A Calendar of Tales

Neil Gaiman is working with Blackberry on a project, which included 12 short stories ... A Calendar of Tales. I need to take a moment to read these, and didn't want to forget. So, if nothing else, this is a reminder to me to come back to these stories when I can focus on enjoying them, and not just read them to get through them.

Mood boosting books

Here's a list of mood boosting books. “It is hoped those with ‘mild to moderate’ mental health conditions will try out the idea before turning to prescription drugs — many of which can have unpleasant side effects,” The Daily Mail explains.

Sounds good to me. And I have Smoke and Mirrors by Neil Gaiman, which I can highly recommend.

Meeting Neil Gaiman, and the Unchained Tour

OK, this post is long overdue, but back on September 14 I attended the first event of Unchained Tour at the Columbia Museum of Art. The Unchained Tour is a traveling group of storytellers. Among the group this year was Neil Gaiman. I've been a big big fan for quite some time, so when I learned he was coming to Columbia, I was giddy, to say the least. Jeni got me tickets as part of my birthday present, but she couldn't go because of opening night of Legally Blonde at Workshop Theatre. We also agreed to host two of the participants that night. (It's how they keep the costs down, we had the room, and were happy to help out.)

The show was pretty amazing. I took our friend George with me, and got us there early, expecting a crowd. As it turns out, we were among the first few in, and got amazing front-and-center seats. Neil Gaiman was the final storyteller, and he relayed the story of meeting his wife Amanda Palmer, and getting his dog Cabal. I milled around afterward because I knew I needed to take my two people home with me, but the group wanted to decompress after their opening performance and their stressful day (which included a blown tire halfway to Columbia). We ended up at The Whig, which is a dive underneath Main Street in downtown Columbia. I went early to get a spot. It was crowded when I first got there, but a booth thankfully opened up and I was able to snag it. A little while later the speakers started to trickle in. And then, Neil Gaiman showed up too. I really didn't expect him to come, and really didn't expect to see him in this dank bar. I asked him for a picture while he was alone, and he was very kind to oblige. I had a quick "big big fan" conversation with him, but didn't want to impose and left him in peace.


Here's the picture with me and Neil. I got to meet my idol, it went well, and I was happy. There's always the concern of meeting an idol and ruining your image, but he was just how I'd expected.

The group started to trickle out, and I followed to gather my two people. It was interesting, because no one actually noticed Neil Gaiman in the bar until he started to leave and was working his way through the crowd. Before, he was sitting off to the side with his back to everyone. He stopped for pictures and hand shakes and polite thank yous. I offered him a ride to his hotel but being just a few blocks away he decided to walk. Two guys even came out of the bar ("We finally got the camera on our phone to work!") and he came back to get a picture with them.

Well, the next morning, I needed to drop off the two people staying with me. We grabbed some breakfast at the Original Pancake House (I had to give them a taste of Columbia), and then got to the bus for the drop off time. One of the storytellers had a work emergency, and I offered to drive him to Charlotte so he could fly back to New York. It was unfortunate that he only got one night on the tour, but it's better than none. It worked out for us, though, because we ended up being early (well, most everyone else was late). But Neil Gaiman was on time. That meant that Jeni and I and the two who were with us got to hang out with Neil Gaiman for a good 10 minutes before the others arrived.


Here's a great shot Jeni took of Neil standing by the Unchained Tour bus. It is covered with excerpts from stories from the storytellers. I got to talk to Neil some more, and relayed the story of getting the email with the download code for Amanda Palmer's "Theatre is Evil" album while sitting backstage at Workshop Theatre. He said, "Amanda would really enjoy that," which made me happy. It was pretty cool because Neil made a post to his journal while we were waiting for the others to arrive, and when I checked later it just felt very surreal to know I was standing right there.


Here's another shot of the bus. It has no air conditioning, and has a no-technology rule in the spirit of storytelling.


And here's a collage Jeni made and put on Instagram.

This was a great way to kick off my birthday week (my birthday was September 21). I didn't bring anything to get signed. I knew there wasn't a signing at the event, because Neil wanted this to be an Unchained event, and not a Neil Gaiman event, and I wanted to respect that. Plus, I got a picture and got to meet the man, and that's better than an autograph any day.

To watch later

This is Neil Gaiman delivering a commencement speech that I want to go back and watch when I have 20 uninterrupted minutes. There's something about his style of speech, and his ability to deliver a message, that resonates with me.

The Graveyard Book

I rushed out last night after my workshop and stopped by the closest Books-A-Million to get the new Neil Gaiman book (just released on the 30th) The Graveyard Book. But the Books-A-Million I first stopped at didn't have it. It seems that they put it out early, then realized it was out too early, then pulled it off the shelf and managed to somehow lose it. But they called the other Books-A-Million (the one just beyond our house) and they had it, so we went out there and picked it up (thanks Tiff for the gift card!). Thanks to a discount on the book and a coupon and a gift card (thanks again Tiff!) I was actually able to get my book, plus the new Laurie Notaro book for Jeni (The Idiot Girl and the Flaming Tantrum of Death -- really if you haven't read any of her stuff you must -- brings Jeni to tears laughing). A lot of running around meant we didn't get home until almost 10:00. I figured if we went to the second Books-A-Million first they would have been the one without the book and we would have run back the other way, so it all worked out.

Greg, this link's for you

"I Google You" by Neil Gaiman ...

Six degrees of Neil Gaiman

I really enjoyed the Six degrees of Kevin Bacon game. It was a good source of entertainment back in college when I would be working the front desk of the dorm in the middle of the night. I like it even more now that, after many years, I can now connect myself to Kevin Bacon in about two degrees.

My favorite author is Neil Gaiman. I was a Neil Gaiman fan before it was cool to be a Neil Gaiman fan (and, yes, if you didn't know, it is kinda cool to be a Neil Gaiman fan). So I just realized that I am three degrees of separation from Neil Gaiman, and this is how:

I know Chris, who knows Bela Fleck (of Bela Fleck and the Fleck Tones) and Bela Fleck recorded a song for Neil Gaiman's audio book version of the Graveyard Book.

The Graveyard Book is Neil Gaiman's latest book, which comes out just after my birthday in September (and would make a great late birthday gift, hint, hint) and there's a contest revolving around this new book release. I like free stuff as much as the next guy, so check it out (although I don't know if I'd really use the Stardust-inspired bath bomb).

Everything in the internet is connected

So this is my proof that everything in the internet is connected. This morning, in a brief moment between patients I took a minute to check a few blogs I enjoy but haven't been to lately. First, I went to the Dog Eat Doug blog (from the artist who does the Dog Eat Doug comic). He had a link to an artist he enjoyed, and whose style reminded me somewhat of my cousin Kerry. I viewed some of his pictures, liked it, and moved on. I then went to Neil Gaiman's Journal (on of my favorites). He wrote about a book he enjoyed, then mentioned his favorite book of the year so far, The Pinhoe Egg. Out of curiosity, I do a Blingo search for the book, and go to Amazon to look at it. The cover of the book is by the artist that was linked to from Dog Eat Doug. And the circle is complete...