November 2009
69 posts
Now that that's over with...
Oh, hey, New York, what are you doing on December 15 to 18? Do you want to maybe grab a beer, eat a slice, or go see Broken Embraces with me?
The patch in Frackville, PA
One June in the mid-1990s, my sister and I attended our first-ever wedding reception just outside of Frackville, PA, in northeastern Pennsylvania coal-mining country. It was a very strange reception, and I’m still not sure which relatives actually got married that year, only that the two crazy cousins of my mom’s were there. Those crazy cousins are both dead now.
Toward the end of the...
tumbledore:
Sonic Youth - “Bull In The...
Hastily Written Cover Copy for an Unfinished...
45 Degrees (Tentative title, gimme your feedback!)
To keep from falling down the rabbit hole of cubicle hatred, 24-year-old Ayelet balances between her job and her new says-that-he’s-anarchist boyfriend, filling her summer with beer-soaked bike rides and team-building happy hours. Meanwhile, her former boss, Claire, has given up on anything in her life turning out as planned and taken an...
Normally I queue up the Wednesday Morning Dance...
kaeti:
“In the middle of the world, make one positive step. In the center of chaos, make one definitive act. Just write. Say yes, stay alive, be awake. Just write. Just write. Just write.”
Natalie Goldberg, Writing Down the Bones
And how.
NaNoWriMo: An Update and a Request
Hi Friends,
On Facebook and on Twitter and sometimes on Tumblr I’ve been dropping vague hints of characters, word counts, and thoughts on writing during this month of typing that is NaNoWriMo. Here’s the actual progress report: I’m at word 37,258, and I hope to be over 40,000 by the time I go to sleep tonight. By Monday, November 30, I will have completed a 50,000-word novel.
...
Every six months this works, and it is such an...
Feeding America, from MSU, is a searchable... →
Both the archives nerd and the food freak inside me are exploding like overheated soup in a microwave at the possibilities of this resource. Zoinks!
Via Martha & Tom, which uses the archive to explore the historical difference between “stuffing” and “dressing” to great effect.
Ugly Casanova - “Spilled Milk Factory”
WatchThings I loved today:
1. This video. I think the guys in Vampire Weekend are attractive now, so that’s a new development. 2. Belts and leggings and shoes in Manhattan Murder Mystery. 3. OMG the girl who sings in that song I can’t stop listening to was in Annie with Essbee. 4. I keep writing, even though I have no idea what words 25,000-30,000 are even supposed to be about and I kinda...
pencilthin:
Little Lovin’ - Lissie
I...
“I think it’s funny when people complain super loud about how...”
– Kate Beaton is the love of my life. Her new comics are about beatniks and Goethe. HOORAY.
Which of the following items will I buy for my new...
A. A couch so that others may visit and have a place to sleep?
B. A cat so that I may have love in all stages of my life?
C. A television so that I may stay screenly entertained without the aid of my MacBook?
D. A stereo so that I may listen to my records?
There is probably a correct answer to this question. Here is a hint.
Dark Meat - “Well Fuck You Then”
This...
I have to go to work now, but Give to the Max... →
With a $10 donation, you can win fabulous prizes (yes, it’s true), support a fantastic Minnesota-based publication, and have your donations matched.
What is not to love?
“Strictly from an etymological point of view, “unfriend” is an...”
– Mary Elizabeth Williams on the OED’s word of the year, which proves that no one really knows how to use language; most people just move it around a lot until it sounds right.
Dolly Parton - “The Bargain Store”
...
Give to the Max Day!
Hi Friends!
If you live in Minnesota and spend any time on the web sites, Facebook fan pages, or mailing lists of local nonprofit organizations, you might have noticed that today is Give to the Max Day. From 8am today until 8am Wednesday (CT), all of your donations on GiveMN.org will be matched by the Minneapolis Foundation, the St. Paul Foundation, and the Bush Foundation (up to $500,000 total)....
Parents, they just kinda understand
Craig: Moonlighting is great, you'll love it
Deborah: I was either not allowed to watch it
or Thirty something
I am not sure which one
Craig: warning - you might find Bruce Willis incredibly attractive
after watching Moonlighting
Deborah: oh, ok
Craig: that's probably what your parents were trying to save you from
Deborah: hahaha
I dunno, Labyrinth had already made me a huge David Bowie fan
Craig: yeah, but that one snuck under the radar as a "kid's movie" and your folks could never have guessed at the power of glam
however
the power of a well dressed man in a loosened tie with speedy lines full of whit and no small measure of goofy charm?
that's a bit more their speed
Deborah: yeah, parents get that
--
compiled and posted by one Hungryghoast
WatchIt’s good to know that there’s someone looking out for me now that I’m living alone: it’s Sarah Haskins.
"Secret copyright treaty leaks. It's bad. Very...
hungryghoast:
Yes, I’m just copying this from BoingBoing in whole, but I think this is pretty important and not just to me personally and to my profession:
The internet chapter of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, a secret copyright treaty whose text Obama’s administration refused to disclose due to “national security” concerns, has leaked. It’s bad. It says:
* That ISPs have to...
The Rosebuds - “Leaves Do Fall”
This...
A reminder to research your statistics before...
The Guttmacher Institute just sent out an email regarding the statistic that only “13% of abortions in 2001 were billed directly to private insurance companies,” providing contextual information for that percentage:
However, that statistic alone misrepresents the situation on three counts:
Our study included all women who obtained abortions in 2001, including women on Medicaid and...
Wednesday Morning Dance Party: Le Tigre -...
Try imagining a place where it's always safe and...
Have you heard from your Twin Cities friends recently? No? That’s probably because we’ve had a stretch of lovely, sunny fall days and everyone is outside, biking and playing, just like in the summer but with more shooting of deer.
Usually during November I wear my iPod and a frown, listening to my special November playlist and thinking about how glum I am that the winter is nearly...
