BitLit

The Daily Lunchtime Blog Roundup

There's a tremendous amount of alone-time associated with my job in the summer.  Edith's an awesome companion, but she doesn't talk.  Yet.  (Wonderfalls, anyone?)  Since the feeling of disconnectedness is the enemy, the daily lunchtime blog roundup has become pretty important to me. 

If you're craving your daily dose of celebrity dish, ditch Perez Hilton and make your way over to Dlisted instead.  Blogger Michael K. always says the appropriate inappropriate thing, and I'm not fooled - he's one clever man.
Initiate Yourself: "Kate Gosselin's Hair Continues To Boggle My Mind"

If it's entertainment news you want, I'd skip the vapid people at People and try Entertainment Weekly's EW.com instead.  It covers too much American Idol for my taste, but I'm choosing to assume it's just a phase.  Get your movie, tv, music, dvd, book, and pop culture updates here. 
Initiate Yourself: "Style Hunter: I Want THAT 'Lost' trench coat!"

io9.com is the newest member of the GawkerMedia family and, if you ask me, the best.  Where else can you read-up on the back story of Star Trek before seeing the new film, catch the latest pics from outer space courtesy of Hubble, or hear about Jacqueline Carey's new novel all in one fell swoop?  If I could be one of their interns, I could die happy.
Initiate Yourself: Chart Porn - The Measure of a Robot and Killer Chip - Germans Deny Patent for GPS/Poison Microchip

You might think I'd stay in the Gawker family and head to Kotaku for my gaming news, but I prefer Joystiq.  I'm eagerly anticipating Mass Effect 2 and more dlc for Fable II.  Joystiq tracks the business models, development news, and reviews for XBOX, PS3, Wii, and handhelds and even has a partnership with WoW Insider if, you know, you spend your nights in Azaroth.  I don't judge. 
Initiate Yourself: How many people are working on Assassin's Creed 2? A lot. and Silent Hill: Not your mother's cosplay

I fell in fashion love with Tom & Lorenzo over at Project Rungay back when it was chronicling the triumphs and disasters of TV's Project Runway contestants and hosts.  Since Project Runway appears to have plummited off the runway faster than a model in 7-inch lucite heels, their blog is now more about fashion on tv and celebrities in general, and has opened up to include recaps of new fashion shows.  And it's wonderful - they do their research and we get the pay-offs!  So that's how the gays roll.  To get the straight-talk from the straight gals, check out Go Fug Yourself.  Each post is like a love letter.  A love letter begging the pictured to reconsider their hideous red carpet choices.  Their hatred of the romper and their love of Tilda Swinton makes me just want to read more.  Initiate Yourself: The Fashion Show: Report Card Time! and Well Played, Rachel Weisz

And, just for fun...

Twilightguy Kaleb Nation blogs about reading Ms. Meyer's books.  As a male.  Hilarity, and a surprising amount of insight, ensues.  Initiate: Reading Breaking Dawn: Chapter 1 (Engaged)

Jodienas - because it's more fun to watch a cute Australian teach you about make-up than to try it yourself, alone.  Initiate: My Contest Entry - Ursula

What Claudia Wore takes a look at the cover fashions of our favorite childhood heroines - The Babysitter's Club - and close reads the text in a way that indicates that the blogger has a lot of free time.  Intensely smart, though, and from the same blogger who gives us What Chuck Wore, which details Mr. Chuck Bass of Gossip Girl and his TRULY TERRIBLE wardrobe choices.  I prefer What Claudia Wore because of the literary bend and its ability to take you back to the early 90s in an uncomfortable way.  She critiques poor Dawn, MaryAnn, Stacey (did you know she has diabetes?), and Kristy, but somehow the funky Claudia Kishi can do know wrong.  Initiate: Mystery #5 - Mary Anne and the Secret in the Attic and #65 - Stacey's Big Crush

Happy Hunting!

KAB

Neil Gaiman Narrates, Finland's Jouni Koponen Illustrates: The Apocalypse

I've been getting more and more excited about Neil Gaiman's visit to The Rose O'Neill Literary House.  What most of my students don't realize is that I'm a HUGE Neil Gaiman fan myself.  I first met him when I was just 16 years old, during a trip to London.  My father stood through the rain with me in the long winding line outside of the Bloomsbury district's Forbidden Planet.  The prospect of getting to show him around our literary operation 8 years later is nearly too much for me to handle.  

A quick read of io9.com this morning revealed that Finnish artist Jouni Koponen has illustrated Neil Gaiman's fantastic poem "The Day the Saucers Came," which is about numerous science fiction apocalypses happening in quick succession.  This isn't the first Gaiman work that Koponen has illustrated; he's done illustrations for "Shoggoth's Old Peculiar," "Babycakes," and "A Study in Emerald."  

Naturally, I bought the Lit House 1 of the 500 made.  It'll look great in the dining room.

