So the news is, in case you have not been picking up on my extremely subtle hints, that Rose-coloured is moving to its very own dedicated URL with a splendid new design from Create Me This, and life is good. Ok, life is actually incredibly hectic, so I've been building up to the big unveiling by not posting much--I'm sure you've been crushed by my silence. But see below--lotsa cool stuff:
1) May is the Month of the Short Story. I sort of knew this last year, but not really, because I spent most of May in Japan, where was probably not the Month of the Short Story and even if it was I wouldn't have understood. Anyway, I definitely know it this year because Steven WB has moved 31 Days of Short Stories to now and that's so amazing. Although my first thought when I saw the first post was, "Hey, that's not until August!" I have a hard time with change. At least it's not one of those 30-day months or I would really have lost it.
2) Amy asks (in the comments on the last post) what I say when I'm asked by a random person at a party what I do--writer or editor. It depends on the party--I go to a lot of parties where people are both writers and editors and other artistic people and sympathizers. In *that* crowd I always say writer (if we talk for long, the other will come up though) because they are likely to get it and be nice about it. *However* if the party consists of people of unknown professions, I say "editor" because I'm scared they will be mean to me if I say "writer." That's, mind you, a stupid stereotype of people in the non-obviously creative professions (in fact, most people need to be creative to get their jobs done). However, some people *are* dismissive, and I get really sad when someone, even a random stranger, is mean about my writing. It's like they insulted my significant other--the conversation cannot go on. And although rare, this *has* happened.
Pharmaceutical exec: So, what do you do?
Me: I'm a writer. I had a book of stories come out in 2008.
PE: A writer? Really, so you just sit around and write all day?
Me: Well, actually...
PE: Man, that would be great--sleep in, make coffee, write a little story. No crazy commute, no DVP, no stress..
Me: Well, actually...
PE: (long detailed discussion of PE's exact route to work, timing, possibility of accidents, etc. Seriously, 10 minutes!) A writer, wow, I should get on that. That would be the life. No stress at all! You wouldn't believe what I have to put up with.
Me: You must wish you were dead.
PE: What?
Me: I wish *I* were dead?
PE: What?
Me: Oh, look, the hostess just put out a new kind of cheese. Excuse me.
Ok, I might have made a little tiny bit of that up, but largely, it's accurate, and so very depressing. I'd rather just say "editor" and talk about my bus route to the office. Which makes me, I know, a giant wuss, but it's less stressful by far.
3) Lindsay has a new website too, and it's really pretty. Spring is the time of web renewal, apparently!
More to come soon, I promise--and brace yourself for the big change (I think this is a change I will be able to handle) of URL, coming soon!
RR
Showing posts with label Websites. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Websites. Show all posts
Monday, May 10, 2010
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Groups and Challenges
In Writer Guy's review of Century as part of Canada Reads Independently, he wonders if he's right in calling CRI a "challenge." I'm sure it's fine to call it whatever one likes, but I much prefer a term I've learned from my bookfriends on GoodReads--a "group read." To me, that implies better what I think these projects intend: to get people agreeing to read something as a group so they can then talk about it. So fun and friendly.
"So why aren't you participating in any of these group reads, RR?" would be a reasonable question to ask, at least lately. It's true--I love book conversations and though I'm not the fastest reader, I'm fast enough to read a book purely for the sake of participating in a conversation. I used to quite often. But I can't quite get committed lately. Maybe it was the demanding, structured reading in grad school that's put me off. Maybe it was a few book-club related incidents--a club-wide insistance on reading "challenging" books that weren't "too easy" or "light"...which ended with me miserably hauling myself through a couple books that no one else liked, or indeed, bothered to read.
I think these sorts of group reads a project like Kerry's, or in fact Canada Reads itself, seems very fun indeed--as warm an invitation to conversation as one could hope for. I love the idea of a group of people focusing their reading so they can share it. All I can say is I really hope to get it together for next year.
Meantime, I'm trying one of the less-structured options of group reads, one where participants don't read the same book but engage in the same kind of reading and then share thoughts on that. One that appeals (because I was already sort of doing it privately) is a retro-reading challenge. Rereading has been a hot topic on The Literary Type lately, and now over at Free-range Reading, Mark suggests the Retro Reading Challenge. Ok, fine, it's got the word "challenge" in it, but it still seems pretty fun and friendly to me:
"So here’s the idea, which I’m calling the Retro Reading Challenge, and I hope you all will play along. The idea is to pick a book that you read and adored years and years ago, then reread it now and write a review of it to capture your impressions. Did you still love it? Did you see flaws (or strengths) that you missed the first time? Did you have an “Oh God, what the hell was I thinking?” moment?"
