Yo! Bring Out Your Inner Editor (aka More Text From the Work-In-Progress)

I had fun with the first round, so here ya go: more bite-sized text to edit. Click on the link and you'll get a piece of text from the draft of my new manuscript. This is from what I expect will be chapter three. Thank you in advance!

Oh: to answer a question posed in the comments section of the first entry on this subject: Yes, legally, this is okay. I'm only posting small chunks of a draft, which is akin to what I'd do if I were in a writer's group and posted my draft for critique from group members. So feel free; the editing/copyright police won't come get you.

The Food Fighters' New Year Resolution? Aim for Civility

There was a nice piece in yesterday's Los Angeles Times, in which food writer Russ Parsons urges both sides of the "food fight" to aim for civility (which is only another way of saying "Could ya stop yammering and start listening?).

I'm sure he's not the only one hoping for more discussion and less lunacy, but unlike others, he offers a specific, practical list of assumptions both sides need to dump. It's worth reading, if only because it's more pragmatic and substantive than most of what's out there.

Not, mind you, that I see much hope any time soon for a) civil debate; or b) informed debate. Sadly, most of those doing the talking (shouting? yammering?) argue (if you can call it that) their case based on muddle-headed assumptions, which (you can see this coming, right?) stem from lack of knowledge about the history of American agriculture, and especially the history of federal farm policies.

Anyway, worth a read if you have the time. Tip o' the mug in this case to Tom Philpott, who blogs at Grist and who wrote his own response to Parsons' essay. (Also worth reading if only because it's a near-perfect example of the "Big Ag is the devil" side of the debate.)

In Which I Dive Into the Digital Age Deep End

The good folks at Book Oven are among those trying to figure out what "writing" and "books" mean in the twenty-first century. (The link takes you to the site's home page; once there, you can check out their blog, twitter link, etc.)

Among their other projects, they've created a site called Bite-Size Edits, where control freaks like me can throw caution to the wind and let you, the reader, help write/edit our books.

(Yes, I am a control freak. The very idea of turning my text loose, unedited, unfinished, unpolished is unnerving. But what's life for but to learn and grow?) So you are hereby invited to join the process.

It works like this: I post some text at the Bite-Size site. The site software spits it back out in small chunks (bytes/bites. Get it?) and you have at it. So go! Have fun! Here's the link

David Carr Nails the Value of Twitter

While I was out of town, I was computerless and so had a chance to get some distance from and therefore think about how, why, and when I use a computer and about my online life. Which made me think about Twitter and reminded me just how much I enjoy and value it as a tool for writing, communicating, and learning. I was trying (without much success) to explain Twitter to various family members: that I use it was a way to follow the thoughts/ideas of a slew of smart, talented people. And then I pick up today's New York Times --- and see that David Carr has said precisely what I was trying (and failing) to say. Here's the money-quote (or one of them):

By carefully curating the people you follow, Twitter becomes an always-on data stream from really bright people in their respective fields, whose tweets are often full of links to incredibly vital, timely information.

Yep, yep, yep. Soooo. If you're not yet using Twitter, and you're on the prowl for a new year's resolution, I can think of none better than to get a Twitter account and start connecting.

Tim Burton at MOMA

So, I managed to see the Tim Burton exhibit at MOMA last Friday. One word: astonishing. Well, maybe another word: Genius. The guy is a certified creative genius. (And, as my husband said, perhaps a bit crazy as well. Which is hardly surprising.)

I'm a serious Burton fan and the exhibit only confirmed my long-held belief that he is an artist of an extremely high caliber who just happens to use film as his major medium of expression.

The exhibit is fairly small: most of it is crammed into one large room on the third floor, but if you go, don't miss the small collection of drawings and photographs located on the lower level of the museum.

My only complaints about the retrospective (and it is just that: the earliest works date from his high school years): One, the catalog is underwhelming. Nice, but nothing like a full catalog of what's on display in the show. Two, the exhibit ignores his move to London and the city's effect on his career and work.

But those are minor quibbles. If you're going to be in NYC between now and late April, do yourself a favor and see the exhibit.

Solstice Slowdown

Holiday Hiatus? Whatever. I will not be around much for roughly the next two weeks. We have family in town now, and they take precedence over blogging/tweeting/etc.. I'm recovering from a truly miserable, my-skull-is-a-dead-sweatsock cold, and we're going out of town for week the day after Christmas.

And when we return, we have to move the contents of our kitchen to the basement in preparation for the remodeling project, which will get underway the first week of January. So: not much blogging or tweeting until I resume normal business operations on or around January 4th.

May your days be merry and bright --- and I hope all of you can take time to enjoy that which matters most: family and friends.