Laurie Halse Anderson live chat

Authors and hoping-soon-to-be-published-authors-- want to see a pro in action? The most awesome and forthright Laurie Halse Anderson will be chatting live on the MySpace readergirlz forum this Thursday, June 19th. For those of you who love to read YA literature, Laurie is inspiring when she talks about why and what she writes and her hopes for youth today. Check this out!

<http://groups.myspace.com/readergirlz>
<http://www.readergirlz.com/issue.html>

The chat will start at 6 PM PST/9 PM EST and last for about an hour. We're featuring her book PROM but the discussion goes in every direction. To whet your appetites, here are a few things we've found out about Laurie:

On your nightstand: Flashlight, notebook, pen (all for middle of the night ideas) and my inhaler.

Favorite drink while you write: Tea or coffee

Favorite bookstore: River's End Bookstore, Oswego, NY

Favorite library: Mexico Public Library, Mexico, NY

Pet: Kezzie (my German Shepherd)

Place to write: The loft of our house

Inspiration: My readers

Dream book tour: One that includes Paris, Edinburgh, and Tokyo

Author-buddies: Sarah Dessen, Chris Crutcher, Holly Black

Cure for writer's block: Run 5 miles

Favorite outfit: Jeans and hoodie sweatshirt, sneakers

Long-hand or laptop? Laptop

Stilettos or Uggs? Uggs!!!

Author idol: Francesca Lia Block

Next up: Chains (Fall 2008), Wintergirls (Spring 2009)

Hayward Historical Society, Ron Partridge photo show, "From the Byways to the Highways"

We had a blast. Despite huge changes in Hayward, my dad was able to get me to the Historical Society Building. He's one of those people who can still remember how things looked years ago and run a commentary on all the changes. I was hoping we'd pass Eddie Badiati's place, but we didn't. (This guy is legendary in my dad's mind for hot dipping all parts of his car's engine in chrome when they were teenagers and cars were God.)

The evening was terrific. Great group of enthusiastic people showed up, and my dad was funny, encouraging and inspiring. Thanks to Jeanine Sidran, Education Director, and all her crew, and the board members who made our evening.

Pictures of the evening say it best: (first photo by me, second Jeanine Sidran, and last three by Thomas Taylor. Thanks for sending them to me!)

Hayward Historical Society, watch me wrangle my dad, roughly equivalent to wranging a dozen cats!

Off to speak at the Hayward Historical Society tonight. They have the traveling exhibition of my dad's photographs, From the Byways to the Highways, which I curated from two shows we did a couple years ago. One of them, at the California Historical Society, I co-curated with Sally Stein, the other, at the Oakland Museum, was curated by Drew Johnson.

CERA, California Exhibition Resources Alliance, travels shows to small California museums for a moderate price they can afford. They do really cool stuff. I especially love their photography exhibits. Great photos that have to do with California history or California photographers.

We'll be showing the short film, Outta My Light, that my sister Meg Partridge made withour dear friend Dyanna Taylor. (Her dad, Ross Taylor, was our dad's best friend, so the film is highly personal.) After the film, my dad jumps up and answers questions and I basically provide continuity and fill in the gaps. Guaranteed to be fun for all.

Dorothea Lange at SF Library

Just back from doing the presentation at the SF library with my dad and sister. We had a blast. We had a great audience who turned out even in the cold drizzly weather. They were very enthusiastic. Meg showed her film on Dorothea, and then Meg, Ron and I did Q&A for about 30 minutes. Questions were pretty wide-ranging which was fun. Here's my dad and my sister Meg.


Before the presentation we went up to the 6th floor of the San Francisco Public Library to look at Dorothea's photos of Steep Ravine. They were presented beautifully -- in big cases at waist level. I really enjoyed looking at them like that. I had seen the show before at the Marin County Historical Society where it was up on the walls. For some reason, this gave me a different appreciation of them. They are beautiful portraits. If you go to the exhibit look for me -- I'm the skinny girl with long braids running around in a couple of the photos.

It reminded me how much I love that part of the world, poised between the cliffs and the sky and the vast ocean. The cabins are rentable for something like $30 night. Here's a recent article in Via Magazine about the area, and how to rent the cabins.

Dorothea Lange at the SF Library

There's a beautiful exhibition of Dorothea Lange's photographs at the San Francisco Public Library in the Skylight Gallery up on the sixth floor. It's photos of her cabin at Steep Ravine perched on a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Terrific.

On Tuesday, Feb 19th, my sister Meg will be showing her film, Dorothea Lange: A Visual Life, at 6 pm in the Koret Auditorium. My dad and I will be there with her to take Q and A after the film. My dad, Rondal Partridge, was her assistant when he was young. We all were folded into the family and used to spend sunny days and windy nights out at the cabin with the Taylor-Lange-Dixons.