Grey. I read part of it, but don't remember it all that well. I think his subject was a single story, but his discussion placed it in the whole context of Zane Grey's work.

None of that was really very significant to me. I think we gain most of our cultural background from our mothers, and my mom grew up with the west as described by Mari Sandoz (who probably knew my grandmother--they would have grown up together). It was not the romanticized, glorified west of either Grey or L'Amour.

I might write a western--but not a western in the style of L'Amour or Grey. Reality out here can still be very dramatic without much fiction involved.

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I think you are right about the culture coming through the mother. When I was a baby, my father sat me on his lap while he watched westerns on television. My mother started me on Zane Grey's books. My aunt likes L'Amour. I don't read many of the modern writers but I like Dusty Richards and I like what Anne Hillerman has done with her dad's characters.

If you have an IHOP restaurant in your area, they are giving away free short stacks of pancakes all day on February 27th.

sharingfantasies said:

If you have an IHOP restaurant in your area, they are giving away free short stacks of pancakes all day on February 27th.

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Tuck in friends; it's [still] trying to snow (well, it is, round here).
But the coffee's OK and the heating's working.

NotWise said:

I grew up with L'Amour's books shelved with the rest of the pulp fiction. Zane Grey had a higher standing. I mentioned this before, but my dad did his Master's degree on Zane Grey. I read part of it, but don't remember it all that well. I think his subject was a single story, but his discussion placed it in the whole context of Zane Grey's work.

None of that was really very significant to me. I think we gain most of our cultural background from our mothers, and my mom grew up with the west as described by Mari Sandoz (who probably knew my grandmother--they would have grown up together). It was not the romanticized, glorified west of either Grey or L'Amour.

I might write a western--but not a western in the style of L'Amour or Grey. Reality out here can still be very dramatic without much fiction involved.

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I tried my hand at a western not to long ago. L'Amour and Grey would both probably turn over in their graves. Or maybe not. Getting inside men and women's heads from that time is harder than it might appear if you want to get it even close to right. Or at least, that's how it felt to me.

The story is kind of open-ended but I'm not sure if I want to continue it. I'm not sure if I should. There was no sex as such. Some flirting and outrageous goings on by that times standards. I have a second part started but I have no idea where to go with it. There are now, four different choices on the marriage front more or less. Although only two have been semi officially offered up and that was by their mother.

If anyone is interested. It's called "Rising Sun" and my story list is below.

The nearest IHOP is an hour away if you're lucky.

A fresh pot of coffee for the morning crew. I'm having a glass of milk and a banana. Why I don't know but it is what my body seems to want. I should be sleeping but....

TxRad said:

I tried my hand at a western not to long ago. L'Amour and Grey would both probably turn over in their graves. Or maybe not. Getting inside men and women's heads from that time is harder than it might appear if you want to get it even close to right. Or at least, that's how it felt to me.

The story is kind of open-ended but I'm not sure if I want to continue it. I'm not sure if I should. There was no sex as such. Some flirting and outrageous goings on by that times standards. I have a second part started but I have no idea where to go with it. There are now, four different choices on the marriage front more or less. Although only two have been semi officially offered up and that was by their mother.

If anyone is interested. It's called "Rising Sun" and my story list is below.

The nearest IHOP is an hour away if you're lucky.

A fresh pot of coffee for the morning crew. I'm having a glass of milk and a banana. Why I don't know but it is what my body seems to want. I should be sleeping but....

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I liked the story. I liked the way it ended. It made me wonder what happens to the characters and that is always a good thing.

sharingfantasies said:

I liked the story. I liked the way it ended. It made me wonder what happens to the characters and that is always a good thing.

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Thank you. It ended like real life ends usually. The readers are always going to want more even if you kill everyone off as an ending. I know that for a fact because I did it in one story. As a writer, it will always nag at you as you know there could be more but is it worth the time to write.

Not to mention, you want to keep it low key sexually to match the times and your pervert of a Muse wants to fuck everyone.

I prefer romance to explicit sex. I prefer plots and characters that make me wonder about them long after the story is over.

sharingfantasies said:

I prefer romance to explicit sex. I prefer plots and characters that make me wonder about them long after the story is over.

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Compared to the "normal" Lit reader, you are weird. l

sharingfantasies said:

I prefer romance to explicit sex. I prefer plots and characters that make me wonder about them long after the story is over.

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I agree.

We got snow (again); lately it seems to come in short, fairly heavy, bursts.
And the hot coffee is always welcome.

PS. Has anyone here read "The Cookoo's Egg"? (no, it's not a Lit story)

Handley_Page said:

I agree.

We got snow (again); lately it seems to come in short, fairly heavy, bursts.
And the hot coffee is always welcome.

PS. Has anyone here read "The Cookoo's Egg"? (no, it's not a Lit story)

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The computer spy one by Stoll? I read that two or three years ago. Sitting somewhere in my partner's bookcases.

ChloeTzang said:

The computer spy one by Stoll? I read that two or three years ago. Sitting somewhere in my partner's bookcases.

