But I have been notified that I saved an African village.
No, I'm not kidding. I wrote an article about a Peace Corps volunteer who was trying to raise money to buy millet to feed the people of Bani Bangou, Niger, and he estimates the money raised from the article covered about 8 months, give or take, of millet. And the Peace Corps dude basically gave me the credit, which I guess I deserve some. After all, it was pretty moving if I do say so myself, although really I just set up the situation and picked out the telling details. It's his story...
The village was starving to death after a drought killed off most of the crops and dried up the seasonal river and a plague of locusts (literally) took the rest. Little kids were dying when he left (according to starvation expert dad (visit him at www.heifer.org) that's typical; lots of places the family eats out of one pot and those who can't compete for the food are malnourished. Of course, the less food there is the harsher that competition is) which is pretty typical. Since the first shipment in November, everyone has become healthier and Peace Corps guy is going to get some NGO's involved.
So, to recap, that's 500 people, eight months worth of food. One small, totally inside the section story in a paper with a circulation that probably barely scrapes out 12K readers. It really says a lot more about the readers than my writing, I would guess. Good for the resume, better for the soul.
But what the hey. If it weren't for me, there's no guarantee that the money would have been raised if the story hadn't been done right. I saved a village in Niger.
What have you done lately?
Monday, January 31, 2005
24 is my nightmare
Boy that Jack Bauer runs a lot. He's always in a hurry.
Being in a hurry is a defining characteristic of my nightmares. Really, that's too strong a word. Mom calls the sort of dream where you're running all over the place trying to accomplish some simple mission and ridiculous obstacles keep popping up an anxiety dream, which makes sense.
I had one last night; it was a lot of running and a lot of trying to negotiate with people. Pretty much all futile.
Jack Bauer, I feel for you. At least my objective is usually just trying to get to school on time or something. No terrorism or nothing there. Maybe it has something to do with being a bit of a procrastinator.
Maybe this is why I like "24."
Being in a hurry is a defining characteristic of my nightmares. Really, that's too strong a word. Mom calls the sort of dream where you're running all over the place trying to accomplish some simple mission and ridiculous obstacles keep popping up an anxiety dream, which makes sense.
I had one last night; it was a lot of running and a lot of trying to negotiate with people. Pretty much all futile.
Jack Bauer, I feel for you. At least my objective is usually just trying to get to school on time or something. No terrorism or nothing there. Maybe it has something to do with being a bit of a procrastinator.
Maybe this is why I like "24."
The sun has come out
After a period of interminable raininess and fog all month long, the sun was finally out pretty much all day. Better, the day lasted past 5 p.m. This is a really good sign.
Speaking of rain gets my thoughts turning to water. In spite of all the rain, there isn't a snowpack to speak of. That means, for people who can afford it, the skiing was bad. This is bad for the entire region which depends on the snowpack to feed rivers and reservoirs.
Thank God there's lesbians on Postcards from Buster to keep anyone from worrying about water shortages, hiked electrical rates and the like. Anytime I start to worry about the environment or money I'm glad there's an ideological battle out there that's so specious. Better than gossip about Paris Hilton.
Speaking of the environment, my plants are suffering. My orchid (phaelenopsis(?)) is I think giving up the ghost. It has a woody, brown stalk and one of the leaves (it has four) is all yellow. I have been watering that bad boy every day with the sprayer with the orchid food. Is it the fault of the grayness of January in Tacoma? Also my polka dot plants are not doing so hot; they are getting super tall again and stalky. I am afraid of cutting back the nice-looking bits to shrink them down although that has worked well in the past for me. I worry there's some sort of upper limit to cutting back when they're in itty bitty pots.
Today's opinion: indoor gardening has aesthetic challenges the outdoor gardener doesn't worry about. Of course, when I have a garden outside some day I'll probably revise this attitude. Note I said "aesthetic" challenges, not "keeping alive," which I assume is the big challenge of outdoor gardening. I used to edit a gardening column and there was a lot of moving plants indoors, wrapping pots in insulation so they don't freeze and other stuff.
Got my rebate back from Symantec. That's $50 of play money! And my computer is healthy!
Speaking of rain gets my thoughts turning to water. In spite of all the rain, there isn't a snowpack to speak of. That means, for people who can afford it, the skiing was bad. This is bad for the entire region which depends on the snowpack to feed rivers and reservoirs.
