Once More with Feeling

In a few days I'll be embarking on my first cross country driving trip, from San Francisco to New York. Twenty year old me would have been mighty disappointed that he had failed to make such a journey during his reign. Thirtysomething me is mostly concerned with amenities along the way. Mainly which diners I'll be able to eat sandwiches and drink coffee in.There's been plenty of opportunities for me to drive cross country before this but I never...

New Horizons to Pursue

I've been on a Dev Hynes kick this past week or so. After reading through stuff about Weeknd and Frank Ocean, someone referred to Hynes as the progenitor of their sound. While I'm still a bit flummoxed by that assertion, there's no doubt that I love his Lightspeed Champion stuff. Oh right, Hynes is already three musical personas deep, from punk rock (Test Icicles) to indie folk (Lightspeed Champion) to synth pop (Blood Orange)."I'm always weary...

The Game of Publishing

One day I'd like to design a board game that allows you to experience the ups and downs of a writer's life. It'd be super complicated and not straight up boring like Monopoly -- although I do love me some Monopoly.I'd pattern it after Settlers and the other German games, with their more advanced and involved mechanics. It not only has to be engaging but also informative and educational. Creating such a game would be quite the challenge but if done...

Pinata Party

It's Book Blogger Appreciation Week and what better way to celebrate than to, well, I don't know what's a better way to celebrate. Cake and ice cream? Ice cream cake?The BBAW awards is a great way to find new blogs to read, and there are categories like Best New Blog Blog, Best Blogging Event, Best Written Book Blog, Best Author Interviews, so on and so forth.I got into YA when book blogs were just coming around and it's been amazing to watch the...

For the Very First Time

If you follow fashion blogs, or just the blog world in general, you'll get to Tavi Gevinson sooner or later. Her new (mostly online) magazine, Rookie, launched last week and already I'm hooked.From an article about Rookie: "Rookie magazine will be much more than glossy editorials and Mad Hatter-style fashion spreads. With three posts a day (after school, after dinner, and before bed -- based around the schedule of a typical teen), a once monthly...

You and I Must Make a Pact

I've got two basic rules for dating requirements. (1) Must read books (2) Must have Gmail. This article does a nice job of describing why the former. If I were to pair this article with audio, I'd choose "What You Thought Hops" by Denizen Kane. Actually this is a stellar idea, pairing reading recommendations with music like we do with food and wine. I'm a genius! Oh wait, people already do this. Well, it's still a good idea.Note: Some words...

A Mox On Both Your Houses

Normally I'd let this pass as it's obviously designed to get geeks in an uproar: Alyssa Bereznak's Gizmodo article bashing Jon Finkel, a former Magic: The Gathering world champion, after they went on a few dates. However, it's been a few days and I still feel the need to talk about it. That plus I had the article sent to me by quite a number of people. Apparently my friends associate me with magic. Awesome! There was a time in my youth when becoming...