the disneyland theory, part one: the treasure map

What is it that it is – this theory of mine. Well, this is what it is – my theory that I have, that is to say, which is mine, is mine…
[...]

Read Full Post »

poetry friday: parodies kids should know

First, some old business.  The answer to last week’s Mystery Poet was… Ernest Hemingway, all the way from Oak Park, Illinois! Give him a hand, folks, I predict he’s going to be a major literary heavyweight before the decade’s out, you watch this boy…
Onward.
I’m sorry, but when I was a kid we used to teach [...]

Read Full Post »

the quintessential boy book

I got asked “What’s a quintessential boy book?’ yesterday from someone.  Quintessential, meaning he perfect example, the pure embodiment of something or someone.  It’s almost like asking “Who invented jazz” because everyone has that point on the groove that they mark with a big letter A and it might not be where everyone else drops [...]

Read Full Post »

george carlin, lenny bruce, comedians, and teens

I had been planning a feature for Guys Lit Wire in September that discussed books by comedians that would serve as a sort of underground education for teens.  Carlin was among the lot, as was Lenny Bruce, a pair whose work spoke of language, challenged conventions, and faced the Supreme Court.
Steve Martin and Andy Kaufman [...]

Read Full Post »

poetry friday: “the worker” by a mystery poet

It’s a day early, but it summer means it’s time for me to re-enter the Poetry Friday fray.  The only problem is that on the eve of moving across town I’ve already packed the poetry books!
However
In unloading the shelves I finally located a poetry collection I’d been looking for since last summer.  It’s the collected [...]

Read Full Post »

more like this, please. and thank you

Bookshelves of Doom pointed me in this direction.  Must have been in last Sunday’s NYT, because I hadn’t gotten to it yet.  Gore Vidal, his fiction never really caught me but I often enjoyed his essays and social commentary.  I might not have always agreed with him but I certainly enjoyed his style.
Read the interview.
What [...]

Read Full Post »

emasculating boys at guys lit wire, and an essay

Looks like things are getting a little warm over at Guys Lit Wire with regards to a recent segment aired on CNN’s Glenn Beck show. First, if you haven’t checked it out, go there now and read through the post and the comments. There’s no way I can summarize what’s going on, but it’s [...]

Read Full Post »

an open request to apple computers

Get in the e-reader business.
Seriously.
Work with publishers to download new books directly from their site or iTunes. Make a reader that is thin like the MacBook Air, wireless, and with a touchscreen interface. Not too small, because it would be nice if picture books or illustrated books could be viewed on it without [...]

Read Full Post »

accursed brain

This is supposed to be my down time, my catch-up time. I’m supposed to finish with my semester busypaper work and get back to the middle grade novel. I need to get that sucker in line so that I can seriously start thinking about–
Scratch that. Gang way! New idea comin’ through!
Yup, [...]

Read Full Post »

“the new phone book’s here! the new phone book’s here!”

That’s what I felt like when I got not one but two school related pieces of mail.  One was my advisor’s notes on my final packet.  On that, I finally felt like I’d gotten the hang of things and it went fairly smooth all around.  Not that I didn’t have my week of freak-out just [...]

Read Full Post »

feeling slightly defensive

So about a week ago when I couldn’t sleep I was trolling the internet and found this site called LibriVox. It’s a site where people volunteer to read whole books or chapters from public domain titles which then free to download.  This hit me at the right time because the summer is when I [...]

Read Full Post »