Who needs comfort food when you’ve got comfort books?

February 25, 2010


We repeat foods. We repeat outfits. We watch our favorite movies multiple times, pour over the same season of Arrested Development until we’ve memorized casting cues, listen to albums even after the magic of hearing them for the first time is as distant as a Prohibition Era speakeasy.

We do it because they comfort us. We repeat them because they’re familiar and awesome and part of what makes us, you know, US.

But we rarely do this with books.

Why?

Don’t say length. You can’t say length. Not when a season of Lost or House or whatever can last up to 24 hours straight through. Not when we listen to an album 30 times over a span of a few months, adding up to not hours, but DAYS of time. Not when we’ll wear the same after-work clothes day after day after day until, oh, man, seriously, let’s get those in the washing machine BUT THEN WHAT WOULD I HAVE TO WEAR WHILE I WATCHED SEASON THREE OF HOUSE FOR THE FIFTH TIME?

Length doesn’t work. Perception does, though.

Books seem long. Yet, despite their length, they also seem disposable, like a magazine, or a reality program. They’re commonly ingested and passed along without a second thought. They’re the worst combination for some people: drawn out and forgettable. (Those people, of course, are wrong, if you want my honest and totally unbiased and also totally right opinion.)

I can’t help it, though. I have comfort books. I have comfort books that mean more than any comfort food or comfort album or comfort television program. I have comfort books that are as far from comfortable in subject matter as you could imagine, yet still draw me in, time and time again, despite my need to finish whatever book is in need of finishing.

Though it’s unwieldy and awkward, the seventy billion pound monster that is The Beatles Anthology book is something I return to quarterly. Graphic novels with heady themes – think Jimmy Corrigan and both Maus books – seem to keep ending up in my hands. British travelogues like Bryson’s Notes from a Small Island or Theroux’s The Kingdom by the Sea are on the list, as are short stories like Lorrie Moore’s “People Like That Are the Only People Here: Canonical Babbling in Peed Onk” or Dan Chaon’s “The Bees.”

After thinking about, I’d bet you probably have some comfort books too. And for those of you that don’t, why not?

Why not find yours right now? You’ve got time while those pajamas finish drying.

Tags: Books, Literature, What I've Been Reading |

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Atelier: a method of craft

February 22, 2010


ate·lier
Pronunciation: \ˌa-təl-ˈyā\
Function: noun
Etymology: French, from Middle French astelier woodpile, from astele splinter, from Late Latin astella, diminutive of Latin astula
Date: 1699

1 : an artist’s or designer’s studio or workroom
2 : workshop

Great word, though this only hints at the way it was used by Jeffrey MacIntire from Predicate, LLC in his editorial strategy presentation “The Day 2 Problem.”

In that presentation, MacIntire set “atelier” against “factory,” comparing both as opposites in editorial production models (in simple terms: how articles are created). Positioned as one of the five arguments of editorial strategy, the message was clear: there’s a major issue on whether your copy is manufactured or alive. You can churn out fluffed up writing with little heart and a high Lowest Common Denominator factor, or you can spend time crafting copy as if it was something worth paying attention to. A work of thought and intelligence. Of (* gasp! *) substance and (* shudder *) art.

As if it was something you conjured up in a small, cozy workshop.

I like that.

Tags: Content Strategy, Words, Writing |

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On trying not to let a second child’s accomplishments go without fanfare

February 21, 2010


Poor, poor Isaac.

Every day was a new experience with Sierra. Every single day, every single noise and movement and milestone was fresh. Uncharted and unknown; an unfilled captain’s log, we learned to figure things up as we go.

And as we scribbled in notes and made adjustments on the fly, like coaches throwing everything we could at an undefeated team, we couldn’t help but stand back and marvel at the growth – that this child had not only completely taken over the game, but had also improved from quarter to quarter, beating our psyche into submission, forcing us to let go of the assumptions we had brought in.

Sierra didn’t learn how to be a person as much as she taught us how to be parents. To let things happen. To reach only when reaching seemed productive.

Sierra got all of the attention. And even now, as the first of our children to grow older, always poised to be the first child to break through each checkpoint, she still commands most of it.

Isaac is eight months old. And it doesn’t feel like he’s even been around that long. His milestones come and go. We notice them. We celebrate them. But they don’t last as long.

There’s no time to dwell.

To be honest, there never was. Much of it is perspective. Isaac grows just as Sierra grew. We react just as we did the first time around. But the reaction isn’t as drawn out, not as noteworthy. It’s just as special. It’s simply not as singular.

But I still feel bad for the little guy sometimes. I guess if Sierra taught us to calm down and let life happen, Isaac’s furthering the lesson by reminding us not to let it happen too fast.

Poor, poor Isaac.

Tags: Isaac, Sierra |

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Who got the funk?

February 20, 2010


Impromptu soul/funk iTunes genius mix for a Saturday afternoon photo editing session.

