January 2013
1 post
“American poetry is about identity-creds, but the only rule about them is the one...”
– http://nsfwcorp.co/3hty15
February 2011
2 posts
Open Secrets: WikiLeaks, War, & American Diplomacy...
Week 4 of 52 (part 1 of 2) Open Secrets
I have every intention of reading the Gardian’s version of this same story, but I’m not sure that either of these takes on Assange’s infuriating inconsistencies & hypocritical approach to the world, etc require my take on them. There are far smarter & more patient people than me to do that…
I will leave you with a fairly innocuous quote &...
Nightshift NYC -or- How Sleepless Nights Can Lend...
Week 4 (7 days late)
An aside before I begin.
I have not been sleeping well. Most of which can be blamed on my 26yro cat (who henceforth will be known only as, the Ancient One).
Most nights he has me out of bed at least 3 times before 6am, typically starting before 4am… but this is not my first bout with sleep dep. For many years as a teenager I suffered from insomnia and it was a...
January 2011
5 posts
Let The Right One In -OR- How Clearly Much More...
A long time ago I wanted to grow up to be Clarice Starling. In large part, because, well, how rad to be that smart & sexy & totally bad ass but also, I’ve always taken great comfort that most people do not exhibit obvious homicidal tendencies…
I know it seems a bit morib, but really, it’s not. It’s a truly remarkable thing that most of the time, most humans go...
Pornografia -OR- How the orchestrated use of sex &...
Week 2 of 52: Pornografia by Witold Gombrowicz
-OR- Suck it motion picture association of america!
Translated from it’s original Polish, this book takes a look at the perhaps subtle, perhaps chokingly obvious changes to the social mores of post-war Polland.
There are moments in this prose where you are lost to the horror & find yourself longing for the two old men’s obsession...
The Art Of Political Murder -Or- How With Great...
For this, the first week of 2011, I had the uncanily difficult task of choosing what to read. My Kindle is currently stacked with no less that 3 books I’ve started and for one reason or another abandoned, 17 books that seemed like must reads at the time, & 5 newly acquired paperbacks I picked up in my New Years Day raid on Ardvarkk Books.
And although I know that there are plenty of...
1 tag
Once more with feeling...
Sadly, last year was filled with distractions of all kinds [read: a total motherfucking clusterfuck] and it was not conducive to hours spent reading. Ultimately I found myself abandoning my 52x52 project, in no small part because my energies were to be spent in far less rewarding ways, but also because I found so many of the books I read to be absolute pieces of shit.
So now, with my new shiny...
May 2010
1 post
somethings...
i am still reading (although I haven’t touched my kindle in months)
but writing has not been my focus - i will try this weekend to post a list of the books i’ve read since last I wrote…
apologies
March 2010
2 posts
Liar's Poker -or- how easy it is to pretend we...
This week I’ve been roaming about Austin, watching movies & eating fried pickles. Time spent alone required traveling long distances and exploring a city overrun with nerds & music humpers alike - reading time at the SF Embassy was few and far between.
For better or worse, this week & 1/2 was another experiment in how much what we focus on can change how we think. I watched more...
Unpacking My Library: Architects & Their Books...
8
Unpacking My Library: Architects & Their Books by Jo Steffens
I picked up this book last Sunday, realizing that I was closing in on yet another crazy work week & hadn’t read anything in weeks- it was a heart felt attempt to get back on schedule.
But who would have guessed it. Reading, even short essays - well it takes time. Time, which I’ve been painfully short on lately.
...
February 2010
6 posts
“underwater on all my projects at the moment- one week delayed”
– kristin
On The Topic Of Barking Dogs -or- How I Have A...
7
Sister Bernadette’s Barking Dog The Quirky History And Lost Art Of Diagramming Sentences
For the record I cannot, in fact, spell. I’m fairly certain that this is the basis of my love of sarcasm & my possibly charming- possibly obsessive use of swear words. And although I regularly slaughter words and am abusive to all sorts of punctuations & grammar, my love of language...
Snark: It's Mean, It's Personal, & It's Ruining...
6 Snark -David Denby
Let me save you some time. You’re got shit to do. Assumptions to run with. Meals to discuss over twitter.
This book; this essay in it’s 7 parts* does no better to define snark within it’s pages than the publishers did with the bit on the back jacket:
“You recognize it when you see it: a strain of nasty, knowing, and snide abuse that has spread like...
O I’m finding that a good deal of the writing process is resisting the urge to write about how you have nothing to write about or to write about how you have to punish yourself, listening to “Highway to the Danger Zone” over and over again, just to find the motivation to write anything at all.
week/book 6 is gonna be paper →
after 4 weeks in a row of handling the kindle I am taking a break & returning to the familiar & favorite substrate- paper!
The Right Stuff or How A Special Few Agreed To Sit...
Week 5 of 52: The Right Stuff by Tom Wolf
I don’t know anyone who grew up in the 70’s or 80’s who wasn’t in love with the idea of going to space. Of being an astronaut.
There was a handful of my friends who’s parents lamented got to experience the ultimate dream of all children of that time, packaged & presented by Space Camp.
We were going to live on the...
January 2010
4 posts
The Dept. Of Mad Scientist Or How A Few Good...
Week 4 of 52 - The Department of Mad Scientists: How DARPA Is Remaking Our World, from the Internet to Artificial Limbs
In the seventies and eighties, every child I knew wanted to be an astronaut; watching Mr Wizard & playing with rockets, sitting in the cold watching Hallie’s Comet bisecting the sky. We drempt of finding new stars, of walking among them, of discovering new worlds...
1 tag
The Lost Art Of Walking - Or How An Author Can...
I have to admit. I’m sort of at a loss for words. (which for those who know me, is oft not the case) I had high hopes for this book. High hopes for a book entitled “The Lost Art Of Walking” & what it could inspire & reflect of the world. But then, just as it began. Betrayal. A book about walking written by an author who willingly lives in LA? But nobody fucking walks...
"How I Thought Reading 600 Pages During the First...
Week Two: The Rest Is Noise*
600 pages on the history of 20th century music in 5 days? Possibility: Doable [insert caveat about probability here] Pages to read per day: aprrox. 150 The book’s magnificent & haunting cover had been calling to me for months. Surely, if I set my will to the task, I could do anything even when confronting a busy week… I was mistaken. I was...
December 2009
2 posts
In the beginning there was a pile of books...
This is the beginning.
Starting Jan 1st 2010, I am planning on reading One book a week.
Full disclosure, this was not my idea, I was inspired by this article with Inaki Escudero.
Wish me luck.