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The style in which it is written reminds me of Tracy Kidder's "The Soul of a new machine" [a damned good book, BTW].

We've had more snow (again in short bursts) and we are warned that tonight is going to be damned cold (minus double figures, C) in parts.

Naturally, a lot of places are in panic mode (food flying off the shelves, school's closed, etc...) which I find strange. It's as if we (or rather local administrations) don't know how to survive a real cold spell.

Pass the coffee please. . .

RubenR said:

All the best with everything.

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Handley_Page said:

Fingers Crossed; appeals to the Deity of Choice, etc..

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Thanks much. Good so far. We took a room in the North Bay for a few days after our first RV night below the snowline. Snow in Sacramento yesterday, elevation under 100 feet, ay yi yi. Forecasts suggest we can go home in a week after the upcoming blizzard which is now downgraded to only half a yard or meter of snow.

Now I lounge tiredly and stare out a window at vineyards rather than the usual mountain forest scenes at home. The next cardiac restart should recharge me. Watch out.

Eh, up,I didn't know the Bear played guitar ('uke?)

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Small bear; big'uke. Good thing I don't leave the Les Paul plugged into the 250 watt Yamaha amp. Trees would fall.

NotWise said:

Looks like he sings, too. That's probably one of Hypoxia's neighborhood bears that's been listening to him for a few years, rather than Bear.

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voluptuary_manque said:

That's cousin Oswald. He's the multi-talented one in the family. I'm strictly a one-note-at-a-time musician.

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Trick there is to let prior notes linger. Lotsa pedal on piano, great sustain on guitar, or just bow a psaltery. The notes add up. But beware bears singing filksongs. And smoking. That ruins their voices.

sharingfantasies said:

L'Amour was not a very romantic writer, although some of his heroes did have love interests. Grey wrote romance in almost every story. Grey had a huge influence on my love of Arizona.

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I'll admit to skipping most Western literature which, per Sturgeon's Law, is 95% crap, both bad writing and disinformation. The youthful Hypoxia didn't care much for cowboy comics from USA, although later European takes are amusing, but did soak up many Western films, often shot not far from home. I think I lent some verisimilitude to 'Neath Western Skies, Ma! settings and stereotypes.

Handley_Page said:

PS. Has anyone here read "The Cookoo's Egg"? (no, it's not a Lit story)

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I vaguely recall it. I should dig up my copy when we return home. Right now I'm on NIGHT THOUGHTS OF A CLASSICAL PHYSICIST, which works best if one has some slight interest and familiarity of social and scientific events post-1850. It's not quite history and not quite fiction. Strangely evocative.

The house coffee could be better. But it's paid for. Have a cup if you dare.

At this time of night (it's about 11pm, I think) I'll just have a cup of tea.
But the thought strikes me; what sort of coffee emerges from your office coffee machines ? And I do not mean simply 'bad'.

Back in the 1960s our much appreciated office tea lady was retired. She was replaced by drinks dispensing machines on each floor.

They were high-tech for the era but they dispensed a powder into the disposable cup followed by the hot water. We soon found the flaw in the design.

We could choose tea - with or without milk, with or without sugar - and the same for coffee and hot chocolate. BUT there was a choice of Oxtail, Tomato or Onion soup as well.

After the first few cups of the day a residue of powder built up on the chute that dispensed the powder. The hot water was supposed to flush it all into the cup. It didn't.

If someone had had soup? The next five cups of tea or coffee were flavoured by the soup. Within days a handwritten notice appeared on all the machines:

DO NOT CHOOSE ONION SOUP! PLEASE! I DON'T LIKE ONION-FLAVOURED COFFEE!

By the end of the week that notice had been amended to include Oxtail and Tomato soup.

We had to put up with tea flavoured coffee or coffee flavoured tea. Most of us couldn't tell the difference between tea and coffee from the machine anyway. Private kettles appeared in most offices and office efficiency dropped because so many of us were making our own tea or coffee.

By the end of the month we had a new tea lady...

One cuppa tea coming up, HP.

No snow here but there is rain here and there. The lake is doing it's usual job of being a shield for my place. Part of the storms go around one way and part go the other. All we've had so far is the rumble of distant thunder.

The old black and white western films with all the large rocks in them were filmed at a place called Big Bear, a small town about 6k feet up above San Bernadino. (I never could spell that name right). The high dessert is north west of there and covered the rest of the shooting. Roy Rogers had a ranch at Apple Valley. I never saw an apple tree around that area.

Fresh coffee for the evening crew.

oggbashan said:

Back in the 1960s our much appreciated office tea lady was retired. .... By the end of the month we had a new tea lady...

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Like this?

ChloeTzang said:

Like this?

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The guy on the right is either thinking. "she makes great tea" or he's wondering what she has on under that smock. He's hoping for a black half cup bra, a garter belt, and black stockings.

