http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2009/12/29/woods/

Because I am a Delicate Genius, I am of course appalled that he changed the word "crapper" to "toilet."

Books 1-10.
Books 11-20.
Books 21-30.
Books 31-40.
Books 41-50.
Books 51-60.
Books 61-70.
Books 71-80.
Books 81-90.
Books 91-100.
Books 101-110.
111. Slaves of Spiegel by Daniel Pinkwater.
112. Interfictions 2: An Anthology of Interstitial Writing, edited by Delia Sherman and Christopher Barzak.
113. The Snarkout Boys and the Avocado of Death by Daniel Pinkwater.
114. His Eye Is on the Sparrow: An Autobiography by Ethel Waters (with Charles Samuels).

115. Love and Rockets, No. 2: New Stories by Jaime and Gilbert Hernandez. Second of the now-annual continuations of the hope-they-never-end stories of Maggie, Palomar, et al. Jaime's contribution is the conclusion of the Penny-Century-actually-gets-superpowers storyline, which is weirder than the usual Locas stuff--more meta, more fragmented, and with an ending that answers the most immediate questions while raising other, more intriguing ones. Also, Boot Angel may be my new favorite character. Gilbert offers up "Sad Girl," a short love-gone-wrong murder mystery, and "Hypnotwist," an enjoyable and enigmatic dream-story, complete with Freud cameo. Long live Los Bros!

Books 1-10.
Books 11-20.
Books 21-30.
Books 31-40.
Books 41-50.
Books 51-60.
Books 61-70.
Books 71-80.
Books 81-90.
Books 91-100.
Books 101-110.
111. Slaves of Spiegel by Daniel Pinkwater.
112. Interfictions 2: An Anthology of Interstitial Writing, edited by Delia Sherman and Christopher Barzak.
113. The Snarkout Boys and the Avocado of Death by Daniel Pinkwater.

114. His Eye Is on the Sparrow: An Autobiography by Ethel Waters (with Charles Samuels). Here's how I came to this book: I'm writing about 1934. I started looking at pop culture from 1934--movies, music, etc. "Stormy Weather," one of my favorite tunes, was first performed by Ethel Waters in 1933 at the Cotton Club. Now, Waters grew up in Philadelphia, not St. Paul, so the research value here may be limited, but it's of the right era, at least. Anyway. I find that with celebrity autobiographies, the early parts--about childhood and growing up--tend to be the most interesting; once they start to "make it" the books tend to become a catalog of collaborator's names, ups and downs, etc., and the trials of their adult personal lives tend to be elided. That's true of this book as well. Waters' early life was harrowing; born to a mother who didn't want her, she latched onto her grandmother, who worked as a housemaid and was only home once a week. Her aunts were selfish drunks, and Waters spent much of her childhood literally on the mean streets of Philly's red light district. For a book published in the early fifties, the autobiography is surprisingly frank about much of this. It appears that the virtues Waters learned from her childhood were self-reliance and hard work, and when she chanced into a singing career she was able to prosper thanks to those qualities. In the process she became the first African-American woman to headline a play on Broadway, recorded several hit records, and starred in some major Hollywood films--including "Pinky," for which she was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress award.

I saw the film Avatar and enjoyed as eye candy.  As others have pointed out, the movie uses the well-worn White Messiah trope.  The story is strictly by-the-numbers and characters are cardboard cut outs.  The Nav'i are avatars themselves--idealized versions of indigenous populations with no complexity and everything is written in bold shades of Black and White.  However, I found I could ignore the actual story because of the immersive visual overload.  I no more expect Hollywood Blockbusters to have complex, post-Fanonian critques of colonialism any more than I expect Paris Hilton to emerge as a skilled interpreter of Chekovian theater.  Science fiction movies--at this level, anyway--is about 10-15 years behind literature.  The Wind Up Girl, it ain't.  It isn't even the picture book novelization of The Wind Up Girl.

I drank the Kool-Aid, and it's sweet blue raspberry with a faintly chemical aftertaste.

From CNN: Bruce Schneier on how to (and how not to) make ourselves safer from terrorism.

Sadly, it reads as if it's been edited down from a longer piece and some points are not adequately explained (I suspect I understand why he views media hype of arrests of terrorism suspects as doing more harm than good, but the point is left hanging in the piece as published), but Schneier is a voice to be taken seriously in the security field, and I hope our leaders start listening to him.

You're never too old to discover a new muscle. Unfortunately, the way this is usually accomplished is by straining it.

So every other Thursday night, I meet with the best in-person writing group I've ever attended. It's the best because I really really really dig the people in it, and the people are not only great writers but write different stuff but mostly the group succeeds because the woman facilitating it kicks ass. Hard.

