Vacuum - Edward Vielmetti in Ann Arbor, Michigan 48104

Olive, the other reindeer

"Olive the Other Reindeer Deluxe Edition: Deluxe Edition!" (Vivian Walsh)

Technorati Tags: olive, reindeer, olivetti-vielmetti, dogs, woof-woof-woof

Best of Tech 2006 online - call for Best of Tech 2007

Nominate your favorite for Best of Tech 2007 today.

from Steven Levy:

As I’ve mentioned earlier, I had the honor and pleasure of editing The Best of Technology Writing, 2007, an anthology published by the digitalculture imprint of the University of Michigan Press. For those who want to dip in and sample, the contents are available online. Or you can get it sent to you, piece by piece to read on your iPhone or Blackberry or on email, via DailyLit.

Here is where you can read my introduction, where I talk about how technology writing has changed in the past twenty years. I also address where tech writing stands vis a vis mainstream media versus blogs.

I am also delighted to hand over the editing chores for the next volume of the series to Clive Thompson. Reading over the stories for possible selection in this year’s volume, there were several of his that were totally worthy of inclusion. (The one I chose was a terrific story about Gordon Bell’s scheme to preserve our memories.) Clive is a great choice to edit The Best of Technology Writing 2008. But he needs your help. What were the best tech stories you read (or wrote) this year, either online or off? Please send your nominations here.

DailyLit is books by email - their about us says

We got the idea for DailyLit after the New York Times serialized a few classic works in special supplements a few summers ago. We wound up reading books that we had always meant to simply by virtue of making them part of our daily routine of reading the newspaper. The only thing we do more consistenly than read the paper is read email. Bingo! We put together a first version and began reading "War of the Worlds" and "Pride and Prejudice". We showed it to friends, added more books and features at their request, and presto, DailyLit was born.

Clive Thompson, the 2007 editor, is an awesome writer who blogs at Collision Detection. Here's what he has to say about this year's submissions:

Taking a cue from the open-source movement, we're asking readers to nominate their favorite tech-oriented articles, essays, and blog posts from 2007. The competition is open to any and every technology topic--biotech, information technology, gadgetry, tech policy, Silicon Valley, and software engineering are all fair game. But the ideal candidates will:

* be engagingly written for a mass audience;
* be no longer than 5,000 words;
* have been published between January and December, 2007.

Technorati Tags: books, writing, tech

Maira Kalman - The Principles of Uncertainty - The illustrated woman (video) - TED talk

Maira Kalman has a new book out. She talked at the NYPL tonight - upcoming.org reminded me of that - and though I missed it I did find this TED talk.

Here's the book:

"The Principles of Uncertainty" (Maira Kalman)

Maira Kalman's wise, witty drawings have appeared on numberless New Yorker covers, in a dozen children's books, and throughout the pages of the Elements of Style. Her latest book, The Principles of Uncertainty, is the result of a year-long illustrated blog she kept for the New York Times.

Books to return to the library for May 2007

I reserve books from the library, and sometimes they stack up at home before I get a chance to read them. Here's some notes from this month's purge so that I get a chance to go surfing to find more to read.

Putt's Law and the Successful Technocrat. Archibald Putt, 1981. Datamation-era book on getting ahead in technology careers, with a heavy dose of Dilbert, Systemantics, and the Peter Principle thrown in. Some choice quotes:

Putt's Law: Every technical hierarchy, in time, develops a competence inversion.

In nontechnical organizations, key positions, once they are filled by incompetent people, remain blocked. In a technical hierarchy, however, incompetent individuals continue to rise. Incompetence is thus flushed out of the lower levels, leaving competent people behind to do the work. In fact, Putt's Law can be regarded as the prime reason for the continued success of technology even in the face of an ever-growing bureaucracy.

There's a 2006 updated edition in print, but none of the libraries I had access to had it; best to read some of these in their originals since the typeface and the old-book smell give you a better sense for the era.

Michael Penn, Resigned. I pulled a copy of his Walter Reed from Podbop - he came to Ann Arbor - and decided to get some of his older work for a listen.

The Dice Man, Luke Rheinhart, 1972. Some bit of profundity (live your entire life by the roll of the dice) is hidden by deep misogyny. I couldn't read more than a few pages. Back to Wayne State University's "storage" for you.

Tyranny of the Moment, Thomas Eriksen 2001. Pre web 2.0 lament at the loss of "slow time" and the ever-increasing instantaneous demands on our time. (2007: e.g. Twitter).

Finn, Jon Clinch 2007. A retelling of the Huck Finn story from the perspective of his father. It looks like a good book club book, or a good reason to read the original again; it didn't pass the open to a page at random and read to see if you get hooked test.

Making Sense of the Organization, Karl Weick 2001. A reader that includes his 1984 classic "Small wins: redefining the scale of social problems". Back to the library it goes, though I'd keep it just for that essay.

