Disqus - Latest Comments for Betsy

Re: Question of the Month: Foolish

Betsy — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 18:12:24 -0000

Aw, thanks, Sue. I like you so much for bringing up subjects like these and seeing 57 comments!
I haven't had to log in before, for some reason my password just went away... but now it's back.

Re: Question of the Month: Foolish

Betsy — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 10:00:25 -0000

Wanted to log in the other day and lost my password and didn't have time to reset... blah blah blah, the point is, I was part of a super-fun panel on writing about adolescence the other night, part of the Texas Book Festival, and one of the general topics was about how the awkwardness of adolescence plays out in adulthood. We all had examples, and after the panel was over, I essentially embarrassed myself by not recognizing the director of the festival. I took small comfort in the fact that I wasn't the only one who may have felt foolish that night - I asked one of the other authors from the panel to sign a book for me, and he asked me my name, and I quietly said "Elizabeth" and it wasn't until he handed back the book that he realized we'd just been on the panel together. We laughed.

Re: Monthly Wrap: Our Book Collections

Betsy — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 10:03:13 -0000

Oh, I just love to see people's bookshelves! Not to mention pictures of themselves in the 80s. That's very cute. And moody. i too hope never to be that miserable again.

Re: Question of the Month: Bookshelf

Betsy — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 15:21:40 -0000

Alphabetical here, although, I have so many books that they're alphabetical within each bookshelf. I also have a size thing going on, hardcovers in one place, soft in another. I like to put books on top of the vertical ones sometimes, and if they're all different heights they won't lie flat. Sounds much tidier than it is. And my ratio of books bought to read is probably 4:1, I'd estimate.

Okay, the piano-playing kid? Pretty amazing.

Re: DimeStories

Betsy — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 14:39:00 -0000

Hi Sue!

Re: DimeStories

Betsy — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 10:24:00 -0000

Super fun, guys!

Re: Question of the Month: Memorable Trips

Betsy — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 16:08:34 -0000

Oh, no...

Re: Question of the Month: Memorable Trips

Betsy — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 09:10:12 -0000

I once drove from LA to Boca Raton with a 'boyfriend' in a Honda he paid 50 dollars for. It was, um, ill-advised. But I needed to get out of NY, and it seemed like as good an idea as any I had at that moment (okay, clearly good ideas were few and far between for me at this juncture). 3000 miles and just as many traumas later, I ditched him and New York. It was an excrutiating trip, truly. But it really spurred my need to leave NY once and for all, and after I got back I packed up my stuff and the rest is history. I've been in Chicago ever since.

Re: Question of the Month: Born

Betsy — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 11:41:02 -0000

For reals, Spring? That's quite a story!

Re: Question of the Month: Born

Betsy — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 09:01:44 -0000

I was born in Binghamton, NY. I am told that David Sedaris was also born there. That may be about as interesting as it gets here.

Re: Reynald’s Rap: Lance chats with Anthony Tognazzini

Betsy — Fri, 09 May 2008 15:14:06 -0000

This is so up my alley. More book-shopping for me!

Re: Monthly Wrap: Faking Confidence

Betsy — Fri, 09 May 2008 15:09:01 -0000

Holy moly, that is a long, long time! Congrats!

Re: Question of the Month: A Peek into Your World

Betsy — Wed, 07 May 2008 14:49:04 -0000

You'd think... but it's not true!

Re: Question of the Month: A Peek into Your World

Betsy — Tue, 06 May 2008 18:33:22 -0000

Oh, brother, I don't have one drawer that has few enough things to itemize, but I'll give my nightstand drawer a go since it's closest at the moment:

three nail files
toothpicks I don't like
a bunch of pens
one earpiece for the cell phone
the cord for my cell phone
backup reading glasses
six hankies of my mom's and grandma's
tissues
a mini-flashlight
a pocket knife
Kiehl's lip balm
needles/thimble/thread
a tiny dream notebook I haven't written in in a long time
Burt's Been lemon cuticle butter
a towelette from the Venetian
an old pair of sunglasses
a package of Frownies
a polaroid of Ben, sleeping cutely
earplugs
matches from a restaurant in Taos
a little rusty thing
the drawer paper that was in there when I bought it at a garage sale for ten bucks (sort of - sixties Holly Hobbie)

Re: Question of the Month: Books and Film

Betsy — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 15:12:53 -0000

I do, that's what I meant by on top of it! I'm pretty excited about it.

Re: Question of the Month: Books and Film

Betsy — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 18:52:09 -0000

Yay! A moment with litpark! And yay for me because I got to meet real life Sue and she's every bit as adorable and wonderful in person.

Fun question! I have trouble with a lot of adaptations - there's a really short list of ones I think are so great (The Sweet Hereafter, In the Bedroom among them) but a lot of others I wish I'd never seen. Of course, my mind immediately goes to the movie(s) of my book, and I have sold the rights to one story to a director I couldn't be more thrilled about, should I be so lucky that it gets made one day. But actresses to play my characters: Catherine Keener, Lili Taylor, Maggie Gyllenhall, and my new favorite, Anna Friel, for whom I'd write a movie myself if I had the time. I'm sure I'm forgetting some others I love. Actors for various boyfriend/husband parts: Robert Downey, Jr., John Krasinski, and of course, Owen Wilson could play himself.
I would love to see any adaptation of David Foster Wallace's stuff, and I hear John Krasinski's on top of that already!

Re: Daisuke “Dice” Tsutsumi

Betsy — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 10:37:06 -0000

Wait! I'm reading at Bluestockings on the 29th and Word on the 30th. No waxing strips for me this time!

Re: Daisuke “Dice” Tsutsumi

Betsy — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 17:17:28 -0000

These are wonderful illustrations - I look forward to checking out the book!

Re: Question of the Month: Dice

Betsy — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 09:06:26 -0000

I can't think of a particular incident, but I will say that as much as I love games now, dice or no dice, when I was a kid just about any game had the potential to end with me storming off to my room in a fit.

Re: Question of the Week: Rejection

Betsy — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 08:04:04 -0000

Good god!

Re: Question of the Week: Rejection

Betsy — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 09:20:26 -0000

I forgot where I put them now but I used to carry this one around - it was actually a form rejection, but it was a poem, that essentially said, "Sometimes we open our mailbox and find a beautiful bunch of grapes, other times we open it to find a pile of rotting fruit."
Or, um, you know, "No thank you?"

Re: Question of the Week: Rejection

Betsy — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 09:18:03 -0000

That's awesome!

Re: Oronte Churm (and a CONTEST)

Betsy — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 17:06:29 -0000

Dang!
Thanks for your nice comment on myspace - I'm having trouble with commenting over there or I'd have told you sooner.

Re: Oronte Churm (and a CONTEST)

Betsy — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 17:05:52 -0000

Wow, I'm honored! Looking forward to reading more of yours, for sure.

Re: Oronte Churm (and a CONTEST)

Betsy — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 10:08:58 -0000

I really enjoyed this interview and LOVED the post on McSweeney's as well, very moving and such beautiful writing. Can't believe I haven't been following Oronte all along, given my status as lecturer to the greater chicagoland area.
75 words... man, I had to pick out single words here, 'clean' is NOT my style.

Pot/Kettle
by
Elizabeth Crane

My century-old grandmother was happy to have a fresh audience in my new fiancé. “She was a beautiful baby,” she said, something she’d always considered to be one of my greater accomplishments. Ben said, “I think she’s beautiful now.” Mamie said, “Oh yes, but she was really beautiful then.”
“Oh, I like your young man!” she said. “Me, too,” I said. She pulled me close to her face. “Now don’t be too dominating of him.”