December 2010
22 posts
“I don’t want to write this book, but I have to,” he said.”
– Julian Assange to use £1m book deals for legal fight | Media | The Guardian
That my brief time working in publishing will always die hard shows in my reaction to this story, which was: I really pity the editor (and for that matter, the editorial assistant) who will be tasked with the job of...
“If you miss the first years of a child’s development, nothing can clear it up....”
– UK Government have changed their minds about scrapping the children’s book scheme (via annieatkins)
Well, that was surprisingly quick.
Excellent news, but donating to Booktrust is still worth doing.
“We believe that homes should be places that inspire a love of books and reading....”
– Statement from the UK’s Department for Education, on the decision to axe the free books scheme for children.
I once babysat an eight-year-old who didn’t know what a bedtime story was. “You just get in to bed and I’ll read you a story,” I explained. Cue confusion.
(via annieatkins)
I’m not...
“What does your winter boyfriend eat? Candy and trail mix. Where does your winter...”
– The “Winter Boyfriend” | The Hairpin
“Also, the stroller will have been free. Those are very expensive.”
– Some Futures I Thought I Might Have | The Hairpin
On worst nightmares
To be more specific, my worst nightmare is going in to space - something that I was pretty convinced that I would do when I was under five, mainly because my space-obsessed brother talked about it all the time. This, plus an untimely viewing of 2001: A Space Odyssey was terrifying.
Playing Rock Band is not a worst nightmare, although the only time I have ever played it was when I was on a press...
“It’s mortifying because we empathise. If one of us can claim that he or...”
– Elizabeth Hurley, Shane Warne and the art of Twitter flirting | Jean Hannah Edelstein | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk
“It’s as easy on the brain as “Two and a Half Men” - but far more impressive when...”
– Jonathan Franzen, ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show’ Book Club and the rise of the Frustrated White Male
Burn! (via @rachelhills)
On falling
I fell down the stairs on Sunday night. No reason for it, other than a perfect storm of carpet and sock that created a friction-free interface that sent me sliding. It was the kind of tumble that breaks hips in the elderly; I grabbed in the air at nothing as I went. And as I lay at the bottom of the staircase, I rolled over so that my miserable face was mashed into the floor, in order to take the...
“I’m interested in pushing back on the primary media narrative about this case,...”
– Some thoughts on “sex by surprise” — Feministe
Great post by Jill Filipovic. The only thing that I feel certain about in this whole fiasco is that it’s going to reinforce the belief amongst many people that women frequently cry rape for fun and profit.
On not having a snow day
Ichabod Crane School was always closed. No one knew where Ichabod Crane School was but it was always, always, closed. And we would curse the world’s luckiest kids who went there, who seemed to live in a perpetually snow-drifted place.
Close listening to the radio announcer on snowy mornings: Ichabod Crane School is CLOSED, he would say. It preceded our school district in alphabetical...
