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Writerly Distractions and Neuroses: Fiction and Word Counts
[Image: "Doodle with Measuring Tape," by Bryan Reyna] I came across an interesting site this morning, called Renaissance Learning (subtitle: “Advanced Technology for Data-Driven Schools.” In general, Renaissance Learning is a resource for (as you might guess) teachers and other educators. One area of the site, the Quiz Store, peddles quizzes about specific books. What interests me today [...]
Human Questions, Human Answers
[Above: still images from the 2010 South Korean film Quiz King, also known as The Quiz Show Scandal. See the note at the bottom of this post for more information.] From whiskey river: We are born for wonder, for joy, for hope, for love, to marvel at the mystery of existence, to be ravished by [...]
Perfect Moments: The Author’s Book, to Its Author
[Ed. Note: minor identifying details of this recently discovered letter have been obscured, to preserve the anonymity of the parties involved.] Dear J_____, So, you have finally finished me. I suppose I should offer not only thanks but congratulations to you — if so, then, sure: Congratulations! But I also can’t help thinking that maybe we [...]
Midweek Music Break: Erik Satie
Early in RAMH‘s history, a post here covered what I always think of as “thought music”: music to listen to while doing things other than music — specifically, things which require mental activity: writing, programming, art… — music, ideally, to stimulate thought. One of my favorite classical composers of thought music is Erik Satie. (He was [...]
Seasonal Prospects
[Image found accompanying the "Christmas Snow" (December 25, 2010) post at John Bedell's bensozia blog] From whiskey river: Snow Walking through a field with my little brother Seth I pointed to a place where kids had made angels in the snow. For some reason, I told him that a troop of angels had been shot [...]
A Quirky Eclectic Christmas Mix (2011 ed.)
[Image (click to enlarge) from xkcd, where its little pop-up title reads, "An 'American tradition' is anything that happened to a baby boomer twice" -- ha!] Today’s mid-week music break continues an annual series, with a couple of twists… Once again, I’ve added ten songs to the bottom of the previous years’ entries. (And I continue [...]
How to Keep Your Pooch Happy
Answer: roll the car window down sometimes. (We do have a little nervousness about doing this, with reason; The Pooch gets so excited that she seems to lose her basic sense of or concern about where she is in 3D space. Which isn’t a prescription for keeping the windows rolled up — it’s a prescription for [...]
Sunday Extra Music Break: Kate & Janelle, “Star Witness”
A great back story, great voices, professional recording job, words and music by Neko Case… and a ukulele! What’s not to like??? [Lyrics] [h/t to Jules]
Everything Old Is New Again
[Image: "Extrange shoes," by user pepel at stock.xchng] From whiskey river: They miss the whisper that runs any day in your mind, “Who are you really, wanderer?” and the answer you have to give no matter how dark and cold the world around you is: “Maybe I’m a king.” (William Stafford) …and: The people in [...]
“I Carved These Places, This Flower, This Bird”… with Gunpowder
From Chinese artist Cai Guo-Qiang: And then there was Black Ceremony, a recent daytime fireworks exhibition in the desert sky over Qatar, kicking off his exhibit at the Arab Museum of Modern Art:
