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Read more about the article Random Thoughts on a Summer Friday (In Which I’ve Buried the Lede)

Random Thoughts on a Summer Friday (In Which I’ve Buried the Lede)

That "Local First" angle is what disturbs me the most, latching on to a legitimate movement whose most compelling hook focuses on locally sourced goods and sustainability, to support booksellers whose primary focus is usually selling the products of multi-national corporations who treat them like second-class citizens. The bookstores that are true pillars of their communities don't need hollow slogans and dreams of going viral on YouTube, because they prove on a daily basis why they matter to their communities.

Continue ReadingRandom Thoughts on a Summer Friday (In Which I’ve Buried the Lede)
Read more about the article Beer Tasting Class: Off-Flavors

Beer Tasting Class: Off-Flavors

I signed up for a class on "common off-flavors" in beers and it turned out to be a really interesting workshop on what can go wrong in the brewing process, and why. It was led by Mary Izzet and she covered seven off-flavors, using Miller Lite as the "control beer," with all but the last off-flavor demonstrated with it.

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Read more about the article Writers Write, Even When They Don’t Realize It

Writers Write, Even When They Don’t Realize It

Random Numbers by darkmatter

The only thing I was fit for was to be a writer, and this notion rested solely on my suspicion that I would never be fit for real work, and that writing didn’t require any.

–Russell Baker

That Baker quote has been on my About Page forever, but I only just recently realized its irony as this blog has once again gone silent for another unreasonably long period as my time and attention have been pulled elsewhere. I’ve had several good ideas and intentions for posts since the last time I blogged here in mid-April,  but they’ve all either ended up over at Digital Book World, or I simply never got around to writing them because, well, writing requires “real work” and Battle for Wesnoth is a better way to unwind at 11pm than attempting to put together a coherent post.

Reading can be “real work” sometimes, too, so I’ve found myself getting back into magazines, comic books and anthologies for their short bursts of escape, unable to commit to a full-length novel. As a result, Bolano’s 2666 mocks me from the bottom of my to-read pile whenever I pick up the latest issue of Monocle, the latest volume of Fables, or the Forgotten Realms anthology Realms of the Dead, from the top of the pile.

Even work you enjoy takes time, and as much as I’d love to be one of those writers who can set aside a specific amount of time each day for writing, I have too many other things on my plate, including… writing.

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Read more about the article The Force is Strong in Him

The Force is Strong in Him

My 8-year-old son has become a huge Star Wars fan over the past several months, without overt encouragement, as he’s now seen all seven movies, and the new Clone Wars animated series has become appointment viewing for us almost every Friday night.

He has three lightsabers, two of which he bought with his own allowance; Lego Star Wars, which has dominated his weekend Wii-time since Christmas; several books and graphic novels; plus, we were both eyeballing the Star Wars edition of Electronic Battleship a couple of weeks ago at Toys R Us, and he’s already asking about a Darth Vader helmet w/voice changer for next Halloween!

Interestingly, Revenge of the Sith (which I reluctantly let him watch after months of begging) and Return of the Jedi are his two favorites in the series; Anakin Skywalker — and by extension, Darth Vader — is his favorite character.

It’s been fascinating rediscovering George Lucas’ remarkable universe, that I was initially introduced to at around the same age and was similarly enthralled, through his completely unjaded eyes. I’ve even come to appreciate his take on Anakin, who was so clumsily brought to life by the lethal combination of Lucas’ hamfisted scripting and lazy directing and the amazingly awful acting of Hayden Christensen, but so completely revitalized by the voice acting of Matt Lanter. While Christensen was unable to convincingly portray Anakin’s tortured, fast-forwarded evolution to the dark side on-screen, Lanter is having a ball voicing the cocky, impetuous Jedi whose successes in battle lay the foundation for the fierce Sith Lord I grew up with, and has made me a fan, too.

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Read more about the article Everything’s amazing, nobody’s happy

Everything’s amazing, nobody’s happy

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoGYx35ypus] "We live in an amazing, amazing world, and it's wasted on the crappiest generation of spoiled idiots that don't care." [1:30] I've never seen Louis CK in action before, but my favorite humor is the insightful observational kind and this clip is hilarious, primarily because it's all so true. I say burn it all down and start over. (h/t @torrento)

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Read more about the article When in doubt, follow Frank’s lead

When in doubt, follow Frank’s lead

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wl95eDA_uR4]

…and do it YOUR way.

ETA: Okay, I hate posts of videos with no real content, especially on a day Seth Godin challenges everyone to blog something interesting.

I woke up this morning with Sinatra’s “My Way” stuck in my head on repeat and it was a good thing. A timely reminder to clearly know what you stand for; know when to compromise, when to hold your ground and when to simply walk away.

It’s an especially timely reminder in light of the economy and the sense that having a job is the new merit raise.

It also reminds me of one of my favorite poems, one of the first “personal narratives” I wrote as I was moving past my initial ranty political phase, and the one that I most often get random emails from teachers or students about, informing me that it’s been used in a school performance.

Breathless

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Continue ReadingWhen in doubt, follow Frank’s lead

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