I might not quite be able to comply with all the rules--the book needs to have been something I read only once, at least 15 years ago--but I *might* have Mostly Harmless only once, in my early teens--it wasn't in the giant omnibus that I owned as a kid, since it didn't come out until 1992. And it's way darker than the others, so it's conceivable it wasn't on my reread list. And it fits in nicely with my don't judge Eoin Kolfer too harshly project, which has been going on since fall (I'm halfway through *So Long and Thanks for All the Fish* right now, if you're curious) and will end when I read *And Another Thing* and try not to hate it for not being written by Douglas Adams.
SO! Rambling aborted, I will read *Mostly Harmless* and review it as part of the Retro Reading project. Yes. This is my plan. Baby steps.
RR
"So why aren't you participating in any of these group reads, RR?" would be a reasonable question to ask, at least lately. It's true--I love book conversations and though I'm not the fastest reader, I'm fast enough to read a book purely for the sake of participating in a conversation. I used to quite often. But I can't quite get committed lately. Maybe it was the demanding, structured reading in grad school that's put me off. Maybe it was a few book-club related incidents--a club-wide insistance on reading "challenging" books that weren't "too easy" or "light"...which ended with me miserably hauling myself through a couple books that no one else liked, or indeed, bothered to read.
I think these sorts of group reads a project like Kerry's, or in fact Canada Reads itself, seems very fun indeed--as warm an invitation to conversation as one could hope for. I love the idea of a group of people focusing their reading so they can share it. All I can say is I really hope to get it together for next year.
Meantime, I'm trying one of the less-structured options of group reads, one where participants don't read the same book but engage in the same kind of reading and then share thoughts on that. One that appeals (because I was already sort of doing it privately) is a retro-reading challenge. Rereading has been a hot topic on The Literary Type lately, and now over at Free-range Reading, Mark suggests the Retro Reading Challenge. Ok, fine, it's got the word "challenge" in it, but it still seems pretty fun and friendly to me:
"So here’s the idea, which I’m calling the Retro Reading Challenge, and I hope you all will play along. The idea is to pick a book that you read and adored years and years ago, then reread it now and write a review of it to capture your impressions. Did you still love it? Did you see flaws (or strengths) that you missed the first time? Did you have an “Oh God, what the hell was I thinking?” moment?"
I might not quite be able to comply with all the rules--the book needs to have been something I read only once, at least 15 years ago--but I *might* have Mostly Harmless only once, in my early teens--it wasn't in the giant omnibus that I owned as a kid, since it didn't come out until 1992. And it's way darker than the others, so it's conceivable it wasn't on my reread list. And it fits in nicely with my don't judge Eoin Kolfer too harshly project, which has been going on since fall (I'm halfway through *So Long and Thanks for All the Fish* right now, if you're curious) and will end when I read *And Another Thing* and try not to hate it for not being written by Douglas Adams.
SO! Rambling aborted, I will read *Mostly Harmless* and review it as part of the Retro Reading project. Yes. This is my plan. Baby steps.
RR
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Things I Like Today
1) Spencer Gordon's short story Transcript: Appeal of the Sentence on Joyland (although I did actually like it even more when he read it at Pivot at the Press Club readings--this story should be a podcast!)
2) The lovely new home of Kerry Clare's book site/blog, Pickle Me This, as designed by the crack team at Create Me This.
3) When you are standing looking up into the sky (you need a patch of sky free of buildings or bits of trees, so that all you see is sky) and it is snowing staight down and after you stare up for a while, you lose perspective and begin to feel that the snowflakes are standing still in the air, and you are travelling upwards into the sky. The snow today has been particularly good for that, if you wanna try it.
RR
2) The lovely new home of Kerry Clare's book site/blog, Pickle Me This, as designed by the crack team at Create Me This.
3) When you are standing looking up into the sky (you need a patch of sky free of buildings or bits of trees, so that all you see is sky) and it is snowing staight down and after you stare up for a while, you lose perspective and begin to feel that the snowflakes are standing still in the air, and you are travelling upwards into the sky. The snow today has been particularly good for that, if you wanna try it.
RR
Monday, December 7, 2009
For Your Information
1) The Fantastic Mr. Fox is pure unadulterated joy. Go if you like animated movies, film technology, Wes Anderson, or subtly weird humour. I think go if you like Roald Dahl, but I haven't actually read the book on which the film is based (don't start with me) so I can't say for certain. That link above is the Rotten Tomatoes Top Critics page--the film got 100% tomatoes (that's good, yo!) Also, I'm still slightly nauseated from laughing so hard. "I see...a fox on a motorcycle...with a slightly littler fox in the sidecar, along with what might be an opossum-type creature...this mean anything to anyone?" See it even if you are not or do not possess children--this film has enough layers for anyone.