Technorati Tags: reading, books, library

Not bad, but PUFFY (from Stephen King's "On Writing")

as seen on the 37 Signals newsletter

"I got a scribbled comment that changed the way I rewrote my fiction once and forever. Jotted below the machine-generated signature of the editor was this mot: 'Not bad, but PUFFY. You
need to revise for length. Formula: 2nd Draft = 1st Draft – 10%. Good luck.'"

"On Writing" (Stephen King)

Technorati Tags: writing, editing

4th Annual Ann Arbor Book Festival: Schedule of Events

From the event website and calendar - please check that site for latest updates!

4th Annual
Ann Arbor Book Festival
Schedule of Events
May 17 — 20, 2007

(Event schedule as of March 22, 2007. Subject to Change.)

This year's Honorary Spokesperson is Stacey Duford, area media personality and children’s author, The Fairy Painting.

May 1-18:
Scavenger Hunt to area bookstores, libraries, and fairy door establishments.

Week of May 14-18:
Author visits to area schools; Mayor declares week: "Ann Arbor Kids Love to Read."

Participating authors include: Ruth Barshaw, Shutta Crum, Stacey Duford, Martin Brennan, Kristin Nitz, Mike Spradlin, and Deb Garrison.

Wednesday, May 16, 7 pm:
Children’s event at Shaman Drum—Local favorite Joan Blos reads from her new book, Letters from the Corrugated Castle: A Novel of Gold Rush California, 1850-1852.

Thursday, May 17, 4:30-8 pm:
Literacy Symposium at WISD (Washtenaw Intermediate School District)—A Celebration of Tried and True Methods and Best Practices, of and by Teachers, featuring Cynthia Furlong Reynolds, Keynote, and area teachers.

Kickoff Event—Thursday Evening, May 17, 7 pm:
At the Ann Arbor District Library—Featuring The Chenille Sisters singing I Love it when you Read to Me and children's authors, along with representatives from local literacy groups.

Friday, May 18:

* Writer’s Conference, 8:00-4:30 pm
Featuring Francine Prose, lunch keynote speaker. Prose is the author of Blue Angel and Reading Like a Writer: A Guide for People Who Love Books and for Those Who want to Write Them. There will be a variety of writers and sessions devoted to developing writers.

* Author Reception, AADL, 7-8:30 pm
Reception is free and open to the public. Come mingle with our invited authors, featuring 2007 Michigan Notable Book titles.

Saturday, May 19:
Street Festival 10am - 5pm
Author readings, panels, and signings to take place in the Modern Language Building and in Street Pavilions.

***Slate of authors at the Festival includes: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Francine Prose, Joseph Coulson, Denny McClain, Raymond Arroyo, Nancy Pearl, Timothy Egan, DJ MacHale, Tim Dorsey, and Lee Iacocca.***

Sunday, May 20:
Activities for children and general interest authors, featuring a panel discussion on the writer/illustrator relationship for children's books, a celebration of 826michigan local contributors to their annual journal, a presentation by local Urban Fairy gurus, Jonathan and Kathleen Wright, and more!

EVENTS OF SPECIAL INTEREST TO FAMILIES AND CHILDREN...

May 1-18:
Scavenger Hunt to area bookstores, libraries, and fairy door establishments.

Week of May 14-18:
Author visits to area schools; Mayor declares week: "Ann Arbor Kids Love to Read."

Participating authors include: Ruth Barshaw, Shutta Crum, Stacey Duford, Martin Brennan, Kristin Nitz, Mike Spradlin, and Deb Garrison.

Wednesday, May 16, 7 pm:
Children’s event at Shaman Drum—Local favorite Joan Blos reads from her new book, Letters from the Corrugated Castle: A Novel of Gold Rush California, 1850-1852.

Kickoff Event—Thursday Evening, May 17, 7 pm:
At the Ann Arbor District Library—Featuring The Chenille Sisters singing I Love it when you Read to Me and children's authors, along with representatives from local literacy groups.

Saturday, May 19: (Times and locations TBD)

* Teen Writing Contest finalists gather and winner is announced.

* Nancy Pearl, Book Crush (like Book Lust but for young people!)

* Stacey Duford, honorary spokesperson for the Festival, presents her book The Fairy Painting.

* Christopher Paul Curtis (Bucking the Sarge; Bud, not Buddy) reads from his work.

* Michigan Children’s Author panel featuring Kristin Nitz, Cyd Moore, Lisa Himle, and Martin Brennan.

* David Small and Sarah Stewart present their latest work.

* Kathe Koja, (Going Under), and DJ MacHale, author of the Pendragon series.

* A variety of writers, storytellers, and activities in the Children’s Pavilion.

* The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, Michigan chapter, presents a number of noted authors from our area.

