the art of writing is discovering what you believe
Not really cold enough to stick but it looks like enough is falling to make it cold enough. Roofs are starting to turn white, roads are slowly being coated, trees and bushes are flocked.
while 1 != 0 {
let it snow;
}
It’s snowing to beat the band here. Not really cold enough to stick but it looks like enough is falling to make it cold enough. Roofs are starting to turn white, roads are slowly being coated, trees and bushes are flocked.
And no school for two weeks.
“We don’t have the answers†turns into “We don’t have the answers…yetâ€
Whatever your tradition, you can tap into the message of hope for the future.
Wishing you all the most precious gifts, the ones no money can buy:
- Joy
- Community
- Inner peace
- Courage
- Hope
A word about hope:
The word yet
“I can’t do that” becomes “I can’t do that…yet”
“We don’t have the answers” turns into “We don’t have the answers…yet”
Whatever your tradition, you can tap into the message of hope for the future. Believe in something better, and take the first tiny steps in that direction. Astonishing things can happen.
After the Huckabee poll surge, I can see why Peter Wehner wants to pretend that his party hasn’t been pretending and pandering and dog-whistling and Christ-invoking and code-talking and cross-waving, very goddamn loudly and ostentatiously, for a couple of decades now. Similarly, for private reasons of his own he may someday wish to appear in public dressed in chainmail and a fruit-hat demanding he be worshiped as the Supreme Empress Susan.
I get that the muckety-mucks in the GOP are worried because Huckabee actually means and believes all this God-bothering bullshit, and they’ve just been pretending and pandering. That’s clear.
But the cynicism of this essay is just way off the charts. After the Huckabee poll surge, I can see why Peter Wehner wants to pretend that his party hasn’t been pretending and pandering and dog-whistling and Christ-invoking and code-talking and cross-waving, very goddamn loudly and ostentatiously, for a couple of decades now. Similarly, for private reasons of his own he may someday wish to appear in public dressed in chainmail and a fruit-hat demanding he be worshiped as the Supreme Empress Susan. However, that doesn’t place any obligation on anyone to play along with such sports. [From Souls Who Have Redefined Our Roles]
The complete prose works of Herman Melville in three volumes, the exhilarating range of Mark Twain’s genius in six volumes, Hawthorne’s haunting novels and tales, Emerson’s essays, Frederick Douglass’s own story of his escape from slavery: these and many other works from the American Renaissance and beyond are represented in this extraordinary collection. From Richard Henry Dana’s Two Years Before the Mast to Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women trilogy, from Thoreau’s Walden to Henry James’s The Portrait of a Lady, all of the great works that form the foundation of America’s literary heritage are included in this complete collection of deluxe authoritative editions from The Library of America .
I like the idea of a book subscription or club, but not the crappy bestsellers that I will never motivate myself to read. It’s OK, I know it’s me, not them but still . . . . this is the kind of thing I have wistfully imagined.
The complete prose works of Herman Melville in three volumes, the exhilarating range of Mark Twain’s genius in six volumes, Hawthorne’s haunting novels and tales, Emerson’s essays, Frederick Douglass’s own story of his escape from slavery: these and many other works from the American Renaissance and beyond are represented in this extraordinary collection. From Richard Henry Dana’s Two Years Before the Mast to Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women trilogy, from Thoreau’s Walden to Henry James’s The Portrait of a Lady, all of the great works that form the foundation of America’s literary heritage are included in this complete collection of deluxe authoritative editions from The Library of America. The Library of America publishes America’s best and most significant writing in durable and authoritative editions. Bring the entire series home with the Library of America Collection, available only on Amazon.com, or build your own collection. For a limited time, for every four Library of America books you order, we’ll give you the lowest priced of the four free at checkout. (See details for our 4-for-3 promotion.) [From The Library of America Collections: The 19th Century American Classics]
Like newspapers, as I remember them, it’s good to have a balanced diet of information.
The question before me now is how much of this have I already read and how much of it do I care to read, based on what I already know? is there time enough in life to read more Henry James? I have my doubts. And the few bits and pieces of Twain I don’t already have don’t justify the price of one or more volumes.
I heard an artist this week referring to how she had to write more songs to fill up a CD: it starts to sound more like those awful term papers where you had to write 1500 words on something, no matter how many original ideas you had on the topic.
…In addition to tips to avoid being duped by counterfeit product, the music industry is offering exciting legal products to satisfy music lovers’ appetites for innovative content this holiday season and steer shoppers away from cheap, illegal products.
