Emotional restraint, studied casualness, constructed authenticity – politicians and authors aim for the same but only one group knows when it is lying
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Wednesday, December 31, 2014
Bae, It Would Be Cray To Stop Using These 'Banned' Words
If you had plans to spend next year calling your boo bae, describing the chilly weather as a polar vortex or talking up your foodie lifestyle, cancel them immediately. Those three terms can never be spoken again.
At least, that’s the tongue-in-cheek goal of the “List of Words Banished from the Queen's English for Mis-use, Over-use and General Uselessness," released Wednesday by Lake Superior State University in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. The college's 40th annual list has a total of 12 new words we're supposed to collectively excise from our vocabulary in 2015.
The other nine entries include hack, skill set, swag, curate(d), friend-raising, cra-cra (alternately spelled cray-cray), enhanced interrogation, takeaway and nation when used to denote the fans of a particular sports team (e.g. Cubs Nation).
The banished word list was started in January of 1976 by W.T. Rabe, a savvy former LSSU public relations director, who's also known for inventing the school traditions of issuing unicorn questing licenses and burning a snowman each spring.
The first list came directly from LSSU staff and Rabe’s personal language pet peeves. But at this point in time (that phrase made the list in 1976), it’s generated by the wider populace, with people submitting the words they loathe on the school’s website and a committee compiling the final selection each December. The list has since grown to include more than 800 entries.
Some of the phrases on the list have been faulted for redundancy, like 1995's vast majority ; others, like enhanced interrogation , speak to a dead serious (another banned phrase) critique of cultural mores. Other words are clearly targeted because they're trending (yep, also banned).
Nominators also take issue with overused words that become divorced from their original meaning, like using "hack" to describe mascara application tips or calling a box of different dog foods "curated."
It's easy to get annoyed by slang terms that crop up suddenly -- especially if you need an article from Time to understand them -- and then die out within a year or two anyway. But part of the fun of language is the difficulty of predicting which words will naturally fall by the wayside -- we barely knew you, cybarian and chillaxin' -- and which ones will become so commonplace -- prioritize , parenting , brainstorm , blog -- it's strange to think of trying to ban them. With something as delightful and amazing as language, half the fun for wordsmiths is watching usage change over time.
In some ways, putting a straight-up ban on words that are part of people's everyday conversations seems like a stodgy approach. However, LSSU's banished word list serves as a reminder to be creative and deft with word choice -- to encourage thinking outside of the box -- rather than as a prescriptive ban. It can also just be an interesting snapshot of what’s hot and hated in language year-by-year.
That said , if you catch yourself telling your bae, who’s a real foodie, about a cra-cra hack for getting free swag, it might be time to think about expanding your vocabulary.
Or not, whatever . It's all good .
At least, that’s the tongue-in-cheek goal of the “List of Words Banished from the Queen's English for Mis-use, Over-use and General Uselessness," released Wednesday by Lake Superior State University in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. The college's 40th annual list has a total of 12 new words we're supposed to collectively excise from our vocabulary in 2015.
The other nine entries include hack, skill set, swag, curate(d), friend-raising, cra-cra (alternately spelled cray-cray), enhanced interrogation, takeaway and nation when used to denote the fans of a particular sports team (e.g. Cubs Nation).
The banished word list was started in January of 1976 by W.T. Rabe, a savvy former LSSU public relations director, who's also known for inventing the school traditions of issuing unicorn questing licenses and burning a snowman each spring.
The first list came directly from LSSU staff and Rabe’s personal language pet peeves. But at this point in time (that phrase made the list in 1976), it’s generated by the wider populace, with people submitting the words they loathe on the school’s website and a committee compiling the final selection each December. The list has since grown to include more than 800 entries.
Some of the phrases on the list have been faulted for redundancy, like 1995's vast majority ; others, like enhanced interrogation , speak to a dead serious (another banned phrase) critique of cultural mores. Other words are clearly targeted because they're trending (yep, also banned).
Nominators also take issue with overused words that become divorced from their original meaning, like using "hack" to describe mascara application tips or calling a box of different dog foods "curated."
It's easy to get annoyed by slang terms that crop up suddenly -- especially if you need an article from Time to understand them -- and then die out within a year or two anyway. But part of the fun of language is the difficulty of predicting which words will naturally fall by the wayside -- we barely knew you, cybarian and chillaxin' -- and which ones will become so commonplace -- prioritize , parenting , brainstorm , blog -- it's strange to think of trying to ban them. With something as delightful and amazing as language, half the fun for wordsmiths is watching usage change over time.
In some ways, putting a straight-up ban on words that are part of people's everyday conversations seems like a stodgy approach. However, LSSU's banished word list serves as a reminder to be creative and deft with word choice -- to encourage thinking outside of the box -- rather than as a prescriptive ban. It can also just be an interesting snapshot of what’s hot and hated in language year-by-year.
That said , if you catch yourself telling your bae, who’s a real foodie, about a cra-cra hack for getting free swag, it might be time to think about expanding your vocabulary.
Or not, whatever . It's all good .
Beginning a History of Marriage Equality
The race to write a triumphal history of the struggle for marriage equality for lesbians and gay men has begun. During 2014, publishers released two substantial books tracing the recent past. In the spring, Jo Becker's Forcing the Spring debuted with much fanfare and press attention. This fall, Marc Solomon's Winning Marriage entered bookstores with somewhat less attention, a shame because Winning Marriage is by far a superior book. While both of these books provide an emergent history, much of the history of marriage equality remains to be written. History, like science, is "a cumulative process."
In Winning Marriage, Solomon organizes his narrative around four main struggles for marriage recognition. He begins in Massachusetts where he worked with the Massachusetts Freedom to Marry Coalition as a volunteer and paid lobbyist. The narrative that Solomon provides from the moment of the court decision to the final vote by the legislature to not amend the constitution prohibiting lesbians and gay men from marrying is fast-paced and compelling. Solomon profiles state legislators, gay and lesbian couples and activists demonstrating grassroots support for the law and documenting the extensive organizing efforts to secure marriage in the first state with the freedom to marry.
Solomon then continues with the story of securing marriage equality through the legislature in New York and winning at the ballot boxes, with particular attention to Maine, Minnesota and Washington. He concludes with President Barack Obama's evolution on marriage and the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Windsor.
Solomon is an engaging narrator throughout the book, never too intrusive. He consistently provides compelling and interesting detail while keeping the narrative moving forward. Most impressive in Winning Marriage is its commitment to recognizing multiple people -- activists, legislators, lobbyists and just plain interested citizens -- and their role in the struggle for marriage equality. In Solomon's hands, the story of marriage equality is multi-vocal, even cacophonous, with an array of people working with commitment to achieve the goal.
This characterization is, of course, in sharp contrast to Becker's narrative in Forcing the Spring. Becker, a Pulitzer-prize winning, New York Times journalist selected an elite group of white men to be the focus of her narrative, thinking that they would certainly be the people to lead the historic change. Through Forcing the Spring, Becker seeks to lionize Chad Griffin by placing him alongside legal lions, Ted Olson and David Boies. Of course, it was not their case against Proposition 8 that was the winner at the Supreme Court -- it was the case of Robbie Kaplan litigating on behalf of Edie Windsor. Similarly, Becker's narrative to lionize Griffin fails.
Forcing the Spring is organized into four parts, pivoting around what Becker imagines as a dynamic and dramatic court case. She even alludes to the Scopes monkey trial to situate the historic significance of the case. The first section of Forcing the Spring chronicles the lead up to the trial, including the assembly of the cast of characters, which in comparison to Solomon's rich story is paltry. Most striking is how ungenerous Becker is to LGBT activists; her derisive characterizations of movement activists is both mean-spirited and fails to recognize the multiple elements necessary for social movement success. The second section is a day-by-day recap of the trial and, much like the HBO film, The Case Against 8, a dry and boring experience. It takes great artistry to make art out of trials.
The third and fourth sections of Forcing the Spring open further, almost into an interesting narrative. After the district court trial, the political environment heats up for marriage, and Becker looks outside of the single case providing interesting history about Obama's evolution and the myriad of options the Appellate and Supreme Courts had with the case.
At one point, Becker almost seems to recognize the differences between the Proposition 8 case and the Windsor case, writing, "The teams were as different as could be. The Proposition 8 team was led by two straight men; Kaplan's was predominantly female, and led by three lesbians" (361). It is almost as if she can see a broader community working on marriage equality but not quite. Becker continually focuses narrowly on her selected, elite subjects, resulting in a book that ultimately feels short-sighted, narrow, and unreliable.
If journalism is a first draft of history, the movement for marriage equality deserves many more drafts quickly. While Solomon's Winning Marriage is rich, certainly there are other stories still to be told. When a more comprehensive history has been drafted, Becker's Forcing the Spring can wrap day-old fish.
In Winning Marriage, Solomon organizes his narrative around four main struggles for marriage recognition. He begins in Massachusetts where he worked with the Massachusetts Freedom to Marry Coalition as a volunteer and paid lobbyist. The narrative that Solomon provides from the moment of the court decision to the final vote by the legislature to not amend the constitution prohibiting lesbians and gay men from marrying is fast-paced and compelling. Solomon profiles state legislators, gay and lesbian couples and activists demonstrating grassroots support for the law and documenting the extensive organizing efforts to secure marriage in the first state with the freedom to marry.
Solomon then continues with the story of securing marriage equality through the legislature in New York and winning at the ballot boxes, with particular attention to Maine, Minnesota and Washington. He concludes with President Barack Obama's evolution on marriage and the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Windsor.
Solomon is an engaging narrator throughout the book, never too intrusive. He consistently provides compelling and interesting detail while keeping the narrative moving forward. Most impressive in Winning Marriage is its commitment to recognizing multiple people -- activists, legislators, lobbyists and just plain interested citizens -- and their role in the struggle for marriage equality. In Solomon's hands, the story of marriage equality is multi-vocal, even cacophonous, with an array of people working with commitment to achieve the goal.
This characterization is, of course, in sharp contrast to Becker's narrative in Forcing the Spring. Becker, a Pulitzer-prize winning, New York Times journalist selected an elite group of white men to be the focus of her narrative, thinking that they would certainly be the people to lead the historic change. Through Forcing the Spring, Becker seeks to lionize Chad Griffin by placing him alongside legal lions, Ted Olson and David Boies. Of course, it was not their case against Proposition 8 that was the winner at the Supreme Court -- it was the case of Robbie Kaplan litigating on behalf of Edie Windsor. Similarly, Becker's narrative to lionize Griffin fails.
Forcing the Spring is organized into four parts, pivoting around what Becker imagines as a dynamic and dramatic court case. She even alludes to the Scopes monkey trial to situate the historic significance of the case. The first section of Forcing the Spring chronicles the lead up to the trial, including the assembly of the cast of characters, which in comparison to Solomon's rich story is paltry. Most striking is how ungenerous Becker is to LGBT activists; her derisive characterizations of movement activists is both mean-spirited and fails to recognize the multiple elements necessary for social movement success. The second section is a day-by-day recap of the trial and, much like the HBO film, The Case Against 8, a dry and boring experience. It takes great artistry to make art out of trials.
The third and fourth sections of Forcing the Spring open further, almost into an interesting narrative. After the district court trial, the political environment heats up for marriage, and Becker looks outside of the single case providing interesting history about Obama's evolution and the myriad of options the Appellate and Supreme Courts had with the case.
At one point, Becker almost seems to recognize the differences between the Proposition 8 case and the Windsor case, writing, "The teams were as different as could be. The Proposition 8 team was led by two straight men; Kaplan's was predominantly female, and led by three lesbians" (361). It is almost as if she can see a broader community working on marriage equality but not quite. Becker continually focuses narrowly on her selected, elite subjects, resulting in a book that ultimately feels short-sighted, narrow, and unreliable.