* The Literacy Pavilion will feature works and presentations from a variety of schools in the area.

* Jim Ottaviani and Mark Crilley present various aspects of the graphic novel.

Sunday, May 20: (Times and locations TBD)

* AA Symphony presents Peter and the Wolf with local storyteller Laura Pershin Raynor (tentative).

* Jonathan and Kathleen Wright present their Fairy Door information.

* 826michigan hosts a bookmaking workshop for parents and children.

Technorati Tags: annarbor, books, events, festival, calendar, schedule, listing, upcoming

Dynamic HTML: The Definitive Reference, Third Edition

Danny Goodman's Dynamic HTML: The Definitive Reference (3d edition) is an exhaustive encyclopedia of all of the features and pitfalls that you have to deal with when you write Ajax applications in browsers.

As my friend JP says, "browser crap makes me cry".

Thanks to O'Reilley for the review copy. It covers CSS, the DOM, XMLHttpRequest, Javascript, and more.

One complaint: the glossary is not cross-referenced with the index, so if you find a concept there you still have to surf through 1291 pages to find it. This is a book that begs to be used with ORA's Safari so that you can look things up by content.

Technorati Tags: ajax, webdev, dhtml, firefox

Writing a novel on 3x5 cards (Alison Gresik describes Dorothy Bryant's system)

Writer Alison Gresik describes Dorothy Bryant's system for writing novels starting with 3x5 cards:

On Monday, my day off, I picked up Dorothy Bryant's book, Writing a Novel and reread the planning chapter. Bryant is the author of The Kin of Ata Are Waiting For You, among many other books, and she has a unpretentious approach to the mechanics of novel writing. Even though I've written short stories before, even a linked collection, I've been somewhat mystified about how to tackle a novel. How much should I map out ahead of time? How do I know when I'm finished planning and can start to write?

Bryant describes a system of planning that uses 3x5 file cards. She writes short notes for settings, character, and plot on these cards, and throws them all into a box. She reads through all the cards each day, and writes more, until she finds she's repeating herself and not coming up with new material. Then she categorizes the cards into piles. Putting all the cards together and shuffling them around shows her where there are holes in her plot or gaps in her character sketches. She writes more cards to fill these gaps, and then she's ready to begin her first draft.

Sounds promising - I have the book on order on interlibrary loan to see it in her own words.

UPDATE:

From the newsletter Holt Uncensored #312 in 2002:

Dear Holt Uncensored:

Could you please let those of us who would like to buy this Dorothy Bryant book about writing a novel where and how we can get it? I just talked with a wonderful woman at Kepler's (they're all wonderful, of course) who found the book and a 510 number of the publisher, but she was afraid it might not be available any longer. Bookpeople and Ingram do not carry it.

Debbie Duncan

Holt responds: "Writing a Novel" is still in print and available from Ata Books, 1928 Stuart St., Berkeley, CA 94703. Pre-paid order by check. $9.95, plus $2 shipping, plus .80 tax if you live in California. If you want ordering information on all of Dorothy Bryant's books, write to the same address. Phone 510 841-9613, FAX 510 548-9846

And the main Dorothy Bryant web site has more details and ordering information.

Guide to Miriam Hilton Papers, Northern Michigan University Archives

Guide to Miriam Hilton Papers from the NMU archives.

Collection Number: Univ Series 63
Volume: 2 boxes (.6 linear feet)
Inclusive Dates: 1949-1975
Prepared by Kim Shannon and Marcus C. Robyns

Biographical Note:

Miriam Hilton was born in Iran, daughter of John and Ruth Elder who were missionaries there. She received her BA from Wellesley College and her MA from the University of Michigan. In 1947, Hilton married Earl Hilton. In 1974, she authored the first book length history of Northern Michigan University entitled, Northern Michigan University: The First Seventy-Five Years. From time to time, prior to Earl Hilton’s retirement, Miriam Hilton taught adjunct courses for the Departments of English and History. Over the years, she has also become known for her very active volunteer service activities in both the Marquette community at large and in her church.

Scope and Content Note:

The collection contains the papers of Miriam Hilton. The collection mainly documents her research and writing of the book. The collection includes book drafts, notes, news clippings, alumni questionnaires, and transcriptions of faculty interviews (Meyland, Hedgecock, Wahtera, and O'Dell). Also included are records relating to Church Women United of Marquette and writings of Hilton's father, Dr. John Elder.

Processed, March 1995

Discardia season is nigh - time to fill a bag with books

Every three months comes Discardia, a floating holiday that celebrates letting go. This season's is just ended, though in the spirit of the holiday you can let go of precise date arithmetic too.

Dinah Sanders has a daily Discardian tip of the day. I'm looking at the one on filling up a bag with books you no longer need to own and eyeing the shelves.

Technorati Tags: discardia, discardian