Started the new job yesterday and it looks pretty good. There are lots of detailed instructions on what to do and it’s more keeping on top of a bunch of minor details than anything really major, although there are a number of things I want to do with the department website and some internal network stuff. The walk is nice and, as intended, the hours will leave plenty of time for writing.

I’m taking down Jeff Ford’s book “The Fantasy Writer’s Assistant and Other Stories” one story at a time. I’m a fan. I really liked “Creation,” a story Jeff read while we were at Clarion. He taught weeks five and six with Kelly Link. I plan on reading his novels “The Physiognomy” and “The Portrait of Mrs. Charbuque” next. But I never make it very far on my reading list before it changes.

I’ve still got some sagas to go through. I bought “Jomsviking Saga,” “The Schemers and Viga-Glum’s Saga” and “The Saga of King Hrolf Kraki” right before Clarion, and I still need to read “Laxdaela Saga” and “Grettir’s Saga.” And of course, I need to finish “The Kalevala” which I started, loved, and inexplicably did not finish. After that, I still want to re-read the first book of the “Arabian Nights” and continue through books two, three, and four. Which should take me the rest of my life.

I also need to work on rewrites. I think there are about a dozen stories I need to send out in the next month and most of them need just a bit of reworking. The most perplexing one is “Twenty Pound Hammers” which is a retelling of the John Henry myth. Can’t decide whether I should do a massive overhaul now or send it out as-is and see if I get a bite. I need to set a timeline and stick to it, though.

Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson in Madison Friday night. Here’s Bob’s set list and a link to the article in the Capitol Times:

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Drifter’s Escape
The Times They Are A-Changin’
Seeing The Real You At Last
Heartland (with Willie Nelson)
It’s Alright Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)
If Dogs Run Free
High Water (For Charley Patton)
Mr. Tambourine Man
Love Sick
Honest With Me
Sugar Baby
Summer Days
ENCORE:
Like A Rolling Stone
All Along The Watchtower

They played a real rocked out version of the above. Drifter’s Escape, off John Wesley Harding, was virtually unrecognizable but great. If Dogs Run Free was a real surprise and likewise sounded nothing like it does on New Morning.

I enjoyed Willie’s set, too. Can’t remember everything he played but here’s a partial list:

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Living in the Promised Land
Whiskey River
Beer for My Horses
Angel Flying too Close to the Ground
Always on my Mind
Pancho and Lefty
Movin On Over
Texas Flood
Georgia on my Mind
On the Road Again
Mamas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys

When I saw Bob Dylan in Seattle I paid $50 and there was no opening act. Here, I paid $45 and saw three acts–Hot Club of Cow Town, Willie Nelson, and Bob Dylan. No comparison. The show was easily ten times better than when I saw him in Seattle and the encore songs were awesome. Better atmosphere in a minor league ball park than in the sterile confines of Key Arena, too.

I realized today that I have written twenty-five short stories in the past twelve months. Twenty-five. What’s more, I think all but a handful at least have a decent chance at publication. Looking back, I’ve only sent out ten of them and, of those, I now believe only four truly have a market. They’re my earliest work and written before I had a clear idea of what the markets looked like and what kinds of stories are wanted. I also have two more stories that are at least half done (entitled “The Kaibatsu Report” and “Ten Year Reunion”) and a bunch percolating in the brain waiting to get out which means I should easily have thirty short stories written by the end of the year.

Of course, the real key is getting them published which means I need to get to work revising which is such pain. Why can’t it all come out right the first time? :) Still, I think it’s feasible to get about a dozen out the door in the near future and see what happens. There are probably six that require a good deal of work on the sentence level to really make them sing–I think they deserve it. The others aren’t necessarily fluff, I’m just not reaching as deep.

In non-writing news, saw “Super Size Me” last night. Loved it. It’s Fast Food Nation on the big screen.

And, ho hum, the US Women won the gold medal in Athens. Look, I’m a soccer nut and I like a number of womens’ sports (I happen to prefer watching women’s volleyball and women’s tennis to men’s) but women’s soccer still has a way to go before it quickens the pulse. The problem? For one, all the keepers I’ve seen (except from the US) are total flappers. I watched part of US-Japan and laughed out loud when the US scored their second. The Japanese keeper shied away from a cross into the box in a way remniscient of a grade schooler afraid to catch a fly ball. And this is their national team keeper–no one in the country is better than her.

