Yet again I am judging Reflections contest entries. To all young writers: read more good writing. Practice. Try to have something to say. Have someone read your writing, comment on it, and then write another draft.
I wasn’t going to post any exerpts this year, but this one just cries out:
“The thought of my father leaving me, his only daughter, for another woman made me feel noxious.”
Oooh, me too!
Here’s my top reads for half of the year, since I’ve been posting monthly lists. Your mileage may vary considerably.
Best Teen Reads:
Invisible, Hautman
He’s just an ordinary dweeb with a popular guy pal. Only not so much.
Good Brother, Bad Brother, Giblin
Riveting true story of the parallel lives of Edwin Booth and John Wilkes Booth.
Diary of Pelly D, Adlington
A novel of a diary found after the “disappearance” of a whole class of people. Based (very well) on the author’s research on war diaries.
World’s Worst, Frauenfelder
The best worst book I’ve read.
I Am the Messenger, Zusak (actually, I would put this in the adult list, but I originally read it due to recommendations by people who work with teens)
What does it take to be a hero?
Best Grown-Up Reads:
Van Helsing’s Night Off, Mahler
Mostly wordless comics, entirely funny. I hope more of his work gets published in the US.
Poo Bomb, Vogel
Based on the blog, but in a good way.
Working Fire, Unger
This book not just good because firefighters are cool.
Men Who Stare at Goats, Ronson
It’s another nice combination of funny and educational, in a creepy way.
Fray, Whedon
I only just this year got around to reading it, and again I know that Joss is God.
Two Wheels North, Gibb
A small press book that deserves wide acclaim. Excellent true adventure.
Late entry: Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, Foer
In a story of "Escape (The Piña Colada Song)" gone horribly wrong, a French man is reported to have dated his mom on-line for six months before meeting her on the beach. The horror, the horror.
So I get a bulk—er, standard—rate envelope, with no return address, and inside it is a plain white card with a weird abbreviation of the name of my bank at the top, and the amount of my original mortgage loan below that. The text reads
Your mortgage with [weird abbreviation of bank name] can be re-negotiated with a 5 year payment rate of 2.00%*. This yields a monthly payment of [Some amount not much less than my current P&I amount].
Then there’s an 800 number to call and a case number to reference. That footnote? In print substantially smaller than anything else on the card, it reads
4.66 APR/40 YR Term ADJ / P and I / [blah, blah] / excludes taxes and insurance / rates subject to change / certain conditions may apply
[Name of outfit making this offer] not affiliated with [weird abbreviation of bank name]
Really? I can sign up for a 40-year mortgage? With people who are so proud of their company that its name appears only in the smallest type on the card? Oh, happy day!
I’m going out of town for a while, so here’s some crappy old links (with no glittering commentary) that have piled up in my to post list, just to tide you over. Oooh, I’m so nice.
Chicago Historical Society
A salt of the earth test, the writings of Sir Thomas Browne
Science Groove
Charles Darwin continues to have a posse
List of lists for the year-end roundups, keep an eye on this one as it grows.
I’m working from an office without a window today, and I thought that others might enjoy this list of Bellevue Traffic Cams (with links to other local cameras) that can give you an idea if the snow is sticking or not.
Building on Sarah’s post about signposts to bad SF and mine about Google Map play, here’s a Google Maps satellite image of the giant signpost to bad SF. Terraserver has a closer view. Best I can guess, maybe that’s a landing strip for aliens to the southwest of the marker.