I'll be reading Growing Up with Tamales for story time at Blue Willow Bookshop, in Houston, on Thursday morning, May 15. Tell everyone you know with kids in the Houston area. How do you find and support local indie book stores like Blue Willow? By going to Booksense.
On Saturday, May 17, I'll be in Dallas, reading and signing at the J. Erik Jonsson Central Library, for the 13th Dallas Children’s Book Fair & Literary Festival.
On June 22, here in Houston, I'm going to do a poetry workshop. It's free and open to the public, y'all, and they're having one every Sunday in June, taught by local poets I love and respect. So come on down.
Friday, February 01, 2008
Friday Linkelodeon for People Who Are Bored1. How to Make an Earbud Cord Caddy. I showed this to my boyfriend and he was like, "We could make those and sell them!" and I was like, "No, too sweatshop for too little money." But it would be fun to make one, if I had an I-Pod.
2. Do you need a Burt Reynolds purse? I think you might.
3. So this nature writer finds out that a very prolific, best-selling romance novelist plagiarized from his article about black-footed ferrets. And he writes a pretty funny, good-sport piece about it.
Meanwhile, on the site of the initial plagiarism discovery, readers are scanning the novelist's other books and finding plagiarism galore.
4. The AV Club ranks on progressive rock album covers. I knew, before even looking, that a Yes album would be included.
5. Sometimes I love the NPR program This American Life, and sometimes I don't. Often, listening to the stories in my van, I can't help tearing up a little. I loved the story of the evangelically raised student who took on a demon at his university.
On the other hand, I hated the story about the girl who got a heart transplant thanks to a boy who'd been murdered by gang members. That one literally made me sob, I was so upset by the self-centeredness of some of its characters. I remember sitting in the parking lot of Home Depot, waiting for the story to end, and then waiting to get hold of myself, it upset me so much. But don't get me wrong -- it's totally worth hearing.
Labels: links
12:04 PM #Comments:
Har. And I knew that Queensrÿche cover would be in there.# posted by
Jane G. : 8:06 PM
I like the earphone caddy idea, but ew - I don't think I'd make it out of old sandals. They get that black, sweaty footprint imbedded in them. You'd be combining something that's been in someone's ear with something that's been on someone's foot.
# posted by
pudding-monkey : 12:03 PM
Did you see the calavera purses on bolsas bonitas? How about the pretty mexican light skinned women?
# posted by
: 1:06 PM
*gasp* boyfriend??*choke*
You so mean FIANCE right?
Lordy girlfriend. keep that ring finger in focus while you type.
*snort*
but seriously....I cant link to your sad stories, I cry too easily. I'm forbidden to watch that house rebuilding tv show with Ty Pennington because I cry too much. My family gags and I sob.
*sigh* but thanks tho
-Pixielyn
# posted by
: 4:38 PM
I download the podcast of This American Life because I often miss it when it plays on the radio (on our NPR station, it's at, like, 7:00 pm on Friday night). I just listened to a bit of a backlog and I loved the demon story; but I haven't heard the heart transplant story yet. I'm always amazed at what some people are willing to divulge on the record -- especially if it makes them sound like a rank jackass. Did you hear the one recently which was actually an update/replay of a 1997 piece about Harold Washington, the first black mayor of Chicago (who died in 1987)?
# posted by
jam : 8:59 AM
I totally thought of you yesterday when I sat in my car on the street, fighting back tears over the TAL story about Roger Dowd. Did you hear that?
# posted by
Marigoldie : 6:22 PM
Jane G.: Did you catch the raging debate in the comments, over whether Queensryche sucks or not?
Pudding Monkey: Stop it. You're turning me on.
L: I only saw that ones on the main page. (Burt Reynolds, Chuck Norris, mainly.) But I bookmarked for further slacking.
Pixielyn: I remember. But calling him "my fiance" sounds so pretentious/attention-whory. I'll probably still call him my boyfriend after we're married... Remember that ep of Seinfeld, where Sigourney Weaver cameos as the chick who can't stop talking about her fiancAY, pronounced the French way? And then Elaine finally tells her, "Maybe the dingo ate your baby"?
Jam: No, I didn't hear the Harold Washington one. Is it good or bad?
People sounding like rank jackasses: Word! And they have to review their own quotes and give permissions, so you'd think they'd realize... I always wonder what their friends tell them, after the show airs. "Oh, yeah, you sounded good. Great. Not self-centered or stupid at all. Can we change the subject now?"
Marigoldie: No, I didn't. Now I have to remember to find it and listen at home. (Seriously, this day job is so constraining.)
# posted by
Gwen : 9:52 AM
Harold Washington: it's good, but also bad. There are a lot of cringe-worthy moments where I stopped in my tracks, mouth actually hanging open (I was running), thinking "Not ONLY did someone actually THINK that, they SAID IT OUT LOUD, TOO." And like it's no big thing! Amazing.
I think a lot of us do (unfortunately) have unconscious prejudices that color the way we perceive people and situations, but that if someone actually asked us how we felt about person X or situation Y, we'd probably say what we want to believe we think. Or, less altruistically, what we think we *should* say. If that makes sense? Anyway, so it just boggles the mind to encounter people who really do think those other things and then just bust right out with them.
Anyway, the Harold Washington piece was really interesting. I'll admit I almost didn't want to listen because I didn't want to be forced to think about how much we have or haven't changed as a society. And it did make me have some uncomfortable moments, like where one of the Harold Washington supporters would be saying something about him or his campaign and I'd be thinking, "well, now I don't know if I'd go *that* far" and then I'd feel like -- wait, I'm white, am I even entitled to have an opinion about whether I'd go that far or not? Am I allowed to disagree with that point even though I agree in the general sense? Is that what this is about? So that was uncomfortable, but I think in a private, growing kind of way. I hope.
Wow, that was long.
# posted by
jam : 2:14 PM
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