December 2008
5 posts
2 tags
Several notable writers’ birthdays in the past couple of weeks: Dec 10: Emily Dickinson, who in 1862 alone wrote 366 poems. Dec 8: Mary Gordon, whom we had the fortune to see and hear her read at the Story Prize Award ceremony a year ago. Dec 2: George Saunders, one of our favorite writers, and this is what The Writer’s Almanac has to say about it: He grew up on the South Side of...
Dec 13th
Dec 12th
WatchWatch
NPH!
Dec 6th
Dec 1st
3 notes
Dec 1st
1 note
November 2008
10 posts
Nov 30th
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Nov 30th
Nov 30th
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Nov 26th
267 notes
Nov 24th
Nov 21st
Nov 19th
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Nov 6th
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California Appears Likely to Ban Gay Marriage →
It’s shocking that such intolerance can exist in California.  Sure puts a damper on an otherwise beautiful day.
Nov 5th
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Nov 2nd
October 2008
34 posts
2 tags
Oct 28th
2 tags
Arkansas, by John Brandon →
Saw this book yesterday in the library.  I was surprised.  The book is interesting so far, 40 pages in.  The book is a McSweeney’s Rectangulars and can be purcahsed here.
Oct 26th
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Oct 26th
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Van Winkle's Mill Archaeological Project →
“Archeology is not simply about finding old things that have been buried by time and dirt. As a subdiscipline of anthropology, archeology is inevitably about what those things can tell us about past people—their cultures, their lives and what their daily experiences might have been like. Van Winkle’s Mill offers researchers several important venues in which they can contribute...
Oct 26th
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Oct 26th
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Oct 26th
1 tag
We’re on our 4th state and so far, all the names of the states can be traced back to the Native Americans (you know the people who used to roam on this great land until the Europeans came and…).  So what happened to the Native Americans?  I know the history ain’t pretty but we weren’t sure exactly what happened.  We consulted with the all-knowing Google and we found out...
Oct 18th
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Oct 18th
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Oct 18th
Oct 17th
Oct 17th
Oct 17th
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Oct 16th
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Oct 16th
Oct 16th
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Oct 12th
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Oct 12th
Oct 12th
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“I assume you share the name, Barry Hess, with me. That’s a good thing because...”
– Another Barry Hess, another mistaken identity, this time as the late Paul Newman’s son. The story continues, on Barry’s blog.
Oct 12th
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Oct 10th
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Oct 9th
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Some famous people of interest to me (of course, there are lots more) who hail from Arizona: Linda Ronstadt, who sang the original Somewhere Out There in a duet with James Ingram (and here’s the mousey version from An American Tale) jazz musician Charles Mingus architect Frank Lloyd Wright and, betcha didn’t know about this one, Joan Ganz Cooney, the creator of Sesame Street, which...
Oct 8th
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Oct 8th
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Oct 5th
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Oct 5th
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Oct 5th
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Oct 3rd
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Our friend Josh Kamler (Tiny Gigantic / Language in Common) has this to say about Alaska: So I lived in Alaska when I was six. I learned both how to swim and read there - and yeah, I learned late because apparently the schools in Cali in the 70’s weren’t so good - and once, my mom got stuck in the muskegg, which is like quicksand, but muddy and kinda gross but not fatal.  Also, I...
Oct 3rd
2 tags
If you are invited to go to a party dressed up as one of the 50 States, which would you choose, and what would you dress as?  Our friend Naveen had such a party in 2006 (brilliant!) and he told us the story behind it all: In April 2006, I became a citizen of the US and I decided to throw a party to celebrate. I didn’t have much time to travel cross-country (that was another thought) so I figured...
Oct 3rd
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Oct 3rd
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Oct 2nd
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Oct 1st
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Oct 1st
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“Offshore drilling, which both Obama and McCain have come to favor in recent...”
– Ask the Author: Philip Gourevitch takes questions about Sarah Palin and Alaska
Oct 1st
September 2008
24 posts
2 tags
Alaskan Tropic →
“Of the many things revealed about the Alaska governor Sarah Palin since she became John McCain’s running mate last month, one of the most curious is the fact, reported two weeks ago, that she had a tanning bed installed in the state mansion in Juneau.” I wonder what Matt Damon thinks about that.
Sep 30th