Thank God there's lesbians on Postcards from Buster to keep anyone from worrying about water shortages, hiked electrical rates and the like. Anytime I start to worry about the environment or money I'm glad there's an ideological battle out there that's so specious. Better than gossip about Paris Hilton.
Speaking of the environment, my plants are suffering. My orchid (phaelenopsis(?)) is I think giving up the ghost. It has a woody, brown stalk and one of the leaves (it has four) is all yellow. I have been watering that bad boy every day with the sprayer with the orchid food. Is it the fault of the grayness of January in Tacoma? Also my polka dot plants are not doing so hot; they are getting super tall again and stalky. I am afraid of cutting back the nice-looking bits to shrink them down although that has worked well in the past for me. I worry there's some sort of upper limit to cutting back when they're in itty bitty pots.
Today's opinion: indoor gardening has aesthetic challenges the outdoor gardener doesn't worry about. Of course, when I have a garden outside some day I'll probably revise this attitude. Note I said "aesthetic" challenges, not "keeping alive," which I assume is the big challenge of outdoor gardening. I used to edit a gardening column and there was a lot of moving plants indoors, wrapping pots in insulation so they don't freeze and other stuff.
Got my rebate back from Symantec. That's $50 of play money! And my computer is healthy!
Sunday, January 30, 2005
Duck to water
Wow. I have really taking to the anonymous ranting thing. I will try to get the tone back into the non-acidic and the lengths of the posts under control.
It might take a while. I think I have a serious case of the internal jollies.
It might take a while. I think I have a serious case of the internal jollies.
Mais non!
Zoot alors!
In my quest for continuing self-improvement I decided to take a stab at some foreign languages this week. I have quite a bit of fun checking the materials out of the library and listening to them in the car. There's one publisher, Pimsleur, who really makes this possible. I have come to trust Pimsleur since I drove out here from Arkansas and listened to -- oh, it wasn't the super-basic Portuguese and it wasn't the 50-cassette version either -- a Portuguese course and picked up just about everything it was trying to tell me (I can't go back, it's been missing since my car was stolen). O senhor entendi? Eu entendo. Eu so americana. Onde fica o hotel? That sort of thing.
I picked up some Cantonese off Pimsleur but again, when the car was stolen so were the tapes (and they were from the library, my fourth home after home, paper and the Y) so I never learned how to ask to get to King's Road. Thank goodness I know mm hei ho SIC TANG!, which tries to approximate the tonal qualities for "I don't understand so good." At least when I saw "Kill Bill 2" I understood when the master said "Cantonese" — in the question form it's "gwong-dung-waAHah." Possibly the best thing I know, however, is "Hei mmm Hei SIC TANG YING-man-aAH" which is, do you understand English?
So I thought, well, go for something basic. Go for French. Here's a new 12-CD Barron's course. Put it on hold. While you're at it, get that "Colloquial Vietnamese" because that looks like fun. But oh snap! the CDs match up to pages in a book! And the Vietnamese book is only that! I harbor no illusions about learning Vietnamese via a book. And I harbor no illusions about my ability to study along with a book while I listen to CDs. I'm thinking I'll load them up on the iPod (not forever!) and do a study session on the Precor machine. Hopefully all the New Year's Resolution people will think that's what I am.
Actually, I'm just your garden variety freak. Je suis une freak du variete jardinois. Or so I would imagine that's how it goes.
Went to Target with Beth and she calls it "Tar-zhay," which is okay if something of an old joke, but I was shocked to hear all the people on cellphones say "Oh, hi, I'm at Tar-zhay." This is its new name.
I only meant to get lip balm but I ended up suckered at Action Alley, where I got "Reservoir Dogs" and "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" for less than $10 each. I am not a DVD purchase person. I have no idea what came over me. The only other time I was tempted to buy a DVD was before flying to Arkansas and nearly picking up Season 1 of "Reno 911" (I was in "Tar-zhay") thinking it could be a hoot on the plane and then, quivering with a sense of stunned disbelief that I had nearly spent $25 on entertainment, realized the show is on Comedy Central all the time! All I had to do was not miss it! I am still wondering what, exactly, came over me. More so for the "RD" purchase than "CTHD," which is one of my favorite movies of all time. But I'm quite far from being a cineaste much less a collector of anything.
