Via Miss Snark, a great on-line resource for writers who want to avoid scams and sham “agents.” Which is, presumably, most writers. Quips about fools being born every minute notwithstanding.
Monthly Archives: January 2006
It’s on the tip of my tongue
Since one can never have too much extraneous information clogging one’s inbox, I’ve subscribed to the Wordcraft “Word of the Day” email. Many days the word is one I already know, or, since I don’t aspire to David Foster Wallacian writing, is too arcane to be of interest.
But yesterday’s email was kind of fun. The theme is untranslatable words: words that don’t exist in English but should. The email first introduced a book on this subject, “They Have a Word for It,” by Howard Rheingold, then gave the word of the day, the German Korinthenkacker (core-IN-ten-COCK-er): “a person overly concerned with trivial details, [Literally, ‘raisen-sh*tter’]”:
The Korinthenkacker is the guy whose desk has every item perfectly in place, neatly aligned. The Korinthenkacker is the guy who insists on figuring the precise to-the-penny amount (plus tax) owed by each of six people who have dined together at a restaurant. The Korinthenkacker, says Rheingold, is “anyone who couldn’t find a forest because he or she is too busy applying a magnifying glass to an inspection of the bark of one tree.”
I agree, a very useful word; I plan to bandy it about, liberally, the second it catches on :-)
Yellow Stuff
Rochestarians are understandably uneasy. What’s happened to winter? Our average annual snowfall is 92.3 inches. So far this season, we’re up to ten: two inches of snow in January, three inches in December, and five in November.
My daughter is particularly bummed — she wants snow, and is fervently hoping the Groundhog sees his shadow on Thursday.
I’m with her on this one, albeit for different reasons. Drop the other shoe, Mother Nature, and get it over with!
[tags] annual snowfall, Rochester weather [/tags]
Upstate, Downstate
Zubalove, in a post about NY State politics, references one of the state’s archetypes: the perennial rivalry for money and political power between New York City and “Upstate.”
(Upstate, for anyone who has never been here, is about as different from NY City as you could imagine: a patchwork of New Englandish, rural communities, woodlands [some quite extensive], dairy farms, and small-to-medium cities, most of which are a bit tattered around the edges.)
Zuba writes:
The increasing chasm between the economy of a world-class metropolitan area and the milder and volatile rust belt characteristics of upstate becomes more and more difficult to negotiate every year. This regional problem transcends political party, because neither group seems incredibly willing to stand up and make the necessary changes to the financial barriers of this state. As long as downstate hums along, it doesn’t faze any of the leaders in Albany that the cost of doing business in this state is astronomical and the tax rate is oppressive.
It’s the tyranny of the majority: Upstate is more sparsely populated than our state’s famous namesake city, therefore, our priorities tend to be backburnered. Sure, the politicians pass through to garner swing votes during election season (in 1999, the Clintons famously chose Skaneatales for a summer vacation, in large part to help soften the Upstate turf for Hillary’s upcoming Senate run). But we live in a very large shadow, and short of breaking the state in two, we always will.
Zuba suggests that we can adjust the balance of power by breaking up the status quo of our state government, and mentions a new book by Jay Gallagher, Gannett News Service’s Albany bureau chief, cheerfully titled “The Politics of Decline.”
It will be interesting to see what Gallagher prescribes — and whether anybody pays any attention.
It’s an hawk, it’s an owl . . .
No, it’s a Northern Hawk Owl, and Junk Store Cowgirl trucked her family out today to look at it.
This species of owl, she writes, isn’t supposed to be found this far south, so it’s generating a bit of excitement in the local birding community. It’s also stirring up sentiments of a different kind:
In a bid to keep the owl around, some birders have been releasing pet store mice into the fields near where the owl’s been spotted. So I knew we were in the right area when I spotted a sign saying, “Do not release live mice on my land.”
LOL
Here is a site with some info on this owl. It’s a pretty distinctive-looking bird. I can see why people are excited.
Freying deals
Last Friday, Publisher’s Marketplace reported in their e-newsletter that Riverhead, a Penguin subsidiary that had contracted with James Frey to write two more books, is having second thoughts: “The ground has shifted. It’s under discussion.”
Today, Publishers Lunch says that a movie deal based on “A Million Little Pieces” is also in jeopardy:
Warner Bros. President Alan Horn said Friday “We’re reevaluating our position on what to do” about the planned film adaptation of James Frey’s A MILLION LITTLE PIECES.
The LA Times says Frey received a $125,000 option and another $150,000 to write the screenplay, and would be due $425,000 if the movie gets made. Warner’s had been planning on shooting the film this spring.
Hmmmm. I guess Frey’s happy ending isn’t so real, either . . .
A day for bucking up
I’m a firm believer that if you want something, your mindset is crucial.
I also believe that people who succeed maintain a certain mindset despite appearances. Even when they seem to be failing, they maintain an inner certainty that they are destined to succeed.
So isn’t it interesting that the root of the word “confidence” is the Latin con fide.
With faith.
Shoe! Shoe!
I’m working on a new trick with my dog. It’s a complex one, which is good — it stretches my training skills.
Ultimately, what I hope my dog will be able to do is to hunt for an object I’ve hidden somewhere in the house and bring it to me. I bought three toys specifically for this trick with the idea that she will need to retrieve only the toy I name.
To train it, I’m breaking the behavior down into pieces, one of which is “fetch.” We’re making progress. A big hurdle: the toy sneaker has a squeaker in it, and the noise seems to worry my dog terribly. I’m trying to figure out if it’s related to her impeccable fashion sense or whether the squeak has an encoded message about obeying cats.
[tags] dog [/tags]
Things were quiet. Too quiet.
Some time after taking my dog out for her morning toilette, I realized I hadn’t seen her in quite a while.
So I hunted her down, and found her in the downstairs powder room.
What is she doing standing there, you ask?
I’ll tell you. She is stuck. Behind. The Boots. The awful, awful Boots.
I moved them. She’s free, now.
Indispensible kitchen gadgets, the 2nd
Whistling tea kettle.
Reasons:
1. It takes the fun out of blogging when you discover that, while you were busy writing, you’ve boiled the kettle dry.
2. Again.
3. Now if only there were a pan that would save me from “over-caramelizing” my food . . .