That and the fact that so few players can really whack the ball. I was mightily impressed by Tarpley’s rocket goal today from way outside, but way too few players can crank the ball with decent accuracy. The Brazil players could strike the ball hard, and they could place the ball, but they couldn’t strike the ball hard and place it in the corners. If they could, the game would have been 5-0 Brazil. The announcers (who always suck) went on and on about how Brazil’s shots really were coming in fast but they failed to mention how they consistently blazed over the bar or hit the side netting, even when they had plenty of time and space.

The women’s game needs another Michelle Akers. She’d crash through the midfield, bowl people over, smack in amazing goals. She played the game the way it was meant to be played. In all fairness, Wambach’s game winner today didn’t have that much heat. It should have been easily headed away. Even so, it’s hard to get excited when a simple cutback move works repeatedly for every player on the pitch, especially in a final. So yea! to the US and I’m happy to see them win the gold…even if I listened far more than I watched, and looked up only for the good parts.

Excepting anything that the Ars* may have accomplished tonight, there was plenty to be happy about.

Tottenham continued their unbeaten streak, drawing with WBA away from home. That gives Spurs five points out of nine, four points coming on the road. Jermaine Defoe seems to be the genuine article and Keane got some minutes tonight. Excellent. Not as good as a win of course, but I’ll take fifth in the league any day. Even when it’s only three games in.

DaMarcus Beasley helped PSV Eindhoven into the Champs League proper tonight. He got a defender sent off for a tackling him when he was through to goal, and then Beas scored himself two minutes later. He also registered an assist later in the match. He’s making Hiddink look like a genius for snapping him up.

And the Chicago Fire outlasted the Charleston Battery tonight in the US Open Cup semis, winning 1-0 off a goal from Dipsy Selowane in OT. This means the Fire will be gunning for their fourth Open Cup title in seven years and the chance to win back-to-back Open Cups, a feat no MLS team has accomplished. In fact, no team has done it for twenty years. Go Fire!

I also noticed that Benfica crashed out of the Champs League tonight and thought, “Poor Zack Thornton.” Then I looked up the match results and found out he’s not even playing! I wondered whether ol’ Zack should have gone abroad to a team like Benfica. Give the guy credit, he probably just wanted to play in Europe before his career ends, but in Portugal? I wonder why he’s not playing…

Real laugh off Figo Spurs link
Along with the rest of us. Other good ones from earlier this season.

Hargreaves to be sold to Spurs?
Yeah, why wouldn’t he want to come? With a strong push, Spurs might have a shot at the UEFA Cup, especially with the likes of Figo and Davids anchoring the midfield and Morientes up top.

Spurs favourites to land Davids
And they were so close. If only he hadn’t dropped that ‘D’ at the last minute.
(Santini makes Davis his first signing)

Morientes to reject Spurs loan
Okay, so this is from last season but funny none the less. In case you forgot, instead of helping steer Tottenham to another mid-table finish, Fernando instead loaned himself out to Monaco, scored goals like mad, and drove the team to a place in the Champions League Final. Oddly enough, Real decided to recall him to the squad. Don’t think he would have had quite the same level of exposure playing mid-week games against the likes of Wolves.

A weekend of joy and sadness.

Spurs robbed Newcastle by snatching a 1-0 victory at St. James. From the match reports it sounds like Tottenham were played off the park in the first half and should have been down three goals at the interval. It seems that Robinson played his mind out between the sticks–Kasey Keller’s agent might want to start shopping him round new clubs. I’m still learning the names of Santini’s players–most are too young to drive.

Chicago blew their chance for an away win at Los Angeles, allowing Carlos Ruiz to equalize in the last minute. Chicago is tied with the Rapids for fewest goals scored and has a goal differential of -7. That makes them bottom of the league table, too. They’ve only got eight games to pull it together–two of them against DC United and two against New England, the teams just above them in the standings, so making the play-offs is a distinct possibility–if they take maximum points from these games. They’re also playing in US Open Cup semifinal against the Charleston Battery this Wednesday. Go Fire!

