Too Absent Herald

Stumbled on a trove of poetry audio files at Pō'ĭ-trē

Goth or Green? Black Screen Google search page. h/t Jamie.

via DF

Ah, summer. So you work in a Officle. You can enjoy the sound of neoprene plastic on face.

for my dad:

Sara Bongiorni writes about trying to live for a year without using any products from China

Moving? Find out how well placed that Apt/house is for getting around by foot

From Lifehacker

Turn C Batteries into D batteries using quarters.

Got all of these from Jeff Zeldman

Tartan Maker: Not for me, but you might have occasion to need some tartan patterns, quickly and easily.

Cover Browser: Collection of comic book covers, but also has great scans of [tag]book[/tag] covers, album [tag]art[/tag], and [tag]movie[/tag] posters; all-inclusive.

13 Film techniques of Alfred Hitchcock

via Gruber, if you’ve ever muttered the phrase “Nice park, asshole.” you’ll want to get the proper forms to file the infraction here. And do check out the gallery.

For someone who doesn’t even own a real pillow, I have terrific difficulty falling asleep when staying over a someone’s place. I usually tuck-in with a book; and, in some cases, this has become habitual. At chez Kovacs, I read Hannibal, at Gammon’s it’s usually one of Beth’s Naval narratives, though last time I read the Narnias. And at Gerard/Decker’s it was always Graham Greene’s The Quiet American.

Over time I had to buy myself copies of these books (except Narnia), and I just happened to pick up the Greene today.
Now that I’ve told you all the above useless information, I’ll go further.

Since I didn’t “study” literature in school, I’ve had to rely on finding such modern classics through reading and [tag]serendipity[/tag]. I “found” Greene through reading David Halberstam’s The Best and the Brightest, which I started in 9th grade and never did finish (maybe tonight).

Well, the Greene was as solidly and sharply good as Halberstam promised. It’s so good, in fact, that, though I always intend to read more of him, I end up just re-reading The Quiet American.

On writing, Where's my Jetpack? (a great title!) has a post about just what “you, me, them, everybody, everybody”- might be trying to do by typing these light, bloggy words. They quote Greene, who set himself a goal of a mere 350 words per day: “I have no talent. It’s just a question of working, of being willing to put in the time,” which I think will go on my wall. The post ends with this observation. And I’m thankful for it, because it got me to write, tonight:

I always encourage creatives to keep something on the side that no one else has a say in. Paint, draw, [tag]write[/tag], compose, or perform. Keep your skills sharpened. I think that’s why so many of us blog now.

There’s a similar sentiment in an older post at Ollieman about getting past needing tools, software, or a lecture series. Just write!