Do you have – or know where to get – a copy of Stanza for the Mac? I don’t want the Amazon inflicted version or anything from the App Store. Just the original goodness. I’ve looked about and have yet to find…
a few minutes later …
… don’t you hate it when you’ve looked, done everything, tried everywhere and then a minute after you post or ask the question you find what you needed?
Read Ron Jeremy: The Hardest (Working) Man in Showbiz. Has to rank as the worst bio I have read. Not that I thought it would be deeply intellectual but it redefines shallow.
Pre-ordered the kindle version of Peter Cook: A Biography which is probably the best bio I have read. I was born a little late for his time on top of the comedy tree and I never really for into the Pete & Dud thing but the book really is excellent. Read it around 10 years ago and I’m looking forward to reading it again.
Currently reading Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere.
Recently read 2 books by Kazuo Ishiguro – Never Let Me Go and Remains of the Day. The first I read in one sitting (unintended, it was just that good) and the second was over 2 nights. Both are so great that even though I know they are films I could not watch those films. They would probably ruin the books for me. Faultless books and more by that guy have been bought (I’m spacing out the goodness).
Reading goal for the next 6 months – finish Anna Karenina and start War & Peace.
Been meaning to do this for ages but I cleared and updated my Amazon Wishlist. Gone are the novels as I have many of those on my Sony Reader (still reading Anna Karenina and really annoyed that an absolutely vital part of the plot was accidentally seen in a newspaper) but what I have none of – apart from The Communist Manifesto – are enough politics / society books. So a few of those I want are listed. And that Kindle thing is there. Why put that there when I have the Sony? Because I have bought several books recently and all of them were on the kindle, I could have all instantly and yet even Prime meant I had to wait at least a day. Annoyingly I also tend to buy things on Fridays (I do the same on ebay) so the delay is compounded. Had I a kindle I could have been happier faster and more importantly started reading while still in the moment of wanting. It is far from essential but hey, it’s a wishlist.
This arrived in my – and thousands of others – inbox on Nov 5. I liked the whole email when it arrived but I really liked this part. Just read it again and I still do. (I’m at 12097 of the 50000)
2) You deserve some fun. We get so focused on doing the things that pay the bills that we sometimes neglect to do the things that make us feel truly alive. You have a world of people depending on you—family, friends, co-workers, bosses, teachers. Taking care of everyone’s needs while still finding time to buy groceries and bathe every couple days can be a feat. Unfortunately, this means that activities like writing and art and music tend to disappear into the margins of our lives.
Think of November as an all-expenses-paid, 30-day vacation to novel-land. It’s a place where you can whoop and holler and dance the crazy dance. A place where you can conjure new worlds, dream oversized dreams, and explore the wilds of your imagination. For one month, you get to orient your life around your creative spark, rather than vice versa.
Which brings us back to November 1. Today, over 100,000 people are heading out to find that spark. It’s going to be a great, unforgettable month. The cloud wishes you well! And all of us here on staff wish you well, too.
The world needs your new novel, author.
It’s time to go get it written.
Chris
NaNoWriMo
All are started, bookmarked, conveniently handy should I feel the need to read.
… that elegant three-star concoction is the collaborative effort of a team of “wacked-out moral degenerates, dope fiends, refugees, a thuggish assortment of drunks, sneak thieves, sluts and psychopaths,”
Blackwater: The Rise of the World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army
… how the Bush Administration has spent hundreds of millions of public dollars building a parallel corporate army, an army so loyal to far right causes it constitutes nothing less than a Republican Guard
In the summer of 1976 Gilmore robbed two men and then shot them in cold blood. No one had been executed in America for ten years but Gilmore, rather than have his sentence commuted to life imprisonment, wanted to die, and his ensuing battle with the authorities for the right to do so made him a worldwide celebrity and ensured that his execution turned into a gruesome media event.
One hundred classic stories from the celebrated author of Fahrenheit 451.
A Zen guide to the problems of daily living, love, relationships, work, fear and suffering. Combining earthly wisdom with spiritual enlightenment, it describes how to live each moment to the full and shows the relevance of Zen to every aspect of life.
Words That Work: It’s Not What You Say, It’s What People Hear
A behind-the-scenes look at how the tactical use of words and phrases affects what people buy, who they vote for and even what they believe.
Reading is a habit that really should not be broken. But my habit is very broken so I need to make an effort to sit for 30 minutes a day and start to read. I love reading. I just need to do it more.
Janet opened her eyes – Florida’s prehistoric glare dazzled outside the motel window.
What’s a ‘prehistoric glare’ ?
I’m a chapter in and that first sentence of the book is just plain odd. It’s jarring.
So it’s bright (I can get that), it dazzles (okay, with that too) and it’s outside (no problem). But ‘prehistoric’ ?
Maybe ‘glare’ means it’s staring hard at her. Through the window. Brightly.
Do I visualise really old sunshine? How would I know? Sunbeams (“Don’t call me sunbeam sonny!”) just strolling instead of zooming? Does it stand and wait in the Post Office first? Does it moan about light not being what it was in the olden days?
Are there dinosaurs involved?
Is the motel run by Fred and Wilma?
Yesterday was the occasion of the bi-annual garage clean / sort.
I found my Sony MiniDisc player complete with several MD’s (AJ – I have a shiny blue disc full of VNV Nation. I’ve learned to smile since so do you want it back? ;) ) and it all appears to be in working order. I have no idea what to do with it though. None. I recall saying to drDave many moons ago that the MD was cool and that mp3 players weren’t that hot. He said that as Japan had moved so would everyone and he was not wrong. Be good to have something to use it for. (I have the same problem with my Psion 5, it too just sits there unemployed.)
I have a couple of boxes of books in there and as I’m down to my last book – De Niro bio – I dug around. Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff
Lastly was Microserfs
And I’ve cleared a section of shelving for the video games. Each system (Megadrive, SNES, N64, Lynx, some GB/GBA/GBC, PS, DC) needs a box of it’s own. Dust is easily removed but deterioration of the boxes and carts due to being moved around isn’t so good. I think I need to trawl ebay for some classics too.
Bought:
De Niro: A Biography – John Baxter
Just needs to be read really..
Blood and Sand – Frank Gardner
I like his reports and articles so this should be good.
Hunter – E.Jean Carroll
I want to know more about the man behind so much.
The Revenge of Gaia – James Lovelock
I believe this more than most things.
Cell – Stephen King
First SK book I’ve read for years. Let’s see if he’s got that touch back which made The Stand one of the best books ever written.
I wanted a bio of Al Pacino but they only had the one paperback. All the images were clustered in the centre of the book and someone had opened the book wide, damaging the spine. So that’s a no-no. Books have to be perfect. It’s my job to wear my books in.