The RIAA cartel is all about product, not about music, as should be well-understood. The very notion of the album and its successor the CD is a form-factor decision, not an artistic one. I heard an artist this week referring to how she had to write more songs to fill up a CD: it starts to sound more like those awful term papers where you had to write 1500 words on something, no matter how many original ideas you had on the topic.
So it’s interesting to see what the RIAA thinks is compelling for shoppers this festive season.
In addition to tips to avoid being duped by counterfeit product, the music industry is offering exciting legal products to satisfy music lovers’ appetites for innovative content this holiday season and steer shoppers away from cheap, illegal products. Just a few examples of popular offerings currently in select stores include: –
- USB card wrist bracelet with the new Matchbox Twenty album “Exile on Mainstream”
- K.T. Tunstall iTunes Digital Album card for “Drastic Fantastic” available at Starbucks
- Taylor Swift’s “Sounds of the Season” Special Holiday Album (custom for Target)
- U2’s “The Joshua Tree” in four configurations, including a 2 CD-set bound booklet deluxe edition and a super deluxe edition in a case bound book and 5 portfolio prints (2 CD/DVD set)
- “Into the Wild” Soundtrack iTunes Digital Album card available at Starbucks
- Linkin Park’s “Minutes to Midnight” Music Video Interactive (MVI) DVD + Bonus CD featuring superior sound quality, a wide range of video features, and interactive digital content
- Special festive cell phone ringtones like Maria Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas”
- Norah Jones iTunes Digital Album card for her latest release “Not Too Late” available at Safeway [From RIAA]
Can you say “packaging?” What’s new about any of this? Ranging from music that was released 20 years ago to new stuff, it’s all about packaged goods, not about music. They’re not a music organization but a manufacturing concern. They think like an organization that has an easily duplicated product and no clue how to get beyond that. And I suppose they’re right, since they are not the originators of the music, the stuff people actually want. I feel like I am watching someone pitch me on a new line of shopping carts, as if that’s the reason I go to the grocery store.
The last “record company” will be the best one, by definition, but in the same sense as the last maker of buggy whips and coach lamps was the best in its field.
Watch for Compilations that are “Too Good to Be True”: Many pirates make “dream compilation†CDs, comprised of songs by numerous artists on different record labels who would not likely appear on the same legitimate album together.
…This, of course, is why teenagers should be sued in to penury, rather than something as revolutionary as the music industry putting together its own compilations that people want to buy.
The RIAA cartel admits their irrelevance and incompetence.
via Matt, the RIAA gives consumers holiday advice:
Watch for Compilations that are “Too Good to Be True”: Many pirates make “dream compilation” CDs, comprised of songs by numerous artists on different record labels who would not likely appear on the same legitimate album together.
So, if you see an album with all of your favourite artists on it, performing the songs you love, for the love of God don’t buy it — it’s probably pirated!
Seriously, this is their press release. And in it, they explicitly state that pirates are putting together products that people want more than the legitimate variety. This, of course, is why teenagers should be sued in to penury, rather than something as revolutionary as the music industry putting together its own compilations that people want to buy.
Related: The Year the Music Industry Broke.
[From The Music Industry’s talking points: “Hey, we’re obsolete.”]
The best way to communicate with him turns out to be pictures (it’s a huge plug for Polaroid, as their instant film technology is how they create lifelike pictures that work as communication tokens). The best part of it for me was the examples of the kids teaching the adults, and not always autistic kids: there is always an aspect of that, as each instance of autism is unique.
I read this last night.
“With the Light… Vol. 1: Raising an Autistic Child (With the Light…)” (Keiko Tobe)
It was something I saw and thought might be interesting. We have an autism inclusion program and I know one of the kids in it.
It was really insightful and poignant. There are some subjects that can be well-served by an illustrated text, and I think this was one of them. Partly to make it accessible — the story can be followed by readers of varying proficiency — but in large part because the main character, Hiraku, is very visual. The best way to communicate with him turns out to be pictures (it’s a huge plug for Polaroid, as their instant film technology is how they create lifelike pictures that work as communication tokens).
The best part of it for me was the examples of the kids teaching the adults, and not always autistic kids: there is always an aspect of that, as each instance of autism is unique. But the normally-developing kids also learn from each other and from themselves and the adults learn from them. If you’re at all prone to poignant messages making you a tad blinky, be warned.
There are also some real-world tips interspersed in the book that can be used to work with and help autistic kids. When you consider that there are as many as 1-2 in 1,000, chances are good you’ll have the opportunity to know someone with autism.