2) Did you know Facebook has friend-spam? You get these friend requests from randos and then if you do it, they just send you ads and things. Well, they do, and this is why I never respond to FB friend-requests from people whose names I don't recognize and who don't send a note. If, however, some nice friendly blog reader thought it'd be fun to be my FB friend, I would totally endorse that. So, if you happen to be one of several people I don't know who friended me in the past couple days, but are not a spammer or a stalker, please send me a note to that effect and friends we shall be.
3) I am listed as one of the judges for the University of Toronto Alumni Writing Contest, story division. I'm thrilled to be associated with the amazing stories that won, as well as the energy in the UofT Magazine office that got it together, and my groovy fellow judges.
However, a wee disclaimer here, as you might have noted that a very dear friend of mine won. So you should know that another judge read "Georgia Coffee Star" in the first round, and when it appeared on my list in the 2nd, I made arrangements to recuse myself in further rounds. Which wound up being a sort of fascinating experience, as the rest of the committee made exactly the decisions I would have made, for rather different reasons. Everything I do with short stories teaches me something.
Anyway, I'm so pleased for Kerry's winning story--go read!
RR
2) Did you know Facebook has friend-spam? You get these friend requests from randos and then if you do it, they just send you ads and things. Well, they do, and this is why I never respond to FB friend-requests from people whose names I don't recognize and who don't send a note. If, however, some nice friendly blog reader thought it'd be fun to be my FB friend, I would totally endorse that. So, if you happen to be one of several people I don't know who friended me in the past couple days, but are not a spammer or a stalker, please send me a note to that effect and friends we shall be.
3) I am listed as one of the judges for the University of Toronto Alumni Writing Contest, story division. I'm thrilled to be associated with the amazing stories that won, as well as the energy in the UofT Magazine office that got it together, and my groovy fellow judges.
However, a wee disclaimer here, as you might have noted that a very dear friend of mine won. So you should know that another judge read "Georgia Coffee Star" in the first round, and when it appeared on my list in the 2nd, I made arrangements to recuse myself in further rounds. Which wound up being a sort of fascinating experience, as the rest of the committee made exactly the decisions I would have made, for rather different reasons. Everything I do with short stories teaches me something.
Anyway, I'm so pleased for Kerry's winning story--go read!
RR
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Danforth Review Links Updates
As many of you are no doubt aware, the wonderful online litmag The Danforth Review ceased publication this past summer. This is sad, but understandable--editor Michael Bryson has been wildly generous with his time and has many other projects, including a new book.
Some comfort is also available in the fact that all the past issues of TDR were archived and are still available to be read. I, tech wizard that I am, didn't really understand how the archiving system worked, which is why all the TDR links at right have been broken for the past few months, until today!! (thanks, Mark!) So, though I doubt many people have been clamouring for them, you can now read the review of my book, interview with me and short story of mine published on TDF at various times in the past three years. Along with tonnes of other good stuff!
RR
Some comfort is also available in the fact that all the past issues of TDR were archived and are still available to be read. I, tech wizard that I am, didn't really understand how the archiving system worked, which is why all the TDR links at right have been broken for the past few months, until today!! (thanks, Mark!) So, though I doubt many people have been clamouring for them, you can now read the review of my book, interview with me and short story of mine published on TDF at various times in the past three years. Along with tonnes of other good stuff!
RR
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Meantime
I have mired myself in a complicated post that I can't finish nor even understand the previous drafts of, so for now, I'm a little content poor. But don't worry, I'm gonna work it out.
Meantime, why don't you go listen The Burning Hell (if you're feeling goofy and macabre) or Dave Pomfret (if you're feeling a bit mellow, a bit bouncy, with a bit of a twang). You could always check out this database of Hamilton writers (yes, I'm in there--whoo-hoo!)
Or you could entertain yourself. It's sort of sunny outside. Maybe you should just go frolic?
RR
Meantime, why don't you go listen The Burning Hell (if you're feeling goofy and macabre) or Dave Pomfret (if you're feeling a bit mellow, a bit bouncy, with a bit of a twang). You could always check out this database of Hamilton writers (yes, I'm in there--whoo-hoo!)
Or you could entertain yourself. It's sort of sunny outside. Maybe you should just go frolic?
RR
Friday, September 18, 2009
Suggestions
There is *so much* going on of late that is awesome that the only way I can imagine anyone going wrong is if they were to sit home in the dark and not read anything. But if you are looking for suggestions...
1) Leon Rooke!! Everyone thing the man does is astounding, but specifically:
a. His new book, The Last Shot, promises to be thrilling. I have to admit I haven't opened it yet, as I only attended the warm and wonderous launch last night, but such was the buzz in the room that I'm pretty sure I'm right about this.
b. His festival, The Eden Mills Writers' Festival, which Leon and his late wife Connie started over 20 years ago, and which continues to surprise and delight and extremely talented authors to read there. This Sunday afternoon, by the river outside Guelph. I'm bringing muffins, a sitting-on-the-ground blanket, and book-buying funds--see you there?
c. His art exhibit, Peculiar Practices, at the The Bookshelf in Guelph, which runs until this Sunday. I have no idea what to expect, but am excited anyway!
