Connie Willis at Powell's on 10/27 - A Brief Description

Connie Willis was an awesome speaker, very charismatic, humorous, and charming. She didn't read from the books Blackout and All Clear so as not to spoil them for those who haven't finished them yet. I'm about a third of the way thru All Clear and hoping for some of the strings to start being pulled together so I can see what it's really about.

She did talk a bit about what it was about thematically, which was the importance/heroism of ordinary people and small acts, which is a common theme for her work, so I'm excited to see how it all pulls together.

She gushed about Primeval for a bit, specifically one of the actors, Andrew Lee Potts, calling him the most adorable thing ever, which was fun. She also talked generally in her introduction about spoilers, Brett Favre and what not to do online, etc.

Then she told us some stories from her research that she didn't get to put in the book. Signs from department stores, a burlesque theater with an all-nude review (who, because of laws of the time, could only stand perfectly still on stage; it was illegal to be naked on stage and move around) that stayed open all thru the Blitz. She talked about how theatres closed but then reopened and people would stay thru the raids for the performance. Also, they couldn't leave the theatre until the raid was over, so the actors ended up performing after the show thru the night, doing skits and old vaudeville to keep the audience entertained.

She talked about chaos theory and told a story about Fleming, the discoverer of penicillin, who was sent to school by his father's employer after his father, a ground's keeper, saved the life of the man's son who might have drowned. Penicillin saved thousands in the war, including a man responsible for a sabotage mission against the Nazis who was captured when his mission failed. He was shown on tv by Nazi propagandists, being taken away and giving the V for victory sign.

A woman he knew from Holland sent him a Red Cross package when he was in the prison camp. He returned the favor after the war, sending her a care package when she was starving in Holland, providing cigarettes she sold on the black market to buy penicillin that saved her daughter, Audrey Hepburn.

Penicillin also ended up saving the son of the man who sent its inventor to school to become a doctor, Winston Churchill. So very cool story about little acts having big effects.

That's something she talks about a lot and I have a feeling it will be at the heart of these last two books too, so really looking forward to it.

She talked a little more about that and the Blitz and 9-11 and stories of ordinary people's heroism, which made me think of the psychologist in Passage who often reflected on that in light of great disasters like the sinking of the Titanic and the Circus Fire, etc. I think there might be a lot of Willis in that character in regards to her thoughts on that and her obsessions with people's last words, etc.

Whatever

Mind is restless lately. Not sure if it's for external or internal reasons. Feel fine, just like I want to be doing something interesting and I'm not sure what it is. I prefer this feeling to the alternative down, low energy, can't seem to even want to try anything feeling I occasionally get, but would like to find a direction in which to aim it.

Probably means I should be trying to write something, create something, and that too often goes nowhere beyond the thought of it. But never say never, right?

I think most of my thoughts are probably too personal to put down here where anyone can see them. Why I think that, when no one much is paying attention, is mildly amusing. I do think about trying to write a blog sometime that has focus, direction, and possibly might interest others to read, but have yet to come up with something I will actually commit to because it combines interest with ideas with resolve. Apparently that combination is difficult for me. Along with things like follow-through, willpower...

Now I am getting depressed. Stupid Dark Observer and its stupid, negative commentary. Begone, Foul Beastie!

Okay, now just going into weird stream of consciousness that is unappealing when uncrafted. Blah blah blahcakes blah.

My most sincere apologies...