Month: March 2010

As a matter of fact, I do know the way to San Jose

Today was a day spent in airports, first in New York, then in Minnesota, and then briefly here in San Jose. I’m a little bit exhausted, though luckily, because of the time difference, I should still be able to get a decent night’s sleep. I’m not completely sure where the conference (and moreover our exhibit booth) is located in the hotel, and there’s some question about actually getting our books to the booth and some unexpected handling charges I need to square with our New York office. But the conference is in the hotel, so I don’t have far at all to go tomorrow morning.

I finished reading The Subtle Knife along the way and started reading The Lamp at Noon and Other Stories by Sinclair Ross, one of the books that Heather sent me for my birthday. I brought it along in no small part because it’s the lightest of the book, but I am really enjoying it so far. Here’s a little bit I liked from “Cornet at Night”:

For a farm boy is like that. Alone with himself and his horse he cuts a fine figure. He is the measure of the universe. He foresees a great many encounters with life, and in them all acquits himself a little more than creditably. He is fearless, resourceful, a bit of a brag. His horse never contradicts.

But in town it is different. There are eyes here, critical, that pierce with a single glance the little bubble of his self- importance, and leave him dwindled smaller even than his normal size. It always happens that way. They are so superbly poised and sophisticated, these strangers, so completely masters of their situation as they loll in doorways and go sauntering up and down Main Street. Instantly he yields to them his place as measure of the universe, especially if he is a small boy wearing squeaky corduroys, especially if he has a worldly-wise old horse like Rock, one that knows his Main Streets, and will take them in nothing but his own slow philosophic stride.

Meanwhile, I wasn’t really up to sightseeing this evening, though I am in a nice section of San Jose, and it looks pleasant enough, at least from my hotel window. I got some room service, and I’m getting ready to fall asleep. Actually, I was getting ready to fall asleep a few hours ago. I’ve kind of lost completely track of time in all the flying.

My bags are packed, I’m ready to go

My flight to San Jose isn’t until 11:30 tomorrow morning, so I don’t have be up too early. It’s going to be a long day after that, though, pretty much nothing but travel. I’m supposed to get into Minneapolis-St. Paul around two o’clock, then fly to San Jose three hours later. It will be around ten o’clock New York time when I finally touch down in California, but luckily I won’t have to be at work (in the same hotel I’m staying at) until eight o’clock Thursday morning. I’m hoping I’ll get to see a little of San Jose while I’m there, despite being at work (selling books at our exhibit booth) until five o’clock every day, but there’s no guarantee. It’s not exactly how I’d like to be spending my birthday — I can think of a few other places I’d prefer this free trip to be sending me — but, then again, it is a free trip, and the work itself isn’t too hard, so I’m not exactly complaining.

I get back late Sunday night, which is one of a couple of reasons why I’m taking next Monday off. I think I’m going to take my laptop with me, and I think I’ll have internet access while I’m away, but if you don’t hear from me between now and then, don’t worry. All is well. I’m selling books and meeting authors.

In the meantime, did I mention I announced the final table of contents for Kaleidotrope #8? Because, well, I did.

Tuesday various

  • New research suggests that reading cuts stress levels by 68%. Clearly these researchers have never tried reading Dan Brown or Going Rogue. [via]
  • New research also suggests that food portions have grown significantly larger in depictions of the Last Supper over time. [via]
  • Ever wonder what those ISBNs mean? We have several different ISBN prefixes at work, having purchased and integrated other publishing companies in recent years, and it’s often quite helpful to be able to tell at a quick glance where a book originated from. [via]
  • Are strong female characters bad for women? [via]
  • And finally, Ken Jennings on Gotham City’s museums, banks, and storefronts:

    Maybe I just don’t understand all the challenges that come with running a business in Gotham. It’s true that this is a place with a weird, weird economy. How does one city support five hundred abandoned amusement parks and toy factories?

Offgassing?

Today was about as typical a Monday as they come. And there isn’t a whole lot to write about it because of that.

Even my “Forgotten English” desk calendar isn’t much help. Today’s entry is all about euphemisms for intestinal gas, starting with “wamble” — “pronounced wammle and meaning “to move with wind, as the intestines” — and ending with a short history of the vapours:

At that time, fretful women of the upper classes treated and avoided those psychosomatic conditions by donning heavy petticoats and underwear to help disguise and absorb their bodies’ offgassing.

You know it’s desperate times when the blog turns to the farting women of the 18th century for content.

I’m a little nervous about my trip to San Jose on Wednesday and a little unsure how I’m going to spend my off-time, including my birthday, while I’m there. Plans to meet up with some friends local to California ultimately fell through, so I’ll be on own most of the time. My father reminded me this evening that I have in fact been to San Jose once before; when I was younger, we visited the Winchester Mystery House, which I remember, if not in great detail. I’m a little disappointed the house closes at five every day that I’m there, meaning I won’t get a chance to take a cab over and visit.

Anyway, that was Monday.

Monday various

  • I think John Scalzi has it right about this health care bill that passed in the House yesterday:

    As such there was no real political or moral philosophy to the GOP’s action, it was all short-term tactics, i.e., take an idea a majority of people like (health care reform), lie about its particulars long enough and in a dramatic enough fashion to lower the popularity of the idea, and then bellow in angry tones about how the president and the Democrats are ignoring the will of the people. Then publicly align the party with the loudest and most ignorant segment of your supporters, who are in part loud because you’ve encouraged them to scream, and ignorant because you and your allies in the media have been feeding them bad information. Whip it all up until health care becomes the single most important issue for both political parties — an all-in, must win, absolutely cannot lose issue.

  • Meanwhile, Poppy Z. Brite has some harsh things to say about David Simon’s new HBO show Treme. The title of her post should tell you exactly how she feels about their filming in her hometown of New Orleans. It raises some interesting questions — namely, are some wounds too raw to be fictionalized, much less re-enacted for television in the same place? And what, if anything, is Treme‘s responsibility to the neighborhoods in which it films? Is it meeting that responsibility, just by bringing jobs and revenue to the city? (After all, you can’t please everyone, no more how sensitive your approach.) Can Simon, as an outsider to the city, even hope to do the tragedy that was Katrina justice? Frankly, you couldn’t stop me from watching this show, and I think if it’s handled with even half the depth and honesty as The Wire, it could terrific and emotional television.

  • Paul Di Filippo has the line-up for the ultimate Beatles-reunion band. This is either a terrfic or terrible idea, I’m not sure which.

  • Oh great, a book of inspirational quotes from Sarah Palin. I can’t fucking wait. [via]

  • And finally, I’ve mostly avoided all these Chatroulette videos (and the site itself), but Ben Folds’ live-show use of it was surprisingly awesome [via]: