Saturday, November 1
Thursday, October 30
Wednesday, October 29
Tuesday, October 28
Monday, October 27
Sunday, October 26
Making the cut
Driving home from the movies, I realized Rt. 128 is just like the Indy 500, except faster and more dangerous. (If you were on the road, I was the blur of hunter green in the fast lane with the music blaring. I didn't even realize my stereo went to 50 until today.) Which is just to preface this post with the notion that I enjoyed driving to and from the movie more than the actual movie itself. I saw In the Cut, which involved Meg Ryan doing things that I was uncomfortable seeing her do. Apparently, her transition to "serious actress" involves sneering instead of smiling and flashing her breasts. 1. I've seen better. 2. Quit curling your lip to show that you are smart! Sneering and mumbling poetry does not equal intelligence!
That is all. Please resume your normal activities.
posted @ 4:12 PM |
Mass media
Despite what I thought was magazine overload at FOLIO:Show this week, I hit B&N yesterday and browsed for the first time in a long time (I generally avoid bookstores when I'm trying not to spend my entire paycheck in a day). I was looking for two books in particular, but when I found neither there, I bought other stuff instead. I was perusing the magazine racks for inspiration, and I stumbled across Book, which, yes, is about books. (This month's issue has a quickie on blogs (scroll down). Whenever blogs are explained, it cracks me up. I've reached the point where I can no longer fathom not being jacked into the blogosphere. Lord, that's a scary thought.) Where was I? Oh, yes, so I'm buying books, reading Book magazine, and then I'm off to see Lost in Translation finally (and it is as good as everyone said).
I feel like I'm trying to ingest everything possible -- I'm reading like a starving man at a buffet. Maybe I've felt too out of touch with the world for too long.
posted @ 11:18 AM |
Oh, the places you'll go
I just got back from farewell drinks with Biz, and I was going to write a sweet post about how Biz has changed my life, and how much I'm going to miss him, and how much I hope he has a wonderful time in San Fran.
My planned post was this: Biz Stone changed my life.
So I went back to find the exact url of my first post, and discovered that Biz had since left a comment -- you know, from the future, since I didn't have commenting when I began blogging. The comment, of course, made me laugh, and then it hit me. I'm really going to miss him. Luckily, he's got a swank loft in San Fran, and I'm totally going to visit. Next week. (Prepare the movable walls!)
posted @ 10:07 PM |
Case closed
I finally finished a book last night. It's been months since I accomplished that particular feat. I've started a lot and carried them around with me, but I haven't been able to close the book knowing there was nothing more to read. An Experiment in Love by Hilary Mantel was well written, but it ended abruptly and left me feeling ambivalent about the book. I was happy mainly because I'd finished it, and it was a nice change of pace from all the magazine reading I'd been doing. Which is not to say that the magazine reading is done for me. I hope to hit B&N this weekend, buy a few books and an assload of magazines. And when I'm not working on being the best damn magazine editor/writer ever, I have to work on the website for my class. Did I mention I finished a book?
posted @ 11:45 AM |
Leaving on a midnight train
I haven't been on a train since college -- I took a midnight train to Georgia, but it left Boston at 9 am. (No, really, I went to Georgia. That's one long-ass train ride, people.) Coming back tonight, it reminded me of my last train ride, rushing back from a week-long stay in the South because of my grandfather's death. I cried most of that night, sad to be leaving Georgia, Alabama, and the person I loved behind me, sad to be heading to Ohio and a funeral. I was glad to be coming home tonight -- the conference was exciting and interesting and all manner of other good things, but I missed Boston and my bed and my life. I've come back to find things in a bit of a mess, and I am wishing to be gone again.
posted @ 8:19 PM |
Defamiliarization
I caught the Spurs-Sun game last night. It was weird; the men just looked ... too big. And awkward. And slow. I knew that none of that was true (well, the men are kind of on the tall side), but I just couldn't get engaged in the action. Boys look weird in shorts. Or maybe I've just gotten too used to the women after a summer of the WNBA.
posted @ 8:28 AM |
Reading Playboy in my hotel room or how I learned to write catchy headlines
One of today's sessions was led by an editor from Playboy, and surprisingly, I learned quite a bit. In addition to ideas on how to keep my content fresh (without using pictures of naked women), I learned that Playboy actually does have good articles. One of the perks of the session was FREE PORN! I got a copy of the November issue just for sticking around and not being embarrassed by naked boobies. In it, there is an excellent interview with Quentin Tarantino and an extensive article on Wal-Mart's evil empire. It was nice to see a magazine give serious page count to articles -- the Tarantino piece was maybe 7,000 words. Nobody gets 7,000 words anymore! My longest piece was 3,000 and it was generally considered to be too long. We spent a lot of time at the conference talking about how to chop things up, make articles more easily digestible for readers in our busybusybusy lives. There has to be a balance, especially for magazines that don't have money to pay for extra copy from a built-in subscription base for naked chicks.
On a side note, I've never bought Playboy, and not because I have a problem with porn. (My sister tends to get upset with her boyfriend for reading/watching it and I've yet to understand why. I mean, really, who cares? As long as your mate doesn't prefer porn over you, everything is fine.) Generally, I don't buy Playboy because it's "entertainment for men." Reading over my free copy, however, I've found lots of articles that I enjoy. And this month's issue has an in-depth interview with John Cusack, AKA the love of my life. So, how is writing for men different from writing for women? Is it? Should it be? And, um, could somebody buy this issue for me?
posted @ 7:08 PM |
Comfort food
I don't hate NYC as much as I did yesterday because I have been lulled into a food coma. I had dinner tonight at Craft, which was so unbelievably good it almost eclipsed the falafel. At nearly three hours, it was one of the longest meals of my life, which was heaven. Left to my own devices, three hours would be the length of every meal for me -- I have been documented as one of the world's slowest eaters. Just ask Leigh.
FOLIO:Show is keeping me alive with ideas -- the only problem is, I've spent the better part of the last few weeks thinking, and my brain is tired. I hope I don't hit total meltdown before the conference is over. Today was editorial boot camp, which entailed a room full of dorky editor-types oohing and aahing over headlines and dangling participles.
Tomorrow, I hope to hit some stuff about magazines on the web ... because, in case you hadn't noticed, I'm interested in, like, the internet and stuff.
posted @ 10:28 PM |
Bright lights, big city
I hate New York. (And, no, it's not just an extension of my Yankees hatred.) It's too big, too loud, too dirty, and too high on itself. No thanks, I'm all set. I miss Boston already, and I've only been in this godforsaken hole for three hours.
Okay, one good thing: The f-ing falafel is amazing.
posted @ 7:05 PM |
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