How to use this Page

Where I live, it seems winter is refusing to loosen its grip, holding back a long-awaited spring. With two feet of snow still on the ground and frigid, breezy days, it’s nice to sit inside (by the fire) and lose myself in the delights of the Reader. Forget Calgon. Reader….take me away! Here’s just a few Freshly Pressed posts that gave us pause this week.

Roger Ebert, RIP

Yesterday, the world lost more than a prolific film critic when Roger Ebert died of cancer at age 70. In Roger Ebert, RIP, science fiction author John Scalzi hails Ebert as one of his most important writing teachers, a fair, incisive film critic, and above all, a man who refused to allow a devastating disease to take away his humanity:

In these later years and after everything that he’d been through with cancer and with losing the ability to physically speak, I read and was contemplative about the essays and pieces he put up on his Web site. Much of that had nothing to do with film criticism, but was a matter of him writing… well, whatever. Which meant it was something I could identify with to a significant degree, since that is what I do here. It would be foolish to say that Ebert losing his physical voice freed him to find his voice elsewhere. What I think may be more accurate was that losing his physical voice reminded Ebert that he still had things he wanted to say before he ran out of time to say them.

Lean Together

Sheryl Sandberg’s recent book, Lean In, challenges ambitious women to seek leadership positions to help shake off the ever-competitive socio-political status quo and reshape the world of work for the better. At The Purpose of Work, Mike Gammage suggests Lean In‘s fatal flaw is that Sandberg should be addressing society’s “all-pervasive competition” to always be “on” and working in Lean Together:

Almost wherever we look, the workplace is becoming relentlessly competitive. It’s an assumed ‘passion’ that jeopardises family life. And as work becomes more hyper-competitive, women’s opportunities shrink. Pregnancy and maternity leave especially become huge issues. Sandberg acknowledges her own fears that – even at her level and with her talents – her job and prospects at Google would be diminished if she took ‘too much’ time off [that is more than a week or two] after her first child was born.

What if we try instead to slow down and step off this devilish hamster wheel that we’ve created?

First off, I think, we would want to reflect on the culture of contest that is embedded into our societies and so into our working lives. We have to recognise the myth of the inevitability of all–pervasive competition.

Cursi

At Vocabat, author Katie gives us a reflective Spanish lesson on the word cursi, which in English means “cheesy.” Katie transcends simple translation, meditating on the cultural nuances between Latino and American culture, finally embracing cursi as an unfettered expression of love:

In sum: What is love if not cursi? Love is supremely sentimental and gushy and ridiculous. And love means leaving your self-consciousness at the door, as well as your ego. I feel like you’re not really in love if you’re not regularly making a fool of yourself! But why hide our cheesiness within the safe confines of relationships? I admire people who can unblushingly own their feelings, hopes, and even disappointments without pussyfooting or pretending to not care all that much anyway. Although cursi people could use some work in the originality department, at least they care in the first place. There’s a lamentable epidemic of nonchalance and numbness and self-absorption these days, and cheesiness is a much better alternative to these terrible modes of subpar living.

Did you read something in the Reader that you think is Freshly Pressed material? Feel free to leave us a link, or tweet us @freshly_pressed.

For more inspiration, check out our writing challenges, photo challenges, and other blogging tips at The Daily Post; visit our Recommended Blogs; and browse the most popular topics in the Reader. For editorial guidelines for Freshly Pressed, read: So You Want To Be Freshly Pressed.

(and yes, a day early).
Welcome to September, friendlies, back to school, fall, and all that that implies. I'm doing my darndest to acclimate to the urban life again (FANTASTIC premieres like "Gossip Girl" and "Top Model" this week have helped).
But I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss this place just the eensiest bit:
http://www.twopointonefilms.com/Bethel/Photos.html.
(Too many doggie photos? No such thing).

Next week starts up the next session of my Media Bistro YA writing class, and in the meantime I'm battening down the hatches for what I anticipate to be a hellacious weekend: my second packet for school is due on Sunday and, as this is my last semester, I'm determined to wring every last drop of genius out of my current advisor.

Also, there's that pesky little issue of the Bradford 2 manuscript needing to go in, stat. Eek.

But enough dwelling on the scary workload. Let's concentrate on the positives, shall we? Yes, 1) "GG," 2) "ANTM," and 3) Louise Hawes are big-time Faves (Friday or otherwise), but what I'm most amped about this week is the POPULAR VOTE cyber-launch party that runs all next week! We've got a stellar roster of kidlit folks who will be posting interviews and providing prizes and giveaways to some of you lucky commenters, including: Claudia Gabel, Jill Santopolo, Liz Gallagher, Marjeeta Geerling, Paul Ruditis, Linda Gerber, and many more! I'll be giving away five copies of POPULAR VOTE and some super-fancy bookmarks, too. So come check us out from September 8th until September 13th. In the meantime, here's what one teen has to say about POPULAR VOTE:
"I adored Micol Ostow's fun, well-written novel. Her style is so fresh and clear, and each paragraph is packed with purpose and to-the-point. I loved getting inside Erin's head and devouring her juicy blog posts...Popular Vote was entirely a blast to read. My opinion? Well, I'm not rating this amazing novel 5 stars for nothing..."
(www.bookwormbooklovers.blogspot.com)

And check out the book trailer on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bubMJVb17Ao

or take the Facebook quiz:
http://apps.facebook.com/quizzes/fbqzr/qzr.php?id=233735

Hope to "see" you at the cyber-launch party.

Vote for Erin! Vote for POPULAR VOTE!


Happy fall and happy reading, kiddos.

Something that is NOT a fave? The fact that there's only one week left to my lovely, relaxing, and uber-productive August up here at Stone Hearth. There are lots of great things about going back to NYC (sushi, for one, not to mention DVR, and my mail), but I always get a little weepy to see the end of the summer upon us.

Regardless, deadlines call, and I'm starting to make a dent in Bradford 2. It's weird trying to acclimate to Madison's POV; on the one hand slipping back into Brad-speak is as comfortable as stepping into a jacuzzi, and yet, Miss Madison_Ave and I are getting to know each other in a whole new way. She's in love with her BFF's BF. I really feel for her.

On to the short list:

1. This book
I put off reading RA Nelson's "Breathe My Name" because I thought it couldn't possibly be as gripping, powerful, and wrenching as "Teach Me." I thought wrong. I read it in one fevered sitting.

2. I seriously want to marry those sharp shooters over at Jezebel. Yes, this post is about a month old, but I stumbled upon it last night in a post-dinner stupor and felt my faith in humanity restored ever-so-slightly.

3. Speaking of girl-power, this week I had the distinct pleasure of reading through a manuscript I'd been asked to blurb. I won't name names, especially since I have no idea if they'll end up using my quote or not, but the experience was super-fab. Not only was it flattering to be asked, but the book was great, all about girl power and self-esteem and the kind of stuff we should see way more of in YA lit. Warm fuzzies all around.

4. Plans for the "Popular Vote" cyber-launch party are coming along swimmingly, with some this nice shout-out. I've got some new authors confirmed, including Kelly Para, Erin Dionne, Paul Ruditis, and Jennifer Echols. I can't wait!

I guess that's one good thing about fall, then.

Mom should be here any minute with Georgie-dog in tow, and we'll be taking the pups to the beach. Pics to follow for the Sunday sleep-ins, natch.

Do you think I'll ever make it to the gym again?

Happy weekend, people!

Uh, about twelve hours too late.
Well, better late than never, right?

So, in an attempt to bring a basic sense of order to my chaotic ramblings herein, I thought I'd try and institute some fixed thematic postings that I'd *try* to attend to on a weekly basis. Of course, as per the above, I'm already half a day behind in this grand goal.

Regardless, we shall persevere. It's all about those good intentions. Here we go with "Friday faves"--ie, a bunch o' things I've been digging this week:

1. Alec Flint
Y'all, I can't believe I forgot to post about this earlier in the week!
On Tuesday night, I headed over to the fantastically fun children's bookstore, Books of Wonder for a party in honor of double agent editor/writer Jill Santopolo and the first book in her new middle-grade mystery series. There were lots and lots of people in attendance, including such luminary editor/writers as David Levithan and Lisa Ann Sandell (who also happens to be the editor who works on Alec himself). There were also cupcakes and brownies, *and* Jill read a very funny section to a rapt room that included some honest to goodness kiddies in the target demo.
Buy a copy for the super-sleuth in your life today! And while you're at it, have a cupcake. Yum!

2. FitFlops
If you are not grossed out at the idea of spending $50 on a pair of glorified flip-flops, check these out. I was skeptical myself, but my Pilates instructor RAVED about them at our last class. If nothing else, they make you stand up straighter and are more comfortable than the flat flip-flops. I *think* my core feels firmer? Could be the placebo effect. Either way.

3. Healthy and non-orange sunless tanning!
So, I'm Puerto Rican. It's no secret: I crave the sun. That's not going to go away any time soon. But my new theory is that I might be more willing to cover up more fully on the beach if I'm sufficiently fake-baked. Anyhoo, this stuff was recommended to me on Sephora, and when I saw a friend last night, she said, "you look tan."
Perfectamente.

4. Vermont College is now, officially, Vermont College of the Fine Arts! What this means is that it's now its own separate accredited institution. Purchase of the purdy little campus up in Montpelier has been finalized, and a new website is in the making. In the meantime, here's a promotional video put together by some alumni:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgQseXLhMI4
Vive le Vermont! You can bet there will be some celebrating at the upcoming rez.

5. And finally, bringing it back to a pop-cultural note in honor of a lazy Saturday, David Letterman totally, completely, hates Spencer Pratt!

Okay, now that's awesome. Dave, will you marry me?

One of the hardest things to do in any job is to watch co-workers, who have become your friends, leave. Darren Shannon, OUP Senior Publicist, is leaving and it is a sad day here. This is not to say that I am not truly excited for him, his new job his is a promotion he deserves and Cambridge is very lucky to get him, but nevertheless, the desk across from mine will now be empty.

Darren has kindly offered to share a bit of his infamous wit and wisdom on the blog with us today and below is his “goodbye” post. Perhaps it will help you, dear readers, understand what a wonderful person Cambridge is gaining.

The story I always like to tell about Oxford University Press is about something that happened during my job interview. I interviewed with our esteemed Publisher, Niko Pfund, and my soon to be manager, Rudy Faust – an intimidating duo to say the least.

As our meeting came to an end, I asked them what qualities they were looking for in the person who would fill the job for which I was applying.

“We want someone who’s polymath,” Niko said.

“Yep. Polymath,” Rudy agreed.

Polymath… Polymath… Polymath… I didn’t remember taking that in college. (more…)

Share This