KAB

excuses, excuses

Before I say anything else, I feel compelled to enumerate my reasons for not updating in a while:

1. My new toy has taken over most of my "free time" at home.
2. I've been driving all over creation to see shows (Tilly and the Wall/The Ruby Suns/Exit Clov @ The Black Cat...swangin'), giant pandas, my parents, etc.
3. I've spent the majority of my time at the front desk reading this.
4. I've been very lazy lately because I just turned 20 (an age at which, I'm told, young men begin to fall apart like used cars).

Okay, enough of that. Today I'd like to babble (just a little bit) about how easily one can create reasons NOT to write. I'm definitely guilty of manufacturing such excuses, so I don't plan on speaking from any conceivable type of high ground. Since I'm list-making mode, I guess I'll just hit return and let the form take over the content (or something).

1. Writing Doesn't (Usually) Make You Rich:
Most of us, whether we consider ourselves "writers" or not, want money. Unfortunately, the words "writer" and "lots and lots of money" don't generally go together unless you find some magical formula to sell tons of books (i.e., J.K. Rowling and that Mormon lady who wrote those books about the vegetarian vampire that are going to be movies soon), so it seems fairly reasonable to categorize writing as a "hobby" or "something I just fool around with occasionally" instead of an important part of one's life. I guess this results from the assumption that one has to reach a certain level of fame before becoming a writer, but that's just a part of the whole immediate gratification deal that keeps everyone from doing what they'd like to do.

2. Writing Can Be Embarrassing:
Even though I find the possibility of humiliating oneself by writing poetry especially daunting, I suppose all forms of writing pose a similar threat to an author's dignity. To save time, I'll focus on two polarized ways in which it can go wrong (always a fun choice, right?)...one is either mocked for expressing too much sentimentality (emo much?) or labeled as a "cookie-cutter" writer for placing too much emphasis on an existing form. Rather than feeling free to experiment, the young writer (when overly conscious of these extremes) fixates on "getting it right" the first time, which is usually impossible. So, following the failure to produce an instant classic, feelings of inadequacy will almost inevitably take over the writer's creative process, further blocking one's ability to self-express.

Ew, that was really snooty, wasn't it? Sorry. Hopefully it did some good. I'm going to stop for the moment, but I'll definitely meditate on more of these obstacles in the future. I'd also love to hear from all of you writers out there (at least the ones who happen to read this)...what do you think about this? Am I getting it all wrong? If so, please set me straight. I am your spaniel.

RAD

coming out of it?

Morning, all. I apologize in advance for not making much sense.

As you may have guessed, I'm in the midst of another day as a surface-dweller, and I'm becoming somewhat bored. I shouldn't complain, though. No news is good news, especially when said news involves my having to exert myself in any way. I faced a similar situation yesterday, but I decided to just go home and spend the rest of the day in bed. Today, however, I've mustered up enough determination to stay at work. Lately, I've been having some major problems with motivation (staying awake was hard enough), but this may been a good sign. I mean, I actually had some idea of what I wanted to write coming into this entry...which hasn't really happened in a long time.

From what I can remember, this feeling emerged sometime yesterday evening when I decided to sit on the balcony while the lady finished doing some leftover work on my laptop. The decision to move from the reclining position seemed momentous enough, but the departure from my usual tendency to wallow in my lack of productivity proved especially uplifting. Sure, I was still feeling drained and depressed, but at least I had made some attempt to distract myself. To that end, I spent about twenty minutes watching a bee unknowingly romance all of the flowers in our makeshift garden, and I wondered if the bee felt cheated or satisfied afterward. While this period of observation didn't yield any noticeable moments of zen, it actually caused me to step outside of my usual, self-deprecating sphere of thinking. It felt particularly nice to forget about how wrong I usually am about most things (a subject that occupies about 90% of my brain's schedule). In this moment, I didn't worry about the accuracy of my internal running commentary, and I felt a little bit of the usual weight dissipate.

Of course, I'm not trying to document anything of real significance. I guess I'm just starting to think that feeling numb and/or "spaced out" is a slight improvement over constant self-pity. Who knows? Maybe this means I'm coming out of it.

I suppose that this had nothing to do with writing, but I think I'm on the verge of being able to do that again. Maybe next time.

RAD

Former Clerk Karen Hye goes to Africa, starts blog

Former Lit House clerk and Washington College sophomore Karen Hye bid us farewell this semester to spend a few months in South Africa. AND she's started a blog of her own! Visit Karen's South Africa blog BY CLICKING HERE.

Also, she's got a flickr site up! You're putting us to shame, Karen. See pictures of Karen in South Africa BY CLICKING HERE.

Karen is traveling with WC sophomore Grace Harter, who was also my work study student last semester. We lose all the good ones to study abroad, *sigh*. You can read Grace's blog HERE!

We miss you both! Keep being literary and have fun!

K.A.B.