Hangovers

• Settling in for a weekend of critical thesis work, reading, and scribbling, with a possible break in there to go see a movie or something fun. Also, you know you’re a stinky grown-up when your to-do list includes "drop off vacuum cleaner at the repair guy’s." It is gray and windy outside today in a very satisfyingly winter way.
• 1940s circus photos. (Via Dave. I needed that; thanks.) And, by the by, if you ever get a chance to poke around in the library at Circus World in Baraboo, Wisconsin, do it. They’ve got some amazing original circus photos there.
• The Brown Bookshelf is kicking off its Twenty-Eight Days Later celebration of children’s literature during Black History Month with Christopher Paul Curtis.
• Tacithydra has an important question about pronunciation.
• Carolyn See seems to really like Meg Rosoff’s What I Was, but isn’t the review oddly full of summary?
• Hannah really liked R.A. Nelson’s Breathe My Name.
• Tamora Pierce’s recommended reference books for slang.
• Steve Martin in Smithsonian mag.
• In case you ever wanted to become insane: this revision technique seems like it would help. Wowza.
• Carolyn is reporting live from AWP.
• Tempest Bradford interviews Justine Larbalestier (ahem) and Ekaterina Sedia.
• J.L. Bell: Why Western High Art Disdains Speech Balloons.
• I believe 2008 may now be the official year of Nicola Tesla. Prepare for his return.
• And a silly quiz behind the cut:

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Friday HangoversRead More »

• James Woods on character. (Via Jenny.)
• And another from the tireless Jenny, 10 famous writers talk about their trunk novels.
• Ed Park on Terry Pratchett.
• When the cinetrix tells me to watch something on youtube, I do it.
• Jonathan Strahan announces an open reading period for Eclipse Two, running through February. Writers, start your stories.
• Craig Gidney reviews The Shadow Speaker, saying it’s a kind of African The Golden Compass. Sold.
• The Anonymous war on Scientology. Fascinating, this one.
• Which book? The interesting thing about this site is that I’ve never heard of anything it spits out, but they all sound fabulous. (Via Laurie Halse Anderson.)
• Alan DeNiro reviews The New Space Opera anthology, edited by Gardner Dozois and Jonathan Strahan: "After all of this disappointment and cast-off deflation, the exceptions in this book are so, well, exceptional that it makes the entire book worth reading—if for nothing else than to map out how the tired and unambitious stories put the gems in high relief, like settings in a crown."

• From the New Weird to the Next Weird at the Guardian: If the New Weird writers represent a turning point it is because they are the first generation of writers to grow up completely immersed in the culture of sci-fi. For such writers the language of speculative fiction is the first and preferred means of expression, because it is the only way to describe a real world permeated on every level with unreality, fantasy and fiction. Whatever the Next Weird may bring, it seems certain that the real experimental energy of literature will remain in genre fiction.
• The Forgotten Edition of the Golden Fuse Awards (see esp. the prophecies section), and speaking of Fuse, Betsy also has a fabulous guest post from someone who played Scrabble against John Hodgman and John Oliver (for charity–826NYC) and survived (actually, won!).
• Buster Keaton in The Hayseed. (Via.)
• Simmone Howell advocates for the John Waters approach to saving reading: "If you go home with someone and they don’t have any books don’t f**k them."
• Feeling charitable? Laini Taylor has a great suggestion on where you can help save some dogs.
• Julie Holderman and Tamora Pierce are launching an effort to organize a convention especially for YA SFF. You can volunteer to help out in the comments.
• How to clean like a maid. (For those of us who, sadly, don’t have one.)
• The Guardian on the ever-expanding world of girls in comics (both as writer/illustrators and characters). Who knew that Smurfette was finally getting a posse? (Via Cecil, who gets some love.)
• Winter advice from northern climes.
• "Why Sci-Fi is the Last Bastion of Philosophical Writing" at Wired. (Via the new Clarion blog.)
• James Hynes on Lewis Hyde’s The Gift, which every writer, artist, and possibly human being really should read. (Via Erin.)
• Wunderkammen vs. Cabinets of Curiosity at Cabinet of Wonders.

• Turns out I lied, I’m in an airport with wireless (but no bar!) waiting (hopefully!) for a flight that will leave on time-ish. So, I’m going to close some tabs, sadly not remembering where I first spotted these links.
• Roger Sutton concurs with with A.O. Scott that the gatekeepers should not try to keep kids within their "developmental comfort zone" — interesting suggestion in the post’s comments that movies become dated no matter what, so slang away.
• Phone people vs. ePeople, or The Story of My Life as a Not-Phone Person.
• Prompted by one of the residency discussions, I revisited Terri Windling’s excellent essay "Transformations,"  and you’d probably enjoy it too.
• The Library Arcade features some pretty cool games developed at Carnegie Mellon.
• Girls create more content online.
• Colbert vs. David Levy on robot love.
• Jenny Davidson has had a whole string of great posts this week.
• Logo! Pogo!
• Schwartz is fancy: Check out his US and UK book covers and selling points.

• This semester I’ll be one of just two lucky students working with the fabulous Leda Schubert (the NYT agrees). Here’s an interview by Kim Winters with Leda at The Edge of the Forest from awhile back; I keep trying to pick a little part to quote here, but the whole thing is so thoroughly Leda and thoroughly charming that I’m unable to choose. Suffice to say, I’m very excited about the work of the next sixth months.
• Susan Beth Pfeffer has been composing a series of fascinating posts spitballing ideas for her possible next book — it’s such an honest look at how writers make decisions and how pliable everything is at such an early stage.
• John Crowley follows up on the happiness/sadness in writing question with some thoughts on books that make you happy.
• The art of Harry Grant Dart — incredible airships.
• Speaking of artists, Ellen Datlow recommends a couple that remind her of Francis Bacon. (A comparison that always gets my attention.)
• Michael Chabon joins SFWA and all I can think is: Why? Also: Please god, don’t let him go on the private forums at the wrong time.
• Morgellons disease: Is it real?
• Edgar award noms.
• These photos are very, very cool.
• An addition to the books I can’t wait for this year list — Cecil’s Janes in Love. What a purty cover.
• Should a homophobe like Orson Scott Card have gotten the Margaret Edwards Award?
• Literary pigs.

• Gavin has the goods on lots of exciting interpretations of Kelly’s "The Girl Detective," both visual and auditory.
• Chris McLaren arrives in Melbourne, Australia, and wacky hijincks ensue. I’m thinking this is one of those things that makes a better anecdote than experience.
• The fabulous Kate Angelella just pointed me to The Pierces’ 13 Tales of Love and Revenge. I like it.
• John Crowley asks which is easier to write, sadness or joy.
• PW’s Rose Fox on negative reviews.
• Clara Bow film and documentary on YouTube (with bonus Louise Brooks — who my Mac is named after).
• Ysabeau on the art of Walton Ford.
• Jeff VanderMeer tells you how to write a novel in two months.
• I am very excited about Hudson (aka Maureen’s impending new dog), so post all you like about him, Maureen.
• And now a class meeting… and later a new advisor.

• An attempt to define science fiction by "new guard" writers at SF Signal. What Dave says. (So far, anyway.)
• This Strange Horizons review makes The Red Men by Matthew de Abaitua sound worth adding to the neverending list. (Tangentially speaking, since SH also just did their Year in Review: Spook Country by William Gibson — so much buzz when it came out, but I saw it on practically nobody’s best of the year list…)
• Elizabeth Bear, Sarah Monette, Will Shetterly, and Emma Bull are doing something really, really smart cool. Seriously, seriously interesting.
• Sara Ryan points to an excellent-sounding podcast featuring The Wire’s Wendell Pierce and Andre Royo. (I am trying to be strong and not resubscribe to HBO.)
• Colleen sticks up for fictional cheerleaders.
• Curtis Brown agent Nathan Bransford offers some query cliches. Hee.
• Stephany Aulenback on Where the Wild Things Are and the upcoming Dave Eggers/Spike Jonze movie adapation. Could be fabulous.

• Someday there will be content besides links in this space, but not today.
• Stewart and Colbert return to the airwaves*: reviews are mixed.
• SF thrives on cronyism?** . . . just like the rest of publishing and every other field of business. (Via io9.)
• Maud (and Lizzie) got to attend the premiere of The Wire’s last season. Now that’s an event worth being a little green about.
• Carolyn raises some excellent questions about that weird New Yorker piece on Raymond Carver last month.
• Maureen Johnson interviews Libba Bray about The Sweet Far Thing and the result is charming and hilarious.
• On the latest EW back page column, Mark Harris talks about the stale retreads that make up the vast majority of TV and film science fiction offerings (perhaps in this case, more deserving of the term "sci-fi"). He ultimately concludes that people not so nostalgic for the genre should be creating this stuff, but it seems to me the problem is more that broadcast SF often panders to the lowest common denominator, embracing the most simplistic of influences and ignoring richer history that could better inform it–even to react against that history–to great detriment. It often feels like the people making it don’t really like science fiction at all. But, yeah, I mostly agree that nostalgia bunnies should take a powder for a bit and see if that gets us some better movies/shows.
• Dave Elzey has a great post on boy logic and reading and the Koran.
• Tattooed piggies! (Via someone but I can’t remember who; sorry!) (Also, no way am I getting tattooed at Wiscon, Doselle. No. Freaking. Way.)
• Liz Hand brings the Buster Keaton. Guaranteed to improve your day.
• Open thread for Tiptree recs at Livejournal. Help us!

*And edrants becomes Filthy Habits: a welcome return to the tubewaves(?).
**I know the link says nepotism, but surely everyone in SF isn’t related.

• The Guardian ran a contest for kids to create their own creatures and Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi  judged; the gallery is amazing.
• Secrets of upcoming Battlestar Gallactica season revealed by EW photo? I hope the secret is that it’s better than last season.
• The Machine Animals of Nantes. (Via Maureen.)
• Susan Beth Pfeffer wants your ghost stories and offers one of her own in exchange.

• A new issue of Chizine is live.
• Dave Schwartz on the error of breaking up (and erasing) the marriage of Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson.
• Why, yes, spybots are cool.
• Mr. McLaren has the skinny on works new to the public domain this year.
• Maureen McHugh meditates on her own "contract rooted in capitalist obsessions with property," aka marriage. (Anniversary congratulations!)
• Oh, and by the by, when you’re reading Justine’s latest writing posts, don’t forget to check her out on Scrivener. This is the best post I’ve seen thus far on its virtues. Love, love, love the Scriv.
• Meghan has posted some cute pictures of New Year’s, including doggy dog ones (I really love this one of Emma).
• Science books to look for in 2008. (Via Jenny.)