If journalism is a first draft of history, the movement for marriage equality deserves many more drafts quickly. While Solomon's Winning Marriage is rich, certainly there are other stories still to be told. When a more comprehensive history has been drafted, Becker's Forcing the Spring can wrap day-old fish.
5 Tops Ways to Write Your Memoir in 2015
Is one of your goals to write AND finish a memoir? Then this post is definitely for you. There's NO reason whatsoever why writing a memoir should take years and years. Think again. With a little bit of planning, you can turn your life-long dream of memoir writing into publishable action with these tried and true FIVE steps.
1. First, plan out your writing dates. Not only will this help keep you focused, but you can make lots of progress writing when you know in advance how your work week is going to look. The key to progress is to write, write and write because memoir writing is one of the hardest genres to crack. If you know you're going to be having a difficult week, then planning is even more essential. Plan your writing around your most productive hours if possible. This was how I was able to finish 16 chapters of my memoir, Accidental Soldier: What My Service in the Israel Defense Forces Taught Me about Faith, Courage and Love. (I started working with an editor from June 2014.)
2. If possible, alternate your content/web writing with your memoir writing. Memoir writing is definitely a different animal and you need a different mindset. Blogging should be part of your platform building toolkit which is where content writing come in. If alternating days isn't possible, then consider writing your memoir in the morning and blogging in the afternoon.
3. Hire an editor as early as possible in the memoir writing stages. A memoir goes through several "births" at a time. There's the downloading stage, the muddy middle and the publishing stage. Each stages requires deeper clarity and thought. Having an editor can help you avoid getting stuck. Having an editor who's also a writing coach can also help you stay more accountable.
4. Try and keep social media voices turned off at least for the duration of your memoir writing session. I can't tell you how many times I lost my train of thought because I kept the browser tab of my email open so I could check every five seconds if another email popped "in." This constant back and forth movement is actually very disruptive to your train of thought and it completely "rerouted" my writing mind. Just up until a few minutes ago, I realized I left the browser tab again open and noticed how much more thoughtful I was able my words and time the minute I clicked it closed. If you can survive 30 minutes without checking your email, then you can survive 60 minutes. And your writing mind will thank you for it.
5. Break your writing goals into quarterly goals. A year's worth of goals is much harder to measure and can actually detain you from reaching your goals. Quarterly goals are so much more tangible and measurable. Since I have less than half of my memoir to go, I'm going to measure my writing progress via weekly and monthly goals -- one revised chapter a week or three to four chapters a month.
It may seem like a lot but with a little bit of planning, you can actually accomplish a great chunk of writing. Here's to you and your story!
Is your BIG goal for 2015 to write a memoir? If so, what are some of your action steps? Please share!
1. First, plan out your writing dates. Not only will this help keep you focused, but you can make lots of progress writing when you know in advance how your work week is going to look. The key to progress is to write, write and write because memoir writing is one of the hardest genres to crack. If you know you're going to be having a difficult week, then planning is even more essential. Plan your writing around your most productive hours if possible. This was how I was able to finish 16 chapters of my memoir, Accidental Soldier: What My Service in the Israel Defense Forces Taught Me about Faith, Courage and Love. (I started working with an editor from June 2014.)
2. If possible, alternate your content/web writing with your memoir writing. Memoir writing is definitely a different animal and you need a different mindset. Blogging should be part of your platform building toolkit which is where content writing come in. If alternating days isn't possible, then consider writing your memoir in the morning and blogging in the afternoon.
3. Hire an editor as early as possible in the memoir writing stages. A memoir goes through several "births" at a time. There's the downloading stage, the muddy middle and the publishing stage. Each stages requires deeper clarity and thought. Having an editor can help you avoid getting stuck. Having an editor who's also a writing coach can also help you stay more accountable.
4. Try and keep social media voices turned off at least for the duration of your memoir writing session. I can't tell you how many times I lost my train of thought because I kept the browser tab of my email open so I could check every five seconds if another email popped "in." This constant back and forth movement is actually very disruptive to your train of thought and it completely "rerouted" my writing mind. Just up until a few minutes ago, I realized I left the browser tab again open and noticed how much more thoughtful I was able my words and time the minute I clicked it closed. If you can survive 30 minutes without checking your email, then you can survive 60 minutes. And your writing mind will thank you for it.
5. Break your writing goals into quarterly goals. A year's worth of goals is much harder to measure and can actually detain you from reaching your goals. Quarterly goals are so much more tangible and measurable. Since I have less than half of my memoir to go, I'm going to measure my writing progress via weekly and monthly goals -- one revised chapter a week or three to four chapters a month.
It may seem like a lot but with a little bit of planning, you can actually accomplish a great chunk of writing. Here's to you and your story!
Is your BIG goal for 2015 to write a memoir? If so, what are some of your action steps? Please share!
Word Origins as Comics: Speaking and Writing Properly-- You Gotta Be Kiddin'!
Not doing "good" today? Cheer up! Check out a brief history of other verbal "transgressions," courtesy of the Word Police. Using a non-pedantic approach to word origins, our goal is to both educate and entertain. And what better place to begin than with the language we use, from Book One of a series of fifteen books of educational comics by Larry Paros.
This is the eight column from that first book. Enjoy! Feel free to share your thoughts. Feedback and Pushback are encouraged.
Follow Larry Paros @
insomanywords.net
Take words with Larry @
http://ift.tt/1BnQzzu
http://ift.tt/1u9BRWu
http://ift.tt/1u9BRWA
More fun with words by Larry
bawdylanguage.com
This is the eight column from that first book. Enjoy! Feel free to share your thoughts. Feedback and Pushback are encouraged.
Follow Larry Paros @
insomanywords.net
Take words with Larry @
http://ift.tt/1BnQzzu
http://ift.tt/1u9BRWu
http://ift.tt/1u9BRWA
More fun with words by Larry
bawdylanguage.com
These Were The Year's Most Controversial TV Episodes
Television soared in 2014, offering audiences a year full of diverse storytelling, remarkable new shows, continually impressive old shows and some unforgettable performances.
Yet this year also gave us some rather contentious episodes that set the Internet ablaze and spurred a chain reaction of thinkpieces among television critics and writers. Here's a look back on 2014's most controversial TV episodes:
"Louie" -- “So Did The Fat Lady”
Season 4 of "Louie" was undoubtedly the writer and actor's most debated season yet, stirring up fiery debates on the Internet following multiple episodes. The first one that gave way to divided opinions was “So Did The Fat Lady," in which Vanessa (played by Sarah Baker) delivers a seven-minute monologue to Louie during a date about what it's really like to live as an overweight woman. While some praised the episode, others questioned C.K.'s authority to speak on behalf of women in general, saying that the speech "felt like a plea" the writer wasn't qualified to make.
"Louie" -- "Pamela (Part 1)"
Not content to merely deal with body issues, Louis C.K. also tackled sexual assault during Season 4. In “Pamela (Part 1)," which was a three-part story arc, Louie drunkenly throws himself on his unwilling friend, Pamela (played by Pamela Adlon), tries to kiss her and ends up chasing her around his apartment. "This would be rape if you weren’t so stupid,” Pamela said, before anything turned too dark. The scene had critics questioning what C.K.'s intention was with the episode. While the penultimate episode of Season 4 revealed how "Louie" was striving to push buttons and stir conversations, commenting on our culture's quick impulse to tear apart everything we consume, not all journalists were pleased with the season.
Game of Thrones -- "Breaker of Chains"
"Game of Thrones" is known for being one of the most bloody, brutal and sexually explicit shows on television (that's why we love it). But this past season included an episode that enraged and upset even the most devout fans of both the show and books. The scene in question featured an incestuous rape between Jaime and his sister, Cersei, which was shocking in not just content but in how it also differed from the books. Critics spoke out immediately, deeming the scene rape without question and dissecting why the changed plot -- which was perceived as consensual in the books -- necessitated discussion. Meanwhile, the episode director, Alex Graves, said that in his perspective, the scene became "consensual by the end," while George R.R. Martin said that he regretted if the scene upset people for the wrong reasons.
The Newsroom -- "Oh Shenandoah"
Aaron Sorkin's HBO drama "The Newsroom" came to a close this year, but it definitely didn't leave without making some noise. In the penultimate episode of the final season, Don Keefer (Thomas Sadoski) interviewed a young college student who says she was raped at a party. The episode was very timely, as it aired following the Bill Cosby sexual assault accusations and Rolling Stone's University of Virginia gang rape article, but wound up being terribly flawed.
Libby Hill of the AV Club pointed out the "casual dehumanization" of the episode, saying that it "tries to assuage our ill-feelings about rape by rampantly defending the rights of famous people from paparazzi." The backlash was pretty universal, with David Sims of The Atlantic calling the episode "'The Newsroom' at its worst, through and through." Things got even more contentious when "Newsroom" writer Alena Smith claimed she had been "kicked out" of the writers room over the episode. (Sorkin released a lengthy statement disputing her claims.)
"The Mindy Project" -- “I Slipped"
There were a lot of controversial episodes that dealt with sex and consent this year, but none did what "The Mindy Project" did: featured the first ever anal sex scene on broadcast TV. In the scene, Danny (Chris Messina) tried to have anal sex with Mindy for the first time, claiming he "slipped." The episode received some negative reactions from disappointed fans, and Kaling responded saying that she didn't view it as "an issue of sexual unsafety." The episode not only started conversations about what consent means, but also what it means on TV versus real life, and what we can learn from and hope to change about that.
Yet this year also gave us some rather contentious episodes that set the Internet ablaze and spurred a chain reaction of thinkpieces among television critics and writers. Here's a look back on 2014's most controversial TV episodes:
"Louie" -- “So Did The Fat Lady”
Season 4 of "Louie" was undoubtedly the writer and actor's most debated season yet, stirring up fiery debates on the Internet following multiple episodes. The first one that gave way to divided opinions was “So Did The Fat Lady," in which Vanessa (played by Sarah Baker) delivers a seven-minute monologue to Louie during a date about what it's really like to live as an overweight woman. While some praised the episode, others questioned C.K.'s authority to speak on behalf of women in general, saying that the speech "felt like a plea" the writer wasn't qualified to make.
"Louie" -- "Pamela (Part 1)"
Not content to merely deal with body issues, Louis C.K. also tackled sexual assault during Season 4. In “Pamela (Part 1)," which was a three-part story arc, Louie drunkenly throws himself on his unwilling friend, Pamela (played by Pamela Adlon), tries to kiss her and ends up chasing her around his apartment. "This would be rape if you weren’t so stupid,” Pamela said, before anything turned too dark. The scene had critics questioning what C.K.'s intention was with the episode. While the penultimate episode of Season 4 revealed how "Louie" was striving to push buttons and stir conversations, commenting on our culture's quick impulse to tear apart everything we consume, not all journalists were pleased with the season.
Game of Thrones -- "Breaker of Chains"
"Game of Thrones" is known for being one of the most bloody, brutal and sexually explicit shows on television (that's why we love it). But this past season included an episode that enraged and upset even the most devout fans of both the show and books. The scene in question featured an incestuous rape between Jaime and his sister, Cersei, which was shocking in not just content but in how it also differed from the books. Critics spoke out immediately, deeming the scene rape without question and dissecting why the changed plot -- which was perceived as consensual in the books -- necessitated discussion. Meanwhile, the episode director, Alex Graves, said that in his perspective, the scene became "consensual by the end," while George R.R. Martin said that he regretted if the scene upset people for the wrong reasons.
