I can read the writing on the wall - in book form By Ray Barrington News-Chronicle We have a poster in one of the stairwells here at News-Chronicle World Headquarters that has an oft-repeated quote about writing, along the lines of "it's very easy, all you do is sit down, open a vein, and bleed." Which explains why so many writers look so pale. Of course, there is writing you can do just sitting down. Or standing up, if you're a guy. No paper, just a wall. (Editor's note: The following is not meant to encourage vandalism, property damage, or the use of his phone number after the phrase "FOR A GOOD TIME CALL ... "). Let's face it; 99 44/100 percent of graffiti should have its mouth washed out with soap. But once in a while, you see that one line that stays with you. In my case, it was back in the early 1980s in the library at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, in the men's room: "Pope John Paul I - the patron saint of limited-term employees." It's no accident that it was at a college. Mix educated people with too much time on their hands, plenty of public restroom space, and - often - alcohol, and you get stuff that's often creative, often stupid. Some of the best of both is in a new book, "Wisconsin Whizdom," the second in a series by Vicki Glembocki and Lynne Smyers. It collects a variety of writings from several Madison bars, organizing them so that comments by men and women (or at least, in their appropriate rest rooms) face each other, carrying on something of a conversation. "It's funny," said Smyers. "It all comes down to between the sexes, a lot of boyfriend-girlfriend and men-women, showing frustration more than anything.. Some of it refers to classes, and there's not as much politics as I would have thought. "Instead of just a collection or list, we took the step of pairing it into conversations. That extra push made it a more interesting book." Well, book is pushing it a bit. It's wire bound with cardboard covers, and each page is the size of a single sheet of toilet paper. The two "authors" knew each other at Penn State, and after graduation, wanted to work together some more. Smyers, the designer, and Glembocki, the writer, got the idea to do a book about Penn State graffiti. "We sat and brainstormed on napkins - like the cliche - and came up with the idea," Smyers said. The book became a minor hit, and they decided to hit the rest of the Big Ten Conference universities, using contacts and friends to collect the writing. "It's fun because it's a great little gift, a stocking stuffer; it does very well at Christmas. It gets people to reminiscing," she said. "It's almost like a tradition at some schools. No matter how often you go back, it's still there, or they keep painting it over and you find something different." The book will be available at Madison bookstores or through collegewhizdom.com, the Web site of the authors' publishing company. Psycho Betty Books. Psycho Betty? "We're just kind of psycho; it's a fun name and it fits perfectly with the kind of books we want to do," Smyers said. Barrington is news editor for The News-Chronicle. His column appears here Fridays. Contact him via e-mail at [email protected] or call 432-2941.