On
20 August 2009 tagged Links, Politics
Johann Hari in The Independent:
Here’s what’s actually happening. The US is the only major industrialised country that does not provide regular healthcare to all its citizens. Instead, they are required to provide for themselves – and 50 million people can’t afford the insurance. As a result, 18,000 US citizens die every year needlessly, because they can’t access the care they require. That’s equivalent to six 9/11s, every year, year on year.
Why can’t anyone in this country say it this succinctly?
On
13 August 2009 tagged Links
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Good to see authors using the opportunities of the net. Print and online go together better than most people think.
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This is way cool. Life Magazine teams up with MagCloud to release a special reprint of the 1969 Woodstock issue. Cash-strapped magazines take note. There's a solution in print-on-demand.
On
9 August 2009 tagged Event, Fun
To my fellow San Franciscans: Got plans this Friday night? Here’s something to do.
So there’s this thing called Literary Death Match where writers read their work and are graded by judges and there’s one grand winner. I’ve attended them before and it’s great fun. (I even shot a few photos.)
This month, LDM asked five Bay Area independent bookstores to “send their favorite writers to battle it out for the crown.” My local shop, The Booksmith, invited yours truly.
To say I’m humbled would be obvious. To say I’m terrified would be more accurate. Still, I said yes.
I’ll be reading a story from Fray’s upcoming Sex and Death issue. It’s 100% true, written by me, and has never been published or read before. Like I said: Terrified.
So I may kick ass, or I may leave a crater of blubbering anxiety on stage. Either way, it’s sure to be entertaining. Come one, come all.
When: Friday, August 14; doors at 6:30pm, show at 7:30pm.
Where: Elbo Room; 647 Valencia St. San Francisco.
Cost: Buy tickets online or at the door.
Gonna come? RSVP on Upcoming or Facebook.
UPDATE: I came in second! A good time was had by all.
On
6 August 2009 tagged Links
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It still bugs me that, in my one traditionally-published book, an editor changed all my singular "they"s to "he"s. It's sexist and just awkward, that thing that THEY did.
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I've had this argument too many times to count. Nice to see some research put to it. Key quote: "Rounded rectangles are more computationally efficient for the human brain."
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Nice to see someone in the mainstream media talking sense. Go Reuters.