I think it was buying the wifi router at Comp USA, then all the indian food at World Market, that precipitated the roaring slide into decadence.
In the meantime, in what would in the minds of the RIAA amount to theft if I downloaded it from the internet, I checked out The Hives' "Tyrannosaurus Hives" and Wilco's "Summerteeth." One is great to put on workout playlists, the other for driving.
Why isn't RIAA worried about all the music in the library system that any fool could scrape off a CD? Why doesn't anyone in the (real) media bring up the fact that most libraries today are spending a larger portion of their $$ on digital media than ever?
In my quest for continuing self-improvement I decided to take a stab at some foreign languages this week. I have quite a bit of fun checking the materials out of the library and listening to them in the car. There's one publisher, Pimsleur, who really makes this possible. I have come to trust Pimsleur since I drove out here from Arkansas and listened to -- oh, it wasn't the super-basic Portuguese and it wasn't the 50-cassette version either -- a Portuguese course and picked up just about everything it was trying to tell me (I can't go back, it's been missing since my car was stolen). O senhor entendi? Eu entendo. Eu so americana. Onde fica o hotel? That sort of thing.
I picked up some Cantonese off Pimsleur but again, when the car was stolen so were the tapes (and they were from the library, my fourth home after home, paper and the Y) so I never learned how to ask to get to King's Road. Thank goodness I know mm hei ho SIC TANG!, which tries to approximate the tonal qualities for "I don't understand so good." At least when I saw "Kill Bill 2" I understood when the master said "Cantonese" — in the question form it's "gwong-dung-waAHah." Possibly the best thing I know, however, is "Hei mmm Hei SIC TANG YING-man-aAH" which is, do you understand English?
So I thought, well, go for something basic. Go for French. Here's a new 12-CD Barron's course. Put it on hold. While you're at it, get that "Colloquial Vietnamese" because that looks like fun. But oh snap! the CDs match up to pages in a book! And the Vietnamese book is only that! I harbor no illusions about learning Vietnamese via a book. And I harbor no illusions about my ability to study along with a book while I listen to CDs. I'm thinking I'll load them up on the iPod (not forever!) and do a study session on the Precor machine. Hopefully all the New Year's Resolution people will think that's what I am.
Actually, I'm just your garden variety freak. Je suis une freak du variete jardinois. Or so I would imagine that's how it goes.
Went to Target with Beth and she calls it "Tar-zhay," which is okay if something of an old joke, but I was shocked to hear all the people on cellphones say "Oh, hi, I'm at Tar-zhay." This is its new name.
I only meant to get lip balm but I ended up suckered at Action Alley, where I got "Reservoir Dogs" and "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" for less than $10 each. I am not a DVD purchase person. I have no idea what came over me. The only other time I was tempted to buy a DVD was before flying to Arkansas and nearly picking up Season 1 of "Reno 911" (I was in "Tar-zhay") thinking it could be a hoot on the plane and then, quivering with a sense of stunned disbelief that I had nearly spent $25 on entertainment, realized the show is on Comedy Central all the time! All I had to do was not miss it! I am still wondering what, exactly, came over me. More so for the "RD" purchase than "CTHD," which is one of my favorite movies of all time. But I'm quite far from being a cineaste much less a collector of anything.
I think it was buying the wifi router at Comp USA, then all the indian food at World Market, that precipitated the roaring slide into decadence.
In the meantime, in what would in the minds of the RIAA amount to theft if I downloaded it from the internet, I checked out The Hives' "Tyrannosaurus Hives" and Wilco's "Summerteeth." One is great to put on workout playlists, the other for driving.
Why isn't RIAA worried about all the music in the library system that any fool could scrape off a CD? Why doesn't anyone in the (real) media bring up the fact that most libraries today are spending a larger portion of their $$ on digital media than ever?
Dear metrosexual downtown Seattle waiters
Do not serve me a vodka and 7up and say that's the way the tonic tastes. Tonic is crisper than that. Don't tell me "most bars" use diet tonic and imply that when I go out to all those other bars, I'm tasting their inferior but tastier diet tonic and for a good drink go for the Grey Goose or other primo voddy. Some of us have worked in bars before, thank you, and know what tonic tastes like and that anytime you mix the already tasteless vodka you have basically compromised its fragile flavor from the get-go so well will do just fine as long as it wasn't distilled in a lead pipe in someone's tub.
