Just read a post by Jane over at dearauthor.com: “Books as a Business”. It’s a mostly good article with some interesting analysis, though I would change the title, at least; books are what we read, while publishing is a business.
Which aligns with my previous couple of posts, staying on the theme of writing as [...]

Apparently, those allergies I battled the other week? Either the prelude to a cold or the set-up for one, which came hard and fast and knocked me right the hell off my feet. It was like a rope-a-dope, or something. Tuesday I started getting cranky and achy, and then Wednesday and Thursday just outright sucked.
So that’s what I did this week.
On the plus side, I got a loan that should carry me a while, and went to my first eye exam in several years. I studied hard and passed with flying colors (ha!).
While sick, I watched the so-criminally-underrated-it-was-canceled-after-eight-episodes Love Monkey, which starred Tom Cavanagh in the titular role and concerns days in the life of an A&R rep for an indie music label. Really, really great show based on an actually decent book with the same name by Kyle Smith. Then again, it was one of the single instances when the adaptation was better than the source material, and those eight episodes became one of the most perfectly executed television series I’ve ever watched. Doesn’t seem to be available on DVD yet, but I’m sure some resourcefulness and good ole’ fashioned Google fu can help.
This is the first part of the first episode:

With February just around the corner, there’s lots to do, but then again, I feel like I’m always saying that, so I think I’m going to stop and just, you know, do them. I fear this blog became a bit too much like a journal and a bit too little like . . . well, something really awesome.
Anyway, more after I can fully clear the glue out of my head. And maybe beer and venison tonight with my best buddy in the world. Sounds therapeutic to me, even if it is, like, two degrees out there.

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No?

How about now?
You should totally read the book before you go see it, and if you can get your hands on the audio version: listen to it. Gaiman reads it himself, and it’s brilliantly creepy and hauntingly charming in all the best ways.

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Or Changefest ‘08, as The Daily Show apparently took to calling it:
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The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c
Changefest ‘09 - Obama’s Inauguration

Barack Obama Interview John McCain Interview
Sarah Palin Video Funny Election Video

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Just a little patience:

Is that not perhaps the greatest whistle of all time? Pretty rad.
That was mid-Guns ‘n Roses, wasn’t it? I have to admit I don’t remember; I was 2 in 1980, and my early childhood was spent loving Bon Jovi more than anyone else, ever. If Appetite for Destruction came out in 1987, I was all of 9 at the time, and I fear I was always more into books and reading than music, anyway. The first thing I remember about Guns ‘n Roses is dancing with Jennifer Harwood to “November Rain.” I was, like, 14, maybe?
Still, love them now. Chinese Democracy? I have to post a review of that one of these days; it immediately became one of my favorite CDs ever. “Madagascar” alone would have been worth two decades.
But I bring all this up because I found something yesterday. Just happened across it.
Now, you wouldn’t think something could be more awesome than Axl doing “Patience”. I mean, Guns became nearly as synonymous with his slithery-dance delivery as with his howl and Slash’s riffs. How often can you apply an adjective like “awesome” to a whistle? And even the lyrics are pretty good. I mean, they aren’t Roger Clyne-level good, but not everyone can be the poet laureate of peace, love, and Rock & Roll, can they be?
But say you wanted to improve on “Patience”. Say we wanted to make it cooler. Wouldn’t your first thought be to rock it harder? Mine would be. I mean, to make “Black Betty” cooler, Spiderbait had to race a vintage truck on a jet-powered drumkit.
Surprisingly, though, the answer, apparently, is to go backward. It makes sense if you think about it; “Patience” is all about yearning. It’s a sort of desperate song, and are strumming guitars and a band more known for hookers and blow than for its body of work really all that desperate?
(In some ways they are, actually. I’d venture few people are as familiar with desperation as...

Is that we are now well beyond the nukular age. We now, in fact, have a president who can not only pronounce “disingenuous,” but even use it correctly in a sentence:
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The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c
President Goofus and President Gallant - Peer Pressers

Barack Obama Interview John McCain Interview
Sarah Palin Video Funny Election Video

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Been working a lot through the holidays, but for some reason, it’s only the past couple of days I’ve begun to feel overwhelmed. A little anxious. Might be because I’ve been really productive but look around and realize I’ve barely scratched the surface, or then again might just be because I’m always hardest on myself. Got to stop that. I’m trying not to worry too much, but the state of the economy is daunting; I have some money coming in, from various sources, but the problem is it ain’t in yet, so lots of waiting. In business, as I understand it so far, that’s called accounts receivable; revenue you know you’re getting eventually for services already rendered, but ain’t come in yet.
In some ways, it’s very much part of the story of my life. In screenwriting, it’s called working on spec; you finish the screenplay with no guarantee you’ll actually either sell or option it, but you’ve still got a product you’re sending out.
There’s no fancy phrase for it in terms of writing a novel, besides, of course, The Way Things Are, because that’s just how it is. You write and write and write without any guarantee anyone will even read it, much less pay for it, or even more important, you know, enjoy it.
There are ways to get around such things nowadays, of course. But until some drastic changes occur in the publishing industry, well, they’re sorta The Way Things Aren’t.
Thing about it, though, is that business is a transaction. Payment received for services rendered. Good services bring reward, ultimately, and indeed can even be their own.
I’m thinking about all this partly because of this video, which is totally worth watching and totally made me cry:

Then again, I’m a big sap, so there’s that.
But there’s something to be said for it, in the sense that lighting other people’s flames never diminishes one’s own.
The end, though? Totally fuckin’ kille...