Lord, did the United States look like dog dirt against Jamaica. I felt like I should have been paid to watch the first thirty minutes, they played so poorly. Here’s a player-by-player slag:

US Lineup Versus Jamaica
Keller-Can’t blame him for the goal. Came off a virtually unmarked player at a weird angle and crept in the top corner. Looked competent the rest of the time and didn’t have that much to do thanks the wild shots Jamaica seemed to like from fifty yards out. Kasey still scares the hell out of me with the ball at his feet thought.
Hejduk-My God, what is this guy still doing on the nat’l team? He got cut from a Swiss team for Christ’s sake. When will Arena figure out that Frankie’s penetrating runs up the wing don’t mean jack if he consistently balloons his crosses into the cheap seats? And every time he tackles and leaves his feet, it’s a complete crap shoot whether he gets the ball or gets totally burned. Still, he’s better than Goose, I guess. But Cherundolo? Sanneh? Even Convey would be preferable.
Pope-Good strong game although his distribution wasn’t great. Still, he did a good job handling those big Jamaican strikers.
Bocanegra-For my money, the Man of the Match. No wonder the Fire suck now that he’s gone. Ran down loose balls, got stuck in tackles, clearances, headers, the whole shootin’ match. Carlos was the man.
Vanney-Okay, if a little lacklustre especially towards the end. His crosses could have been of consistently higher quality.
Reyna-Reyna ran hot and cold this game. I’m not a big Reyna fan and I think he’s the most overrated player of this generation of American players but he had some nice touches. Still, I think he tends to give up and drag ass especially tracking back on defense. Still, he had some great passes tonight. I’d give him a B for the performance.
Armas-Easily one of his most forgettable outings in a US jersey. Hasn’t been quite the same since the injury and I fear that his best days might be behind him, even though I love him. I’d rather play without legs than play without Armas! Still, he was getting outmuscled tonight and that’s the strongest part of his game. Distribution wasn’t too sharp.
Stewart-Another guy who I can’t believe is still on the team, much less starting. Great leader? No doubt. Experienced? No doubt. But he no longer has the legs or the touch to be the factor he used to be. Was constantly muscled off the ball and played poor passes. Bruce, please retire him.
Beasley-Beas played pretty well and had some nice jitterbug moves in the game’s last quarter hour. Combined nicely with Vanney several times and sent in some decent balls. Kept the defenders chasing shadows and was fouled about three hundred times with only a couple calls. No wonder the Fire suck now that he’s gone.
McBride-Same as Armas. Got the crap kicked out of him, lost his man for Jamaica’s goal, and didn’t do much in front of the opposition’s net. An entirely forgettable outing for McBride, too. Just an off night, although he hasn’t looked as dominant in the US jersey lately as he did in the WC.
Donovan-Not an outstanding game for Landon, but not a bad one either. How calm is this guy to find Ching on the goal? Several great passes and a couple of breathtaking bursts forward that have become his hallmark. Still, a few poor passes at critical moments and still doesn’t always make the right choices in attack but hey, he’s awesome and I love to watch him link up with Beasley.
Ching (sub)-I could have strung him up by his nipples after he missed the absolute peach served to him just after coming on. He steamed through the middle like a locomotive but how in the world did he miss the point-blank header? He utterly redeemed himself with the goal, though. That was easily ten times harder to score, yet he pulled it off. A class striker and a terrific guy to have in your deck when McBride is off his game or needs to come off. More to come from him, I suspect.
Jones (sub)-Historically, I’ve not been that big of a Cobi fan ever since the “Melrose Place” incident but he came in a did some good work. I hope Frankie watched him cross the $#%!@ing ball into the box to the guys in the white shirts. He had three times as many good crosses as Frankie and he only got fifteen minutes. Good on Cobi. He could be a valuable role player during this campaign.
Lewis (sub) -He has big ears. Looks like a taxicab driving down the street with the doors open. Did he touch the ball?

Nothing would have been worse than a loss and the boys are damn lucky they didn’t come out empty handed. The referee was amazingly unbiased and the Jamaican field looked level and had grass on it, so I wasn’t sure this was really a World Cup Qualifier. And at first I thought it was the US vs. the New York Giants. Jamaica’s strategy isn’t a bad one for this qualifying campaign–pack the team with big brutes and bully the hell out of everyone. They came very close to succeeding tonight.

Where to go for the US? I’d like to see Bruce give Pat Noonan and Steve Ralston a shot in the midfield and do something for God’s sake, evolve or something, to get Hejduk off the field without sliding Agoos in. Call in Cherundolo or something, although he probably would have gotten run over tonight. Right fullback, anyone? Anyone? Next up, El Salavador. Another ninety minutes of breath-holding exercises, I’m sure.