Just say "Our tonic is very sweet; if you'd like I can throw in a dash of bitters." Because there's your solution, really. And it is the least you can do at $7.50 per well drink.
Just say "Our tonic is very sweet; if you'd like I can throw in a dash of bitters." Because there's your solution, really. And it is the least you can do at $7.50 per well drink.
This week's tragic last sentences in Newsweek
Newsweek. Of course it is a wretched attempt at melding the high-mindedness and affection for social caste that is the Washington Post with the chirpy, lightweight writing that is People. The result is a magazine that, as it realizes it is covering superficial issues for the masses, it becomes a scold. Being a moralistic poop is apparently fine for the heavier features (and by heavier I mean "let's dissect the folksy appeal of George W. Bush") as well.
What this means for the magazine's voice is that it seems mandatory to end each article with a sentence that is meant to sound provocative but comes off as prudish and snarky.
This is something I knew before I subscribed to it after figuring the $25 "professional rate" was probably not bad for about 50 issues. I suppose it was discovering the regular rate was $21.33 that made me want to do something about my irritation at being gouged, and for trite scolding at that.
Here is an encapsulation of the way Newsweek irked me as I read it:
1) Not only did Newsweek use "The best hope for peace ... is the expansion of freedom" from GWB's inaugural address as the main quote on the "Perspectives" page (with all the quotes and the cartoons) but also used another throwaway cheeseball line from the largely ceremonial event on a doubletrucked photo of the front of the Capitol. What are you, Newsweek? A journal of news or opinion?
2) Apparently opinion. Fareed Zakaria writes the lead-off story on the inauguration package and very irritatingly inserts himself into it. It starts off subtley with "to borrow an old saw about the mission of journalism ..." as if to say "That's what I'm doing here folks! Yup! Me! Writing and all!" then the line segues into "Bush's words will 'comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.' Democratic reformers around the world will surely take heart. Dictators will nervously ponder what it all means.'" If anyone around the world — from terrified Iraqi voters who aren't being backed up outside Baghdad's Green Zone to the perfectly comfortable Ali Q. Khan who sold nuke secrets around the world (and probably) to Kim Jong-Il, whose spot as head of N. Korea is unthreatened — believed the administration at its word that passage might stand up. But who does? Not international people Zakaria runs into. "I often argue with an Indian businessman friend of mine ..." Spare us your personal conversations. Couldn't you have found a professional source to give you a quote that says basically this same thing? Are you really quoting a personal conversation for the country to read?
2) I've already read stories about how the iPod shuffle is allegedly not a true shuffle and have, at times, felt similarly about mine when I hear a short slew of songs by Cornershop followed by a DJ Cheb i Sabbah song followed by (I kid you not!) the Beatle's "Inner Light." However, I took science classes. I know better. So I didn't need Steven Levy's rip off of a story done better three months ago by the New York Times. Yawn! I didn't need his personal iPod anecdotes, either. The only way to freshen up this wilted story would really be to go to Apple and confront them with the scientific fact (I learned this in Astronomy) that people, when shown a page of paper with randomly printed dots, some of which overlap, and one with fairly evenly spaced ones that do not overlap, they will always pick the non-random page as the one that has been dotted randomly. With this in mind, would the Apple people consider de-randomizing the shuffle function to have it be percieved as more random? Say a change to the shuffle function that prioritizes songs that haven't been played recently over ones that have? Or that forces breaks between artists? Of course, the superior "The Technologist" would have pointed out that these are options you can create on a smart playlist.
3) This has nothing to do with Newsweek — why is it that Barbara Bush (the twin) looks so much more natural than Jenna? Is it the brunette hair? The bigger nose? The smaller chest? The paler skin? She looks more like Chelsea Clinton than Jenna, and those two certainly didn't share the same womb. Also, Annette Bening wears Danskos. Also, if Dick Cheney can get (rightly) reamed for his inappropriate Auschwitz attire, can't someone stop the old peacock that is Chief Justice Rehnquist? Get over yourself and remove the gold stripes.
4) True subhed "Americans 'liberated' Iraq, but it's hard to find anyone who is grateful." True accompanying photo: "Iraqi children cry after GIs killed their parents, who didn't heed warning shots." Newsweek, if you were at all pomo this might be pull-offable. But you ain't.
