Laurie Anderson posted a Really Good Idea a couple weeks ago:
We had NaNoWriMo in November. December and January have been filled with revisions for many of us, and by many of us, I mean ME. And many of us want to finish up the current project so we can get hopping on the next one. So...........Count me IN. I'm actually between revisions, having shipped off a shiny new draft of OTMA to Madame Editor the morning I left for Boston. If I behave myself during BFF, I might get a decent start on something new before OTMA returns to haunt me...
Let's make February a blog-free month.
(I heard that gasp. Breathe slowly. Into a paper bag. With your head between your knees.)
Do not panic. February is short! We could call it the new BFF: Blog-Free February.
If you do this, you'll be at the cutting edge of the next digital trend: the Slow Media Movement. Give everyone a heads-up that you're stepping away from blogging for a couple of weeks. If you are truly bold (or desperate) make February an Internet-free month, not just blog-free. On March 1st, write a blog (or a letter) evaluating any differences in your productivity during February.
Remember the snurpy Halfway Down the Stairs tribute video I made a couple years ago? To create a teaser for the Rochester Oral History Archive, longtime HDS customer Corrie Pokrzywa layered in an audio track of owner Cam Mannino's bookshop memories:
Intrigued? Listen to Cammie's full 45 minute interview here for lots more insider stories on the life, evolution, and legacy of a beloved book store.
Mucho bonus points if you can name either of the two famous tushes who've also occupied this uber-ugly seat:
Click here to see my videographer and flying buddy, she of the spectacular cat socks, Kristin Cashore, go through the same routine.
I am about to embark on a small adventure that's almost certain to involve authorial shenanigans and will likely disrupt my usual blogging schedule but not necessarily generate a full 10-day hiatus. Updates to follow as blog-worthy events (and time to chronicle them) arise...
Among the goodies under my Christmas tree: the latest fluffed up re-release of Bedknobs and Broomsticks.
I regret to inform you (actually, I don't, but it sounds more polite than squeeing) that as of the first of the year, I'm no longer adding to my online reading journal.
THE WAGER
by Donna Jo Napoli
(Henry Holt/Macmillan)
Quick and dirty (ha!) summary:
After a catastrophe leaves him penniless, playboy Don Giovanni makes a bargain with the devil -- in exchange for limitless wealth, he will not wash, cut his hair, or change his clothes for three years, three months, and three days.
If you know Donna Jo Napoli, you know she doesn't flinch. The lady's made a living out of delving into the details fairy tales ignore or gloss over, so brace yourself. There are boils, sores, scabs, bugs, infections, itches, and worse. All 1188 unwashed days are downright tangible. *scratches* There are practical concerns, too: where does a walking accumulation of filth sleep? Where does he get food? (He's not especially popular at inns.) Most of all, how does a man stay human when the world shuns him?
And here's the other thing about Donna Jo: she knows Italy firsthand, and it shows. The colors, flavors, and scents of the food, the cities, and the landscape are every bit as palpable as Don Giovanni's offal. And that makes it just about bearable.
All the books that have in one way or another found their way into my collection in 2009. And in order of acquisition, because I've been adding to this post for the last 365 days:
