Month: February 2010

Sometimes it just turns out that way

Sometimes there isn’t a whole lot to say about a day, especially when it’s not significantly different from any of a dozen others, and when the most exciting thing that happened was when the new edition of the APA Publication Manual arrived in the mail. (Seriously, though, my ordering this was long overdue. We have one copy in the office, luckily on my bookshelf, but also the previous edition.) I did a little work on a theories book in the morning, a little on an art therapy research book in the afternoon, and in the middle I went for a little walk around town. Same old, same old.

I also did a little bit of writing when I got home this evening. All told, I only wrote about 150 words, but that’s actually not half bad for me, and I actually think I like where this story’s going. Maybe it’s partly being inspired by Heather‘s write-up of her ongoing writing residency, and maybe it’s partly getting waist-deep into editing stories for Kaleidotrope, but it’s really nice to want to write. (Though I realize the only way to consistently get and stay there is to write even when I don’t want to.)

Speaking of Kaleidotrope, I’m actually thinking of doing a one-time third yearly issue in July. Right now, the zine comes out in April and October, with #8 and #9 planned for 2010. This would bring me up to an even ten issues (!!!), but it’s mostly because I may have over-accepted and would like to publish some of these stories and poems before 2011. The cost involved, particularly with paying contributors and postage, isn’t a non-issue, but I’m seriously considering it.

And that was my Monday.

Monday various

  • I think the most interesting thing about this new Dante’s Inferno video game — which itself sounds pretty silly, a mashup that misses the point of both sides — is this quote:

    “We look at companies like Walt Disney, where they’ve got intellectual properties that feel like their own, but are based on literature from a time gone by,” said John Riccitiello, Electronic Arts’s chief executive. “A great intellectual property can live a second or third time in new media, because it gives you a head start.”

    Because it underlines that Disney made it big by adapting well known tales it didn’t originate (from the very beginning, actually) but nowadays runs for its lawyers anytime someone tries to do the same to it. This is nothing new, but shouldn’t Mickey Mouse be, you know, out of copyright by now?

  • The headline reads, After Taliban hit supplies, Army chef serves up 42 days of Spam. [via]
  • You can keep your fart noise generators, this is the only iPhone app I’d really love to have. If they make it available for the iPad, I may just have to break down and buy one.
  • “A third of all children aged five to 16 are convinced that the body of one of their teachers has been taken over by an extra-terrestrial being.” Tell me, can you prove that they haven’t? (Then again: “The survey was commissioned by 20th Century Fox to coincide with the release of Aliens In the Attic on DVD.” So, you know, grain of salt and everything.) [via]
  • And finally, I’m basically just copying this from Making Light, but I agree that Cat Valente makes maybe one of the best arguments for why we still need publishers in the world of e-publishing:

    Funny thing is, if this future came to pass and the market were nothing but self-published autonomous authors either writing without editorial or paying out of pocket for it, if we were flooded with good product mixed with bad like gold in a stream, it would be about five seconds before someone came along and said: hey, what if I started a company where we took on all the risk, hired an editorial staff and a marketing staff to make the product better and get it noticed, and paid the author some money up front and a percentage of the profits in exchange for taking on the risk and the initial cost? So writers could, you know, just write?

    And writers would line up at their door.

    I’m obviously biased, since I work as an editor (for a smaller textbook and professional publisher). But sometimes, there’s a middleman for a reason.

Sunday

Today was an awful lot like yesterday, only with nicer weather and the Sunday crossword. I haven’t quite finished the crossword just yet, but the weather did allow me to go for a nice walk and get caught up on a backlog of podcasts. (Did you know, when they’re designing a new typeface, they’ll typically start with the letter H?) Not a particularly exciting day, but pleasant nonetheless.

I’m not watching this year’s Super Bowl, even for the ads or the halftime show or whatever. I’m just not really all that interested. Instead, I’m watching some other television online — man, I love QI (and this was a particular funny episode — and trying to finish the crossword.

Hope you’re having a good weekend too!

Nomaggedon

I edited a few stories for Kaleidotrope‘s next issue today, thankfully none requiring too many rewrites. As a general rule, I don’t accept stories that need extensive revisions — if it feels like a first draft, I’ll let the author know, politely reject the story, and hope they’ll submit again when it’s rewritten. But even the best story can use a good copyedit and proofreading. Otherwise, I’m not doing my job, and then why am I even bothering? I’m actually pretty booked with material for the next few issues, with some stories accepted a while ago that may be pushed back until October. If I had the time, money, and resources, I might consider putting out a third issue a year.

Beyond that, it was a pretty uneventful day. Really cold, though the so-called Snowmageddon passed us by almost entirely, except for a very light dusting before noon. You almost wouldn’t know it had snowed at all, looking out the window now. It’s amazing to see just how much snow landed only a few miles away. My sister in Maryland got about two feet, so it’s probably good we picked last week, despite the bad weather then, to visit for her birthday.

This evening, I watched The Hurt Locker. I don’t know that it was the best movie of 2009, but I enjoyed it so much more than Avatar, the other top favorite for this year’s Oscar. It’s a pretty intense movie (something I don’t think Avatar ever really is), and a dark character study. I’d definitely recommend it.

And that, as they say, is that.

Thank God It’s Friday, Again

Today was a long day, but there’s not a whole lot to say about it beyond that. I finished reading through some chapter revisions I’ve been kept away from for most of the week by departmental meetings, and I sent my notes back to the author for review. A good chunk of developmental editing is just reading (and in this case re-reading) manuscripts, which doesn’t exactly make for exciting recounting. Still, what it may lack in daring thrills it makes up for in opportunities to use a red pen.

Beyond that? We found and removed a tick from our dog, Tucker. And we’re expecting a whole lot of snow over the weekend. And I have absolutely no plans to watch the Super Bowl on Sunday. And, you know, that’s really about it. Not particularly exciting, but at least the weekend is here.