And the Winner is ...

Philip Jose Farmer.

After a bit of thought, I settled on PJF for my literary experiment. Now, I have no discipline to read a single author for a year straight. Even one as noble as Shakespeare (that hop lasted eight plays over three months). But my goal is for the first six months of 2013, to read this dude.

I’ve read a couple of his books over the years. The Lovers, perfect in its short length, had an M. Night Shamylan twist that literally gave me goosebumps. The Stone God Awakens and The Wind Whales of Ishmael created rich and vastly detailed worlds that overcame standard run-flee-fight-rinse-repeat plots. Dayworld led me through a world where you only get to live one day out of the week – and how much thematic potential is there in the simple feat of saying “screw you!” to that system and avoiding the Man as you journey through an entire week. (Though I think the plot involved a hunt for a killer who lived on random days – it was a long time ago I read this.) Doc Savage: His Apocalyptic Life, not completed, made me doubt what was fiction and what was fact … if anything was, or is, in this “literary biography.”

But what forced the decision was the fact that I have never read a single word of the man’s two acclaimed series: Riverworld and the World of Tiers. Riverworld consists of a half-dozen novels written over a twelve-year period. There are also several compilations of short stories that take place in this universe. The World of Tiers is also a six-book series, only composed over a 28-year period. That’s about a million words (not counting the short stories), some of which are award-winning and award-nominated, all of which are worshipped in the SF nerd-geek pantheon.

I am very curious about this buzz.

I am also curious how this author will affect my own science fiction writing.

Especially since Farmer is noted for blending fiction with reality, literary characters with real-life historical figures, treating make-believe as history and, maybe, vice versa.

So, that’s the plan: January 1, 2013 to June 30, 2013.

Then, maybe I’ll explore the runner-up, Zelazny.

After, of course, penning a story where me and PJF travel to, say, oh, the Saturnian satellite Titan in an alternate universe to rescue a Space Princess and free Ulysses S. Grant, Pythagoras, and Victor Frankenstein from the Titanians’ icy time prison …

Off-Broadway Debut

And I don’t just mean Off-Broadway. I mean Off-Off-Off-Off-Off-Broadway.

Little One starred in her first play this past Friday – The Wizard of Oz at her day care / summer camp. And I do mean “starred” – she was the Wicked Witch of the West. Let me tell you something, and this is not just some proud papa talking: there were three big laughs from the audience, and she got the two loudest!

We knew about this for about three weeks now. Little One is very busy at camp. First thing in the morning is a 45-minute tennis lesson, and that’s followed by a 45-minute swim lesson at the town pool. She gets back to the day care center for lunch, and then the children work on the play, be it painting backdrops, making costumes, or rehearsing their lines.

Two weekends ago I even rented The Wizard of Oz from an adjacent town’s library so my daughter could do some “research.” Unbeknownst to me it cost a dollar to borrow a DVD from this library, and since I live a cash-less lifestyle (thank you, Mr. President), I had to use all my powers (good looks and charms apparently) to enable the librarian to let us have it. Then, lounging in the AC, we watched the movie, and to my amazement, Little One began quoting lines along with the Wicked Witch!

Before I knew it, Friday was here. Not a trace of stage fright or pre-show jitters from Little One. Well, she did have a fear they’d forget her at the tennis courts, as the play was slated to begin at 10 am. I made sure the front desk was aware of this when I dropped her off. Then, I went home, changed into my work clothes (I was going in to work a little bit late), got the video camera, went to the store for a single pink rose, and was one of the first parents to arrive, garnering a front-row seat. (The wife had a store tour with her boss and couldn’t get out of it, alas.)

The show lasted about a half-hour. It was really just a few scenes from Oz, performed by the second graders, with songs sung by a chorus of first graders interspersed. The children, all in costume, all read their lines monotonously, except for my daughter and the girl who played the Cowardly Lion (she got the other big laugh of the day). The bwa-ha-ha-ha! cackle of the Witch when she makes her first entrance came out of Little One with much gusto to the delight of the audience. And then, her “I’m melting!” scene, so heartfelt and so filled with anguish, became another audience favorite.

Needless to say, I was super proud of her.

I gave her the flower afterwards, as she basked in the post-show applause.

Bravo! May you have many more successes on stage throughout a long life, Little One!

(And I think Santa will be bringing you something by Eugene O’Neill or Tennessee Williams or – Willie Shakespeare!)

Patch Gets a New Mommy

Sort of.

Now that little Patch has come of age (she'll be four in six weeks), I have to alternate with the girls on Errand Saturday. Yesterday was Patch's turn, and we hit all the usual suspects: post office, recycling center, dry cleaners, library, B&N, pizzeria.

On the way back from the library we pass my eyeglass store. On the side of my eyeglass store is a huge billboard of a babe wearing glasses, pearly whites smiling a come-hither look.

"Daddy," Patch says as we drive pass, "did you see the lady?"

"The lady on the side of the building?"

"Yeah."

"Yes I did. I bought my eyeglasses there."

A few moments go by and Patch remarks, "Daddy, imagine if you were married to her." (Again, she's three-and-seven-eighths years old.)

I smile and look at her in the rear-view mirror. "I can't be married to her, my dear. I'm married to mommy."

"Daddy," she says, scrunching up her face in exasperation, "I said, imagine !"

What do you say to that? For once, I kept my mouth shut and just laughed.