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Topic 1: Very cool Deutsch artist (Künstlerin), Lisa Rienermann, has a project where she's created the alphabet out of the intersection of the sky with buildings. (via PSFK) Topic 2: Wandering around the Green Festival this weekend, I encountered Zach Houston sitting on a fold-up chair, manual typewriter on lap,...
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I had the best Saturday afternoon last weekend. The Max and I pulled up to 18th/Bryant on our bikes, spied a small circle of bibliophiles gathered together, and had surveys thrust into our hands by the Pied Piper of the excursion, Michael Swaine. (Survey questions below, for the curious). Michael...
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A friend at work recently had her first child, and I organized a massive book donation that will last the family for years, in lieu of flowers that will wilt after a week. After polling the office to gather everyone's favorites from childhood, I came up with the list below....
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NYTimes blogger lists the best business books, and I'm no snob, I'll give them a whirl! Expect to see several of these reviewed in the coming weeks. His list and comments, in no particular order: “Liar’s Poker,” by Michael Lewis (even though I’ve since become convinced that the anecdote that...
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I guess you really needed my bike seat and tube for your own hobo bike. I wonder if your bike is made of stolen parts and if it keeps you as warm at night as my nice cozy apartment. It's not that comfortable to lay your head on, as I've...
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Last night was a rare treat- Will Oldham answering questions and sharing new songs he's worked on during his 2+ month tenure in the Marin Headlands, as artist in residence at the Center for the Arts. One of the questions was about his pseudonym (Bonnie "Prince" Billy), which he revealed...
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I promise, I'm still reading. I'm in the middle of a couple of yummy books and about to head off on a trip, which guarantees reading time in the airport and on the plane. But while I finish up those, I wanted to share a tiny bit of my delight:...
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Another drool-worthy juxtaposition of books in architecture, this staircase is lined with books. Great use of space & storage....
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Great quote from Randall Jarrell posted on the National Book Critics Circle blog about a 1955 study that said 48% of Americans don't read any books at all during a year....
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We've all been there-- you finish reading a book that saps your brain juices as you turn each page. For me, there was the accidental Candace Bushnell read. Virgil Griffith correlated "favorite books" from Facebook college networks with the corresponding average SAT score of those colleges to give you a...
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A couple of weeks ago I checked out the National Book Circle panel on New & Unrecognized Voices and came away with several book recommendations. Unfortunately, these aren't at ye old biblioteca yet. Clane Hayward: Hypocrisy of Disco John Brandon: Arkansas Ismet Prcic The other bit of wisdom is that...
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The books as art theme continues!...
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I am officially out of the loop. The NY Times has started a book club of sorts, in their reading room blog. It launched earlier in October, and the gang has been reading Tolstoy's War and Peace with comments from Senator Gary Hart and moderated by NYT Book Review editor...
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My uber-hip coworker turned me onto the new Jen Bekman project of 20x200 and I immediately ordered a print when I found one that I connected with. Each week they release a photo and another work into the wild that sell like hotcakes. You can order the smallest size for...
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I was invited to fast for Karva Chauth with a coworker whose mother-in-law adheres to the tradition. Last night, I geared up for the main event by having a light supper of vegetable soup, and since then, not a drop of liquid or food has passed my lips. Karva Chauth...
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This Dutch cathedral was built over 700 years ago, between 1267 and 1280. It's now received a new lease on life, reincarnated as a gorgeous new bookstore. The upper floors of the bookstore give you a closer look at the frescoes on the ceiling. Rejoice and let the book-worship...
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On this last Sunday in September, The Max and I braved the sunny skies and waded past the homeless conglomeration at the Main Library to join up with Don Herron's Dashiell Hammett tour of the city. Don's website had mentioned the meetup point, along with the requisite $10 per person,...
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I have been a huge proponent of getting rid of "stuff" and simplifying my life, but after yesterday's excursion to the main branch of the library, I may have been too hasty in purging my personal library. In theory, the library works perfectly for me-- I can order books online...
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I think I might prefer the smell of hobo at the library to the mule or camel stench, but this is still way cool. Bibliomulas take books to remote villages in Venezuela. Camels do the same in Kenya....
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The professor of French literature, Pierre Bayard, makes the case for being able to discuss books you haven't read, or that you've heard discussed, or that you read and forgot. If you know what a book is about, you can still talk the talk amongst your vest-wearing, pipe-smoking, unkempt-haired literary...
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A last minute decision to get away prior to the 4th of July holiday caused a mad dash for tickets, sunscreen, and the all-important stack of beachside reading. (You'll notice a spike in number of books read in July-- you can thank my hammock & beach towel for that) So...
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Book spines arranged to tell short story. Reminds me of the books arranged by color at Adobe Books a few years ago. I love the way this opens up the mind to choosing a book based on an entirely different set of criteria....
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Books as Art
by lz in Weblog on 04May2007
Books are for more than reading, as shown in this gorgeous display of artistry.
