Current events
Small businesses
This is Small Business Week, celebrating American entrepreneurs. Which makes for a nice irony, in that the business practices of Amazon against Hachette books has recently come to light. I am not published by Hachette, but many of my friends are, and many of the books on my shelves come from that house. However, contract…
Read MoreEntertainments
Movies used to have disclaimers to say that no animals were actually injured in the making of the film–they don’t bother saying that now because it’s simply assumed. Cigarettes are on their way out in films, with complaints lodged even when NOT having the character puffing away would be odd. But what about crying children?…
Read MoreDonkeys and meteors
I’m over at the blog for Kepler’s bookstore this week, The Well Read Donkey, talking about beginnings, middles, and ends. While you’re there, maybe you could even click onto the Kepler’s link and buy a book? Hooray for indies! And I would be remiss if I did not point out that the Perseid meteors are…
Read MoreA dreadful Choice
Sometimes, life is hard and all you can do is bleed. My friend Ayelet Waldman has a new book out that fills me with awe, that a person can feel so free about showing her wounds to the world. The title of her book, Bad Mother, embraces a criticism and turns it on its head,…
Read MoreArmageddon and other inconveniences
The world ended today, here in Santa Cruz County. Vandals cut through several fiber optic cables and dumped a hefty patch of Northern California into the 1980s. Tens of thousands of people were completely cut off from the world. Computers did not communicate, cell phones went silent, land lines hummed with the noise of desperate…
Read More