I wasn't a big fan of writing exercises until I met Kalima, who makes them fun, and makes them work hard for our current WIPs and again, maybe part of the success of all this is the group because with them writing exercises wind up being brilliant and silly and awesome.

For example, a few weeks back K had us do this exercise: "Write a eulogy for your favorite movie character."

What cracked me up is who we all chose, not knowing who everyone else was writing about. These eulogies kick ass. So!! For your enjoyment, I have struck the names from these eulogies so you can guess who they honor. Post your answers below!!

(I didn't include mine because it's on my laptop and this is probably enough to get you rolling.)

* * *


XXXX was a man despised by many as an outlaw and sociopath. But he was a brilliant and unpredictable crime fighter who taught us many things. He taught us that the absence of evidence is not always the evidence of absence; that there are known knowns, known unknowns, unknown knowns, and unknown unknowns; that there is bad in the best of us and good in the worst of us. But perhaps his greatest lesson to us all is to never compromise.
R.I.P. XXXX

G. Calicchia


* * *

Well... I don't really know what to say... How does one begin to even scratch the surface for a man who's entire life was dedicated unerringly to the fulfillment of his dream? He was a teacher, a father, a brother. He took us in, gave us purpose, protected us from a world of hate when no one else would. ...He was our light of hope.

A man whose mind was brilliant and unparalleled, whose heart, unconquerable. What is there to say to you, all of you, who's lives have been changed forever by this man and his dream?

...Except perhaps that he isn't really gone at all. Truly.

...No, seriously, he's not dead. I know you might not believe that or even understand it, but he isn't. See, what had happened was, when his physical body was atomized by cosmic fire, XXX simply slipped his consciousness into the body of an invalid under the care of his good friend XXXX. Mmm-hmm, yeah they're real close. Anyway she just called on her cell to tell me actually, just now, so... I guess we don't even really need to be here.

Yeah, and hey you guys, just go ahead and reshovel that dirt back into hole. Uh-huh, yup that's right, just like that, great...

A. Hyde


* * *


So much has already been said about you, my dear friend. It saddens me to see you go. Into the west as it were. Your spirit living forever amongst those who have seen too much. Experienced too much.

I wanted you to stay for a while.

Your relentless purpose and strength made me admire you from age 11 and my love only increased upon seeing your journey on the silver screen. Perhaps it was your angelic face. Your sincerity. Your palpable fear. Your ability to show that fear to all of us and keep the wind at your back.

It is easy to be dismissed when you are small. When you are seen as other. When you are minimized by those with more physical power. I see in you the strength I've needed to journey forth on my own paths through the years. XXX - this fan will miss you dearly. I know you've gone where I'll never be able to go... and that saddens me. Enjoy the journey.


K. Young


* * *


BONUS ROUND: Write your own eulogy for us to guess!!!

And here's another park/museum, located in the former residence of Catherine the Great. Who, by the way, being an empress and all, had a military title and had a dress modeled after an officers' uniform.


( Pictures under the cut )

"Weekly World News" is now available via Google Books. What else do you really need from the internet, anyway?

i hope everyone has had and/or is still having a good holiday.

this has been an absolutely rotten year for so many people -- friends, family, acquaintances, colleagues, strangers. i have a sneaking feeling we are all going to be glad to see the back of 2009.

so, to that end, here are my end-of-year questions.

one what was one good thing that happened in your life in 2009? one bad thing?

two what do you think you learned this year, if anything?

three do you have any 2010 resolutions, plans, or dreams?

Or, How I Became A Dog Person

(part two of three)

#

In my next post I will tell you a little more about my mystical bond with the Best Dog in the World, but first a digression.

So my husband and I are watching a Christmas movie—The Ref—and in a scene at the beginning, a thief is caught in a home-security booby trap. As the scene develops, the thief is menaced by a dog, which is first encountered as an off-screen growl, deep and rumbling.

I turned to John. “Rottweiler,” I predicted.

Sure enough, the camera pulls out, and a huge Rottweiler with a spiked collar is growling at the thief. The dog, named “Cannibal,” takes a bite out of the thief’s leg.

The point?

Rottweilers are badass. They are the badass dog.

But people who know Rotties know how wonderful they are.

Let me tell you about the breed!

#

Rotties were originally bred as herding dogs, and subsequently were known as “butcher’s dogs” because they would help the herdsman bring the cows into town, and then when he went off to drink at the pub, he’d leave the money with the dog. That’s how they became guard dogs, supposedly.

I read this book about Rottweilers—it was really more Rottweiler propaganda than an objective discussion of the breed—and the author noted that as working dogs they mostly herded cows. They’d pick out the lead cow and instead of barking or trying to physically dominate it, the dog would simply give it “the stare” until it backed down, and henceforth the herd would be tractable.