2) If for some reason you can't be in the Guelph/Eden Mills regions but you can be in the Sharon region, maybe try the Words Alive Festival in Sharon, Ontario, also with a bevy of talented readers, and (I'm told) a beautiful setting... If I weren't already booked!
3) In preparation for hearing her read at the aforementioned Eden Mills, I have been joyously reading Saleema Nawaz's beautiful story collection Mother Superior. I'm only halfway, and still have no idea what the cover art means, but I already know that this is one of the best new books I've read in a while.
4) Online: Alex Boyd has a new blog, Kathrine Nabity is doing a wonderful history of how she wrote and published her first novel, and *I* have an author page on GoodReads!!
5) I'll be reading in Ottawa on October 17, 5pm, at the Manx Pub as part of the Plan 99 reading series. I am very excited.
6) You can go read some good stories at the University of Toronto alumni Short Story contest readers' choice site. If you are yourself an alumnus, you can even vote for your favourite. (completely equitable hint)
I am very excited about everything in the universe right now, except that it is cold out and I am not feeling well. So, thank goodness for literature! As usual!
Precious precious precious
RR
1) Leon Rooke!! Everyone thing the man does is astounding, but specifically:
a. His new book, The Last Shot, promises to be thrilling. I have to admit I haven't opened it yet, as I only attended the warm and wonderous launch last night, but such was the buzz in the room that I'm pretty sure I'm right about this.
b. His festival, The Eden Mills Writers' Festival, which Leon and his late wife Connie started over 20 years ago, and which continues to surprise and delight and extremely talented authors to read there. This Sunday afternoon, by the river outside Guelph. I'm bringing muffins, a sitting-on-the-ground blanket, and book-buying funds--see you there?
c. His art exhibit, Peculiar Practices, at the The Bookshelf in Guelph, which runs until this Sunday. I have no idea what to expect, but am excited anyway!
2) If for some reason you can't be in the Guelph/Eden Mills regions but you can be in the Sharon region, maybe try the Words Alive Festival in Sharon, Ontario, also with a bevy of talented readers, and (I'm told) a beautiful setting... If I weren't already booked!
3) In preparation for hearing her read at the aforementioned Eden Mills, I have been joyously reading Saleema Nawaz's beautiful story collection Mother Superior. I'm only halfway, and still have no idea what the cover art means, but I already know that this is one of the best new books I've read in a while.
4) Online: Alex Boyd has a new blog, Kathrine Nabity is doing a wonderful history of how she wrote and published her first novel, and *I* have an author page on GoodReads!!
5) I'll be reading in Ottawa on October 17, 5pm, at the Manx Pub as part of the Plan 99 reading series. I am very excited.
6) You can go read some good stories at the University of Toronto alumni Short Story contest readers' choice site. If you are yourself an alumnus, you can even vote for your favourite. (completely equitable hint)
I am very excited about everything in the universe right now, except that it is cold out and I am not feeling well. So, thank goodness for literature! As usual!
Precious precious precious
RR
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Sad happy
Tomorrow is the last offical "sighting" post over at Seen Reading, and today is the last sighting by the brilliant SR founder and all-around lovely writer/human Julie Wilson. It's a lovely post and no doubt there will be much more to read in future from JW, so we need not be too sad. The posts so far this week, from Ami McKay and Saleema Nawaz have been wonderful also, as usual; check back tomorrow for the very final post from Monique Trottier.
Still a little sad? Yeah, me too. Maybe this will cheer you up. It's pretty outstanding (thanks to Mark for sharing this!)
Find a handsome young maid for you to love
RR
Still a little sad? Yeah, me too. Maybe this will cheer you up. It's pretty outstanding (thanks to Mark for sharing this!)
Find a handsome young maid for you to love
RR
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Social Networking, So Much
Before the Rose-coloured blog, before the Facebook obsession and the fear of MySpace, before socializing went virtual, there was the Bureau of People We Know. Well, there was insofar as a thing that had no form or substance but simply got talked about a lot (mainly by me) can be said to have existed. In fact, even before that, there was the chorus of the children's song The More We Get Together, which encouraged you to think of my friends as your friends.
That was really the basis of the BPWK, as I have always wanted to meet my friends' friends, especially around the time I graduated undergrad, and my little circle exploded into different cities and careers and circles, doing all kinds of fascinating things far away where I couldn't see them. So whatever city someone ended up in, I'd name them head of that city's office of the BPWK, their only duty really being to hang out with me when I came to town, maybe introduce me to their other friends, and perhaps hang out with some other friends of mine if they found themselves in the same city.