The Newsroom -- "Oh Shenandoah"
Aaron Sorkin's HBO drama "The Newsroom" came to a close this year, but it definitely didn't leave without making some noise. In the penultimate episode of the final season, Don Keefer (Thomas Sadoski) interviewed a young college student who says she was raped at a party. The episode was very timely, as it aired following the Bill Cosby sexual assault accusations and Rolling Stone's University of Virginia gang rape article, but wound up being terribly flawed.
Libby Hill of the AV Club pointed out the "casual dehumanization" of the episode, saying that it "tries to assuage our ill-feelings about rape by rampantly defending the rights of famous people from paparazzi." The backlash was pretty universal, with David Sims of The Atlantic calling the episode "'The Newsroom' at its worst, through and through." Things got even more contentious when "Newsroom" writer Alena Smith claimed she had been "kicked out" of the writers room over the episode. (Sorkin released a lengthy statement disputing her claims.)
"The Mindy Project" -- “I Slipped"
There were a lot of controversial episodes that dealt with sex and consent this year, but none did what "The Mindy Project" did: featured the first ever anal sex scene on broadcast TV. In the scene, Danny (Chris Messina) tried to have anal sex with Mindy for the first time, claiming he "slipped." The episode received some negative reactions from disappointed fans, and Kaling responded saying that she didn't view it as "an issue of sexual unsafety." The episode not only started conversations about what consent means, but also what it means on TV versus real life, and what we can learn from and hope to change about that.
Why I Read 52 Books This Year
This is the reaction I'm used to getting when I tell people about my goal to read 52 books in 52 weeks.
And then I reply with my standard comeback. "It's not really a book a week. It just seems that way."
Why is my reading challenge a big deal?
Because people seem baffled by the idea of having enough time to read that many books. With a full-time job and a toddler, I don't have any magic tricks to create more time for myself but I have learned a few tips that make reading easier: having books around and being armed with one when I leave the house, using a tool (Goodreads) that helps me track the books I've read and want to read, joining a book club that holds me accountable and telling those around me about the challenge. It's really not hard to find the time to read when what you're reading is funny, entertaining or somehow interesting to you.
Because I want my son to love reading as much as I do. We read together as part of his bedtime routine but I think it teaches him more about the importance of reading when he sees me doing it. He knows that books are fun and reading is something we do in our house.
Because reading still matters. There's loads of research proving how good reading is for you but I tend to agree with Neil Gaiman on the topic...
My worldview was shifted this year due to the amazing books I read. I explored my alimentary canal, spent time with Shackleton on an Arctic expedition, discovered free-diving, realized just how freaky Scientology is, took career advice from Amy Poehler, and thought about how I want to die. Not bad for a bunch of books.
Time to get super-geeky
(I know, I know... it started when I sat down to write about a reading challenge.) Not only am I bibliophile, but I also love data. I enjoy seeing information displayed numerically and breaking behavior down into metrics. Here are some stats behind my year of intentional reading...
In retrospect
There were two things that helped me accomplish my goal: business travel and my book club. The hours spent on the plane travelling to conferences allowed me to knock out at least a book per trip, while my book club pushed me to read books I'd normally not choose while providing a deadline and forced peer pressure to finish.
Besides a melodramatic mid-December book duplication error on my reading list (Damn you Gone Girl!), there were only two things that provided real obstacles to me finishing this thing. One was my early bedtime. Laugh if you will but if I stayed up later, I'd probably be at 60 books.
And? You already know the second thing because it's the same thing that's been distracting everyone: the 'Serial' podcast. I could have spent that time reading but instead I sat there listening. Great storytelling but definitely not counting towards my page goal.
I don't have any special powers or an abundance of free time. But I decided to make reading a priority in 2014 and I'm so glad I did. In addition to always having something to talk to people about, I just love books.
Again with the Neil Gaiman...
And then I reply with my standard comeback. "It's not really a book a week. It just seems that way."
Why is my reading challenge a big deal?
Because people seem baffled by the idea of having enough time to read that many books. With a full-time job and a toddler, I don't have any magic tricks to create more time for myself but I have learned a few tips that make reading easier: having books around and being armed with one when I leave the house, using a tool (Goodreads) that helps me track the books I've read and want to read, joining a book club that holds me accountable and telling those around me about the challenge. It's really not hard to find the time to read when what you're reading is funny, entertaining or somehow interesting to you.
Because I want my son to love reading as much as I do. We read together as part of his bedtime routine but I think it teaches him more about the importance of reading when he sees me doing it. He knows that books are fun and reading is something we do in our house.
Because reading still matters. There's loads of research proving how good reading is for you but I tend to agree with Neil Gaiman on the topic...
"You get to feel things, visit places and worlds you would never otherwise know. You learn that everyone else out there is a me, as well. You're being someone else, and when you return to your own world, you're going to be slightly changed."
My worldview was shifted this year due to the amazing books I read. I explored my alimentary canal, spent time with Shackleton on an Arctic expedition, discovered free-diving, realized just how freaky Scientology is, took career advice from Amy Poehler, and thought about how I want to die. Not bad for a bunch of books.
Time to get super-geeky
(I know, I know... it started when I sat down to write about a reading challenge.) Not only am I bibliophile, but I also love data. I enjoy seeing information displayed numerically and breaking behavior down into metrics. Here are some stats behind my year of intentional reading...
In retrospect
There were two things that helped me accomplish my goal: business travel and my book club. The hours spent on the plane travelling to conferences allowed me to knock out at least a book per trip, while my book club pushed me to read books I'd normally not choose while providing a deadline and forced peer pressure to finish.
Besides a melodramatic mid-December book duplication error on my reading list (Damn you Gone Girl!), there were only two things that provided real obstacles to me finishing this thing. One was my early bedtime. Laugh if you will but if I stayed up later, I'd probably be at 60 books.
And? You already know the second thing because it's the same thing that's been distracting everyone: the 'Serial' podcast. I could have spent that time reading but instead I sat there listening. Great storytelling but definitely not counting towards my page goal.
I don't have any special powers or an abundance of free time. But I decided to make reading a priority in 2014 and I'm so glad I did. In addition to always having something to talk to people about, I just love books.
Again with the Neil Gaiman...
"I believe we have an obligation to read for pleasure, in private and in public places. If we read for pleasure, if others see us reading, then we learn, we exercise our imaginations. We show others that reading is a good thing."
#FeministNewYearsResolutions Perfectly Reminds Us What Women Want In 2015
Should old acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind? Only if they always tell you to smile.
Feeling like this New Year's celebration called for a feminist twist, writer and feminist Ijeoma Oluo took to Twitter to voice exactly what she hopes to achieve in 2015. And it didn't have to do with going to the gym more, being kinder or any of the other generic resolutions we so often see. Instead, Oluo created #FeministNewYearsResolution hashtag and hilariously reminded us what feminists really hope for this upcoming year.
As feminist hashtags often do, #FeministNewYearsResolution picked up steam and others tweeted how they resolved to be better feminists in 2015. From earnest to the satirical to the satirically earnest, here are some of our favorite #FeministNewYearResolutions tweets:
Here's to more #FeministNewYearsResolutions in 2015!
Feeling like this New Year's celebration called for a feminist twist, writer and feminist Ijeoma Oluo took to Twitter to voice exactly what she hopes to achieve in 2015. And it didn't have to do with going to the gym more, being kinder or any of the other generic resolutions we so often see. Instead, Oluo created #FeministNewYearsResolution hashtag and hilariously reminded us what feminists really hope for this upcoming year.
When a dude says you're "not like other girls" say, "I know" and then unhinge your jaw and swallow him whole.
#FeministNewYearResolutions
— Ijeoma Oluo (@IjeomaOluo) December 27, 2014
When people ask why you aren't married, yell "I'M MARRIED TO THE STRUGGLE" & flip over a table.
#FeministNewYearResolutions
— Ijeoma Oluo (@IjeomaOluo) December 27, 2014
Stop telling dudes I have a boyfriend when I'm not interested.
#FeministNewYearResolutions
— Ijeoma Oluo (@IjeomaOluo) December 27, 2014 As feminist hashtags often do, #FeministNewYearsResolution picked up steam and others tweeted how they resolved to be better feminists in 2015. From earnest to the satirical to the satirically earnest, here are some of our favorite #FeministNewYearResolutions tweets:
Work on my dramatic eye roll / snark in preparation for mansplaining #FeministNewYearResolutions
— stone cold kilzer (@ann_kilzer) December 28, 2014
When told 'you'd be prettier if you smiled more', I'll reply with this face #FeministNewYearResolutions http://ift.tt/1AbJ6jk
— Heluva Boner Farter (@OreoSpeedwagon_) December 28, 2014
Every time a guy tells me to "separate art from artist" re: Woody Allen/Roman Polanski, I will abandon the date #FeministNewYearResolutions
— Samantha Escobar (@myhairisblue) December 28, 2014
When a dude tells you to "turn that frown upside down," stand on your head and kick him in the face. #FeministNewYearResolutions
— Alex Millard (@Hippoinatutu) December 27, 2014
Finally making the switch: swapping male tears for almond milk in my morning coffee. #FeministNewYearResolutions
— Shannon Miller (@Phunky_Brewster) December 28, 2014
Train my cats to attack mansplainers.#FeministNewYearResolutions
— Dr. Elizabeth Switaj (@EKSwitaj) December 27, 2014
Drink more male tears I hear it's good for your zero fucks. #FeministNewYearResolutions
— Justina Ireland (@tehawesomersace) December 28, 2014 Here's to more #FeministNewYearsResolutions in 2015!
Outlander brings Diana Gabaldon fans flocking to Scotland
Fantasy television show, based on the American author’s bestsellers, was filmed in the Scottish Highlands
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Last winter, Hugh Allison, the owner of Inverness Tours, dedicated himself to training four new guides in the plot lines, history and mythology of Outlander, one of the most successful TV series filmed in Scotland – even though it is not yet unavailable to Scottish viewers.
The US-produced show, filmed on location in the Scottish Highlands, has garnered comparisons with Game of Thrones, in terms of the dedication of its fans and the complexity of its narrative.
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Broadening Your Event Horizon
You go to an otolaryngologist for throat problems, but an ichthyologist if you're the old man in the Hemingway novel and want to know what fish your wrestling with. Herpetologists are consulted about the representation of snakes in Egyptian mythology and if you want to understand Vladimir Nabokov, who collected butterflies, then you'd better know your lepidoptera. See an arachnologist if you have a question about spiders. If you're interested in charitable matters then get used to the word eleemosynary and if you're the kind of person who is always anticipating questions don't feel bad if you're accused of prolepsis. It could be worse. You could be rebarbative or morganatic, which is to say that you may be one of the royalty, but you won't be able to pass on your title. There are so many more quotidian words to describe human aspirations. I'd rather be a quisling than a person who sells out his own country. I'd rather suffer the psychoanalytic condition of après coup than a mere trauma. Bipolarity and borderline disorders are such ubiquitous diagnoses these days that they literal demand bigger words with little tails like casus belli. I would much rather suffer a paraphilia than be a simply pervert. Irredentism is a conversation stopper, but what would you prefer an ugly silence or another boring and destructive civil war since there are always those little breakaways that are not going to happily allow themselves to be reconstituted into the whole. Are you just a utilitarian who's read his Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill or consequentialist? Getting down and dirty do you follow the Chicago school and supply side economics or do you hearken back to Herbert Spencer's Social Darwinism? Call a spade a spade. Don't settle for being a game theorist when you can, following Philippa Foot, become a prodigy of trolleyology. Why study loss aversion when you can pursue neuro-economics? Tinnitus is annoying, but tintinnabulation can be majestic. Everyone wants a six pack, but an extended word is not a distended stomach. It need not be a Pandora's Box. It's a form of prestidigitation that will broaden your event horizon.