Here's the true tragedy of Newsweek — this week did disappoint me in terms of its shortage of preachy end sentences. Lots of Q and A format writing, lots of (and this surprised me) ending with a quote this week (whaaa? NW wants to give other people the last word?). Sigh. Here's the bottom of the barrel.
Preachy sales pitches: "It's Corey's prayer that they'll soon know Little Simon Inspirations, too." "Simon would say ... even he wants to give it a try." "When it comes to car design, it seems like the colonies still have something to learn from Mother England."
Weirdly referencing the cover story, but acting as if they know what the Dems should do: "A warm and fuzzy Howard Dean? It sounds improbable, but it may be the winning story of the next Democratic movie."
Flat-out desperate: "For Charlie Perdu and thousands like him, this is just another battle in which failure is not an option."
And the winner for prissiness mixed with low browiness: "He certainly knows a thing or two about getting media attention."
That concludes this week's gripe with Newsweek, another one of those rants that is really socially inacceptable in person. And I'm starting to wonder about its acceptability on the internet as well.
What this means for the magazine's voice is that it seems mandatory to end each article with a sentence that is meant to sound provocative but comes off as prudish and snarky.
This is something I knew before I subscribed to it after figuring the $25 "professional rate" was probably not bad for about 50 issues. I suppose it was discovering the regular rate was $21.33 that made me want to do something about my irritation at being gouged, and for trite scolding at that.
Here is an encapsulation of the way Newsweek irked me as I read it:
1) Not only did Newsweek use "The best hope for peace ... is the expansion of freedom" from GWB's inaugural address as the main quote on the "Perspectives" page (with all the quotes and the cartoons) but also used another throwaway cheeseball line from the largely ceremonial event on a doubletrucked photo of the front of the Capitol. What are you, Newsweek? A journal of news or opinion?
2) Apparently opinion. Fareed Zakaria writes the lead-off story on the inauguration package and very irritatingly inserts himself into it. It starts off subtley with "to borrow an old saw about the mission of journalism ..." as if to say "That's what I'm doing here folks! Yup! Me! Writing and all!" then the line segues into "Bush's words will 'comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.' Democratic reformers around the world will surely take heart. Dictators will nervously ponder what it all means.'" If anyone around the world — from terrified Iraqi voters who aren't being backed up outside Baghdad's Green Zone to the perfectly comfortable Ali Q. Khan who sold nuke secrets around the world (and probably) to Kim Jong-Il, whose spot as head of N. Korea is unthreatened — believed the administration at its word that passage might stand up. But who does? Not international people Zakaria runs into. "I often argue with an Indian businessman friend of mine ..." Spare us your personal conversations. Couldn't you have found a professional source to give you a quote that says basically this same thing? Are you really quoting a personal conversation for the country to read?
2) I've already read stories about how the iPod shuffle is allegedly not a true shuffle and have, at times, felt similarly about mine when I hear a short slew of songs by Cornershop followed by a DJ Cheb i Sabbah song followed by (I kid you not!) the Beatle's "Inner Light." However, I took science classes. I know better. So I didn't need Steven Levy's rip off of a story done better three months ago by the New York Times. Yawn! I didn't need his personal iPod anecdotes, either. The only way to freshen up this wilted story would really be to go to Apple and confront them with the scientific fact (I learned this in Astronomy) that people, when shown a page of paper with randomly printed dots, some of which overlap, and one with fairly evenly spaced ones that do not overlap, they will always pick the non-random page as the one that has been dotted randomly. With this in mind, would the Apple people consider de-randomizing the shuffle function to have it be percieved as more random? Say a change to the shuffle function that prioritizes songs that haven't been played recently over ones that have? Or that forces breaks between artists? Of course, the superior "The Technologist" would have pointed out that these are options you can create on a smart playlist.
3) This has nothing to do with Newsweek — why is it that Barbara Bush (the twin) looks so much more natural than Jenna? Is it the brunette hair? The bigger nose? The smaller chest? The paler skin? She looks more like Chelsea Clinton than Jenna, and those two certainly didn't share the same womb. Also, Annette Bening wears Danskos. Also, if Dick Cheney can get (rightly) reamed for his inappropriate Auschwitz attire, can't someone stop the old peacock that is Chief Justice Rehnquist? Get over yourself and remove the gold stripes.