Like this one:

“Boy oh boy I gotta noisy head.”
I think one of the reasons I felt the catharsis I mentioned was that we’ve gotten beyond the noise and chatter. No more political ads, no more proposition whatever, no more signs on people’s lawns. Used to be that it was difficult to separate the static from the noise; seems like now there’s too much noise, and it’s more difficult to separate the stupid from the real.
Or something like that.
Posted in awesomeness, entertainment, life, music Ta

334 electoral votes (at last count) later, this is no longer what you might call a victory. It’s now pretty much a blow out. What Obama did last night is called “winning decisively” or, alternately, “handing John McCain his ass.” McCain was gracious about it, accepting the failure as his own during his concession speech, and Obama, for his part, remained dignified and concentrated not on himself but on us. Which is why, I think, he was so galvanic.
I think few of his supporters believe he won

Here is the half-hour long Barack Obama video that aired before the World Series tonight:

I can’t speak for the whole thing, because I didn’t watch it; I’ve already voted, because I already knew how I wanted to vote. But if you’re undecided, it’s worth watching.
Posted in awesomeness, no contest 2008, politics Tagged: barack obama, elections, no contest 2008, politics, world series

By now I’m sure we’ve all heard that the Republican campaign spent $150,000 on new clothes for Sarah Palin on her being named as McCain’s running mate. Here’s the LA Times commenting on it (link via It’s All One Thing).
I’m more surprised people are surprised by this. By Republican standards, $150,000 is an absolute bargain, considering it’s roughly half what Cindy McCain’s RNC outfit cost.
It’s become apparently newsworthy enough that the GOP is issuing statements concerning it. McCain

more about "The economic crisis makes more sense …", posted with vodpod

I think I almost understand what’s going on right now.
At least I kinda got that we did, in fact, get ourselves into this mess.
By the way: listen for his ‘pop’. It made me laugh aloud.
Posted in awesomeness, economy, Uncategorized Tagged: bailout, cdo, economics

I dig Bill Maher, mostly. Like his stuff. I mean, he’s neither Eddie Izzard nor Jon Stewart, but I do appreciate both his candor and his challenge. I agree with him often, but often mostly in the sense that I agree with Jon Stewart: not in the sense that I’m lefty or liberal or whathaveyou, but more in the sense that I just find the whole system and process completely absurd, as well as many of the participants therein.
I don’t really watch television, though, so I rarely catch Politically Incorrec

I caught this article on Yahoo! concerning Barack Obama’s response to John McCain’s suggesting we postpone the presidential debate to, you know, focus on the economy.
That response? Here:

It’s my belief that this is exactly the time when the American people need to hear from the person who, in approximately 40 days, will be responsible for dealing with this mess.

My response was a little more abstract. It was:
“McCain wants to postpone the debate? You don’t say…”
Because, since the beginn

Just caught this video:

via Needcoffee.com.
Which I thought was awesome and highly recommend, though warning for the sensitive ears; there’s some, like, language. And not language like big words or excrement or incest, but words people think are naughty.
So if you can’t handle the word ‘fuck,’ don’t watch that shit, yo.
It is, apparently, a video representation of an old Onion article.

It reminded me of a bit by Eddie Izzard, the British transvestite comedian, and the funniest bloke I’ve ever

Found this terrific video at The Daily Show’s website (and discovered how to embed video, I think, so I’m thrilled. I love The Daily Show):

Both McCain and Palin are proponents of drilling, and not just offshore. The desire/idea to drill seems related to being a Republican; I distinctly remember not long ago when Bush was making the case that we needed to open Alaskan reserves to drilling to, you know, relieve our dependence, or whatever. (which strikes me as further odd, because isn’t the GOP m

In the spirit of lightening things up here a bit, I figured I’d post something more cheerful. To quote Tom Hanks in That Thing You Do! (which is certainly one of the most underrated movies of all time), I thought I’d give you something happy, something poppy.
Because it’s a perfect day for a ride, ain’t it?
***
I should really just sell the damned thing. Manhattan just isn’t a place for such a beast, much less the Village. New York’s a walking town. A subway town. Sometimes a bus town, and some

The town spreads out below us, looks up to us, admires,
Wishing that it could be where we are for a moment.
We’re on top of the world, blessed in our youth;
We’d better enjoy our positions while we can.
The stars look down on us without our condescension;
They all wonder what happened to God.
They see what we have done and are doing
But never realize that we can change.
The moon shines down on us its scornful eye;
We are uncomfortable though others are less moral.
It is only half there, but whe