This was not social networking in the Penelope Trunk sense, where you look for useful people, befriend them and then hope they'll do things for you. My central goal was for no one to ever be bored or lonely in a strange city and to meet as many cool people as possible (and in those senses, I am personally living the dream, at least).
And for the same reason (well, more the meeting cool people part), I am very fond of blogs and Facebook. I often meet someone once at a party, have a charming conversation, and wonder how I'll be able to have another charming conversation with that person without seeming a) like I'm hitting on him/her, b) a potential stalker, and c) socially lame. Facebook offered the answer, a way to get to know a *little* about people who seem cool, and to interact a *bit*, to the point where you might be able to "take it live" and have coffee in a real actual place.
And that makes me very happy. It also makes me happy that I can invite these new friends to parties and readings and be invited to theirs, that they can see my other friends and what we're all up to, and maybe the Bureau of People We Know will enlarge even further.
Social networking websites are not a substitution for personal interaction; they are a method of interacting, albeit in a minor, low-committment way. Which can be a conduit to lots of other things, or just a long-term happy acquaintanceship. Both are good things.
So yay Facebook, yay blog! I never joined MySpace because I thought you needed to have a band, and I never joined Twitter because I thought you needed to have a cellphone... Obviously, I know they'll let you *on* either platform without guitars or a flipphone, but I figured there's be no point; I'm not who it's for. Then a shadowy man told me I could synch my Facebook updates with Twitter, if only I were on Twitter. \
So now I'm on Twitter. Such is my love of FB that the hours in the day when, erm, technical difficulties make updating impossible are sad for me. So now, FB tweeting all the time.
And the bonus, of course, is that I'll get to see who is on Twitter. Besides Wren and Fred and Mel, of course, who are my friends across all platforms, aside from being original members of the BPWK.
Not sick of me yet? Let's be Twitter friends! Or you can just scroll way down on the right side of this blog and see my none-too-fascinating tweets.
Sweet Alexis / is eating fingernails for breakfast
RR
That was really the basis of the BPWK, as I have always wanted to meet my friends' friends, especially around the time I graduated undergrad, and my little circle exploded into different cities and careers and circles, doing all kinds of fascinating things far away where I couldn't see them. So whatever city someone ended up in, I'd name them head of that city's office of the BPWK, their only duty really being to hang out with me when I came to town, maybe introduce me to their other friends, and perhaps hang out with some other friends of mine if they found themselves in the same city.
This was not social networking in the Penelope Trunk sense, where you look for useful people, befriend them and then hope they'll do things for you. My central goal was for no one to ever be bored or lonely in a strange city and to meet as many cool people as possible (and in those senses, I am personally living the dream, at least).
And for the same reason (well, more the meeting cool people part), I am very fond of blogs and Facebook. I often meet someone once at a party, have a charming conversation, and wonder how I'll be able to have another charming conversation with that person without seeming a) like I'm hitting on him/her, b) a potential stalker, and c) socially lame. Facebook offered the answer, a way to get to know a *little* about people who seem cool, and to interact a *bit*, to the point where you might be able to "take it live" and have coffee in a real actual place.
And that makes me very happy. It also makes me happy that I can invite these new friends to parties and readings and be invited to theirs, that they can see my other friends and what we're all up to, and maybe the Bureau of People We Know will enlarge even further.
Social networking websites are not a substitution for personal interaction; they are a method of interacting, albeit in a minor, low-committment way. Which can be a conduit to lots of other things, or just a long-term happy acquaintanceship. Both are good things.
So yay Facebook, yay blog! I never joined MySpace because I thought you needed to have a band, and I never joined Twitter because I thought you needed to have a cellphone... Obviously, I know they'll let you *on* either platform without guitars or a flipphone, but I figured there's be no point; I'm not who it's for. Then a shadowy man told me I could synch my Facebook updates with Twitter, if only I were on Twitter. \
So now I'm on Twitter. Such is my love of FB that the hours in the day when, erm, technical difficulties make updating impossible are sad for me. So now, FB tweeting all the time.
And the bonus, of course, is that I'll get to see who is on Twitter. Besides Wren and Fred and Mel, of course, who are my friends across all platforms, aside from being original members of the BPWK.
Not sick of me yet? Let's be Twitter friends! Or you can just scroll way down on the right side of this blog and see my none-too-fascinating tweets.
Sweet Alexis / is eating fingernails for breakfast
RR
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Life
This morning, as I planned this post, it was going to be titled "Life is Good", because:
1) the Joyland Joyathon last night was so amazing and fun and funny and well-attended by awesome people (most of the pictures turned out terrible, due to failures of both technology and technician [though they are still available on Facebook, if you feel the need], but here's a decent one of Brian Joseph Davis and Emily Schultz kicking off the festivities:
2) I'm heading to pretty Kingston for the weekend.