4) True subhed "Americans 'liberated' Iraq, but it's hard to find anyone who is grateful." True accompanying photo: "Iraqi children cry after GIs killed their parents, who didn't heed warning shots." Newsweek, if you were at all pomo this might be pull-offable. But you ain't.
Here's the true tragedy of Newsweek — this week did disappoint me in terms of its shortage of preachy end sentences. Lots of Q and A format writing, lots of (and this surprised me) ending with a quote this week (whaaa? NW wants to give other people the last word?). Sigh. Here's the bottom of the barrel.
Preachy sales pitches: "It's Corey's prayer that they'll soon know Little Simon Inspirations, too." "Simon would say ... even he wants to give it a try." "When it comes to car design, it seems like the colonies still have something to learn from Mother England."
Weirdly referencing the cover story, but acting as if they know what the Dems should do: "A warm and fuzzy Howard Dean? It sounds improbable, but it may be the winning story of the next Democratic movie."
Flat-out desperate: "For Charlie Perdu and thousands like him, this is just another battle in which failure is not an option."
And the winner for prissiness mixed with low browiness: "He certainly knows a thing or two about getting media attention."
That concludes this week's gripe with Newsweek, another one of those rants that is really socially inacceptable in person. And I'm starting to wonder about its acceptability on the internet as well.
Saturday, January 29, 2005
January in books
Here is a list of books I read in January. It isn't exhaustive, believe it or not, but I only started writing down what I could remember reading last week in a Day Minder. I can't believe it took so long to discover the pleasures of a Day Minder. If you do not have one, buy one with a month on two pages. It has convenient scratch pages so I can note down books or CDs I want to read/hear. The only thing it's missing is a way to track my finances.
If I love anything more than the Day Minder, it would be the Tacoma Public Library's website. It has an incredibly handy feature where you can do a search and then place a hold on any item in its stacks including videos, music, language tapes and more. About the only thing I believe you can't place a hold on are the puppets. Yes, in Tacoma you can borrow a puppet for a week for free from the library (eew. Can you imagine all the sweaty, dirty hands that have been in those puppets, all the kid drool on them? It's like cute, plush disease vectors).
I had been reluctant to tackle this new technology — partly because of my Neo-Luddite granola-y tendencies, partly because I just don't feel it is sporting (it inordinately favors those with web access since all notification is by email) — but once I tried it last November (how else was I going to read "Eragon" with all the kiddos reserving it?) it was just the balm for my information habit.
Unfortunately, with my enthusiasm came an onslaught of books. I am still grinding away at a stack of 'em as we speak. Worse, I dropped into the Peninsula Library in Gig Harbor recently (I was scoping out the bulletin board for story ideas — it's amazing how many people have things going on that they want people to know about but don't approach the local paper) and the Friends of the Library were having a book sale and I bought six hardbacks for six bucks. Score. There's that Al Franken book about liars, two of those "traveling pants" books I fully intend to mail to my little gal cousins once I've taken a gander (they were recommended to me about two years ago by a children's buyer for a really wonderful local bookstore), Sebold's "Lovely Bones," which I read and adored and "The Gift of Fear" which I had recommended to me by a karate instructor. Oh yeah, also McCourt's "Tis," which I think I may have yawned through before. Frank McCourt can be a little much but I don't think I'll live to regret the dollar.
This also isn't taking into account the Wallace Stegner book ("Crossing to Safety") that is languishing. It's from the Y's book-swap library where there are no fines.
Anyway — here are the books of January:
"Against All Enemies," Richard Clark. A worthy read; not as exciting as the Times led me to believe, but with some full-on scary revelations.
"Gilead," Marilynne Robinson. About as lovely a piece of prose as I could have hoped to read this year. A main character with rare grace. Didn't get the whole deal with the Broughton boy — he wasn't even a sneak thief, for pity's sake. I like the conceptualization of religion in this book.
"Bushworld," MoDo. Too many snarky columns! It makes one appreciate how they are rationed to two a week in the paper. Couldn't drag myself through the whole thing; read a column or two in each chapter. Must be hard-core snarker/lover of feeling terrified of the Bush Administration to plow through.
