filk intro

Movable Type 2.0 is released, yay!
(You can now e-mail Blatherings,
see left-hand sidebar)

Met with my friend Michelle yesterday afternoon. We're collaborating on a short story that will appear in a DAW fantasy anthology. I'm a tad nervous (I've never collaborated on fiction before) but excited about the project, which is due April 1st.

I have to say that so far, the collaboration process is a lot more fun than I expected. It's exciting to develop story ideas with another person; you feed off each other's enthusiasm and creative energy.

Michelle might be attending FilKONtario in a few weeks (she's friends with both Tanya Huff and Joey Shoji). I forgot to ask if this means her husband Tom is coming, too...Tom was the person who first introduced me to filk, many years ago. It was an Ad Astra, and Tom told me about a bunch of people that got together in the evenings to sing and play music together. Sounded kind of cool, so I agreed to check it out with him.

I confess my first impression of filk was not the greatest. There was one (1) person in the filk room. He and Tom shared his copy of "Minus Ten And Counting" and hesitantly made their way through a song or two, trailing off in parts where they were unsure of the melody (Tom has a nice voice but is way too shy about it!). "So this is filk," I thought. No sign of guitars or other instruments.

At Ad Astra next year, I peeked into the filk room again, just out of curiosity. This time there was a rollicking session going on, with lots of people and fun music. Intrigued, I shyly made my way into room and sat at the back, had a great time.

The next time I attended a filk circle, I brought my flute. I sat at the back and didn't open my flute case the entire evening; I was way too shy. I repeated this process a few more times, then finally worked up the nerve to actually take out my flute (*gasp) and noodle on it as quietly as I could. I remember that I was so nervous that first time that my hands were shaking. Someone complimented me on how nice it sounded, so I was encouraged enough to keep playing.

I'd probably still be shyly noodling in the background if it wasn't for Clif Flynt. Tom and I roomed with Clif at a convention called Conclave some years back. We had never met Clif before. When Clif found out I played the flute, he and Mary Ellen started dragging me onto the stage sometimes when they performed. I was terrified! I wanted to stay out of the limelight, in the shadows where no one could see me or hear me!

But then I realized that hey, this is kind of fun. One of the first concerts I ever played in was with Clif, Mary Ellen, Julia Ecklar, and Joey Shoji. I think Allison still has the video of that concert somewhere; we watched a bit of it a few years ago, and I was shocked to be reminded of how long my hair used to be back then (down past my waist).

Anyway, I blame Tom for getting me into the whole filk scene, which is why I'm hoping he comes to FilKONtario, too.

Having lunch with Amanda today. Jodi and Allison are coming over for dinner (I'm making Shrimp and Chicken Creole from Anne Linday's Lighthearted Cookbook) and for a practice.


Two more days left in the Oscar poll!. Prizes: cool collector Inkspot pens and instapoems created just for you! Cast your vote here.


Today's Blatherpic:

A picture of Michelle from our university days, taken by our friend Andrew.