The Bystander Effect
Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010 Posted in Around the Web, Bystander | No Comments »Very interesting short video -- maybe it seems a little familiar at first -- which makes a couple of keen observations about bystander apathy, "the diffusion of responsibility," and how one person can create a new group (at 2:36 in ...
Poetry Friday (Thursday Edition): Kristen Wiig reads from “the early poems” of Suzanne Somers
Thursday, February 11th, 2010 Posted in Around the Web, Fun Clips | 1 Comment »I'm loving Poetry Friday. I hope the head honchos let me into the club -- I so need to be included in "the roundup." I actually have a pretty strong collection of slender volumes of verse from my days in ...
One Minute Blast of Inspiration
Monday, January 25th, 2010 Posted in Around the Web, the writing process | No Comments »Some days, you find exactly what you need. "Keep going." [youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5ogApu4-gk]
Perspective
Wednesday, January 20th, 2010 Posted in Around the Web, Fun Clips | 1 Comment »Okay, has everybody gone to the bathroom? You all strapped in? It's going to be a long trip. [youtube:www.youtube.com/watch?v=17jymDn0W6U] The video above, "The Known Universe," attempts to convey would it looks like to travel across the known universe. Here's some background info: It takes ...
Award Season: “Brrrrrr!”
Thursday, January 14th, 2010 Posted in Around the Web, Current Events, the writing process | 5 Comments »Feel that chill? The cold wind rattling the panes? That's right, it's that season come round again, when folks eagerly anticipate the big book awards. Which titles will be this year's big winners? And on and on and so it goes. Wonderful, terrific, ...
Scared of Santa, Revisited
Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009 Posted in Around the Web, Uncategorized | No Comments »No, I don't know why good, sane, well-intentioned people do this to their children. This guy terrifies even me -- I keep thinking he should have a lit Chesterfield and a glass of bourbon in his hands, not an innocent lamb. I ...
Yiddish with Dick and Jane
Monday, December 21st, 2009 Posted in Around the Web | No Comments »I may be late to the party on this one, but it's a good party, and still going strong. As a matter of policy, I'm not leaving 'till we kill the keg. [youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruBOgIj--9Q] The above video is a promotional piece for the ...
“Bystander” Reviewed: The Reading Zone, etc.
Monday, December 7th, 2009 Posted in Around the Web, Bystander | 5 Comments »My thanks to Sarah at The Reading Zone for her thoughtful review of Bystander, which you can read in full here. I thought this passage was particularly interesting: What I really loved about this book is the fact that it doesn’t end ...
Around the Web: Bystander, The Kidlitosphere, and a Grand Conversation
Monday, November 30th, 2009 Posted in Around the Web, Bystander | 3 Comments »I confess: I sometimes have misgivings about the kidlitosphere. At times it feels like just another clique, and one dominated by women. I recognize that one woman's ceiling is another woman's floor; a "clique" could easily be described as a ...
This Week’s Greatest Thing Ever: Rules for My Unborn Son
Saturday, November 28th, 2009 Posted in Around the Web | No Comments »Just discovered this blog -- and this book! -- and I really like it. Surprisingly, it's not all snark and wisecracks; most of the advice is almost traditional, but with a modern sensibility. There's wit here, certainly, but heart also. A ...