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Book Slump
by lz in Weblog on 18Apr2007
Been in a bit of a slump recently, checking books out of the library and paging through them halfheartedly. The slump was ended by my sister's recommendation of an Icelandic mystery which I'm almost done with. I've stranded these books lately: * Shutting out the Sun: how Japan created its...
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I love this idea-- put in the name of a book you loathe, and you'll get back a list of recommendations for books you might like, based on your dislike. From LibraryThing, the UnSuggester. (from kottke.org)...
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Last night's discussion at the Commonwealth Club was boisterous and entertaining. The topic was "The Future of the Book: Dead or Alive?" While the panel was firmly in the camp of "Books: Alive", it was interesting to see how technology is helping keep books relevant; Brewster Kahle passed around one...
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Librarian rant
by lz in Weblog on 27Dec2006
Does she work at the library solely to humiliate patrons on their choice of books? My belief in the automated checkout system is strengthened after tonight's ordeal where the senorita mocked 2 out of my 3 book choices. Surprisingly, she left Kink alone-- which seems borderline erotica from the first...
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You've heard of self-publishing services before. But you haven't seen anything like the quality of books that the good folks at Blurb.com produce. I recently joined the Blurb team, and during the interview process I familiarized myself with the books they had scattered throughout the offices. The aha! moment came...
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Penguin is releasing 6 classics without covers, but with art-quality paper so that the budding artist in all of us can create our own covers....
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Nothing shockingly unique in this list of books Henry Miller compiled as greatest literature ever; not terribly surprising that the ladies are conspicuously absent from the list. Miller does show restraint in keeping his name off the roll....
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Drool inducing photographs of libraries around the world in a book titled, Libraries, by Candida Hofer. The nonist posted 14 of his favorites. Here's mine, 4 floors of sprawling red wrought iron found in The Hague:...
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Ulysses is in the top 3, right behind the Kamasutra and 15000 Useful Phrases. Great aggregation of data from Project Gutenberg... now provide in RSS format please?! I would love to include this info in LLL's sidebar if it was syndicated....
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Ponied up $25 to attend this ho-hum event, which was more interesting in concept than execution. An evening of musicians inspired by literature, with readings and performances. I was excited to see Jay Farrar and Dan the Automator, but ended up enjoying Mark Eitzel the most. Lars Ulrich was an...
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The Max is near-furious because a patron proclaimed me the best bartender he'd ever had. This, while slinging bottled beer and fountain cokes, to those gathered at the Presidio Yacht Club. Admittedly, I know nearly nothing about tending bar. What I learned this weekend: * Count to four when pouring...
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I've been using the San Francisco library for 84 months, checking out an average of 4 books per month. For the first time, they've reported a book lost that I returned. That's a 0.3% failure rate, which isn't terrible, but with a computerized system, the error rate should be much...
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Hyperion is starting a new brand, Voice, aimed at women. WTF?! What follows are some incoherent grumblings about this idea: 51% of the US population is female. This is the majority. Why do we need a niche book brand? From the NYT article: "People are overwhelmed by choice, and what...
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Scott Berkun slams writers' block as a sham: "It's not the fear of writing that blocks people, it's its fear of not writing well; something quite different." He then outlines several "hacks" to get you started writing. Some of my favs: * Write about how it feels not to be...
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Great advice for readers-- if you're not enjoying it, put it down! "If reading books is to survive as a leisure activity - and there are statistics that show that this is by no means assured - then we have to promote the joys of reading, rather than the (dubious)...
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The sheer volume of volumes of the Oxford English Dictionary solidifies its reputation as a weighty reference guide. But is it cost-prohibitive at $300/year for online access or $2,000 for physical copies? I feel well served by free services like Merriam-Webster or dictionary.com to satisfy occasional disputes over meanings of...
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Check out pics of this wonderland of books for kids. Maybe if Borders redesigned like this, people would read more. Apologies for all the weblog posts lately-- reading has taken lower priority than social activities....
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BookMooch is a place to exchange books, for free, and earn (karma) points for every book you ship out. To keep receiving books, you need to give out one for every 2 you get. Let the books circle the globe!...
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Nineteen tidbits of advice for aspiring authors from marketing guru Seth Godin. Sad to note that 58% of adults don't read another book after high school. And this is my favorite piece of advice: "Bookstores, in general, are run by absolutely terrific people. Bookstores, in general, are really lousy businesses....
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India Amos, a book interior designer, details the behind-the-scenes work in putting that manuscript into saleable order. Along with her sneak peek, she drops a disturbing fact-- most readers do not get past page 18 in a book they've purchased....
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Winners of the worst analogies in a high school essay, gleaned from a WaPost contest. Including: "John and Mary had never met. They were like two hummingbirds who had also never met." "From the attic came an unearthly howl. The whole scene had an eerie, surreal quality, like when you're...
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"I was a young man, starving and drinking and trying to be a writer. I did most of my reading at the downtown L.A. Public Library, and nothing that I read related to me or to the streets or to the people about me. It seemed as if everybody was...
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Elmore Leonard's Ten Rules of Writing. Scorpion's Gate broke all 10 of these within the first 3 pages, which is probably why I hated it....
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"... the sense I get of my generation of writers and intellectuals or whatever is that it's 3:00 A.M. and the couch has several burn-holes and somebody's thrown up in the umbrella stand and we're wishing the revel would end." Read the whole interview here....
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All I want for Christmas is no more books foisted upon me by people whose taste in reading I don't agree with. And Joe Queenan of the NYT also agrees with me in his Christmas article "Wish List: No More Books!" Reprinted here b/c of that nasty NYT habit of...
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Endings
by lz in Weblog on 03Dec2005
What are the options for authors finishing off and wrapping up their stories? Great Telegraph article on the ends of books, contrasted with the importance of beginings. Suggests that writers conceive of an ending when they begin writing, so they have a life raft they can swim towards as they...
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A problem we'll never encounter in the US, one out of every three Brits admits to having purchased a book just to look smart....
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After convincing friends to shell out $20 to hear Simon Winchester "in conversation with" Scott Shafer on Monday, I was nervous after entering the Herbst Theater and finding us to be the youngest audience members by a few decades....
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Last Sunday, I took the facinating Dogpatch/Potrero Point walking tour with the SF CityGuides....
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I'm an aunt (again)! This time I'm welcoming the first female addition to the family-- Anne Linnea. She's only a few hours old and already my favorite niece. Happy birthday Anne! A healthy 9 lbs 11 oz, and 2 weeks early! Best of recooperating to Mom Christine and congrats to...
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Ok, no, it only looks like it's made out of books. Very cool!...
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Jared Diamond's book put on TV in a 3 part PBS series starting July 11, airing Mondays. I usually opt not to see the televised/filmed verison if I particularly enjoyed the book, but am curious about how this comes off. DVR is set to record!...
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My strategy for reading is pretty simple: Finding books to read: * Browse a bookstore or library, open books that picque my interest and read the first line. If the first line doesn't convey the writer's style and provide enough "oomph" to intrigue me, I usually won't bother * Suggestions...
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I used to have a chipped, cheap off-white teapot that made me sad everytime I looked at it, which was a lot b/c I drink a lot of tea. I've been searching for a new teapot for years, ducking into random stores in Hawaii, New Jersey, LA, Chinatown, on this...
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More death all around. Saul Bellow checks out....
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I picked up my copy of Blink from the library today. When the lovely librarian picked my two books off the hold shelf, she said "Oh, you got Blink!" in an admiring way....
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Trees everywhere are sighing a huge cloud of O2 in relief-- Harry Potter volume 5(?) will be printed on part-recycled paper....
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Chris Cobb, a San Francisco artist, created an installation art piece by arranging the books in Adobe Books by color. He called his work "There is Nothing Wrong in this Whole Wide World" and it was one of the most endearing pieces of art I've ever experienced. Just by...
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Susan Sontag, a writer who had tremendous impact on me years ago, is now deceased. Sontag's "On Photography" transformed my picture taking from an unthinking snapping to a thoughtful consideration of where I was prior to clicking the camera. Experience the moment while you're there, don't focus on trying to...
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The rules by S.S. Van Dine circa 1928...
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The recently discovered Bookslut offers up this article to help you decide what goes and what stays when the shelves begin to overflow....
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Ploughshares interview with seemingly forgotten writer Richard Yates, who died in 1992....
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NICE!
by lz in Weblog on 10Jan2002
"Of all the words in the English language, few have more varied careers than nice..."...
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good economist.com article on the triumph of English. "The real reason for the latterday triumph of English is the triumph of the English-speaking United States as a world power."...
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"Scott Fitzgerald stole Zelda's ideas, plagiarized her diaries and even pushed her into an affair. He was arguably the worst husband of his generation -- and that made him its best author..." -- Salon Magazine....
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That vs. Which
by lz in Weblog on 25Jun2001
The relative pronoun that is restrictive, which means it tells you a necessary piece of information about its antecedent: for example, "The color that is used most often is purple." Here the that phrase answers an important question: which of the many colors are we talking about? And the answer...
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This site allows you to identify and visualize the relations, connections, intersections, and rhymes between words....
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Got vs. Gotten
by lz in Weblog on 24Jun2001
David Crystal, on the gotten/got distinction in The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language (p.311): "Gotten is probably the most distinctive of all the American English/British English grammatical differences, but British people who try to use it often get it wrong. It is not simply an alternative for have got....
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I moved into this house full of howling lunatics in mid June. It is now well nigh July and I am (almost) as crazy as them. They think my madness stems from too much reading. I think it's from living in close proximity to them, with their noxious breath and...
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