Monthly Archives: January 2008
Every Time It Happens, They Say It’s The First Time
One of the really puzzling phenomena, for example, has been the habitual reference to Clinton’s run as “the first serious campaign for president by a woman.” That is how I heard it described on a cable news program half an … Continue reading
The Amazon Breakthrough Novel Finals Are Here
My friend and former student Marco Rafala is in the finals in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award. The winner will be published by Penguin. You can follow this link here to download his excerpt for free and check out all … Continue reading
Filed under books, literary contests, novels, what is right with us, writers, writing
In Which I Realize Again That Capitalism Is Not My Friend
This was a pre-Christmas post that I discovered in my drafts section and forgot to post, because I spent way, way too much time at the San Mateo Starbucks and started to forget who I was, and why. I thought … Continue reading
Filed under letters from away
‘Imagine A World With No New Movies.’
Some observers have mocked the writers as pampered and greedy, but Bowman, who began his writing career 20 years ago on Saturday Night Live, said Writers Guild members’ average annual income over a five-year period was $69,000. At any one … Continue reading
The Writers Guild Strike Explained, Even Better Than Ever
From Dana Goodyear’s blog at the New Yorker.
Filed under media, meme, what is right with us, what is wrong with us, writers, writing
Things I’m Not Doing On My Winter Break, Part Deux
My friend Noah sent me these of him and his friends. I was supposed to be in Trinidad, CA, this week with him, checking out the beaches of Humbold County. So, I am not, for example, surfing with my friend … Continue reading
Filed under letters from away
Things I’m Not Doing
My friend Mary Lum sent this to me today, from Paris, where she’s exhibiting new work. Two men walking down a Paris street. This is me wishing I was there.
Filed under letters from away
Why do we read fiction anyway?
Why do we read fiction, anyway? Not to be impressed by somebody’s dazzling language–or at least I hope that’s not our reason. I think that most of us, anyway, read these stories that we know are not “true” because we’re … Continue reading
18% Winner, 82% Loser
You might wonder how [Chris] Matthews could simultaneously argue that John McCain would be a big winner if he got 18 percent of the vote and that if Hillary Clinton finished with more than 30 percent, it would mean she … Continue reading
Filed under meme, political art, politics, product