1) the Joyland Joyathon last night was so amazing and fun and funny and well-attended by awesome people (most of the pictures turned out terrible, due to failures of both technology and technician [though they are still available on Facebook, if you feel the need], but here's a decent one of Brian Joseph Davis and Emily Schultz kicking off the festivities:
2) I'm heading to pretty Kingston for the weekend.
3) When I took out the recycling this morning, my eye happened to be drawn to the far end of the alley, where I had never looked before (this is sad, sad, sad, considering how long I've lived in this building and that I'm supposed to have "an eye for detail") and found...a raspberry bush in full fruit! In the alley! I ate several, just to prove to myself I could--delicious!
But then I check out the internet, and found that in the next couple months, Toronto (and the world) will be losing both Pages Bookstore and Seen Reading. All involved will continue to work wonders with books and words in our city (and the world), but this will be a big change for us all, and take some getting used to.
So, yes, life is good, but it's also life, and we struggle to keep up as best we can. Onward. I'll be back in a couple days, with tales of jails and ghosts and Greek food, we hope.
I've been an irresponsible son
RR
So, yes, life is good, but it's also life, and we struggle to keep up as best we can. Onward. I'll be back in a couple days, with tales of jails and ghosts and Greek food, we hope.
I've been an irresponsible son
RR
Friday, June 12, 2009
Saving you from boredom, one link at a time
Did you know that AMT has a blog? And that's it's fabulous, and contains regular updates about dogs, the Weather Network, and all the other various ways life is amusing? I have been dreaming of (and campaigning for) this for *years*, and now I am happy. You go read and be happy, too.
Another thing I've been wanting for a while is the re-emergence of rob mclennan's fascinating series of author interviews, 12 or 20 Questions. And now it's back, and being posted regularly on rob's clever blog. Hooray! (Am I now going to get everything I've wished for? That would be odd. Maybe only blog-related things I've wished for.)
Finally, Penelope Trunk has a good post on prioritizing. Actually, it's a slightly snarky post about how people who don't read blogs are dumb and slow (I don't agree with that; much as I like blogs, they are a personal choice, like a New Yorker subscription. Or heroin.) But she makes some really good points about how we have time for what we care about, and less time for what we, consciously or not, regard as unimportant. This is a good truth to acknowledge for me, and it's stuff like this that keeps me reading PT although she a) is mean and b) talks a lot about her sex life for no reason. But actually, neither of those things are boring either!
Happy reading!
Thank you stranger for your therapeutic smile
RR
Another thing I've been wanting for a while is the re-emergence of rob mclennan's fascinating series of author interviews, 12 or 20 Questions. And now it's back, and being posted regularly on rob's clever blog. Hooray! (Am I now going to get everything I've wished for? That would be odd. Maybe only blog-related things I've wished for.)
Finally, Penelope Trunk has a good post on prioritizing. Actually, it's a slightly snarky post about how people who don't read blogs are dumb and slow (I don't agree with that; much as I like blogs, they are a personal choice, like a New Yorker subscription. Or heroin.) But she makes some really good points about how we have time for what we care about, and less time for what we, consciously or not, regard as unimportant. This is a good truth to acknowledge for me, and it's stuff like this that keeps me reading PT although she a) is mean and b) talks a lot about her sex life for no reason. But actually, neither of those things are boring either!
Happy reading!
Thank you stranger for your therapeutic smile
RR
Saturday, January 24, 2009
All Over the Place
Some of my favourite bloggers have been sneaking off to other places and being brilliant all over again, and I've gotten a bit behind.
Kerry usually writes about books at Pickle Me This but this month she also wrote about books that are a little or a lot ripped from the headlines in This Magazine.
Julie usually writes about readers on Seen Reading, but last weekend she wrote about readers experiencing the miracle of text in transit in the Globe and Mail.
And Dani usually photographs animal effigies around town for Animal Effigy, but today her office banana chicken is on Cute with Chris.
Anything else I've missed?
Oliver James / washed in the rain / no longer
RR
Kerry usually writes about books at Pickle Me This but this month she also wrote about books that are a little or a lot ripped from the headlines in This Magazine.
Julie usually writes about readers on Seen Reading, but last weekend she wrote about readers experiencing the miracle of text in transit in the Globe and Mail.
And Dani usually photographs animal effigies around town for Animal Effigy, but today her office banana chicken is on Cute with Chris.
Anything else I've missed?
