Hi (1 Viewer)

I am Katie, the new girl. I reside in England.

Loved Bukowski for many years now. I am also a part-time writer myself, I say that because I have a job - yeah we all got to work. My writing is influenced by the people I see, the conversations I hear and my person life experiences with family, friends, men and women. Good, bad and ugly.

I was introduced to Bukowski many years ago, the first book I read was Women and I was blown away by his style of writing, his honesty and the details in which he described each encounter. I fell in love...

I look forward to posting.
 
Welcome, Katie E S. You may have noticed we have a Carol E S here too. She's a very prominent member here who wields great power and influence - mostly because she sleeps with the boss but that is the real power in the world.
 
Hey -- a little respect! That's John Fante's Laughing Dog. Can't you tell from the bow tie?

Welcome, Katie. I write and work, too. Both for far too many years. It's difficult to quit either one. Old habits die hard.
 
Have you ever been/To electric ladyland... (That's the song that popped in my head just now, ES.)

Welcome aboard ! Have you tried the poetry yet ?
 
What a nice old song. Not his best but one of his Soul songs.

Welcome Katie.
thank you

...although I'm doing my best to break the work habit. And I find the less I work (or the less I think about work and money when I'm not working), the more I write. Creativity and money are enemies, it seems.
yes although I find the bizarre people I meet in work are actually great characters too...
 
I work in a place where we deal with people in crisis - health, childcare, homes etc but weirdly they are not the ones I draw inspiration from, it is usually the people I work with in the office who are just odd people haha
 
Lots of built in drama at that job, even it you just use it for back ground. I've written stuff based on work, although once you've covered a certain set of characters, a certain job, there's a danger of repeating yourself. I wrote a bunch of angry work poems during a period of five years or so, but I intentionally stopped. How many times can I get away with saying someone I work with is a jackass, or that boss over there is a monster? Bukowski went through many little jobs, which gave him a constant stream of fresh scenes, strange new situations. Factotum draws on that if I recall (years since I read it). Post Office taps into his longer term, more settled job, his "career" of sorts. Both great novels of work.
 
Lucky you. I worked 30 years and counting at one job, so the writing possibilities were soon exhausted. However, I recently had a part time job for a year and a half at a bookshop, and that's given me material for the novel I'm now writing. It was so different from the work I'd been doing all my life. Minimum wage, but great experiences at that shop.
 
It was lots of fun, and things happened that would never happen at my office job in a million years. The conversations are wilder, the customers are stranger, plus all that book talk, looking at books, handling books. I loved it, but I worked hard. I was cataloging rare /out of print books for online listing. I never had enough time to actually read anything, just looked them over enough to accurately describe them. A few truly bizarre things happened, and I'm using some of that in my writing. The job felt like I was walking around inside a Richard Brautigan story. The office job was like being in a dark Russian novel, grim realism.
 
The smell is the best part. What was sick is that I would work like a demon all day Saturdays, cataloging books, and then on my breaks I would walk around the store, looking at other books. The job would have been ideal if I allowed myself to work slower, read more, look at the pictures, but I had this crazy sense of duty, like I had to earn my minimum wage.

Many people want to work in a bookstore. What helps you get a job like that is to come in knowing a lot about books, having experience with them. But there are always more applicants than jobs, especially now with this death spiral economy.
 
Hello, Katie. Welcome! I've been reading Buk since about 2003. I absolutely love his poetry. I think Women is his best novel.

Do you ever do any writing in cafes? I love observing people in the local eateries and coffee shops.
 
Hello, Katie. Welcome! I've been reading Buk since about 2003. I absolutely love his poetry. I think Women is his best novel.

Do you ever do any writing in cafes? I love observing people in the local eateries and coffee shops.

Women is my favourite by far!!

Writing in cafes? I used to do it a lot and loved observing people, I tend to carry a notebook and jot down observations (due to my job I don't get the time to sit before work) and then I write mostly at weekends.

The smell is the best part. What was sick is that I would work like a demon all day Saturdays, cataloging books, and then on my breaks I would walk around the store, looking at other books. The job would have been ideal if I allowed myself to work slower, read more, look at the pictures, but I had this crazy sense of duty, like I had to earn my minimum wage.

Many people want to work in a bookstore. What helps you get a job like that is to come in knowing a lot about books, having experience with them. But there are always more applicants than jobs, especially now with this death spiral economy.

more applicants than jobs..oh don't I know it.
 
...And, like most jobs, in some cases people get hired for reasons other than knowledge of books and ability to do the job.
 
The lack of enthusiasm for books from some of the people working in book shops is shocking, they hate being there...hey why not get yourself to another job and have someone there who really does give a shit about literature?? Get your Twilight wearing t-shirt ass out of here and let me in damn you!

*wipes her brow*

Sorry about that folks...
 
I hear at Borders (soon to be extinct) the management refer to books as "product."

There's a really funny British TV series about a bookshop, called "Black Books." The proprietor drinks like a fish, chain smokes, and chases customers out of his shop. But he does read. It's several years old. Three seasons, on DVD.
 
This has gone on long enough you two. Get a room.
tongue.png
Don't worry, Rekrab, we are hush-hush around here. Post pics, though, or the hush is off.
 
I hear at Borders (soon to be extinct) the management refer to books as "product."

There's a really funny British TV series about a bookshop, called "Black Books." The proprietor drinks like a fish, chain smokes, and chases customers out of his shop. But he does read. It's several years old. Three seasons, on DVD.
Yes I live in the UK so I saw this when it was first aired and still watch re-runs, it is very very funny!
 
I love the character Manny. He's even funnier than Bernard. There are bookshops like that, where they practically chase you out, throwing books at your back. As if they don't want to sell anything. I wish they'd bring that show back for another season or two. I keep watching them over and over.
 
Manny is a hoot. I kind of like the woman. She's such a shallow slut and lush...completely degenerate. I love the episode where Manny swallows The Little Book of Calm. Another favorite is when Manny and Bernard drink all the rare wines at the rich man's house, thinking they're the cheap bottles.
 
Writing in cafes? I used to do it a lot and loved observing people, I tend to carry a notebook and jot down observations (due to my job I don't get the time to sit before work) and then I write mostly at weekends.
I do most of my writing on weekends as well. I try to cram in a little bit during the week. But on weekends, I spend several hours in the cafe just writing/observing.
 
I am not too keen on the woman in it though, the guys are just hilarious! Manny is very funny indeed.

I thought she was pretty good in this episode:

[This video is unavailable.]

actually, that might be my favourite episode. that or the one where Manny and Bernard drink the wine meant for the Pope.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top