Painting: "Pandora" by Jules Joseph Lefebvre (1882)
{This was originally posted to The Screaming Pope, Francis Levy's blog of rants and reactions to contemporary politics, art and culture}
The House on Mango Street Goes to Trial: #MayaVsAZ
The Tucson students who launched the lawsuit against the state of Arizona to overturn H.B. 2281 -- Maya Arce, Korina Lopez, and Nicolas Dominguez -- next to a picture of former Mexican-American studies instructor Curtis Acosta at the John Valenzuela Youth Center, the location of the Tucson Librotraficante Underground Library (photo credit: Liana Lopez).
Mayra Arce even resembles Esperanza, the protagonist in The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros. That was one of the 80-plus books that were part of the Tucson Unified School District's K-12 Mexican-American studies curriculum before the program was dismantled under Arizona House Bill 2281.
But Maya isn't the main character of a book. She's the main plaintiff in the lawsuit against the state of Arizona.
On January 12, 2015, Maya heads to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco to overturn the law used to prohibit Mexican-American studies in Tucson.
This is a major case of truth being stranger than fiction. And it will take several semesters of Mexican-American studies courses to fully appreciate, comprehend, and document all the nuances, cultural subtexts, historical facts, and fiction against our fiction. We are a blessed generation that can fill that San Francisco courtroom to witness a young Chicana making history and fighting for every American's freedom of speech.
Me, "El Librotraficante," in front of the Alamo during the San Antonio stop of the Librotraficante Caravan to Tucson (photo credit: Liana Lopez).
I first met Maya Arce at the conclusion of our 2012 Librotraficante Caravan to smuggle the books banned in Arizona back into Tucson, organized by me and alums of Nuestra Palabra: Latino Writers Having Their Say: Liana Lopez ("Librotraficante Lilo"), Laura Acosota ("Librotraficante La Laura"), Lupe Mendez ("Librotraficante Lips Mendez"), and Bryan Parras ("Librotraficante HighTechAztec"). Thirty others joined us on our six-city caravan, which started in Houston and led to opening four underground libraries along the way, and thousands of Americans donating over $20,000 in banned books to the cause.
My fellow librotraficantes and I convened with Maya and Korina Lopez, also one of the plaintiffs, and Nick Dominguez, who was also on the case but lost his standing when he graduated from high school, at the John Valenzuela Youth Center, site of the Tucson Librotraficante Underground Library. It was thrilling to hand the donated books to her and her fellow students and the original teachers of the Mexican-American studies program. They were like love letters from supporters from around the country, who we hope will join them once again as we close in on the happy ending to this landmark court case.
We interviewed Maya and one of her lawyers, Richard Martinez, just before Christmas, on the Nuestra Palabra radio show, which airs on 90.1 FM KPFT, Houston. (I co-host the weekly program with Librotraficante Lilo and Librotraficante HightTechAztec.) Maya told our listeners:
I'm doing this for future generations to come [so they] can learn about their history and the history of people in their community, to better understand the contributions Mexican Americans have made to the United States and better understand how Mexican Americans play a part of society.
Her father is Sean Arce, co-founder of the Mexican-American studies program. I asked him via email how he felt about his family being delivered into this monumental civil-rights struggle. He replied:
While this case, on a day-to-day basis, has been a tremendous stress on our familia, we know that many who have come before us have struggled so we can be in the position to carry this lucha forward. My conversations with both of my children, Mayita and Emiliano, often center on this struggle and its importance. They have been inspired by this struggle, and it has led to the further development of their critical consciousness that they practice daily in school and in their social circles. We do this in the spirit of social justice, and, more importantly, we do this in the spirit of asserting the humanity of El Pueblo Chicana/o.
Richard Martinez, the legal eagle organizing the lawyers for the case, told our listeners:
I think the likelihood of this ending up in front of the Supreme Court is extremely slim, because it's a statute that deals with Arizona but no other states. So the likelihood that they would place national importance on it and the Supreme Court take it up is very small.
He continued:
On the other hand we'll find out a week before our hearing who our panel is. If we get the right panel, there's a very good chance we'll get one of the things we are asking for: either send this back for trial under our equal-protection argument or invalidate the statute on our vagueness argument.
He added that the case had been prepared for as if it were going to the Supreme Court. The lawyer conducting the arguments is Erwin Chemerinsky, who is the dean of the University of California Irvine School of Law and a leading constitutional scholar who has argued cases before the Ninth District Court of Appeals as well as the U.S. Supreme Court. (More information about the case is available at the Seattle School of Law website.)
Six amicus briefs supporting the students' appeal were filed, from a stellar group of individuals and organizations, which the Seattle School of Law website listed as:
(1) Authors of Books Banned from TUSD; (2) National Education Association and Arizona Education Association; (3) Freedom to Read Foundation (FTRF), American Library Association, American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association, Black Caucus of the American Library Association, Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, National Association for Ethnic Studies, National Coalition against Censorship, National Council of Teachers of English, and REFORMA; (4) Chief Justice Earl Warren Institute on Law and Social Policy and the Anti-Defamation League; (5) 48 Public School Teachers; and (6) LatCrit, Inc.
I asked Barbara Jones, Executive Director of the American Library Association's Freedom to Read Foundation, why the FTRF submitted an amicus brief. She wrote:
Growing up during McCarthyism in the 1950s, I view this as a blatant attempt to stifle diversity of expression. ... We are proud to take part in this lawsuit. We believe that the best way to promote harmony among people is to challenge each of us with characters, ideas, and themes that may make us uncomfortable at first. It is through reading and discussion that we attain a more peaceful world, that we bridge gaps between police and community, that we bridge gaps between recent and more distant immigrants. (Remember, we are all immigrants except for the indigenous Americans.)
The 1930s Called, Arizona; They Want Their Racism Back
Here are more ironies. The main far-right Republicans who engendered, passed, and enforced this law are now either out of power or on their way out.
John Huppenthal, former Arizona Superintendent of Education, who is named in the lawsuit, lost a Republican primary for his post to another Republican who did not even bring up anti-Mexican-American-studies rhetoric, which Huppenthal had used to ride into office. That race included a press conference that featured Huppenthal crying after he was busted for posting racist comments online under fake names, even using state-owned computers, in some cases. Thom Horne, another enemy of Mexican-American studies, also lost in his primary. Even Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer is leaving office. She signed into law not only H.B. 2281 but S.B. 1070, famously known as the "Show Me Your Papers" law.
Of course, even with this Republican "dream team" out of office, it is vital to remove this law from the books.
The actual wording of the law does not limit its scope to Mexican-American studies. It could do all kinds of damage to other courses if it is allowed to remain. It prohibits courses that "PROMOTE THE OVERTHROW OF THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT," but it also prohibits courses that:
2. PROMOTE RESENTMENT TOWARD A RACE OR CLASS OF PEOPLE.
3. ARE DESIGNED PRIMARILY FOR PUPILS OF A PARTICULAR ETHNIC GROUP.
4. ADVOCATE ETHNIC SOLIDARITY INSTEAD OF THE TREATMENT OF PUPILS AS INDIVIDUALS.
Overturning this law will also probably save further teaching of Romeo and Juliet, which made me, as a teen, resentful against the Capulets. This could also save the teaching of the Civil War, seeing as the rebel South not only advocated the overthrow of the U.S. government but actively attempted to achieve it.
I asked Maya why she thought it vital to allow the teaching of Mexican-American history and culture. She said, "I feel like students my age and who come after me, like my brother, won't be able to get to learn about all of this, and it is important."
Sean Arce wrote to me:
One lesson that we have learned is that a dominant culture that demands assimilation as a condition of entry and places little premium on diversity (that which brings strength and richness to this society) will constantly seek means to deprive colonized/marginalized children of the training and tools we need to carry out the processes of asserting our rights. H.B. 2281 (now A.R.S. 115-112) is the example of this deprivation, a law passed that makes it illegal to study our history, literature, and cultura in schools.
It is clear to me that on Jan. 12, 2015, in San Francisco, we will see if America is still America. We will find out if freedom of speech and intellectual freedom are still alive and well in America. We will find out if there is still a balance of power in America. And we will find out if a young Chicana can take on Arizona oppression and win.
Welcome to the Chican@ literary renaissance.
Librotraficante HighTechAztec arranging contraband prose at the John Valenzuela Youth Center, the location of the Tucson Librotraficante Underground Library (photo credit: Liana Lopez).
The Librotraficante Nation has begun the fundraising drive to help get the Tucson students to San Francisco for the court case with a donation of $2,275.
If you are in San Francisco on the weekend leading up to the Jan. 12 court case, don't miss the special summit and teach-in at Mission High School on Saturday, Jan. 10.
Of course, if you are in San Francisco on the morning of Monday, Jan. 12, join us as we swarm the courtroom and show our support for Maya and the Tucson champions of free speech.
Finally, if you want to begin making sense of all the events leading up to this case, as well as the precedents that it establishes, join 500 scholars, students, policymakers, and community members at the 2015 NACCS Tejas Foco, Feb. 26-28 at Lone Star College-North Harris in Houston, as we begin to put into perspective this monumental civil-rights case.
If you are interested in finding out more about Librotraficante Underground Libraries, visit the website librotraficante.com.
A Hilarious Way To Cut Out All The Bad People In Your Life This New Year
If your New Year's resolution is to cut bad people out of your life, you'll probably need your BFF's help.
Creators and stars of the web series #HotMessMoves Ashley Skidmore and Lyle Friedman teamed up with Loft to create "#CleanSlate," a hilarious (yet honest) take on keeping New Year's resolutions. Although ridding ourselves of toxic relationships in 2015 might seem impossible, with the support of a best friend and a list of forbidden phone numbers to block, we should all be just fine.
From all the people who have let you down to the friend who only likes you when the conversation involves her -- it's time to let all of them go. See ya never, crappy people.
Oh, and if you happen to run into said crappy people on the street, just take a page out of Skidmore and Friedman's book:
H/T WifeyTV
Creators and stars of the web series #HotMessMoves Ashley Skidmore and Lyle Friedman teamed up with Loft to create "#CleanSlate," a hilarious (yet honest) take on keeping New Year's resolutions. Although ridding ourselves of toxic relationships in 2015 might seem impossible, with the support of a best friend and a list of forbidden phone numbers to block, we should all be just fine.
From all the people who have let you down to the friend who only likes you when the conversation involves her -- it's time to let all of them go. See ya never, crappy people.
Oh, and if you happen to run into said crappy people on the street, just take a page out of Skidmore and Friedman's book:
H/T WifeyTV
One True Thing
It's December's end, it's that time again. Before you make another resolution, you could consider this: 2015 is unwritten.
Clean. Blank, unraveling spaces. A year from now, there will be a story of days.
It can be anything. How do you want it to begin? With a promise you won't keep?
I love the sensual potentiality of unknown possibility. As a writer, I am both terrified and seduced by a blank page. It is a wonderful thing, to sit before something unwritten and believe that what will come next is going to be amazing. I love the lustful medium of white space, the sultry staccato of the blinking cursor. Speaking to me. What will you say, Nicole? Maybe it will be beautiful. Maybe it will make someone cry. Maybe you will be changed. Maybe you will be terrible. Or wonderful, maybe.
Or maybe. Nothing. I can never tell. But I still try to write it anyway.
How will you write the story of the year ahead?
There are better writers than I who can tell you how to try to write it.
