Post Haste

August 31, 2006

At times, business and leisure collide. The once revered pastime comes sneaking into the workplace, integrating itself into the everyday workings of your life so that even when at work, you can’t get away from it.

Case in point: Post Haste – the HenkinSchultz “AdverMarkeDesiBlog.”

I blog at home in my spare time. The subjects range from sports to books to life’s minutae.

Now, I blog at work. The subjects range from marketing plans to great design to questions on advertising.

Similar, but different. Go check it out.

Tags: Advertising/Marketing, Blogging |

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Game Theory

August 29, 2006

I’ve been listening to The Roots’ Game Theory all day today.

If there’s anything I like about The Roots, it’s that their use of a full band makes them seem so genuine, and it fits perfectly with their hard-ass lyrics. They’re not messing around, these guys, and it shows.

Well, this album shows it even more. Holy shit. It’s good. As Eric says, “They got mad.”

Yes. Yes they have.

It hits stores today. Go buy it. Now. It’s their best album since The Roots Come Alive. Do it, or else.

Tags: Music |

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The finished project

August 28, 2006

It’s been finished for a few weeks, but I haven’t gotten around to posting a picture.

This, my friends, is the Vilhauer library. Modest, yes. But to me, it’s beautiful.

The best part is: look at all the space left to fill!

(P.S. — sorry for the blurry picture.)

Tags: Books |

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Writers in any sense

August 26, 2006

September. Fall. The turning of leaves, the raking, and the bite of a cold breeze.

In South Dakota, September means something more – books. The smell of a musty page, the excitement of a new purchase, the promise of a unknown writer, of a person looking for that small push towards notoriety. More specifically, September signifies the coming of Fourth Annual South Dakota Festival of Books. I, for one, am very excited.

And when I’m excited, I start listing things.

In honor of the upcoming book festival, I will be presenting my personal Top 25 Writers Countdown – the 25 writers who I look up to, who changed my outlook on words, or who inspired me to finally try this reading thing, this writing thing, and this blogging thing.

But what is a writer?

To me, this term can’t be smashed into one category. The best writers aren’t just authors or poets. They’re great lyricists. They’re important journalists. They write articles, songs, graphic novels, screenplays, television scripts, advertising, stand up comedy, hip hop, and opinions.

Who would you pick? The Coen Brothers or Bob Dylan? Walter Cronkite or Hunter S. Thompson? Ernest Hemmingway? Art Spiegelman? Joni Mitchell? Crispin Porter, David Sederis, or David Cross?

Constant readers probably remember my Top 100 Countdown back in April. For me, the most enjoyable part of constructing that list wasn’t the countdown itself, but the responses from friends, family, and fellow bloggers. Top ten lists came from everywhere. I’m not the only one who likes to list things, and it showed in the responses I got. Everyone has different tastes, and it’s fascinating to see the reasons why.

So in the upcoming weeks, you’ll be seeing the same thing. Writers being honored. Lyricists being heralded. Poets and playwrights and comics being raised up together, as one populace dedicated to putting words together in their own unique ways.

Do you think Jay-Z is more important to you than Charles Dickens? Would you rather experience the collective writing of the Monty Python troupe or the inventive wordplay of Shakespeare?

Send me your top ten. And let’s join together in celebrating the art of writing.

Tags: The Top..., Writers, Literature |

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How to read

August 25, 2006

Nick Hornby has a great article on the Telegraph’s website on reading – and quitting – books.

If reading books is to survive as a leisure activity - and there are statistics that show that this is by no means assured - then we have to promote the joys of reading, rather than the (dubious) benefits.

I would never attempt to dissuade anyone from reading a book. But please, if you’re reading a book that’s killing you, put it down and read something else, just as you would reach for the remote if you weren’t enjoying a television programme.

Your failure to enjoy a highly rated novel doesn’t mean you’re dim - you may find that Graham Greene is more to your taste, or Stephen Hawking, or Iris Murdoch, or Ian Rankin. Dickens, Stephen King, whoever.

All of this rises from his monthly The Believer column – “Stuff I’ve Been Reading.” We buy books, but we don’t necessarily read them all. But sometimes we feel the need to trudge through a book just because we’re supposed to, or because we’ve paid for it and don’t want the knowledge to go to waste.

I know this well – Kerrie and I have a series of non-fiction books that touch upon a single subject: Rats, Salt, Tea, Cod, etc. They describe how the title-item changed the world. They go on for 200-300 pages, describing every known historical aspect of the title-item. They seem incredibly interesting. For some reason, however, I can never get into them, no matter how hard I try.

Am I a failed reader? No. I don’t have to finish a book if I’m not into it at that time. I’ve realized this more and more after starting my own “What I’ve Been Reading” column, both on this site and in Prime Magazine. I have a lot of books to get through, and there should be no shame in putting a book down if it’s not catching my interest.

Additionally, there should be even less shame in reading books that aren’t critically acclaimed. No one is going to call Bill Bryson a literary genius, especially with much higher-vocabulary travel writers like H.V. Morton, Paul Theroux, and V.S. Naipaul clogging up the shelves. But he’s funny. And he’s easy to read. And if that serves the lowest common denominator side of me, then fine. Bill Bryson is one of the most influential writers in my life. I don’t care if he’s nominated for a Booker Prize.

While I find myself going for critic’s picks more often than not, I’m also not afraid to say that I enjoyed The Da Vinci Code. Kerrie reads Janet Evanovich. I have a lot of respect for Stephen King. I’ve never read Dickens, or Morrison, or Dostoyevsky. But I’ve read a lot of “pedestrian” stuff. And I don’t care.

Read what you like. The only important thing is that you’re actually reading.

Tags: Books, Writers, Literature |