Oliver James / washed in the rain / no longer
RR
Friday, January 23, 2009
Recs
Yes Man is a B-minus movie, but for some reason the music in the film is A++. The actual soundtrack album of the music that plays in the background of the film includes *nine* Eels songs, (including very annoyingly, *one* I don't have). In addition, there's tonnes of diagetic music that is way more fun to watch/listen to than the rest of the film. Go fig. But PS--are we offended that there is a band out there called Munchausen By Proxy? I think I am. If a band was named "Child Abuse," that wouldn't go over too well, and how is this any different? Their songs are so darn neat, though.
Desk Space is always awesome, but as a literary voyeur herself, Julie Wilson, gives particularly good desk-details.
You wouldn't think I'd like a blog called Brazen Careerist. In fact, I almost never care about the actual advice being offered, but the woman who writes it, Penelope Trunk, is a very good writer, very funny and generous and *fascinating* on the topic of her own life history, and also quite possibly the woman least like me on the planet. I *love* reading her blog.
I'm going to stop pretending I didn't break your heart
RR
Desk Space is always awesome, but as a literary voyeur herself, Julie Wilson, gives particularly good desk-details.
You wouldn't think I'd like a blog called Brazen Careerist. In fact, I almost never care about the actual advice being offered, but the woman who writes it, Penelope Trunk, is a very good writer, very funny and generous and *fascinating* on the topic of her own life history, and also quite possibly the woman least like me on the planet. I *love* reading her blog.
I'm going to stop pretending I didn't break your heart
RR
Thursday, January 8, 2009
The YouTube Revolution...
is something that I've by and large missed. Mainly, I work on two computers: one on which I can't stream video, and one on which I've gotten accidentally locked into a restrictive bandwidth contract (ah, me and the phone company: good times). So even if I actually remember to forward the cool link someone sent me to the computer that will allow me to watch it, I often forgo it if I'm close to my limit for the month and living in fear of incurring massive evil fines.
Such is my life.
*Anyway*, there a few things I do rely on YouTube for (isn't it funny, by the way, that the name is based on the old picture tube, which is nearly archaic now in televisions, and certainly is in the computer-world). So I do know watching videos on the internet is great, although I only remember ever six months or so. It is great for the following things especially:
1) That thing everyone's talking about! I can't believe you missed it. No conversation will make any sense until you see this.
2) Overanalyzing music videos I saw incompletely at the gym and thought might have some hidden meaning. Also, occasionally, just videos I really like.
3) Kittens falling asleep!!!
4) Happy Slip! A Filipino girl who lives in California who makes little mini-movies about her crazy family. She makes vids about other things too, soap opera parodies that I don't get because I don't watch soaps, and maybe other stuff too. I am content to watch the same three or four thingies over every six months, they're that funny. I actually think she's quite famous now, but I don't know much about that because...I don't really do YouTube. Really.
Take me with you / I start to miss you
RR
Such is my life.
*Anyway*, there a few things I do rely on YouTube for (isn't it funny, by the way, that the name is based on the old picture tube, which is nearly archaic now in televisions, and certainly is in the computer-world). So I do know watching videos on the internet is great, although I only remember ever six months or so. It is great for the following things especially:
1) That thing everyone's talking about! I can't believe you missed it. No conversation will make any sense until you see this.
2) Overanalyzing music videos I saw incompletely at the gym and thought might have some hidden meaning. Also, occasionally, just videos I really like.
3) Kittens falling asleep!!!
4) Happy Slip! A Filipino girl who lives in California who makes little mini-movies about her crazy family. She makes vids about other things too, soap opera parodies that I don't get because I don't watch soaps, and maybe other stuff too. I am content to watch the same three or four thingies over every six months, they're that funny. I actually think she's quite famous now, but I don't know much about that because...I don't really do YouTube. Really.
Take me with you / I start to miss you
RR
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Weetzie Bat
I can be heard reading one of my favourite favourite books over at Julie Wilson's lovely site, Seen Reading. Doesn't that first page make you want to read the whole thing? In my case, for the 40th time!!
You got to fight to stay in control of the situation
RR
You got to fight to stay in control of the situation
RR
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Desk space
Everybody cool is already on this, but let me also add that I adore Desk Space, a blog showcasing writers' writing spaces. I am always dying to know what's under writers' desks, on their mousepads, on their shelves. The very fact that this blog exists makes me feel somewhat better about myself, since other people want to know too, so I'm not *that* weird.
I'm of a less oracular bent
RR
I'm of a less oracular bent
RR
Monday, September 1, 2008
Awesomeness
from so many sources, most of them helpfully catalogued on the interweb!
Listen: Kerry Clare reads Carol Shields's Unless at Seen Reading (and accidentally matches her dress to the cover).
Look: Exile Quarterly's website got a redesign.
Marvel: Steven W. Beattie wrote 31 short story reviews in August (good ones; I guess it'd be a less impressive feat if they sucked).