"Let the world burn through you. Throw the prism light, white hot, on paper." -Ray Bradbury
Photo credit: Tim Victor, courtesy Simon and Schuster
"The true writer has nothing to say. What counts is the way he says it."-Alain Robbe-Grillet
"Do not worry. You have always written before and you will write now. All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence that you know."-Ernest Hemingway
Photo credit: Yousef Karsh, 1957
I suppose what I want to tell you is that 2015 is a story that is only yours for the telling. What do you want to say?
I hope the blank pages of this year are filled to the margins with mayhem,with mirth and wonderful, delicious madness. I hope you love hard and kiss someone wonderful, full on the mouth. I hope you reach for the biggest, fattest plums from the tree of wonderful things.
I hope, at story's end, you look in the mirror (rearview or otherwise) and are seduced by the gleam of your own face.
As for resolutions? I hope you don't make any promises that will only let you like yourself less.
Why not promise instead to look blindly, expectantly upon the edge of something wonderful, something undone. A year, your year, is waiting to be desired (like a lover waiting at the edge of the bed unbuttoning her blouse).
What will you do next?
I hope you write your year, 2015, in broad sweeping strokes.
If you are looking at the blank space and you can't figure out how to begin without a resolution, just start like Hemingway and write something true. One true thing.
Write: I am alive.
And then go out and prove it.
Peace out, 2014.
Clean. Blank, unraveling spaces. A year from now, there will be a story of days.
It can be anything. How do you want it to begin? With a promise you won't keep?
I love the sensual potentiality of unknown possibility. As a writer, I am both terrified and seduced by a blank page. It is a wonderful thing, to sit before something unwritten and believe that what will come next is going to be amazing. I love the lustful medium of white space, the sultry staccato of the blinking cursor. Speaking to me. What will you say, Nicole? Maybe it will be beautiful. Maybe it will make someone cry. Maybe you will be changed. Maybe you will be terrible. Or wonderful, maybe.
Or maybe. Nothing. I can never tell. But I still try to write it anyway.
How will you write the story of the year ahead?
There are better writers than I who can tell you how to try to write it.
"Let the world burn through you. Throw the prism light, white hot, on paper." -Ray Bradbury
"The true writer has nothing to say. What counts is the way he says it."-Alain Robbe-Grillet
"Do not worry. You have always written before and you will write now. All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence that you know."-Ernest Hemingway
I suppose what I want to tell you is that 2015 is a story that is only yours for the telling. What do you want to say?
I hope the blank pages of this year are filled to the margins with mayhem,with mirth and wonderful, delicious madness. I hope you love hard and kiss someone wonderful, full on the mouth. I hope you reach for the biggest, fattest plums from the tree of wonderful things.
I hope, at story's end, you look in the mirror (rearview or otherwise) and are seduced by the gleam of your own face.
As for resolutions? I hope you don't make any promises that will only let you like yourself less.
Why not promise instead to look blindly, expectantly upon the edge of something wonderful, something undone. A year, your year, is waiting to be desired (like a lover waiting at the edge of the bed unbuttoning her blouse).
What will you do next?
I hope you write your year, 2015, in broad sweeping strokes.
If you are looking at the blank space and you can't figure out how to begin without a resolution, just start like Hemingway and write something true. One true thing.
Write: I am alive.
And then go out and prove it.
Peace out, 2014.
Topless Cellist: The Improbable Life of Charlotte Moorman by Joan Rothfuss – review
Electrified bikinis, cellos made of ice … Moorman created a template for avant-garde and performance art. So why is she still unknown?
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15 Inspiring Literary Quotes That Will Start Your New Year Off Right
Great writers don't always offer the words of undiluted inspiration we'd like; their keen insight and penchant for honesty about the human condition produces observations about our weakness, our sins or about how painful history can shadow our futures ("The past is never dead. It's not even past," as William Faulkner wrote).
The New Year, however, is no time for such dire reflections. No matter that, as Mark Twain likes to point out, "Now is the accepted time to make your regular annual good resolutions. Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual." Perhaps this year you will actually use your gym membership, read one nonfiction book a week, and bring a healthy lunch to work daily. A new year means you get to, nominally at least, wipe the slate clean. Forget your past failures and your life of disappointments: 2015 is going to be your year.
Fortunately, a few more optimistic, or at least more sentimental, authors have the words of encouragement you need to hear as the new year begins. Here are 15 galvanizing passages from your favorite authors, from Dickens to Dillard, on the joy of a new year and a new beginning:
“A new heart for a New Year, always!”
― Charles Dickens
“Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.”
― Alfred, Lord Tennyson
“[T]omorrow is a new day. You shall begin it well & serenely, & with too high a spirit to be cumbered with your old nonsense. This day ... is too dear with its hopes & invitations to waste a moment on the rotten yesterdays.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Not knowing when the dawn will come
I open every door.”
― Emily Dickinson
“The object of a New Year is not that we should have a new year. It is that we should have a new soul and a new nose; new feet, a new backbone, new ears, and new eyes. Unless a particular man made New Year resolutions, he would make no resolutions. Unless a man starts afresh about things, he will certainly do nothing effective. Unless a man starts on the strange assumption that he has never existed before, it is quite certain that he will never exist afterwards.”
― G.K. Chesterton
“For last year's words belong to last year's language
And next year's words await another voice.”
― T.S. Eliot
“Isn't it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet?”
― L.M. Montgomery
“Each age has deemed the new-born year
The fittest time for festal cheer.”
― Sir Walter Scott
“I made no resolutions for the New Year. The habit of making plans, of criticizing, sanctioning and molding my life, is too much of a daily event for me.”
― Anaïs Nin
“[I]f this life of ours
Be a good glad thing, why should we make us merry
Because a year of it is gone? but Hope
Smiles from the threshold of the year to come,
Whispering 'it will be happier'...”
― Alfred, Lord Tennyson
“The artist is always beginning. Any work of art which is not a beginning, an invention, a discovery is of little worth.”
― Ezra Pound
“The horizon leans forward,
Offering you space to place new steps of change.”
― Maya Angelou
“The beginning is the most important part of any work.”
― Plato
“If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to man as it is -- infinite.”
― William Blake
"I wake expectant, hoping to see a new thing."
― Annie Dillard
The New Year, however, is no time for such dire reflections. No matter that, as Mark Twain likes to point out, "Now is the accepted time to make your regular annual good resolutions. Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual." Perhaps this year you will actually use your gym membership, read one nonfiction book a week, and bring a healthy lunch to work daily. A new year means you get to, nominally at least, wipe the slate clean. Forget your past failures and your life of disappointments: 2015 is going to be your year.
Fortunately, a few more optimistic, or at least more sentimental, authors have the words of encouragement you need to hear as the new year begins. Here are 15 galvanizing passages from your favorite authors, from Dickens to Dillard, on the joy of a new year and a new beginning:
“A new heart for a New Year, always!”
― Charles Dickens
“Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.”
― Alfred, Lord Tennyson
“[T]omorrow is a new day. You shall begin it well & serenely, & with too high a spirit to be cumbered with your old nonsense. This day ... is too dear with its hopes & invitations to waste a moment on the rotten yesterdays.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Not knowing when the dawn will come
I open every door.”
― Emily Dickinson
“The object of a New Year is not that we should have a new year. It is that we should have a new soul and a new nose; new feet, a new backbone, new ears, and new eyes. Unless a particular man made New Year resolutions, he would make no resolutions. Unless a man starts afresh about things, he will certainly do nothing effective. Unless a man starts on the strange assumption that he has never existed before, it is quite certain that he will never exist afterwards.”
― G.K. Chesterton
“For last year's words belong to last year's language
And next year's words await another voice.”
― T.S. Eliot
“Isn't it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet?”
― L.M. Montgomery
“Each age has deemed the new-born year
The fittest time for festal cheer.”
― Sir Walter Scott
“I made no resolutions for the New Year. The habit of making plans, of criticizing, sanctioning and molding my life, is too much of a daily event for me.”
― Anaïs Nin
“[I]f this life of ours
Be a good glad thing, why should we make us merry
Because a year of it is gone? but Hope
Smiles from the threshold of the year to come,
Whispering 'it will be happier'...”
― Alfred, Lord Tennyson
“The artist is always beginning. Any work of art which is not a beginning, an invention, a discovery is of little worth.”
― Ezra Pound
“The horizon leans forward,
Offering you space to place new steps of change.”
― Maya Angelou
“The beginning is the most important part of any work.”
― Plato
“If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to man as it is -- infinite.”
― William Blake
"I wake expectant, hoping to see a new thing."
― Annie Dillard
Carol Ann Duffy: a great public poet who deserves her public honour
As the current laureate is made a Dame, Kate Wilkinson pays tribute to work that has fearlessly engaged with the great questions of our age
Dorothy Wordswoth’s Christmas Birthday by Carol Ann Duffy
Twelve Days of Christmas by Carol Ann Duffy
Snow by Carol Ann Duffy
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Dorothy Wordswoth’s Christmas Birthday by Carol Ann Duffy
Twelve Days of Christmas by Carol Ann Duffy
Snow by Carol Ann Duffy
Of all the honours in this week’s New Year list, the Damehood bestowed on Carol Ann Duffy seems most timely. Not just because of her indefatigable record in responding to public events over the five years of her tenure as poet laureate, but because the Christmas holiday period has been so particularly productive for her.
Every year since 2008 she has published a Christmas poem and each one differs. In Mrs Scrooge (2008) and Wenceslas (2012), both published in the Guardian, she explores a time of material indulgence. The ascetic Mrs Scrooge and the Falstaffian King Wenceslas could not be more different in their celebrations of Christmas.
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Cheers To Ernest Hemingway's Black Currant Liqueur
Although he didn't actually say, "Write drunk. Edit sober," serious academic research suggests that Hemingway might've been a proponent of alcohol. (The Sun Also Rises isn't exactly a 200-page drunk-fest, but close enough.) When asked about downing martinis before writing, Hemingway responded:
When he wasn't working, he got tipsy in Havana, the birthplace of the mojito, but actually preferred dry martinis, just like Frederic in A Farewell to Arms, who said, "I had never tasted anything so cool and clean. They made me feel civilized."
With so many beverages attached to his name (including the absinthe and Brut combo, "Death in the Afternoon"), how does one properly celebrate à la Hemingway? A page from The Hemingway Cookbook -- a collection of recipes collected and inspired by the author -- might come in handy.
When he was a young and ambitious expat in Paris, Hemingway visited Gertrude Stein and her lover, Alice B. Toklas, to discuss writing, eat and drink. In A Moveable Feast he wrote, "It was warm and comfortable and they gave you good things to eat and tea and natural distilled liqueurs ..." One such liqueur, made from black currants, was turned into a recipe that appears in The Hemingway Cookbook and the Alice B. Toklas Cookbook. The full recipe, which can be found here, calls for:
It can be served alone, or as part of a white wine cocktail such as Kir, which is typically served as an aperitif. Bottoms up!
"Jeezus Christ! Have you ever heard of anyone who drank while he worked? You’re thinking of Faulkner. He does sometimes -- and I can tell right in the middle of a page when he’s had his first one. Besides, who in hell would mix more than one martini at a time, anyway?"
When he wasn't working, he got tipsy in Havana, the birthplace of the mojito, but actually preferred dry martinis, just like Frederic in A Farewell to Arms, who said, "I had never tasted anything so cool and clean. They made me feel civilized."
With so many beverages attached to his name (including the absinthe and Brut combo, "Death in the Afternoon"), how does one properly celebrate à la Hemingway? A page from The Hemingway Cookbook -- a collection of recipes collected and inspired by the author -- might come in handy.