“I Believe (When I Fall In Love It Will Be Forever)” – Stevie Wonder
“I’ve Been Loving You Too Long” – Otis Redding
“Save the Children” – Marvin Gaye
“A Change is Gonna Come” – Sam Cooke
“Flash Light” – Parliament
“Sign ‘O’ the Times” – Prince
“That’s the Way of the World” – Earth Wind & Fire
“You Are the Sunshine of My Life” – Stevie Wonder
“I Want You (live)” – Marvin Gaye
“Night Time Is the Right Time” – Ray Charles
“Just A Thought” – Gnarls Barkley
“Jungle Boogie” – Kool & the Gang
“You Keep Me Hangin’ On” – The Supremes
“Mustang Sally” – Wilson Pickett
“Try a Little Tenderness” – Otis Redding
“Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)” – Marvin Gaye
“Spanish Harlem” – Ben E. King
“You Haven’t Done Nothin’” – Stevie Wonder
“Alphabet St.” - Prince

Conclusion: despite it’s inability to stray too far from convention, sometimes iTunes Genius is pretty great.

Tags: Music, Steinbeck on Random, The Top... |

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Metagames

February 17, 2010


When I worked in CallCenterLand, dutifully typing conversations for the deaf and hard of hearing, I would count my time by a not-too-complex system of circles and Xs.

My ten hour day would be broken into 40 15-minute parts, each represented by a circle. I would cross them out, one by one, until it was break time. Upon my return, I would dive into the next set of circles. Each 15-minute period graphically represented, I would find myself with a visual reminder of how far I had come. Circle. Circle. Circle. X. X. X.

Even earlier, on my walks home from grade school, my route would be broken into one-block segments. How fast could I reach the end of stage one? Could I beat my record for stage three? The sixth block was extra long – like a par 5, I suppose – and it would be the biggest challenge.

This is the thought behind creating lists – not just to determine what needs to be done, but also to physically rid yourself of yet another stage, the dark black line crossing out a completed task signifying accomplishment like no other form of communication ever has.

Large or small, these are a form of metagame: namely, creating tasks within larger tasks. I suppose the true definition comes from true games; mini-games inside of ordinary tasks, like time trials during dishwashing or not touching the sidewalk during stage seven of your walk home, are now seen in today’s videogame world with increasing abundance. But for me, the idea of a metagame is just as much the way we spend time separating our everyday accomplishments into more palatable pieces.

No one can eat a sandwich all at once, or do the laundry in one load. Yet, we try to tackle projects in lumps – we look at writing books, not chapters; we look at writing campaigns, not individual print pieces. We take in the whole, even when it’s human nature to chop things up into pieces. It’s human nature to want completeness, even if it’s completing just one portion of a larger body.

I could talk more about metagames – and the issue of completeness – but I’d be entering into the territory of a fantastic article by Sleepover, San Francisco. An excerpt:

When a game has built-in achievements, explicit hidden items, and other layered-in experiences, it’s usually pitched as added value. In reality, they’re only adding in time consumption — a measure of value most likely derived from the era of arcades.

I believe the main reason games like Farmville maintain a huge player base is the enticement of the metagame. The actual game mechanic of farming — which comprises most of the game — is unfathomably dull. It’s the abstracted layer above the farming that creates the primary motivation: ribbons (achievements), new items, leaderboards, etc.

But the blur of time-consumption and value is simultaneously damaging Farmville. Because satisfaction is derived only from the metagame, success is a measure of how many hours you’re willing to play, not your abilities. Players who have invested a lot of time into the game end up feeling bitter about the fruits (or vegetables) of their labor.

You have to see the page for yourself. The article is a series of metagames of its own.

(Via someone, from his or her blog. Can’t remember. Sorry.)

Tags: Technology, What I've Been Reading, Words, Writing |

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A Payphone as Journalistic Art

February 13, 2010


Whenever we stay in a hotel - as we did last night - one of the highlights is the ability to wake up around seven and enjoy a newspaper. No kids. No work. No dog. Nothing. Just us, a foreign bed, a coffee and a newspaper.

Every time, I’m reminded why great feature journalism is both inspiring and necessary.

Case in point: the New York Times’ story about one Brooklyn pay phone and the people who stop by throughout a 24-hour period.

The lede to Manny Fernandez’s article, “Listening In on a Pay Phone in Queens”:

Benjamin Patir called his son because he was lonely and, perhaps more important, because he had a quarter. Robert J. Covelli called his son, too, to find out if, at some point during the more than 24 hours he spent in custody, he had become, for the first time, a grandfather. Frank Federico, fresh from a courthouse jail cell, called his mother, who spared him any lectures and asked him if he needed a ride home.

It’s not breaking news. But it’s not a throwaway puff piece, either. It’s just pure quality. And it’s why, as long as people are willing to think creatively for stories that truly interest their readership, there will always be an audience for great journalism - either online or in print.

Now, to only monetize it in a way that continues to support the craft without placing the onus of cost on the average reader.

Check out Piotr Redlinski’s pictures in the slide show (about half-way down the page: “Still a Quarter to Call”) for shots that perfectly capture the tone of the article.

Tags: Journalism, Photography, Writing |

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Tuesday’s MousePath

February 10, 2010


There’s a kind of simple art in following your mouse path for an entire day.

My Mouse Path

This was taken with MousePath, from 8:00 am to 5:40 pm yesterday. Interesting notes: a lot of fast, straight lines up to the right corner (where I have my OSX 10.4 “All Windows” shortcut) and a lot of black dots (where my mouse rested - the larger the dot, the longer the rest) in the middle of the page, where I often drop the cursor as I’m typing in everyone’s favorite program: Word.

Even cooler: you can faintly see the top of my browser, thanks to a darker horizontal line along which my favorites sit.

UPDATE! They’ve moved MousePath to a new site - and renamed it iographica.

Tags: Technology |

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