Remember that old song, too? It goes on: “….ain’t got no money….”

Great grammar. But in songs, especially blues songs, the grammar is off–has to be off–and wouldn’t sound right if it was proper grammar.

Grammar can be so difficult, though, esp. if you grow up with parents who don’t speak the language, as I did. Italian was both of their first languages and so often, around the house, they’d be speaking Italian slang–I later learned–which they didn’t want me to learn. It truly wasn’t until I was into my 30s that I understood when to use lay and lie! Or what the difference between go and come.

It’s true.

Everyone, it seems, hates grammar. A few good books, though, make grammar fun. Spunk and Bite by Plotnik. Sin and Syntax by Connie Hale. Woe is I and Words Fail Me by Patricia O’Conner (I think that’s her name….)

Any other you recommend?

The image is from our trip to Catalina last week, Travis and me. This tile is vintage Catalina tile. Gorgeous, don’t you think?

It finally worked….Here we are….from the left….that’s me, then Travis and Brian, Paul Williams and on the right, Elaine, at Brussels Bistro last Thursday night… Mariana is taking the picture. (Elaine, if you see this, send me the photo I shot of the group so I can post the one with Mariana.) See the post below for more on this night.

It’s not rainy and it’s no longer Monday. I tried to post this yesterday and blogger.com kept crashing on me when I went to upload the photo. So let’s see if it works today.

Last Thursday Brian was playing at Brussels Bistro in Laguna with Elaine Miles, his every Thursday night gig.

Paul’s wife, Mariana Williams, and I had been emailing a bit. She’s a writer and was given my book. Turns out she’s married to Paul Williams who wrote many wonderful songs, including “Rainy Days and Mondays,” a Carpenters hit. We decided to finally meet. And because Brian and Elaine are major fans of Paul Williams, we decided to converge on Brussells–Mariana and Paul, me and Travis.

It’s great when you not only have admiration for someone’s talent but for them, too. It was a wonderful evening.

I asked Paul where the song, “Rainy Days and Mondays,” came from. He said his mother had come to live with him in Hollywood where he was getting acting parts, but on this particular day was an out of work actor. His mother was moving about the apartment and he heard her say something like, “Nothing to do but frown,” and the song began finding its way to paper.

I’d love to have him on the show, to talk about songwriting. Songwriting mystifies me. It’s the one form I’ve never quite gotten. I’ve written poetry–and still do on occasion–but it’s just not the same.

Even Travis had a better time than he expected, though the only food he liked were the French fries.

(I’ll post a picture when blogger.com stops crashing on me when I try…)

People keep writing to me about the October issue of Writer’s Digest magazine in which my article, “Setting Your Sites,” is running. It’s about how to set up a web site and blog–I think. It’s been so long since I submitted the piece and got paid for it, I can no longer remember the exact specifics. But from the emails I’m receiving, it sounds as if it’s been useful to writers. No hate mail yet. ; }
……

I heard from a former student, Chad Moore, who took my class at UC-Irvine, a few years ago. He told me he met his wife, Deanna, in my class.

He says, “She was very quiet. Took a little while to get to know. The first day of class was the first time we had ever seen each other… and it was a couple of months before we got to be friends. By the time the class ended, we were finally speaking regularly and emailing, but then she moved to Portland before we could even go on a date! So, then we started racking up lot of long distance calls. She finally came down to visit her family (she’s from OC), we went on our first date, spent the weekend together, and the rest, as they say, is history. We were married almost two years ago, and live up in Echo Park. Life is good!”

I love it when that happens.

Here’s Chad’s blog address: http://blog.deresolution.net

As well as a critique group, this summer I’ve been teaching a memoir class. Like my Thursday night group, Writers Block Party, my memoir workshop also meet outdoors. A talented group of folks…some have been in other workshops of mine and some are brand new. First up, Cynthia and Diane, then Joe, Judy and Julie (who is looks like she has a wine bottle for a nose, but I’ll make up for that down below)….

Laurie and Ruth….

Laurie and Kim (Ruth, who was between them, had to leave)

Kim, moi and Cynthia ….

Julie and Rebecca …

Joe, Judy and Julie, as it grows darker …

Julie and Rebecca, with JoJo between them. He’s a cat who likes writers. What cat doesn’t?