When he was a young and ambitious expat in Paris, Hemingway visited Gertrude Stein and her lover, Alice B. Toklas, to discuss writing, eat and drink. In A Moveable Feast he wrote, "It was warm and comfortable and they gave you good things to eat and tea and natural distilled liqueurs ..." One such liqueur, made from black currants, was turned into a recipe that appears in The Hemingway Cookbook and the Alice B. Toklas Cookbook. The full recipe, which can be found here, calls for:
1/2 pound raspberries
3 pounds black currants
1 cup black currant leaves
1 quart vodka, or solution up to 90% alcohol
3 pounds sugar
3 cups water
It can be served alone, or as part of a white wine cocktail such as Kir, which is typically served as an aperitif. Bottoms up!
Extreme adventures: the best stories of real-life peril
From Wilfred Thesiger journeying through the Arabian desert to Joe Simpson nearly losing his life in the Andes, these are some of the finest accounts of life on the edge
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How to draw… Big Ben
It’s New Year’s Eve! So here’s a lesson on how to draw the most iconic clock tower in the world from Leigh Hobbs (with a bit of help from Mr Chicken) – Happy New Year everyone!
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Val McDermid: Jane Austen's equal? - books podcast
John Crace digests Val McDermid's update of Northanger Abbey, and asks if her attempt to square up to Austen's gothic melodrama is fine or foolhardy
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• More digested reads podcasts Continue reading...
Life-Like by Toby Litt review – marital ennui with Paddy and Agatha
The middle-aged protagonists of Litt’s story collection move between affairs and obsessions in Litt’s short stories, some more successful than others Continue reading...
Let Me Be Frank with You by Richard Ford, review: 'mortality hangs heavy'
There's nothing like a hurricane to put your life in perspective, says Anthony Cummins
via Books and Author Interviews http://telegraph.feedsportal.com/c/32726/f/568297/s/41e68133/sc/8/l/0L0Stelegraph0O0Cculture0Cbooks0Cbookreviews0C113113580CLet0EMe0EBe0EFrank0Ewith0EYou0Eby0ERichard0EFord0Ereview0Bhtml/story01.htm
via Books and Author Interviews http://telegraph.feedsportal.com/c/32726/f/568297/s/41e68133/sc/8/l/0L0Stelegraph0O0Cculture0Cbooks0Cbookreviews0C113113580CLet0EMe0EBe0EFrank0Ewith0EYou0Eby0ERichard0EFord0Ereview0Bhtml/story01.htm
The new year’s eve poem: New Year Party
by Dennis O’Driscoll
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By landslide vote
we drive the old year out,
unanimously pass
motions of no confidence.
It had been granted an entire year
to fulfil its promise, only to renege
on its mandate, plague the world
sadistically with tribulation.
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Families in literature: the Jarndyces in Bleak House by Charles Dickens
If you’re tempted to despair of your own family this Christmas, turn to Dickens for a reminder that it could be a whole lot worse, says reader Daniel Gooding
• More families in literature
Dickens and Christmas are so intertwined that those of a literary disposition often think of them together. It is usually Ebenezer Scrooge and the Cratchit family who spring to mind, as we make our yearly return to A Christmas Carol and the other Christmas Books. In contrast to these tales of hope and good cheer, Bleak House is, to use a phrase from the first chapter, “perennially hopeless”. Instead of the small and close-knit Cratchit family, we have the infamous Jarndyces: not so much a family as a disparate group of ill-matched individuals whose only real connection is their involvement in the never-ending legal dispute of Jarndyce v Jarndyce.
As in many families, there are ongoing feuds: the boundary dispute between Lord Dedlock and Lawrence Boythorn; the unhappy marriage of the Snagsbys, trapped between his timidity and her suspicious mind. There are also eccentrics, such as the aptly named Miss Flite with her many birds, who is given to blurting out uncomfortable truths. Nearly everyone connected to the case is in some way polluted by it, as they are by the ever-present London fog.
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Tuesday, December 30, 2014
The Storytelling Power of Sofia Samatar
Sofia Samatar (photo by Adauto Araujo)
In his novel, Choke, Chuck Palahnuik writes, "We can spend our lives letting the world tell us who we are. Sane or insane. Saints or sex addicts. Heroes or victims. Letting history tell us how good or bad we are. Letting our past decide our future. Or we can decide for ourselves. And maybe it's our job to invent something better."
Every work of fiction is an attempt at inventing something better, something more textured and accommodating of the multiple possibilities of human experience than our present conditions allow. Sofia Samatar, the novelist behind one of the most beguiling and arresting literary debuts in recent years, A Stranger in Olondria, has upped the stakes of what is possible for the contemporary novel. Her book toys with language and collapses time and genres with a confidence that would make Proust proud. One of the beauties of Olondria is that it feels like it was written in one sitting, so I was surprised when Samatar said that she spent a decade writing the book.
I wrote A Stranger in Olondria as a wanderer, just roaming around in that world, experiencing everything through language, at the sentence level, as you say, but I didn't really make plans, and I wound up with a two-hundred-thousand-word monstrosity of a novel. Then I spent a decade revising it. I basically cut it in half. It was chop, chop, rewrite, chop, for years. I suppose the benefit of working at the sentence level is that the details are very strong, but you have to work hard to uncover the plot, and that can take ages. I can't say I recommend it.
The plot revolves around Jevick, a pepper merchant's son from the island of Tyom, who travels to Olondria, the fabled home of his tutor. Jevick is a voracious reader and has grown up hearing stories of Olondria, a place teeming with all kinds of possibilities. On his way to Olondria, he meets Jissavet, another islander, who is dying. When Jevick arrives in Olondria ready to greet his future, he becomes haunted by the ghost of Jissavet, now dead and buried, and realizes that in order for him to be free, he must also find a way to release her spirit. Olondria is a dense, deftly built world about identity and the redemptive thrill of storytelling.
For Samatar, the complex, multi-layered construction of Olondria was an act of pleasure.
I've got a pile of Olondrian sacred writings I never used, outlines of folktales, massive genealogies -- it was all so much fun, I don't regret spending time on this totally useless pursuit. I guess if there's a tricky part, it's making sure you refer to your notes, especially on climate and geography, so you don't mess up. I have lists of what someone might find in each part of the country, to stay organized. They'll say things like, "jasper, courtyards, sable geese, almond paste."
An American of Somali and Swiss-German Mennonite heritage, Samatar grew up around books.
My parents are both big readers and writers, the kind of people who keep notebooks on all sorts of things -- new words they've come across, books they've read, etc. In my house, growing up, there was nothing more normal you could do than write something down. My dad also published a book, Oral Poetry and Somali Nationalism, when I was a kid, and I remember looking at his photo on the jacket and thinking, "Okay, this is possible."
Over the past few years there has been a much needed public conversation around issues of representation and diversity within both mainstream and science fiction and fantasy publishing. Samatar's analysis on this matter is elegant and succinct.
She feels that the situation within the SFF community is similar to what you find in mainstream publishing in that "the barriers for marginalized people have been severe, and while things are changing, the process is neither quick nor painless. There is a lot of talk about diversity in fantasy and science fiction, and a lot of debates about exclusionary practices, from the harassment of women at science fiction conventions to the whitewashing of book covers. Listening in, you could think, wow, SFF is full of bigots! And you know, to be real, it's not that there aren't bigots, but a lot of the noise this community makes is actually conversation. We're talking about the issues, and that's important."
Samatar is now working on the sequel to A Stranger in Olondria called The Winged Histories as well as "a history/ novel hybrid" about "a group of Russian Mennonites who migrated to the Khanate of Khiva, which is in modern-day Uzbekistan, in the 1880s."
When asked what advice she would give to her thirteen-year-old self, Samatar remains characteristically charming. "I'd say, 'Look, stop trying to fit in. It's not worth it.' And my thirteen-year-old self would be like: 'What is this, an after-school special? Get lost.'"
Sofia Samatar's A Stranger in Olondria (Small Beer Press) is available to purchase on Amazon. You can connect with Sofia Samatar via her website and Twitter.
The Jane Effect: A New Book Celebrating Jane Goodall
Jane Goodall has had a significant impact on the lives of innumerable people around the world. A new book edited by Dale Peterson (Dr. Goodall's biographer) and me, titled The Jane Effect: Celebrating Jane Goodall, contains essays written by researchers, including some who worked with Dr. Goodall, and many other people whose lives she has touched.
The seven parts of the book, highlighting Dr. Goodall's vast and wide-ranging influence cutting across age, gender, and culture, are called Jane as friend, Jane as colleague, Jane as partner, Jane as professor, Jane as naturalist, Jane as exemplar, Jane as visionary, and Jane as inspiration. The book was a gift to her on her 80th birthday. Dr. Goodall still tirelessly travels the world making huge positive differences in the lives of numerous people and nonhuman animals (animals).
The description of the book provided by the publisher, Trinity University Press, much of it taken from the book's introduction, clearly lays out why the book was compiled and highlights some of Dr. Goodall's wide-ranging contributions.
The Jane Effect contains more than 100 testimonies by Goodall's friends and colleagues honoring her as a scientific pioneer, inspiring teacher, and engaging spirit.
Jane Goodall, who turned eighty on April 3, 2014, is known around the world as a groundbreaking primatologist, the foremost expert on chimpanzees, and a passionate conservationist. In her nearly sixty-year career, Goodall has touched the hearts of millions of people. The Jane Effect is a collection of testimonies by Goodall's friends and colleagues honoring her as a scientific pioneer, inspiring teacher, devoted friend, and engaging spirit whose complex personality tends to break down usual categories. Goodall is the celebrity who transcends celebrity. The distinguished scientist who's open to nonscientific ways of seeing and thinking. The human who has lived among nonhumans. She is a thoughtful adult who possesses a child's sense of immediacy and wonder. She is a great scientific pioneer, and yet her work goes far beyond producing advances in scientific knowledge. The more than 100 original pieces in this inspirational anthology give us a sense of Goodall's amazing reach and the power of the "Jane effect."
The Jane effect speaks, in part, to Goodall's influence as a scientist and how her work has changed the way we see chimpanzees. Since chimpanzees are our closest relatives, it also speaks to how her work has altered the way we see ourselves. This achievement has had a profound impact on the professional careers of individual scientists and others interested in animal behavior and animal welfare. Add to that the number of references to Goodall in scholarly journals and books, and the testimony of a generation of distinguished scientists who were Goodall's students or early colleagues or were otherwise touched professionally by her influence, and one can begin to assemble the picture of a true original in her field.
The other -- and much less known or obvious -- aspect of the Jane effect is Goodall's personal side. She is an unusually warm and generous person who has always opened her home to visitors, her camp to colleagues and students, her attention to fellow travelers, and her heart to animals and their plight in our world. The effect of this warmth and generosity is yet unmeasured and untold, and The Jane Effect only begins to explore Goodall's impact as a scientist, a pioneer and, most importantly, a human being.
Compiling the essays for this book revealed just how influential Dr. Goodall has been. We were surprised not only by the number of people who wanted to write something, but also by the diversity of the contributions. The essays are all easy to read and many can be read to inspire youngsters, because one of Dr. Goodall's major interests centers on her global Roots & Shoots program that supports projects that help people, other animals, and various environments alike.
Note: Because so many essays were submitted, not all of them could be printed in the book. Trinity University Press will post them online after the book is formally published.
The seven parts of the book, highlighting Dr. Goodall's vast and wide-ranging influence cutting across age, gender, and culture, are called Jane as friend, Jane as colleague, Jane as partner, Jane as professor, Jane as naturalist, Jane as exemplar, Jane as visionary, and Jane as inspiration. The book was a gift to her on her 80th birthday. Dr. Goodall still tirelessly travels the world making huge positive differences in the lives of numerous people and nonhuman animals (animals).
The description of the book provided by the publisher, Trinity University Press, much of it taken from the book's introduction, clearly lays out why the book was compiled and highlights some of Dr. Goodall's wide-ranging contributions.
