A Single Layer

I suppose I always knew it would happen. I work books, after all, and these things are the hottest things going. Of course, that reasoning hasn't made me pick up A New Earth or The Last Lecture , or even Stori Telling - but it does have some sway with my choices. Some. A little. Okay, the real reason I picked up Twilight the other day and started reading it in earnest (I am done now and moving on to the next book after work) was because I was talking to Chaeli on the phone while cruising up the 405 (Jenny B was at the wheel - no law-breaking for me), and Chaeli said: 'You have to read them. It is so good for people to be reading these books right now.' So I thought, 'Alright already. If they're culturally relevant, I'll read them.' Let me clarify, I did not avoid these books because I thought they'd be stupid. I'd read the first few pages and knew the writing wasn't bad. And I was 100% certain I would enjoy them. That was half the problem. They...

“ A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects. Robert Anson Heinlein (via ckck ) For more wise words, visit the new link on the right: http://rulesformyunbornson.tumblr.com

Three cheers for the word 'snarky' and for journalists who think! Anne Applebaum of the Slate reports the glaring distinctions between British coverage of the Olympics and... everybody else. Thank you, Ayjay.

Some of my readers may not be aware that my father is a pretty important guy when it comes to homelessness. He's like the godfather of the homeless of Long Beach. Except not as scary. (Note to self: Do not blog after midnight. Sentences become stupid. Metaphors become inane.) At some point in time, everyone of his children - yeah, that would be me and my siblings - has worked for him in some capacity. I typed addresses into a computer and folded newsletters. My oldest sister single-handedly constructed the Long Beach winter shelter last year (slight exaggeration, but she deserves a lot of kudos). My other sister has done smart work for him as well, and it looks as though growing up and getting a 'real' job hasn't quite satisfied. She's coming back, hubby in tow, to ride in the Long Beach Marathon (or whatever it's called), all for the sake of raising money for the Long Beach Rescue Mission. Anyone interested in supporting her ride (she's one of our frequent ...

Not much blogging going down this week. Jenny B, one of our regular commentators, is visiting just now. This means that a) blog-worthy things will happen, and b) I will not be around much to blog about them. hehehe..... Meanwhile, let's all celebrate as my sister, also one of our regular commentators, is in the process of purchasing her first home! clap hands... On a side note, because I really want to be late for work, is anyone else feeling like this blog template is worse than boring? Does it lull you to sleep every time you read my missives? This might change soon. Whenever I find an html artist with time on their hands - 'cause I'm really tired of blogger's present selection.

For the best latte I have tasted outside of Italy, go to the Portfolio Coffeehouse . I'm not trying to be a snob. I have ordered from them three times now, and every time they have given me the most delicious coffee beverage I have tasted since I flew out of Rome one year and a half ago. Patronize this place. Now. If you hesitate, know also that they provide free internet access and curiously compelling wall art. What's holding you back?

Vroman's Bookstore: Night of the Gun

Further fairy tale business: Follow this link to a 'choose your own adventure'-type fairy tale. It's pretty awful, but since you make narrative decisions along the way, it's hard to know who's to blame for the inanity of the story. Try it out.

Found an interesting site while browsing in front of the Olympics this evening. It's an online journal of fairy tale stuff . It looks pretty legitimate, too. I think I should work for them. Or at least submit stuff. Perhaps I could work this into the fairy festival I'm planning for November.... How? Haven't got the foggiest idea.

A quick flashback (not too far back) to my reading of Wright's Surprised by Hope - a task interrupted by Harry Potter, bad teen fiction, and the celebration of Neil Gaiman's transcendentalism - has me going through Neuhaus's response to the book in my ignored April edition of First Things. Happy in his words, I hop back on the journal's website (I have not been checking it as frequently lately. My sense of self-injury as I nobly tackle faithful loan payments and responsible budgeting by working two jobs has seriously cut down on my intellectual and social pursuits, adding to my impatience with an admixture of self-pity and self-contempt. In other words, I don't have the brain power to keep up with these things.). It seems that Neuhaus is tackling Wright's own issue from an entirely different slant. I am curious. I read his previous articles on the same topic. I find his thoughts are soon to be compiled as a book. I am excited. I wonder if it will really be a Ne...

