I Admire the Enthusiasm.

About a week ago I heard a Ray Bradbury tribute video that both stunned me and made me laugh out loud. I am most certain it crosses several lines and then tap dances with glee on the other side. While I won't be posting the video here, it's certainly something you can search out when you aren't at work or in the presence of the easily offended or young ears of the world. Here's a link to an article that describes and discusses it better than I do.

The Ray Bradbury Tribute I Never Expected to See posted by David Barnett on the book blog page of The Guardian.

The Current State of Affairs.

image by Kenglye

So, so you think you can tell
Heaven from Hell,
Blue skies from pain.
Can you tell a green field
From a cold steel rail?
A smile from a veil?
Do you think you can tell?

And did they get you to trade
Your heroes for ghosts?
Hot ashes for trees?
Hot air for a cool breeze?
Cold comfort for change?
And did you exchange
A walk on part in the war
For a lead role in a cage?

How I wish, how I wish you were here.
We're just two lost souls
Swimming in a fish bowl,
Year after year,
Running over the same old ground.
What have we found?
The same old fears.
Wish you were here.

--Pink Floyd

Mashups.

I wanted to see if I could really clip part of a Hulu vid and share it somewhere else... I absolutely LOVE the mashups on Glee and this partial Bon Jovi one is particularly grand.

And it worked! That was a clip from Glee Season I episode: Vitamin D in which Will's wife gets a job as a school nurse (totally without credentials) in an effort to spy on him and Emma. She also gets all the kids hopped up on the active ingredient in cold medicine. You can tell that Finn is a bit hopped up in this number, but it's appropriate. I've seen Jon Bon Jovi perform recently. He was exactly like that!



To be fair, here are the girls. Equally manic.

Does Tweeting Make me a Twit?

Despite the fact that I have managed to take a class on Twitter for Teachers and teach two workshops on social media, I remain a bit of a skeptic. I find it intriguing. I suspect there really is no fighting it. Yet, I'm not sure we really understand the way that social media is altering our reality, our literacies.

Today I was struck by a NY Times article from a few weeks ago, I Tweet, Therefore I Am. And one slice in particular:

"Back in the 1950s, the sociologist Erving Goffman famously argued that all of life is performance: we act out a role in every interaction, adapting it based on the nature of the relationship or context at hand. Twitter has extended that metaphor to include aspects of our experience that used to be considered off-set: eating pizza in bed, reading a book in the tub, thinking a thought anywhere, flossing. Effectively, it makes the greasepaint permanent, blurring the lines not only between public and private but also between the authentic and contrived self. If all the world was once a stage, it has now become a reality TV show: we mere players are not just aware of the camera; we mug for it."

And I don't think Twitter is the only target here. I'm sure this can be said for all forms of social media, this blog included. I'm not sure the realization is enough to change anything for me, but awareness is worth something, I think.

article found via Swiss Miss

Sounds Sketchy? Not at all.

Every year I contemplate NaNoWriMo and am unable to truly give it a go, especially in November. It's just not the month for me at this stage of my life... And a novel. Wow. I don't know.

So, now I've gone and done something radical. Well, for me at least.

I signed up for The Sketchbook Project. I just couldn't help myself. It's too cool not to be a part of this.

I am not even good at art... at least not in its traditional forms, but this is a really freeing project based on what I read and I'm VERY excited to see what emerges.

Please check it out for yourself and consider joining me in The Sketchbook Project.

Sweet Eats.

I love food blogs. I've said it before--they are my "porn." I experience a lust that I imagine is how some men view the other sort. I can feel it all through me... the appreciation for the beauty of the food. The mouthwatering. The ache. :)

I have a few favorites that do the exaggerated explicit photographic instructions on how to craft their delectable recipes. Yet, another favorite foodie is Oh Joy Eats. Joy's blog features favorite restaurants, food related products, desserts, dishes, recommendations, sweets, treats and more all styled to perfection. I enjoy her other blog too.

13 Ways of Looking at a Hamster

Oooh... please click here - Eden Kennedy of Fussy gets poetic.
And it's great fun. Well... Peanut liked it!

Jane Austen Fight Club -- A Double Parody