The Jane Effect contains more than 100 testimonies by Goodall's friends and colleagues honoring her as a scientific pioneer, inspiring teacher, and engaging spirit.
Jane Goodall, who turned eighty on April 3, 2014, is known around the world as a groundbreaking primatologist, the foremost expert on chimpanzees, and a passionate conservationist. In her nearly sixty-year career, Goodall has touched the hearts of millions of people. The Jane Effect is a collection of testimonies by Goodall's friends and colleagues honoring her as a scientific pioneer, inspiring teacher, devoted friend, and engaging spirit whose complex personality tends to break down usual categories. Goodall is the celebrity who transcends celebrity. The distinguished scientist who's open to nonscientific ways of seeing and thinking. The human who has lived among nonhumans. She is a thoughtful adult who possesses a child's sense of immediacy and wonder. She is a great scientific pioneer, and yet her work goes far beyond producing advances in scientific knowledge. The more than 100 original pieces in this inspirational anthology give us a sense of Goodall's amazing reach and the power of the "Jane effect."
The Jane effect speaks, in part, to Goodall's influence as a scientist and how her work has changed the way we see chimpanzees. Since chimpanzees are our closest relatives, it also speaks to how her work has altered the way we see ourselves. This achievement has had a profound impact on the professional careers of individual scientists and others interested in animal behavior and animal welfare. Add to that the number of references to Goodall in scholarly journals and books, and the testimony of a generation of distinguished scientists who were Goodall's students or early colleagues or were otherwise touched professionally by her influence, and one can begin to assemble the picture of a true original in her field.
The other -- and much less known or obvious -- aspect of the Jane effect is Goodall's personal side. She is an unusually warm and generous person who has always opened her home to visitors, her camp to colleagues and students, her attention to fellow travelers, and her heart to animals and their plight in our world. The effect of this warmth and generosity is yet unmeasured and untold, and The Jane Effect only begins to explore Goodall's impact as a scientist, a pioneer and, most importantly, a human being.
Compiling the essays for this book revealed just how influential Dr. Goodall has been. We were surprised not only by the number of people who wanted to write something, but also by the diversity of the contributions. The essays are all easy to read and many can be read to inspire youngsters, because one of Dr. Goodall's major interests centers on her global Roots & Shoots program that supports projects that help people, other animals, and various environments alike.
Note: Because so many essays were submitted, not all of them could be printed in the book. Trinity University Press will post them online after the book is formally published.
Bill Nye Has A 'Trashy' New Year's Resolution
Like his friend Neil deGrasse Tyson, Bill Nye isn't big on New Year's resolutions.
"The changes I want to make are generally part of a process rather than a sudden shift or toggle to a new position," the "Science Guy" told The Huffington Post in an email. "With that said, I have some goals for the new year."
One goal is to finish his next book.
"It’s about climate change and how we can become the Next Greatest Generation," Nye said in the email. "We can get to work the way people did during World War II."
Another of Nye's goals for 2015, believe it or not, is to pick up trash with his left hand.
Why would Nye want to do that? In order to "preserve the nominal cleanliness" of his right (dominant) hand, he said, adding, "No kidding."
As Nye went on to explain, "The left hand will encounter a good deal more germs and filth. The practice is both to reduce my chance of getting infected and to reduce the chance of my infecting people I meet. It’s both out of self-preservation and respect for others. Writ large, it may be an evolutionary urge to protect one’s own health and the health of the tribe."
Hmm. When it comes to thinking scientifically, you gotta hand it to Nye.
"The changes I want to make are generally part of a process rather than a sudden shift or toggle to a new position," the "Science Guy" told The Huffington Post in an email. "With that said, I have some goals for the new year."
One goal is to finish his next book.
"It’s about climate change and how we can become the Next Greatest Generation," Nye said in the email. "We can get to work the way people did during World War II."
Another of Nye's goals for 2015, believe it or not, is to pick up trash with his left hand.
Why would Nye want to do that? In order to "preserve the nominal cleanliness" of his right (dominant) hand, he said, adding, "No kidding."
As Nye went on to explain, "The left hand will encounter a good deal more germs and filth. The practice is both to reduce my chance of getting infected and to reduce the chance of my infecting people I meet. It’s both out of self-preservation and respect for others. Writ large, it may be an evolutionary urge to protect one’s own health and the health of the tribe."
Hmm. When it comes to thinking scientifically, you gotta hand it to Nye.
52 Things Ideas for Writers for 2015
A couple years ago my friends and I made a list of 52 goals we wanted to accomplish, the equivalent of a bucket list for a year's worth of achievable things. Most of them were simple goals, but measurable. For instance, you couldn't just write "read more" as a goal. It had to be quantifiable, like "Read a book a month." It was fun, but also challenging, both to put the list together and to accomplish all the things I came up with. By the end of 2012 I'd done a little more than half of the things on my list.
If you look online you'll see lots of spin-offs on the 52 things concept -- 52 things you want to and can achieve in the 52 weeks of next year. I'm a firm believer that it's good to have goals, but also to hold them gently. In a list of 52 things to accomplish in a year, actually doing 18-20 of those things is pretty amazing. You can always defer the rest to the next year, after all. So if you want to create a 52 Things list this year, and you're looking to add some writing goals to your list, here are my 52 ideas:
1. Start or join a writing group.
2. Go see (in the theater or via rental) three movies based on books you love.
3. Guest post for a blog you read/admire.
4. Get your name in print, meaning you must submit! Get e-mails about opportunities from CRWROPPS, a Yahoo! listserv that culls calls for submissions.
5. Read a banned book during Banned Book Week, September 27 - October 3, 2015. For a list of banned books, visit here.
6. Submit a story to a call for submissions for an anthology.
7. Become a HuffPost blogger. (This is achievable for anyone, even if it feels elusive.)
8. Buy a book for a child or teenager in your life for no reason at all.
9. Join an online community (like SheWrites.com, or NAMW.org, or a private Facebook group dedicated to writing, or a specific genre).
10. Commit to writing a certain number of words per week, or per month.
11. Become a regular content contributor to a website you follow or admire.
12. Attend a local author reading, or two or five or ten.
13. Support your local bookstore by shopping on Independent Bookstore Day, a national celebration of local booksellers, taking place on May 2, 2015.
14. Write a book review and put it on your blog. If you don't have a blog, post it on Facebook.
15. Do one thing that truly champions another writer.
16. Read a book that falls way outside your general area of interest.
17. Post a comment on social media in support of someone you admire.
18. Go to a writers' conference.
19. Participate in online pitch conferences (like pitch fests on Twitter).
20. Participate in NaNoWriMo in November 2015.
21. Join an association, like the Independent Book Publishers Association.
22. Apply for residency retreats, like Hedgebrook.
23. Get an op-ed placed, or learn how to do it by taking an Op-Ed Project class.
24. Do a 500 Words challenge. Writers like Jeff Goins have sponsored these kinds of challenges, where you write 500 words a day for a set number of days -- a month or longer. Give it a whirl!
25. Create an audio book of a recently published book. Check out this free webinar on the subject from Betsy Graziani Fasbinder, author of Fire and Water, who put out an audio book version of her novel in 2014.
26. Map a book you love. It will teach you a lot to outline a book you've read more than once to see how another author thinks about structure, scenes, and narrative arc.
27. Read your work out loud, either at an open mic night or at a literary event like San Francisco's LitQuake.
28. Take an online class. I'll push my best-selling memoir series here. I'm teaching a four-week class on Mary Karr's The Liars' Club with Linda Joy Myers of NAMW in April. But find something in your genre that works for you.
29. Find a number of authors you love on Facebook or Twitter and follow them. Repost and retweet their stuff and see what happens.
30. Follow literary agents on Facebook and Twitter if you're interested in developing agent relationships.
31. Gift yourself a weekend away to brainstorm or write, or to just be with your own thoughts.
32. Do a literary pilgrimage to see a site where a favorite author lived or wrote about, or, if you're a memoirist, perhaps take a pilgrimage into your own past -- to your childhood home, or the setting of your memoir.
33. Visit a printing plant. Tours are open to the public at plants in Michigan, or at Lightning Source in Tennessee. It's a serious education in your own craft to see how books get made.
34. Write and publish an e-book. These can be as short as 25 or 30 pages (single stories or essays) and they can get your work on the map.
35. Enter your work into a contest. You have nothing to lose!
36. Tell your friends and family about your literary ambitions. It's okay to dream big!
37. Set up a separate bank account for your writing pursuits. Pay yourself a small sum a month for your writing, or when you get paid to publish. Start to think of your writing as a business in 2015.
38. Attend an in-person writing class. You can find these at writing hot spots like The Grotto in San Francisco, Hugo House in Seattle, and Grub Street in Boston. Google places in your area.
39. Map out a timeline for your book, or for your next book. Consider when would be a reasonable publication date for your book and write it down. Post it somewhere where you can see it to hold that date as a goal.
40. Create a book cover for your book-in-progress. Nothing brings a book to life like making it "real," even if it's just a collage or a vision that serves as the basis of what you want the book to look like some day.
41. Commit to a certain number of blog posts a month -- one, two, four -- and stick to it for the whole year.
42. If you don't already have a website, start one. If you have a website you know needs a facelift, commit to giving it one.
43. Write a fan letter to your favorite author. I field fan mail for an author I work with and these letters are amazing displays of gratitude and appreciation. It's also good karma.
44. Create a vision board for your book. This is different than a book cover concept. It's a collage of images and/or words that inspire you, and that can keep you motivated and disciplined with your writing goals.
45. Memorize a poem.
46. Get involved with local library event during National Library Week -- April 12-18, 2015 -- a national observance sponsored by the American Library Association (ALA) and libraries across the country.
47. Create a reading family night once a week.
48. Set up a book donation site at your workplace during the holidays.
49. Make a list of your top 10 favorite books in your own genre and reread two of them.
50. Get a logo made. Yes, the brand of you -- as a writer -- needs a logo.
51. Write an affirmation statement that expresses all your strengths as a writer. Remind yourself why you write and allow yourself an opportunity to truly give yourself a compliment.
52. Do something that shows your commitment to writing -- plant something or buy yourself a house (or office) plant; get a piece of "writing" jewelry; or create or purchase something that's meaningful to you that you see every day as a reminder to yourself about the meaning writing holds in your life.
Please add your own ideas and insights to this list! The more the better. What have you done in the past? What are you planning to do in 2015?
If you look online you'll see lots of spin-offs on the 52 things concept -- 52 things you want to and can achieve in the 52 weeks of next year. I'm a firm believer that it's good to have goals, but also to hold them gently. In a list of 52 things to accomplish in a year, actually doing 18-20 of those things is pretty amazing. You can always defer the rest to the next year, after all. So if you want to create a 52 Things list this year, and you're looking to add some writing goals to your list, here are my 52 ideas:
1. Start or join a writing group.
2. Go see (in the theater or via rental) three movies based on books you love.
3. Guest post for a blog you read/admire.
4. Get your name in print, meaning you must submit! Get e-mails about opportunities from CRWROPPS, a Yahoo! listserv that culls calls for submissions.
5. Read a banned book during Banned Book Week, September 27 - October 3, 2015. For a list of banned books, visit here.
6. Submit a story to a call for submissions for an anthology.
7. Become a HuffPost blogger. (This is achievable for anyone, even if it feels elusive.)
8. Buy a book for a child or teenager in your life for no reason at all.
9. Join an online community (like SheWrites.com, or NAMW.org, or a private Facebook group dedicated to writing, or a specific genre).
