erastes: (Default)
erastes ([personal profile] erastes) wrote2010-05-04 05:42 pm
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Writer's Block: Nirvana

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Venice. I've only been there once, and that was in March, so I missed out on the humidity, the heat, the smells, the endless tourists but it got hold of me in a way I hear India does with other people and hasn't let me go for over 20 years now. We stayed in a cheap little hotel (which was still expensive for us, as we were doing "Europe on a dollar a day") and we ate at the university because you got a massive pasta nosh up there for next to nothing. But it was the buildings and the canals that captured me entirely. And you get a better - and cheaper - tour of the Grand Canal by bus than you ever do by gondole.

I'd love to live there. A few years ago I looked into houses (well ok, very small flats) prices and found that I could JUST afford a tiny cupboard size thing with the price i'd get for this and my parents house, but then - what would I live ON? I'd need to be self sufficient. It's a nice dream and I shall continue to have it, because you never know. But that's where I'll be if the writing ever does support me. Look me up! (Just not more than one at a time because - tiny!

[identity profile] essayel.livejournal.com 2010-05-04 04:47 pm (UTC)(link)
I've never been but always wanted to go. My parents went and came back incredibly impressed, and my daughter went in the autumn and adored it so I'm jealous and fancy booking a city break weekend. Problem is a] I can't afford it and b] if I did I'd get a massive plot bunny. I always do on holiday. And I really should finish one of the other gazillion projects I have sketched out in my notebooks. I think my Cold War cryptographer and his gardener need to be brought to a gentle culmination before I start anything else.

[identity profile] erastes.livejournal.com 2010-05-04 06:36 pm (UTC)(link)
It's so gorgeous. Like a water colour that someone has poured water over. *sigh*

[identity profile] essayel.livejournal.com 2010-05-04 08:43 pm (UTC)(link)
Dad's paintings of it are lovely, even if most of them are tiny little things. The LIGHT!!

[identity profile] lareinenoire.livejournal.com 2010-05-04 04:54 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, I adore Venice. This is in spite of only having visited in the middle of summer, surrounded by stink and tourists. I didn't care. It was utterly magical.

[identity profile] erastes.livejournal.com 2010-05-04 06:37 pm (UTC)(link)
It is gorgeous. :)

[identity profile] baritonejeff.livejournal.com 2010-05-04 04:59 pm (UTC)(link)
La Serenissima! *heavy sigh*

[identity profile] chris-smith-atr.livejournal.com 2010-05-04 05:25 pm (UTC)(link)
And for a minute I was in shock, thought you were calling Erastes la serrenissima. That was terrifying.

[identity profile] erastes.livejournal.com 2010-05-04 05:26 pm (UTC)(link)
Shove off you, HE WAS.

[identity profile] chris-smith-atr.livejournal.com 2010-05-04 05:45 pm (UTC)(link)
Yes oh zen like field of infinite calm.

[identity profile] chris-smith-atr.livejournal.com 2010-05-04 06:10 pm (UTC)(link)
Not frequently. I prefer the rarefied atmosphere of my own genius.

(was unable to type that with a straight face)

[identity profile] baritonejeff.livejournal.com 2010-05-04 06:12 pm (UTC)(link)
Typing with ones face, straight or otherwise, is just asking for typos.

[identity profile] chris-smith-atr.livejournal.com 2010-05-04 06:14 pm (UTC)(link)
DO NOT AMUSE ME. I am attempting to write a SERIOUS BLOG POST for SERIOUS PPLS.

I am failing miserably. It is about architectural history, for the Historical Novelist's Society. I have just removed every instance of the word "erection" as I realised that 23 uses in a page is possibly childish.

[identity profile] baritonejeff.livejournal.com 2010-05-04 06:17 pm (UTC)(link)
23 uses in a single page is just bragging.

[identity profile] chris-smith-atr.livejournal.com 2010-05-04 06:19 pm (UTC)(link)
LOL. I have to stand up in public and talk to very important people about how much erecting their edifice is going to cost. I have to put my mouth on autopilot for that bit of presentations, because I keep wanting to say "erecting your erection", which, while grammatically valid, is not to be said to a crowd of 50-something men who are more interested in the contents of your top than your work.

[identity profile] baritonejeff.livejournal.com 2010-05-04 06:25 pm (UTC)(link)
"Now, gentlemen, imagine if I were your planned edifice. I am fifty stories high. If you would, just for a moment, avert you stares from floors 35 -40..."

[identity profile] chris-smith-atr.livejournal.com 2010-05-04 06:29 pm (UTC)(link)
Jeff, if you were not ensconced very far away I'd pitch up on your doorstep and offer to be your gopher for general errands etc.

That was BRILLIANT. Never have laughed so much at the screen.

(evil post is up - now onto review emails!)

[identity profile] erastes.livejournal.com 2010-05-04 06:34 pm (UTC)(link)
The trouble is - to get from floor 30 to 50, they have to surmount the overhang. Climbing equipment provided.

[identity profile] baritonejeff.livejournal.com 2010-05-04 08:59 pm (UTC)(link)
Grappling hooks requested.

[identity profile] crawling-angel.livejournal.com 2010-05-04 06:11 pm (UTC)(link)
The summit of Blencathra (on a June day). Jaw-droppingly beautiful and the sheep are really friendly :)

[identity profile] chris-smith-atr.livejournal.com 2010-05-04 06:12 pm (UTC)(link)
How friendly? Should I walk backwards and carry a big stick?

[identity profile] erastes.livejournal.com 2010-05-04 06:34 pm (UTC)(link)
She means friendly as in they back towards you...

[identity profile] crawling-angel.livejournal.com 2010-05-04 06:39 pm (UTC)(link)
Baaahhaaa!

Friendly as in they help themselves to turkey and mayo sandwiches.

[identity profile] crawling-angel.livejournal.com 2010-05-04 06:40 pm (UTC)(link)
Nooo, no sticks.