Our First Meeting Reviewed

While it's safe to say that the proposed "writing club" didn't start off with a bang, it started off respectfully enough last night. Already down a few potential regulars on account of the short notice, the group suffered another setback when a bed ridden Joe B. reported that he was still trying to shake some illness and couldn't make it. We have as many as eight people tentatively scheduled for next week's meeting, but we were down to three for this one. We wondered, "Should we cancel?"

The decision was made that the show must go on--small as it might be--and the pizza was ordered accordingly. Rich drove over to my place and joined Susanna and I for what turned out to be a great evening of pizza, cookies, and great stories.

Rich, admittedly "not a poetry writer," threw out a curve by starting off with one of his comparatively few poems. This was a satirical re-write of "The Raven" from the Raven's point of view. The bird got his say in, "The Raving: A Response to the Poe-et." We find out that the poor bird is really nothing but a victim of circumstance, as Rich cleverly twisted words around in flowing tones that perfectly fit Poe's original rhyme scheme and meter. The lingo also perfectly copped the vernacular. It was quite amusing, to say the least. Sue "got" all the subtleties, because she is an English teacher that teaches "The Raven." I'm not nearly as learned to classic literary works, but still "got" most of the subtleties because I knew the Simpson's epidode, "Tree House of Horror." "Never More."

Later, Rich also began reading a short story of his, called, "Grateful, the Dead , " that was actually published in Breaking Boundaries, a book of horror stories. Based in Oneonta, NY and featuring an erie landlord who had a penchant for eating pistachio nuts until his fingers were stained a dark red, it was more than just a little bit based on some of Rich's own experiences during his college days. Time constraints and the night getting late kept us from finishing the story, but we look forward to hearing the conclusion at a future meeting.

Susanna brought her revised outline for her science-fiction novel-in-progress, which had been at one time been called, "The Others." She recently learned that there was another book called, "The Others," so she was searching for a title. I suggested "The Other Others," which got a laugh, but we agreed that would be a good working title. She discussed her plans for the re-write, and we volleyed about different ideas for plot resolutions and details, with Rich--the most knowledgeable Sci-Fi guy we know—providing lots of good insight. She hopes to get started with a revised version of her original manuscript and have a chapter to present at the next meeting.

In between RIch's readings, I monopolized a great deal of the evening by reading a rather lengthy memoir called, "Elementary Girls." Rich and Sue were kind enough to listen with great enthusiasm to my ramblings and observations about the minds of early 1980s elementary school students and tales of early female infatuations, for which I was very grateful. Their enthusiasm made it great fun to share one of my favorite essays with them. Beyond that, Rich can fill you in as to any of his own observations.