10. Commit to writing a certain number of words per week, or per month.
11. Become a regular content contributor to a website you follow or admire.
12. Attend a local author reading, or two or five or ten.
13. Support your local bookstore by shopping on Independent Bookstore Day, a national celebration of local booksellers, taking place on May 2, 2015.
14. Write a book review and put it on your blog. If you don't have a blog, post it on Facebook.
15. Do one thing that truly champions another writer.
16. Read a book that falls way outside your general area of interest.
17. Post a comment on social media in support of someone you admire.
18. Go to a writers' conference.
19. Participate in online pitch conferences (like pitch fests on Twitter).
20. Participate in NaNoWriMo in November 2015.
21. Join an association, like the Independent Book Publishers Association.
22. Apply for residency retreats, like Hedgebrook.
23. Get an op-ed placed, or learn how to do it by taking an Op-Ed Project class.
24. Do a 500 Words challenge. Writers like Jeff Goins have sponsored these kinds of challenges, where you write 500 words a day for a set number of days -- a month or longer. Give it a whirl!
25. Create an audio book of a recently published book. Check out this free webinar on the subject from Betsy Graziani Fasbinder, author of Fire and Water, who put out an audio book version of her novel in 2014.
26. Map a book you love. It will teach you a lot to outline a book you've read more than once to see how another author thinks about structure, scenes, and narrative arc.
27. Read your work out loud, either at an open mic night or at a literary event like San Francisco's LitQuake.
28. Take an online class. I'll push my best-selling memoir series here. I'm teaching a four-week class on Mary Karr's The Liars' Club with Linda Joy Myers of NAMW in April. But find something in your genre that works for you.
29. Find a number of authors you love on Facebook or Twitter and follow them. Repost and retweet their stuff and see what happens.
30. Follow literary agents on Facebook and Twitter if you're interested in developing agent relationships.
31. Gift yourself a weekend away to brainstorm or write, or to just be with your own thoughts.
32. Do a literary pilgrimage to see a site where a favorite author lived or wrote about, or, if you're a memoirist, perhaps take a pilgrimage into your own past -- to your childhood home, or the setting of your memoir.
33. Visit a printing plant. Tours are open to the public at plants in Michigan, or at Lightning Source in Tennessee. It's a serious education in your own craft to see how books get made.
34. Write and publish an e-book. These can be as short as 25 or 30 pages (single stories or essays) and they can get your work on the map.
35. Enter your work into a contest. You have nothing to lose!
36. Tell your friends and family about your literary ambitions. It's okay to dream big!
37. Set up a separate bank account for your writing pursuits. Pay yourself a small sum a month for your writing, or when you get paid to publish. Start to think of your writing as a business in 2015.
38. Attend an in-person writing class. You can find these at writing hot spots like The Grotto in San Francisco, Hugo House in Seattle, and Grub Street in Boston. Google places in your area.
39. Map out a timeline for your book, or for your next book. Consider when would be a reasonable publication date for your book and write it down. Post it somewhere where you can see it to hold that date as a goal.
40. Create a book cover for your book-in-progress. Nothing brings a book to life like making it "real," even if it's just a collage or a vision that serves as the basis of what you want the book to look like some day.
41. Commit to a certain number of blog posts a month -- one, two, four -- and stick to it for the whole year.
42. If you don't already have a website, start one. If you have a website you know needs a facelift, commit to giving it one.
43. Write a fan letter to your favorite author. I field fan mail for an author I work with and these letters are amazing displays of gratitude and appreciation. It's also good karma.
44. Create a vision board for your book. This is different than a book cover concept. It's a collage of images and/or words that inspire you, and that can keep you motivated and disciplined with your writing goals.
45. Memorize a poem.
46. Get involved with local library event during National Library Week -- April 12-18, 2015 -- a national observance sponsored by the American Library Association (ALA) and libraries across the country.
47. Create a reading family night once a week.
48. Set up a book donation site at your workplace during the holidays.
49. Make a list of your top 10 favorite books in your own genre and reread two of them.
50. Get a logo made. Yes, the brand of you -- as a writer -- needs a logo.
51. Write an affirmation statement that expresses all your strengths as a writer. Remind yourself why you write and allow yourself an opportunity to truly give yourself a compliment.
52. Do something that shows your commitment to writing -- plant something or buy yourself a house (or office) plant; get a piece of "writing" jewelry; or create or purchase something that's meaningful to you that you see every day as a reminder to yourself about the meaning writing holds in your life.
Please add your own ideas and insights to this list! The more the better. What have you done in the past? What are you planning to do in 2015?
"Rain on the Dead:" A Talk With Jack Higgins
Photo: Rob Curie
Jack Higgins is one of the best-selling authors of popular fiction in the world. He is often considered the architect of the modern thriller. His breakthrough novel, The Eagle Has Landed, written in 1975, sold more than 50 million copies. He's penned more than 83 novels which have sold over 150 million copies and have been translated into 55 languages.
Rain on the Dead, featuring the recurring hero Sean Dillon, finds Dillon in the crossfire of an Al Qaeda attack on a former American president. The assassination attempt is thwarted, but an elusive terrorist known as The Master is intent on obliterating his target. Dillon must stay a step ahead of the terrorist in a world where the rules of war have changed, and everyone can be marked for annihilation.
You've written more than 20 novels featuring Sean Dillon. What do you think is the secret of his appeal?
Robert Browning, the great Victorian poet, said, "Our interest's on the dangerous edge of things: the honest thief; the tender murderer; the superstitious atheist."
This sums up the style in which I write and about which the readers comment. Readers like my characterizations. Character is everything in a Jack Higgins novel. And you're never quite sure if somebody is totally good or bad. It's always a mixture of things.
Sean Dillon first appeared in Eye of the Storm in 1992 as an ex-IRA man who became a gun-for-hire. He was hired to blow up the English cabinet on behalf of Saddam Hussein during the first Gulf War. I think what happened was this: the public took Sean Dillon to their hearts. I realized I'd saved a character I'd intended to eliminate. However, my wife convinced me to keep him alive. Yes, he'd been a bad man, an assassin, but then, so was Richard III. (Laughter)
Before the book was published, on my wife's advice, I changed the last chapter of the book, so rather than die as happens to most bad guys, Sean Dillon vanished into the night. That was 21 Dillon books and four movies ago. I think allowing the character to be multi-dimensional -- good and bad -- made the difference for readers, and that's the basis for his appeal.
Jack Higgins is a literary pseudonym. Over the years you've used names such as Martin Fallon, Hugh Marlowe, James Graham and Jack Higgins. Why not your own name, Harry Patterson?
Using different names was part of one stage of my life. There was a lack of money. I'd been educating myself on the side, and trying to keep a family going. I knocked out relatively short thrillers, the kind of novels Chandler used to do. They had to fit into the very busy schedule of my life.
It was no use for me to be with a publisher who would publish only one book I'd written each year. Rather, I wanted a return on everything I wrote. That was where those different names came in. I was very driven to write, and couldn't get enough books turned out. Between 1959 and 1974, I published thirty-five novels, sometimes putting out three or four each year. I would write something very quickly -- usually in about eight weeks. My publisher told me the public wouldn't tolerate an author writing more than one book a year. So, I'd write another and we'd use a different name on it to see what would happen.
That's where James Graham came from. By the time I wrote The Wrath of God, I was teaching at James Graham College. The publisher rang me up and said, 'We love this book but we need a different name on it.' The only thing I could think of was James Graham, the college. So that was it.
The other pseudonyms derived similarly; they were names taken from various aspects of my life. Only later, when Jack Higgins became famous with the publication in 1975 of The Eagle Has Landed, did we reveal the identity of the author of the earlier books. And we stayed with that name, Jack Higgins.
Legend has it that in 1975, your life was transformed by a single telephone conversation. Will you tell us about that?
In 1975, I was talking on the telephone to a publisher in England, a very old-fashioned sort of fellow. He didn't take to the way I'd written The Eagle Has Landed. In that novel, I wrote a prologue to the novel in which I was walking through a little village church, looking for a certain character and discovering by chance, German soldiers buried there. It was a device I used to introduce the main story.
After the call, I put the phone down and went to check some papers. I then decided to make another phone call. When I picked up the telephone, I could hear the conversation going on at the publisher's end of the line. For some reason, the call hadn't disconnected. To my astonishment, the chap with whom I'd been speaking was commenting on my having written myself into the book's prologue. He said it was 'a load of rubbish.' He thought they should delete it and start the novel at a later point.
I was taken aback but said nothing. I simply spoke with my agent; we agreed I was dealing with a publisher who didn't see the true possibilities for the novel. That incident completely changed my mindset about dealing with publishers. I discovered I could be in the hands of people who weren't doing their best for me. As a result, I became much more involved in the publishing process, and began dealing more effectively with the London crowd. I then got a new agent, Ed Victor, who was always on my side. He was wonderful at analyzing things and helped my career enormously.
I've been told your desire to write was born partly out of your passion for literature, and partly to prove you could amount to something. Will you discuss that?
Harry Patterson, that's me, had a Scottish father whom I never knew. My mother left him after three months, and we moved to Belfast, the city where she had been raised.
We were very poor. I shared a room with my great grandfather, who was bedridden. I discovered I was able to read at age three. I would read the newspaper to the old boy. He had some books lying around. One of them was Oliver Twist. I remember picking it up and reading it, and although I didn't understand everything, I loved it. I discovered at a very early age that I just loved reading.
Keep in mind, for the first twelve years of my life, I was raised amidst the IRA turmoil. Life on the Belfast docks was rough. Guns and explosion were all part of my childhood. It was like growing up on a shooting range.
Because of poverty, life was very difficult. Eventually my mother remarried and we moved to Yorkshire, England. I went to a decent high school, but my step-father decided I ought to be working. He and other people in my early life didn't think I would amount to very much.
I started work at fifteen. I was a truck driver, a factory worker, and held many other jobs. In my spare time, I went to night school. I spent three years in the army as a non-commissioned officer. I discovered I had sharpshooting skills, and a very high IQ, when I got a look at my records. I realized I had some potential. I also saw that other people were financially far better off than we were. I didn't start college until I was twenty-seven years old, and after getting two degrees, became a college professor.
I became interested in writing as a boy, and entered a short-story competition in a local newspaper. Although I didn't win, I got a letter from a local author who said, 'I just want to say to you, you are a writer.' I never forgot that little exchange. I began writing novels in 1959, when I was thirty years old. I realized once I started writing, it kept flowing out of me.
I achieved a modicum of success after one novel was sold for film rights. After the sale, we bought a lovely Edwardian house. My wife and I had four children, and I was writing at night. But there was a problem: the typewriter could be heard throughout the house, and disturbed the children's sleep. I decided the best way to improve the situation was to not use a typewriter, but to write by hand. I'm still doing that to this day.
But yes, I felt I had to prove my self-worth, and thinking back on it all, writing novels was the way I could do it best.
If you could have dinner with any five people living or dead, from history or the world of literature, who would they be?
I've known some very fine actors. I was blessed by meeting and having dinner with Richard Burton. He would definitely be one guest. I particularly liked the actor, George Peppard. There was something very special about him. He could be both serious and humorous. I'd love to have Deborah Moore and her father, Roger Moore, to dinner He's a splendid actor, and was superb in the role of James Bond. I've immersed myself in Charles Dickens. I guess it relates to my childhood and having been a little boy reading Oliver Twist. Having read a biography about Dickens, I feel a deep affinity for him after reading about his early years, the poverty, and the rotten jobs he had as a youth and young man.
I think these people would make an excellent dinner group.
Congratulations of having penned Rain on the Dead, another Sean Dillon thriller sure to top the bestseller lists.
Mark Rubinstein
Author of Mad Dog House and Mad Dog Justice