My dog gives me “the stare” when she wants her dinner.

Rotties don’t bark all that much because they don’t feel the need to assert their dominance over other dogs. According to the Rottie propaganda book, they have an innate sense of their own superiority. “As they should,” the author adds.

As I said, though, Rotties are badass, and they have a reputation. I feel as though my dog has to be the very best behaved dog in the neighborhood (which she is) because of that bad rep, the “Cannibal” rep. There are times when she’s walking nicely beside me on the sidewalk and an approaching pedestrian detours out into the street to avoid us.

Yet all the kids in the neighborhood know my dog, because we walk into school every day with my son, and they pet her silky ears and feed her treats with their bare fingers.

Rotties. The badass cream puff.

#

More tomorrow (wherein I further examine the dog person/cat person dichotomy!)

I'm happy with my 2009, lots of things accomplished and it was generally a low-stress year.

Looking back at the resolutions I made, I accomplished some and made progress in others. I can't say I totally bombed on any of them.

Did I finish the novel I wanted to? No, but I worked on it and have come to the realization that I have to be a better writer, scrap what I have and start over again.

Did I write 4 short stories? No, but I did write 1. It's the first short story I have ever finished.

Did I pay off some of our credit cards? Yes. Go us.

Did I save money? Yes, but it's scanty since we put the kids in Hebrew School this year.

Did I make holiday gifts for everyone? No, but I did give hand made gifts to 9 people (out of 28).

Did I work with the kids to keep the house tidier? Yes. It helps that they are getting older and more responsible (at least a little more).

Did I continue to exercise and eat well? Not so much. Sometimes yes, but many times no. The good news is that we have a treadmill being delivered tomorrow.



How did your year go? What did you do that was great in 2009?

I asked our Twitter friends to take pictures of our new releases in the wild & here are a few. It's so fun to see them. Thanks, @ChickLitTeens & @aly_bar! If anyone else has pictures, please leave 'em in comments!

As people may or may not know, every time someone clicks on one of my Amazon links to buy a book (or anything else from Amazon), I get a small percentage back as Amazon gift credit.  This is why I usually list book titles like so: The Mermaid’s Madness [Amazon | Mysterious Galaxy].

For a while now, I’ve used that credit to buy and give away books.  Thanks to everyone who’s clicked on those links over the past month or two, it’s time to hand out some more.

This time, I’m going to offer three signed copies of either Goblin Quest and The Stepsister Scheme.  If you’ve been thinking about trying one of my series but haven’t felt like shelling out $8, here’s your chance.  Or, if you already own the books but want an autographed copy, that’s okay too!  (But if you win a book you already own, I’d ask that you give your old copy to someone else who might appreciate it.)

To enter, just comment on this entry stating which of the two books you’d prefer and why.  Are you Team Goblin or Team Princess?  One entry per person, and anonymous commenters, please make sure I have some way to reach you.

I’ll pick three winners either over the weekend or early next week.

Mirrored from Jim C. Hines.

Below is a Tenner Google calendar. If you click the little plus sign in the bottom right & are signed in to your own google account, it'll add all the dates right into your calendar & send you reminders and stuff (if you ask it to). It's almost 2010! Hurray!

http://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=tennercalendar%40gmail.com&ctz=America/New_York

Happy New Year everyone!

Here's my Twitter review of Avatar from yesterday:

Need to post an Avatar review, but in sum: "magic honky" criticism is valid but overstated, the effects are paradigm shattering. Go see.

On reflection, that mostly speaks for itself. I don't feel a need to amplify those points much if at all, except to say, go see the damned movie on the big screen. In 3D if possible. If you're any kind of cinemaphile or media fan, you'll regret it in years to come if you don't.

( A few other comments... )

All in all, even with the obvious and not-so-obvious flaws, if cinema is an important part of your entertainment life and cultural experience, go see Avatar in the theatre. Several times, if possible. It really does bear up under the weight of expectations.

The following youtube video needs some introduction...or none, depending on your perspective. Recently Walter Jon Williams blogged this article: http://www.salemnews.com/punews/local_story_313233045.html?keyword=secondarystory. Go take a look. The unapproved use of the word "meep" may well result in your suspension. While I understand that such a thing could escalate beyond an administration's ability to control it, the promised punishment seems extreme, imo. Back in the day, the random use of "meep" would have been something we did in the halls of my own high school. It would be a branding of who was in the know and who wasn't. And had the administration forbidden it, we would have continued to "meep" anyway, risking suspension. Well, the art room crowd would have. The college-bound might have hesitated, those folks worried about getting into the right school. My Chorale director probably would have included the following in one of our concerts, as a pre-meditated, fully authorized, thumb your nose, use of "meep."



Frog Out