A Wedding in Santa Fe:

Headed to New Mexico this weekend for a family wedding. Expect blog traffic to be light.

Thought of the Day: "Being a Child"

"I've often said that one of the stories I'd like to write would have the beginning "we never get over having been a child" because that so much of where it happens, ya know, it all begins there. And the sad thing for a lot of us is that, of course, we live our lives and can't remember the moment that things began for us and because we can't remember that moment, we continue living sad lives."

--Edward P. Jones

Reading lately...

Feels exactly like this. I had to move a stack of "to be reads" out of bedroom because I was tripping over them in the middle of the night. It's now in my office and well over six feet high.

Book Update: Closing in on Labor Day...

So a quick look at my next book project, a Jewish history of American popular culture, has the proposal in my agents hands and me working on the introduction and the sample chapter. I'm a few thousand words deep into the first and feeling that muted sick feeling of hacking heavy through brush but feeling lost anyway. The argument makes sense but is too broad, is cute but has a big "So what" stamped on its forehead. I usually work this way, spewing nonsense until I have what looks like a finished pile of nonsense then trying to shape it into something. I end up with good stuff and the end but it tastes forever and forever is the last thing I have.

I'm not going to make my deadline. I need to do a ton of research for my sample chapter and I don't feel like I can make room for it until the introduction is done. And I've got other projects to make money while the book finds its own weaving way.

One foot, then the other.

Long Awaited:

The long-awaited next episode of my podcast Your 10 Minute World is now available for your listening pleasure. The reason it's episode #11 and not #10 is because I'm preparing something wonderous for epsiode #10. Stay tuned...

Gleanings: Conventions, Song Birds and Peanut Milk

• Today is the anniversary of the riots at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. My mother was there got clubbed in the knees by cops and tear gassed. It's a great country. (via The Writer's Almanac).
• According to this article, the school cafeteria is becoming the battlefield in the struggle against childhood obesity. Also called "the end of Turkey Surprise."
• This article reminded me that the Songbird music player, supposedly the Cadillac to the iTunes Camry, will have a Mac version in about the year 2056.
• Have you tried peanut milk yet? It's apparently the next wonder food. I had some today. Tasty (via Valleywag).

Thought of the Day: "Daily Practice"

"One ought, every day at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine picture, and if it were possible, to speak a few reasonable words." --Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (via The Writer's Almanac).

Gleanings: Berkeley, Ghosts and That Dancing Guy

• Have you seen the trailer for The Queen? I can't tell if it's a bipic of Queen Elizabeth II (that starts in 1997) or a docudrama about an event scarely a decade old. Of course, World Trade Center is in theatres now and that only happened 5 years ago.
• Lipstick & Magazines keeps getting better. This issue recommended the San Francisco Hotel Project, an ongoing photo essay of the city's residential hotels, Calisphere, a giant collection of publicly available, primary source materials from UC Berkeley, and Andy Worhal-style dishes for banana splits.
• Speaking of wierdness in my city, I may just have to take a ghost tour of my neighborhood.
• Where the Hell is Matt is a travel blog of a guy who has been around the world several times and videotaped himself dancing in all corners of the globe. But you probably knew this already.

Thought of the Day: "Work"

"Chose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your life" --Confucius.

(via The Writer's Almanac)

Gleanings: Bookstores, Lit Porn, Ferrel's Ice Cream

• Indies Under Fire is a documentary about the struggle of independent bookstores to survive. I've viewed the trailer. Please tell me there's more to this story than another chains = bad, indies = good litany (via Readerville).
• The PEN Center is now offering podcasts. Lit porn, really (via Tigerbeat) .
• I have no idea what's doing over at 8020 Publishing (does anyone?) but I'm curious.
• Anybody know about the McMenamins chain in Portland? What's their reputation like?
• Ferrell's is back! I'm so doing my next birthday there.