"New Yorker Cartoons" Remnick, Mankoff. Discovered I really needed to be in a New Yorker state of mind to appreciate the cartoons. It's hard to balance humor and intellectualism and class snobbery at the same time for such a stretch without a respite of wonderful, topical writing. The older ones are fascinating. Some of the artistry — especially that of Gluyas Williams, George Price and Peter Arno — really matches the subject matter; some of it is astoundingly good. Still, be warned that having two weeks to peruse it in toto is a bad idea and either the book should be purchased or ignored.
"Case Histories," Kate Atkinson. Reminiscent of PD James both in the language and the main, mega-masculine depressed character.
"One for the Money," "Two for the Dough," Janet Evanovich. Airplane novels. Chick-mystery-lit private eye main character. Bad boy cop love interest. Hard-bitten self-depricating first person POV. I think it's Trenton that makes this thing work as well as some of the well-observed details (the whole funerals thing was hilarious).
"The Working Poor," David Shipler. Good writing, good journalism. Hopeful; has priorities straight. Recommended.
"Backstory," Ken Auletta. For a rehash of old magazine articles it was pretty compelling. I wish he'd write something that addresses the same topics — when corporate synergy meets news, declining readership, new media — with a thesis. Most interesting piece for me was the one where profit wasn't the standard of success — the NY tabloid war piece — partly because it encapsulates everything that is wrong with journalism (celebrity-centered, trashy, loudspeakery ego mongering, synergy) with everything that is right (advocacy for the readership, relentlessness, passion for product) in a kaleidoscopic funny house.
"Assassin's Apprentice," Robin Hobb. An Eric Francis recommendation. Like all fantasy novels, it was really long with a corny cover. Had a few precious conventions of fantasy in it that I'm not fond of — the scented candles thing swept me back to the Ren Faire. Why did I read the whole thing? Because, when it comes down to it, Eric's judgement is not often wrong. Besides, who doesn't find assassins appealing? I just wish the would-be assassin had done some actual assassinating at some point.
"The Time Traveller's Wife," Audrey Neffenegger. A near-quote: "I left like a child carried away by goblins." If you can deal with that, and ultimately the incredibly small scope of this book (everlasting wuv), it may pay off. Or else, like me, you might just get sucked in.
Well, those are the books of January.
Please send your reading recommendations to me. This month, I am in the queue for "Blink," "Persepolis," "Matter with Kansas," "America the Book" and two guides on weight lifting for women. On deck are "Jane Austen Book Club," "Cryptonomicon," "9/11 Commission Report," "Da Vinci Code," "Blue Blood."
If I love anything more than the Day Minder, it would be the Tacoma Public Library's website. It has an incredibly handy feature where you can do a search and then place a hold on any item in its stacks including videos, music, language tapes and more. About the only thing I believe you can't place a hold on are the puppets. Yes, in Tacoma you can borrow a puppet for a week for free from the library (eew. Can you imagine all the sweaty, dirty hands that have been in those puppets, all the kid drool on them? It's like cute, plush disease vectors).
I had been reluctant to tackle this new technology — partly because of my Neo-Luddite granola-y tendencies, partly because I just don't feel it is sporting (it inordinately favors those with web access since all notification is by email) — but once I tried it last November (how else was I going to read "Eragon" with all the kiddos reserving it?) it was just the balm for my information habit.
Unfortunately, with my enthusiasm came an onslaught of books. I am still grinding away at a stack of 'em as we speak. Worse, I dropped into the Peninsula Library in Gig Harbor recently (I was scoping out the bulletin board for story ideas — it's amazing how many people have things going on that they want people to know about but don't approach the local paper) and the Friends of the Library were having a book sale and I bought six hardbacks for six bucks. Score. There's that Al Franken book about liars, two of those "traveling pants" books I fully intend to mail to my little gal cousins once I've taken a gander (they were recommended to me about two years ago by a children's buyer for a really wonderful local bookstore), Sebold's "Lovely Bones," which I read and adored and "The Gift of Fear" which I had recommended to me by a karate instructor. Oh yeah, also McCourt's "Tis," which I think I may have yawned through before. Frank McCourt can be a little much but I don't think I'll live to regret the dollar.
This also isn't taking into account the Wallace Stegner book ("Crossing to Safety") that is languishing. It's from the Y's book-swap library where there are no fines.