Went to the Aquarium of the Pacific this evening. It was open late, so Mom took my grandfather, and Dad and I tagged along. Saw the leafy sea dragons for the second time ever. If you have not seen these ethereal creatures of the sea, let me show you. You can see a weedy sea dragon here . They're not as angelic, but I think I might like them even more. They're twiggy. Mischievous. I want to make a picture of them.

First there were my scissors. They were small ones, tucked with my toothbrush and other bathroom goods in my carry-on. Because all I had was a carry-on. I was eating Panda Express with you-know-who-you-are and JennyE. in the waiting warehouse of the Denver airport when I remembered that they were in the bag. I left them there with Colorado, and headed to the security checkpoint feeling unmaterialistic and self-satisfied. Then there was the face soap and moisturizer, both of which were 2 oz. too big for the satisfaction of the x-ray machine. 'I have more at home,' I told myself, and refused to be annoyed by the passive aggressive contempt of the security woman who told me that had been the liquid standard for some 2.something years. Well, we all have our bad days. I boarded the airplane feeling unmaterialistic, self-satisfied, and full of dignity despite the slight absurdity of three toiletry losses in an hour. After I returned home, it took only a few days to discover further l...

Think you take a long time getting dressed in the morning? Compare yourself to others and feel better about your time. I wonder, who agrees to photograph her every other morning?

I had a thought about blogging the other day, some subject that seemed worthy of these 'pages'. And now, of course, I can't remember what it was. Was it the stranger showering from our sprinkler spigot at three in the morning? My mother saw her from the window, but did not interfere. It seemed an awkward moment to assert property rights. Or was it the teen book I picked up the other day and won't pick up again? A Great and Terrible Beauty , by Libba Bray. It has two sequels and everything. Very unfortunate. It's structured within a post-Victorian British Empire based more on 21st-century prejudices and assumptions of old-world gender-restrictions than actual fact. It seems to try to get away with its diversion from true historical representation by involving itself in a very confused world of dark magic. I say confused, because you find the author has dropped you into it without warning. There were several times where I had to turn back a page or two to find the elu...

This post is to officially recognize Jenny B. (don't know how you feel about publishing your name on the interwebs) for introducing me to the works of Neil Gaiman. Yes, I know it took me a long time to come around. It usually does. But am I not here now? and is that not all that matters? Thank you.

Sun 03 Aug ∞ Permalink How easy it is to live with You, O Lord. How easy to believe in You. When my spirit is overwhelmed within me, When even the keenest see no further than the night, And know not what to do tomorrow, You bestow on me the certitude That You exist and are mindful of me, That all the paths of righteousness are not barred. As I ascend in to the hill of earthly glory, I turn back and gaze, astonished, on the road That led me here beyond despair, Where I too may reflect Your radiance upon mankind. All that I may reflect, You shall accord me, And appoint others where I shall fail. —Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, 1972

Neil Gaiman's newest novel The Graveyard Book is coming out this September, and I think we should throw a party. I am not sure if I've ever read anyone as boldly imaginative as Neil Gaiman. And when I say bold, I mean stand-in-front-of traffic-and-wave-your-arms bold. Except not as stupid. Maybe I should start over. Neil Gaiman has written several novels that have been received with wide acclaim from young and old readers alike. His children's novel, Coraline , had me shivering in my seat with spine-tingling fear - the most delightfully enchanted fear I have ever felt. (Perhaps the only enchanted fear I have ever felt.) He co-wrote the screenplay for Beowulf (2007), introducing a startling perspective on the ancient hero with intelligence and sympathy. His novel Stardust was hilarious and riveting and curious and new and old. As was the film, which he also wrote. Everything I have read or seen of his has been a brilliant fusion of novelty and familiarity. His is the stuf...

The BD party is over, and I get to breathe. Sleep. Relax. At least until more work next week. I actually had to go on a stealth book run this morning to grab some more copies since the publishers shunted the independents of Southern California and our shipment isn't coming for a good long while. I wonder how long it will take for me to get the books from a used book place. You know, for like a dime. They have no resale value. Meanwhile, I have started writing a children's story. I know, I know. I'm supposed to be working on my novel. But who can focus when there are children in the world? I will tell you more as it unfolds, perhaps even posting the story in installments. As long as it doesn't get swiped.