I Want To Be T.C. Boyle

Well, I don't really want to BE him but I definitely want to write like him. He spoke at the Santa Barbara Writers Conference last night, and read two of his short stories that had the audience mesmerized.
I hate to admit I've never read his work before and unless he read the only two good things he's ever written, I'm in for a plethora of reading happiness since he's written 13 novels and I don't know how many short story collections.

Free Spirits of Santa Barbara Part 2

This is Dan with his beautiful dog. Dan's a really nice guy, a songwriter and author who's been living in his van for about 17 years. He told me he recently decided he spent too much time on the internet so he put his laptop on the ground and ran over it several times, back and forth, back and forth, and then threw it in the trash.
Dude, I hope you at least recycled that.

And finally, here's Michael whowas having coffee with his friend Patty Ann on the "stoop" of the van he's been traveling around in for about three years.

Nice meeting you guys!

Free Spirits of Santa Barbara

Wait...what year is this?
I'm so glad I'm a runner - it's one of the best ways to explore a city. I took my camera with me on this morning's run where I'm attending the SB Writer's Conference (and loving it - more about that later).
This morning I met the boys of the beach, the van guys, the free sprits who are doing their thing. I talked to three of them and they were all gracious and welcoming.
I came to Santa Barbara in 2011 but I think I'm now in the 60s.
The video is of a guy who calls himself One Feather, who has the most amazing van (more pictures below), every inch covered with...well, something. He's lived in it for about 17 years. I can't imagine how long it took to decorate his vehicle.
Check it out.


More van guys in my next post.

Slaving Away in Santa Barbara

I'm working.
Really.
What could be better than a writing conference in a place as beautiful as Santa Barbara? That's where I am, posting from my hotel overlooking the ocean. The sun's shining and I'm finished with my workshops for the day, having a glass of wine and getting ready to go downtown on the 25 cent trolley (with free transfers), which is very exciting, as witnessed by one of my fellow passenegers (left).
I haven't been to Santa Barbara in more than 30 years and it's just as beautiful as I remember.
When I run in the morning I feel as if I'm in a time warp; the homeless people sitting on the benches look as if they just hitchhiked back from Woodstock and there are vans parked at the beach painted with peace signs in psychedelic colors. Groovy, man.
The first person I met, at the opening night barbeque, is arguably the craziest person at the conference and I've been trying to avoid her ever since. She told me she writes literary erotica (which sounds like an oxymoron to me but what do I know), and said as soon as she gets published she's leaving her husband. Alrighty then. That's a motivating force.
I just got back from a humor workshop taught by Ernie Witham (very funny writer) where people read some amazingly great stuff. And then, after the engaging, funny stuff someone read a piece about special needs kids which broke our hearts but, excuse me, wasn't funny. Why the heck was she reading it in a humor workshop? Another read a piece about getting beat up and biting off part of her tongue and having two broken shoulders. Ha, ha. Right?
But we all have our perspective, we're all children of the universe, the moon is in the seventh house and Jupiter is aligning with Mars, and all is well with the world. Groovy, my brothah.

Dear Beach People...

I'm guessing your mom is not at the beach with you, right?
When I run along the lakefront in the morning it's early, before the clean-up crew has had a chance to pick up the heaps of trash that the pigs who frequent the beach have left behind. What's with you people? There are trash cans about every 50 feet (picture at right, just in case you don't know what they look like). Can't you walk over to one?
When I was a little kid it was pretty commonplace for people to just blithely throw garbage out of their car windows and no one thought a thing of it. Do you remember that? Isn't that amazing? Where did people think it was going to go? It wasn't until the late 50s that there were anti-litter campaigns, that people even became aware that it was a problem. Remember the crying Indian ad? That was in 1970 (see it below). If he was crying back then think what he'd do now, seeing that there are people who still don't give a crap (no pun intended).

Oh, and beach people, I'm sure you're the same ones frequenting my movie theaters (mine because you know how much time I spend there), eating massive quantities of food (nachos, industrial-sized vats of soda, Parmesan pretzels...), leaving all the wrappers and cups and crap right at your seat and just walking out. You walk past the damn trash bins when you exit the theater. Clean up after yourself! What's so hard about that?
(That's rhetorical since I'm sure everyone who reads my blog already does that.
And the crying Indian thanks you.)

A Book You Can't Put Down

What do you do if you belong to a book club and you don't like the books that are picked? It's the standing joke in my book club that I'm usually the guilty party who hasn't finished the selection. I try, I really do. I start them all and I'll give them at least 50 pages, sometimes a little more, but I can't bring myself to finish a book I don't like.
Then why go, you ask. Because I really like the ladies (why don't men join book clubs?), and besides we always have wine and a wonderful dessert (maybe the men don't know that) so that's a win-win for me. And every once in a while I'll really love the book and what a treat that is!
Don't you love finding a book so engaging you don't want it to end? It doesn't happen all that often but when it does it's a joy. Actually it's kind of a double-edged sword, isn't it? You don't want it to end but you can't put it down.
Some of my favorite recent books are The Help by Kathryn Stockett (this was one of the few book club selections I loved). So exquisitely written with real characters you can empathize with. Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen is another that was so engaging.
And of course my all-time favorite: To Kill a Mockingbird, which I've read at least half a dozen times. And if you haven't read that, why not? DO IT NOW!
I recently finished Plainsong by Kent Haruf. It was a book club selection and surprise - I loved it!
It took me a bit to get into it. It's not that I disliked it, I just thought it was slow in the beginning and the story didn't seem to be going anywhere. But then it hit its stride, and I couldn't wait to get back to it. Now I'm reading the sequel, Eventide, and it's just as good. Very sad, tho.
Have you read anything lately that you didn't want to end?
Share it!

Yum! Easy Braised Chicken

Easy to prepare and delicious to eat. Is there a better combination? If you like chicken you have to make this:
Braised Chicken and Vegetables
2 tbsp olive oil
4-5 bone-in skin-on chicken thighs (about 1-1/2 lbs.)
Kosher salt, pepper and paprika
1 tbsp flour
1 lb. red potatoes, halved
2 large carrots, peeled and cut into 1" pieces
6 cloves garlic, smashed
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 tsp fresh thyme leaves
3 jarred roasted red peppers, drained and cut into 1" strips

Sprinkle chicken with salt, pepper and paprika. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook chicken about 3 minutes per side, until browned.
Transfer to a plate.
Add potatoes, carrots and garlic to pan and cook for a couple minutes. Add the flour and stir until coated.
Add chicken broth, wine and thyme, and bring to a boil.
Add chicken back in and bring to a boil again. Then turn down the heat, add in the peppers, cover and braise for about 30 minutes.

Serve with crusty bread to mop up that delicious sauce.
Yum!