Good God.

So let me get this straight. Tottenham was allegedly supposed to have the inside track on signing Edgar Davids post-Euro 2004 which, as we all know, was laughably inconceivable. Spurs have managed to repel both Danny Murphy and now Owen Hargreaves for a combination of reasons. Spurs are notoriously tight with the purse strings (except for when they’re shelling out way too much for overrated Ukranian strikers) but I think it’s more than that. It might have something to do with the fact that it’s a team of nobodies who can’t even hope to qualify for the UEFA Cup this year, much less the Champions League. The only possible remedy, of course, is to keep buying fourteen-year-olds from Division III sides promising to be the next Wayne Rooney and to continue to buy strikers and goalkeepers.

Speaking of goal keepers, I like how Kasey Keller was one of the most consistent players for Spurs last year, yet they go out of their way to sign Paul Robinson from Leeds’ sinking ship. Is it any wonder that Robinson is now the starter? I think I had that figured out last January when Spurs promised to buy him in the off-season.

The only glimmer of joy from Europe so far has been the early season performance of Bobby Convey at Reading and DaMarcus Beasley at PSV Eindhoven. DaMarcus nabbed his first goal last week! Didn’t hear about Bocanegra or how McBride did off the bench last weekend for Fulham. Oh, by the way, I think it’s a rule in the EU that all American midfielders and strikers must either a) come off the bench, or b) be substituted in the 65th minute.

On this side of the pond, I can’t believe the Galaxy fired Schmidt. I still can’t believe Chicago will miss the playoffs. I hope to God the US manages to win in Kingston tonight.

It’s official–I just accepted a position with the University of Wisconsin Medical School as administrator in the Department of Neurology for a fifteen month project position. The job itself sounds pretty easy as I’m responsible for coordinating med students during their six-week rotation through five departments in the medical school. Basically, it’s my job to make sure the doctor’s lecture materials are prepared and distributed to the students and that neither the doctors nor the students are overlooking any minor details.

The pay isn’t great but the rest of the perks make up for it. It’s about a ten minute walk from home, it’s just upstairs from where Amy works, I get University and State Employee privileges and, most importantly, no overtime! Just a straight forty hours per week. The job ends on November 30, 2005 when it will either be eliminated or turned into a regular position for which I would need to reapply. We’ll see where we’re at that point and reassess the situation.

All of these factors allow me to have plenty of energy for writing when I get home from work. I am absolutely bubbling over with writing projects right now. I actually think a structured routine will help me produce more writing in a more regular fashion than trying to write full time. For some reason, I’m finding more things distracting lately than I did before so I think there are diminishing returns in continuing to write all day anyway. So I’m actually excited to make a little money to ease our financial straits and spend my “free” time writing. This situation should allow me to enjoy myself a little more, too. I was starting to feel the pressure of needing to get something published. While I still want to get paid for what I write, the immediacy of the goal has been lifted and now I can relax a little and work on making each story the best it can be without feeling the need to ship it out post-haste.

I’m about to finish a book called “Killing the Shamen” about how two native medicine men were arrested in northern Manitoba at the turn of the century for executing a woman who was “turning windigo,” a state in which a starving person loses his mind and turns to canibalism. The windigo is a spirit creature known mostly by the Algonquin tribe, a shapeshifting being that enters a human’s body when its weak with hunger and leaves the person as a windigo, a condition there is no reversing.

I wanted to write a story with a northern North American flavor with some fantastic element. I was thinking the northwoods of Wisconsin or Minnesota to give it some local flavor and that’s how I stumbled on the windigo. While it’s definitely mentioned in the folktales and stories of tribes on this side of the Canadian border, the influence clearly comes from further north in the remote regions of Manitoba where scarcity of food takes on a whole different meaning. Members of the Sucker tribe regularly starved to death from harsh winters, especially after the fur trappers of the mid-to-late nineteenth century wiped out the beaver just like the hunters of the U.S. plains exterminated the buffalo.

While its been fun to read and research, I’m having difficulty getting my head around how to make it into a convincing story. I want to tell it from the perspective of a white guy from Winnipeg who accompanies the lead reporter to cover the story for the Manitoba Free Press, finds out about the reality of windigos, but ultimately lets the lead reporter paint the men in the press as mindless savages. We’ll see how it goes. This falls under the “ambitious” category of story, unlike the other two post-Clarions I’ve cranked out that are relatively easy.