Read: I got interviewed by Deanna McFadden at Experience Toronto.
Dream: Fred tells me maybe we *can* someday retire to the moon.
Expect: Coming Attractions 08 (that link is to last year's model, but you get the idea) to be on shelves in the next couple months, containing three stories each by three new authors, one of which is me! (And the stories are "ContEd," "The House on Elsbeth" and "Tech Support," if you are curious.)
Oh my goodness, tomorrow is back-to-school! Not for me, though. Sigh.
I don't wanna choose black or blue / I don't wanna see what they done to you
RR
Listen: Kerry Clare reads Carol Shields's Unless at Seen Reading (and accidentally matches her dress to the cover).
Look: Exile Quarterly's website got a redesign.
Marvel: Steven W. Beattie wrote 31 short story reviews in August (good ones; I guess it'd be a less impressive feat if they sucked).
Read: I got interviewed by Deanna McFadden at Experience Toronto.
Dream: Fred tells me maybe we *can* someday retire to the moon.
Expect: Coming Attractions 08 (that link is to last year's model, but you get the idea) to be on shelves in the next couple months, containing three stories each by three new authors, one of which is me! (And the stories are "ContEd," "The House on Elsbeth" and "Tech Support," if you are curious.)
Oh my goodness, tomorrow is back-to-school! Not for me, though. Sigh.
I don't wanna choose black or blue / I don't wanna see what they done to you
RR
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Everybody blog!
At That Shakespeherian Rag, Nigel Beale refuses the Salon de Refuses, and at Thirsty, Dan Wells refuses back. Intersection is blogging again, but I just found out. My Tragic Right Hip has been blogging for a while, but I just discovered her existence and coolness.
My friend C. has no personal internet presence sadly, but does have a very cool iPhone. I have nothing new to say about anything, but I was happier about being photographed with an iPhone than this photograph would lead you to believe. On the positive side, I no longer hate my hair. On the negative side, my horoscope continues to advise patience. Hence the eye-roll?
Does he get lost / hey what are you reading?
RR
My friend C. has no personal internet presence sadly, but does have a very cool iPhone. I have nothing new to say about anything, but I was happier about being photographed with an iPhone than this photograph would lead you to believe. On the positive side, I no longer hate my hair. On the negative side, my horoscope continues to advise patience. Hence the eye-roll?
Does he get lost / hey what are you reading?
RR
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
There was a Bill Murray movie like this
My email homepage provides a horoscope, so while I'm not wildly into astrology, I've taken to checking it every day with mild curiosity. Even though these things are just vague enough to suit everybody, they are also filled with very vague good advice that it would do no one any harm to follow. Like this:
Gemini
You'll be working with a lot more energy than the people around you will have today, so you need to be prepared to wait for them -- a lot. This is not good news if you're dependent on others for your own progress, but you won't be able to speed anyone up -- so don't waste your time trying. Even though patience doesn't always come easy for you, you'll find that as the day goes on, you'll get more and more comfortable cooling your heels while other people try to catch up.
Be patient--sure, why not? It's usually something cheerful and zen like that, something that makes me feel better heading into the day. Unforutnately, the system at the website use seems to have broken down, and the above has been my horoscope for the past week now. I'm beginning to feel that this is affecting reality, thatI am in fact living the same day over and over again. I'm TIRED of being patient. I want to move ON. Is that too much to ask??
Um, there may have been other problems recently that the random zodiac machine at excite.com had nothing to do with. Either way, this is bad for morale.
Love love love
RR
Gemini
You'll be working with a lot more energy than the people around you will have today, so you need to be prepared to wait for them -- a lot. This is not good news if you're dependent on others for your own progress, but you won't be able to speed anyone up -- so don't waste your time trying. Even though patience doesn't always come easy for you, you'll find that as the day goes on, you'll get more and more comfortable cooling your heels while other people try to catch up.
Be patient--sure, why not? It's usually something cheerful and zen like that, something that makes me feel better heading into the day. Unforutnately, the system at the website use seems to have broken down, and the above has been my horoscope for the past week now. I'm beginning to feel that this is affecting reality, thatI am in fact living the same day over and over again. I'm TIRED of being patient. I want to move ON. Is that too much to ask??
Um, there may have been other problems recently that the random zodiac machine at excite.com had nothing to do with. Either way, this is bad for morale.
Love love love
RR
Monday, August 25, 2008
Too Far to Go
I can be heard reading part of John Updike story today. I very rarely hear my own voice without the reverberation of my skull, so I find listening to this an odd experience. If you are more used to not living inside my skull, you might find this recording less troubling. It's a beautiful passage, in any event.
Your boots frozen in the soil of Spain
RR
Your boots frozen in the soil of Spain
RR
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