TxRad said:

The guy on the right is either thinking. "she makes great tea" or he's wondering what she has on under that smock. He's hoping for a black half cup bra, a garter belt, and black stockings.

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I think he's visualizing this.....

TxRad said:

The old black and white western films with all the large rocks in them were filmed at a place called Big Bear, a small town about 6k feet up above San Bernadino. (I never could spell that name right). The high dessert is north west of there and covered the rest of the shooting. Roy Rogers had a ranch at Apple Valley. I never saw an apple tree around that area.

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This area was a little remote for early, low-budget westerns, but as time went on and budgets went up quite a few westerns were filmed around here, including a lot of classics. Parts of "Lonesome Dove" were filmed here. Recently, "Longmire" wrapped on their last season, and that was filmed in the northern and northeast part of the state. The neo-western "No Country for Old Men" was filmed mostly here, and partly in Texas and Mexico.

The northeast part of the state is remarkably empty of humans. It's dry grasslands with breathtaking vistas. Those with agoraphobia should stay away. it has isolated mesas and mountains, and winds that never stops blowing. It is used for TV shows and movies, but I think it's underused.

I think my western would actually be a neo-western.

Replace the horses with Harley's and what would you have?

Maybe the way to go to be the modern day Zane Grey.

TxRad said:

One cuppa tea coming up, HP.

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I'm back in rhythm for a change but I'd best avoid tea- and coffee-like beverages at the moment. It's time for a cuppa instant miso soup. Let's see, seaweed? Green onions? Fried tofu? I'll grab a flavor packet at random and surprise or frighten myself.

No snow here but there is rain here and there. The lake is doing it's usual job of being a shield for my place. Part of the storms go around one way and part go the other. All we've had so far is the rumble of distant thunder.

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USA Today weather map shows us centered in an island of warm calm... today. Storms are due to pile in soon We still await calls from schedulers so we don't know where the fuck we'll be, when. Is that a game?

The old black and white western films with all the large rocks in them were filmed at a place called Big Bear, a small town about 6k feet up above San Bernadino. (I never could spell that name right). The high dessert is north west of there and covered the rest of the shooting. Roy Rogers had a ranch at Apple Valley. I never saw an apple tree around that area.

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It's San Boogaloo, to those of us of an age and place.

I bought a cheap Soviet mandolin in Big Bear City (BBC) 2 years ago, just upwind from a YUUGE forest fire. BBC and Alturas up north usually rank as the coldest places in winter California. BBC is in a high slot between snowy or smoky mountains, depending on season. Big desert rocks abound down the north slope of the San Boogaloos from BBC, out toward Landers, just around the bend from Pioneertown, a Hollywood artifact with funny stories.

Lots of B&W Westerns (and Star Trek TOS scenes)were shot in hills around L.A.'s San Fernando Valley; the Manson Family had infested an old movie ranch there. But the really BIG rocks are further north, along the Sierra Nevada's eastern escarpment: the Alabama Hills, below Mt Whitney.

The first Westerns were filmed in New Jersey. Thanks, Edison!

Okay, instant miso soup it is, reusing a coffee cup. Hmmm, a red packet. I wonder what that will turn out to be?

TxRad said:

Compared to the "normal" Lit reader, you are weird. l

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Yeah, I know. I don't write, don't read the Lit stories for the most part, don't drink coffee, tea or alcohol. But I like the people that hang out around here and do all those or some of those things. You are an interesting group of people with a variety of interests. I learn a lot reading the posts here.

Snowing again!!

Hundreds of western movies were filmed in this area starting in 1910 and continuing today.

sharingfantasies said:

Yeah, I know. I don't write, don't read the Lit stories for the most part, don't drink coffee, tea or alcohol. But I like the people that hang out around here and do all those or some of those things. You are an interesting group of people with a variety of interests. I learn a lot reading the posts here.

Snowing again!!

Hundreds of western movies were filmed in this area starting in 1910 and continuing today.

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Yeah, a pretty interesting place most of the time. Even in the worst of times, there were good people around. Maybe that's why I keep hanging around.

TxRad said:

Replace the horses with Harley's and what would you have?

Maybe the way to go to be the modern day Zane Grey.

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My brother-in-law ranches. He has no horses and gets around in his truck. Others use ATV's. I suppose a few still ride horses. My uncle did, but that was like fifty years ago.

In 1992 I (along with four other guys) rode an ATV 250 miles down the Canadian River from Ute Dam in New Mexico to the top of Lake Meredith in the Texas Panhandle. Until you get close to Amarillo, that is an extremely empty space.

We spent a couple days getting in and out of the river on the Shelton's Bravo Ranch (111,000 acres), about half way between the state line and Tascosa. We parked at a cowboys house and went down to the river from there. The cowboy still had horses, and a goat or two, and some sheep. It was mid-February, and wild turkeys roamed through the yard, and flocked by the thousands in a field near the house. There were bison and deer on the road to the house.

It was amazing.

The cowboy was young and didn't talk much. His wife watched us through the curtains. Sometimes country folk aren't real outgoing.