Man-skirt, diaphanous scarves, and writing blog links

I've been woefully remiss lately about visiting my writing peeps' blogs. I dug out my diaphanous scarves, and left my sasquatch cave to check out some awesome music at the Calgary Folk Fest this past weekend. It was a climatological roller-coaster: it rained, it hailed, there were Wizard of Oz winds, it was blistering hot and dry, cold when the sun set - three seasons in three days.

While there is no video of the interpretive dance I concocted with my diaphanous scarves ;-j, I did feel obliged to write this virtual message.

Memo to the pale white dude with the hula-hoop rocking the man skirt at the folk fest: Underwear. Is. Mandatory! It wasn't pretty when Britney did it and it sure ain't pretty when you do it! Seriously dude, you were one skirt flip away from being the next you tube sensation.

The blogosphere offers a host of entertaining and enlightening blogs about the writing process and the publishing industry. Here are a couple of my international favourites:

From rainy London we have: Notes from the Slush Pile ... and beyond, it's a blog about writing for children, getting published, surviving the Internet - and never ever forgetting that some things we just have to do for love. It's run by three bloggers: Candy Gourlay, Teri Terry (a Canadian, just saying) and Maureen Lynas. They are all SCBWIers. 

In a series NFtSP posted on debut authors, they asked the question: "what does it feel like when the dream comes true?" (oh, bloggowers, it feels good!). Here's the thrid installment in the YA Debutantes blog posts (check out the first and second in the series as well).  

In hot and sunny south Africa we have Nicky Schmidt blogging at Absolute Vanilla where she offers her witterings and warblings (ok, I don't know what those are but I think they are some kind of South African animal - be afraid, be very afraid). 

She's been rocking two series of blog posts: one is a seven part series on sasquatch writing caves Writing Room Revelations where children's and y/a authors reveal their writing room secrets, and the other on self publishing in the changing publishing landscape. 

Now to move from the international to the regional and back to the international.

Saw two great Canadian performers at the folk fest this weekend. kd Lang originally from Alberta and now international famous. I remember back in the olden days (aka the 80s) when I worked at the UofA radio station, she would routinely come to the studio and the DJ would put her on the air for an hour of jamming. Then one time, she was playing in a small theatre in Edmonton and took requests from the audience. Someone shouted out: 'Stop the world ...' (she used a globe as a prop), she said she had the globe in her car and walked off stage, out of the theatre to her car, got the globe and came back and belted out that tune. Her she is singing Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver

The other famous Canadian I saw perform this weekend was Buffy St. Marie, her career spans social justice/American Indian activist songs to appearances on Sesame Street (now that's versatility). At 70 years of age, she's still go it. 

Diaphanous scarves safely packed away for the year, now back to my sasquatch writing cave!