Anyway — here are the books of January:
"Against All Enemies," Richard Clark. A worthy read; not as exciting as the Times led me to believe, but with some full-on scary revelations.
"Gilead," Marilynne Robinson. About as lovely a piece of prose as I could have hoped to read this year. A main character with rare grace. Didn't get the whole deal with the Broughton boy — he wasn't even a sneak thief, for pity's sake. I like the conceptualization of religion in this book.
"Bushworld," MoDo. Too many snarky columns! It makes one appreciate how they are rationed to two a week in the paper. Couldn't drag myself through the whole thing; read a column or two in each chapter. Must be hard-core snarker/lover of feeling terrified of the Bush Administration to plow through.
"New Yorker Cartoons" Remnick, Mankoff. Discovered I really needed to be in a New Yorker state of mind to appreciate the cartoons. It's hard to balance humor and intellectualism and class snobbery at the same time for such a stretch without a respite of wonderful, topical writing. The older ones are fascinating. Some of the artistry — especially that of Gluyas Williams, George Price and Peter Arno — really matches the subject matter; some of it is astoundingly good. Still, be warned that having two weeks to peruse it in toto is a bad idea and either the book should be purchased or ignored.
"Case Histories," Kate Atkinson. Reminiscent of PD James both in the language and the main, mega-masculine depressed character.
"One for the Money," "Two for the Dough," Janet Evanovich. Airplane novels. Chick-mystery-lit private eye main character. Bad boy cop love interest. Hard-bitten self-depricating first person POV. I think it's Trenton that makes this thing work as well as some of the well-observed details (the whole funerals thing was hilarious).
"The Working Poor," David Shipler. Good writing, good journalism. Hopeful; has priorities straight. Recommended.
"Backstory," Ken Auletta. For a rehash of old magazine articles it was pretty compelling. I wish he'd write something that addresses the same topics — when corporate synergy meets news, declining readership, new media — with a thesis. Most interesting piece for me was the one where profit wasn't the standard of success — the NY tabloid war piece — partly because it encapsulates everything that is wrong with journalism (celebrity-centered, trashy, loudspeakery ego mongering, synergy) with everything that is right (advocacy for the readership, relentlessness, passion for product) in a kaleidoscopic funny house.
"Assassin's Apprentice," Robin Hobb. An Eric Francis recommendation. Like all fantasy novels, it was really long with a corny cover. Had a few precious conventions of fantasy in it that I'm not fond of — the scented candles thing swept me back to the Ren Faire. Why did I read the whole thing? Because, when it comes down to it, Eric's judgement is not often wrong. Besides, who doesn't find assassins appealing? I just wish the would-be assassin had done some actual assassinating at some point.
"The Time Traveller's Wife," Audrey Neffenegger. A near-quote: "I left like a child carried away by goblins." If you can deal with that, and ultimately the incredibly small scope of this book (everlasting wuv), it may pay off. Or else, like me, you might just get sucked in.
Well, those are the books of January.
Please send your reading recommendations to me. This month, I am in the queue for "Blink," "Persepolis," "Matter with Kansas," "America the Book" and two guides on weight lifting for women. On deck are "Jane Austen Book Club," "Cryptonomicon," "9/11 Commission Report," "Da Vinci Code," "Blue Blood."
Friday, January 28, 2005
Welcome to my blog
Hello.
My name is Callie White. This is my blog. I named it Monument because really, isn't that what each blog is? What every writer craves? A monument of one's own?
As I see it, this blog will be a record for public consumption of the following:
Goals and/or their achievement
Notable happenings
Personal opinions and reflections
Stories of personal experiences that put me in a good light because I have figured out what I should have said at the time.
What goes in the public domain will not be an exhaustive recounting; like any good monument, I plan for this blog to be part of the wallpaper of the blogosphere. Also, I'm using my real name.
I just happened to luck out on the template.
My name is Callie White. This is my blog. I named it Monument because really, isn't that what each blog is? What every writer craves? A monument of one's own?
As I see it, this blog will be a record for public consumption of the following:
Goals and/or their achievement
Notable happenings
Personal opinions and reflections
Stories of personal experiences that put me in a good light because I have figured out what I should have said at the time.
What goes in the public domain will not be an exhaustive recounting; like any good monument, I plan for this blog to be part of the wallpaper of the blogosphere. Also, I'm using my real name.
I just happened to luck out on the template.
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