Ropes of Sand

Big congratulations to Sugi

for a two-book deal with Random House, Random House. I can't wait to see the books out now.

posted by Y @ Monday, October 16, 2006 11 comments

Work, Democrat. Work.

So it looks like I've taken a while to warm up to the whole blog thing, but I'm feeling toastier after 16 months, as I have something to shill for...

My friend and frat brother Thomas Bates has started an organization called Democrats Work. The general idea is to pair avowed Democrats with already-existing service organizations, so as to increase visibility of Democrats doing the things Democrats do anyway (as we are a good and charitable people), as well as to maintain the roots of the grass outside of the election cycle. It has some other objectives, which you can read all about at the website. Long story short, the first round of states they are targeting are Nevada, Colorado, Arkansas and Ohio. (SAS/Ian/Balou, I'm looking at you... more to come, let me know if you are interested in the slightest.)

While Mr. Bates was out here in sunny Denver (where I reside), I tagged along with him to a few Democratic events and discovered that a) if you want to be "into" politics you pretty much have to read political blogs, and b) man, I sure don't read blogs (except for this one, of course). All this talk of my discomfort with blogs is making me feel old. Also, my knees hurt from playing beach volleyball. Yes, Denver.

Literarily (this is a writer-type blog, right?), looks like Orhan Pamuk won the Nobel Prize. The Times points out that this continues a trend of choosing writers who are in opposition to their States, even though they purportedly award the thing based purely on literary merit. Called to mind Joyce Carol Oates' National Book Award acceptance speech, though on re-reading it I think that's more to do with a) faulty powers of association/recollection and b) limited pool of appropriate associations to draw on.

In closing, this is old news, but Bill Moyers did a pretty neato series - "On Faith and Reason" - for his PBS show. You can get it as a podcast, or watch the videos on the site (though I don't see anything when I just tried it). Generally speaking, he's pretty dope. So is the segment with David Grossman on his retelling of the Samson story. Word.

posted by umbilicalkid @ Thursday, October 12, 2006 1 comments

Bid

Ever wonder what it would cost to have a book, book proposal, screenplay, novel chapters, or synopsis critiqued?

Find out when the bidding starts on ebay.

In an effort to raise money to help orphaned children in China, Julie Kenner has pulled together an interested assortment of literary effects (you'll recognize many of the names) for sale: "We have a range of great items to bid on, from signed books, to Hollywood memorabilia, to critiques of your book or screenplay by editors, agents, and managers. Something for everyone ... and just in time for your holiday shopping!" she says on her fundraising website.

Read all about it here:

Bid

By the way, I'm just going to keep soldiering along on the blog.



Okay?

posted by SAS @ Wednesday, October 11, 2006 2 comments

See Dog, See Debate

Wow. Where is everyone?

While Ian is away in the land of the flying corn, I've decided to send Balou to doggie day care. Forgive me please my sorry self -- all I do (still) is talk about my dog -- but I've just found this wonderful wonderful thing: I can watch my dog on my computer.
Some things I didn't expect:
1. How high my heart jumps every time he walks near the webcam.
2. How often I wonder if he can sense me watching him.
3. How many people I've already told about this.

See my dogs and the dogs of others here:

Pet Spot

Balou is in Upstairs Playroom One. I know it won't be the same for you because it won't be your dog, but the experience is rather like watching fish swim in a tank (only it's dogs in a room) and people do that (sometimes straight through meals) even though they don't know and love any of the fish in the tank.

In the interest of redeeming myself, here's some non-dog related junk:

As many of you may know, the political scene in Ohio is very hot at present. The stakes are high and the campaign dollars are big and dirty. Ken Blackwell and Ted Strickland (kind of) debated economics last night in Cincinnati. Read about it here:

Debate Spot

My favorite part of the evening: Blackwell claims he knows Roy Rogers and he knows that Strickland is not Roy Rogers. Strickland claims that he too knows Roy Rogers and that Blackwell is not Ronald Reagan.

posted by SAS @ Thursday, October 05, 2006 0 comments