Can Men and Women Be Friends?

Photo Courtesy of Salon

Adrian F. Ward brings up the much debated question:  can men and women just be friends?  Ward’s opinion was “probably not” as a new study from Scientific American suggests that the conclusions are split by gender.  The study reveals that men find it hard to just be friends with women, while women are able to differentiate friendship more in platonic terms.  The results of the study suggest that men and women do have “vastly different views of what it means to be ‘just friends’ – and this can lead to “potential trouble.”  Even these results infer that men think with their other heads, even when it comes to a so-called platonic friendship.  Can women teach men to overcome this barrier or are their male friends just waiting for an opportunity to jump their bones if there is an opening in the future?

Why Can't Men Just Listen?

Photo Courtesy of Vimeo.com

Jason Headley’s video depiction on www.vimeo.com is the perfect parody of why men don't understand women.  In the video, the girl just wants to vent about the literal nail on her forehead, while the guy keeps advising her to take the nail out, since that seems to be the cause of all her problems.  He just can’t understand why she can’t listen to him.  The message is this to men:  Just listen and shut up!  Stop trying to fix my problems.  Any questions?  What do the readers think about this?  Can men really just listen or are they continuously thinking of ways to help us women fix ourselves and our problems?  www.vimeo.com/66753575

Will The Singularity Make Humans More Machine-like?

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Photo Courtesy of Wiki Creative Commons

We are on the verge of the exciting era when human intelligence and machines will converge in The Singularity.  This union will combine our biological components with non-biological devices as technology makes our intelligence trillions of times faster and stronger.  Do you think humans will become more machine-like with less human emotions, or will machines become more human-like with more emotions?  Or is there a common ground?

Having Fun at the Fair

Monika Vogl and Gerald (Flo Selfman took the photo)

Spent a temperate, sunny day on Saturday working for Independent Writers of Southern California (IWOSC) at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books. Shown here person-ing the booth with Monika Vogl. Also on my shifts were Layne Wong, author of Shanghai Love, Susan E. Briggs, author of I Can See Heaven, and IWOSC's irrepressible president, the super-publicist Flo Selfman.

Thanks particularly for your smiles and wise words  to Louise Marler, Norm Ellstran, Robin Quinn, Ester Shifren, Pam Leven, Ruth Frechman, Lee Gale Gruen, and LA Opera's Shannita Williams.

We talked about the male-centered comic genre boychik lit. And it's not the first time I've thought there could be more female fans than men. It probably has something to do delighting in Rollo's cluelessness as he fails continually upward, inheriting more undeserved trouble at each new level.

See You at the Book Fair Saturday Booth 131

You can greet the Boychik and discuss the writing life, the angst (yours or mine), and the plight of male-centered comic fiction. (Or just get directions to the nearest portable potty.)

"What is Boychik Lit?" do I hear you say? Hint: Free MP3 audio clips, third bullet down, right column of this hugely popular blog. If I didn't like to type so much, or were I not feeling so perverse just now, I would just put a link here.

Independent Writers of Southern California (IWOSC) www.iwosc.org Booth 131. Gerald Everett Jones appearing / hosting / partnering / chin wagging on Saturday, April 20 from Noon - 2pm and from 4 - 6pm.

USC Campus, south of downtown Los Angeles. Festival official site click here.

Reading "Farnsworth's Revenge" Nov 4 in Venice

I'll be reading from Farnworth's Revenge: Rollo's End, the third book in the Rollo Hemphill series of comic misadventures. The event on Sunday, November 4 at 2pm is hosted by the Women's National Book Association at Mystic Journey Bookstore, 1319 Abbot Kinney Blvd., Venice, CA 90291 (phone 310 399-7070). This Reads Its Own event runs until 4pm and will include several WNBA member authors reading their material.

The story so far...

In the first two books, My Inflatable Friend and Rubber Babes, Rollo has masterminded a plot with a life-sized rubber doll made in the image of a famous soap star, Monica LaMonica. Rollo’s former boss, old crusty Hugo Farnsworth, has developed a passionate fascination for the doll. He is currently entertaining “her” as his sole guest aboard his private yacht Shameless Palms, currently anchored at St. Tropez. Meanwhile, Rollo has also fled to France to avoid being arrested for a money-laundering scam he didn’t do. As the book opens, Farnsworth secretly summons Rollo and pleads for his help because the doll has mysteriously disappeared from the boat.

Audio Clip from Farnsworth's Revenge (MP3)