I'll Stop Soon I Promise, But....this is what I'm sayin'....

Salon Brilliant Careers | The bull in the black-intelligentsia china shop: "Although routinely and incorrectly described as a black conservative, Crouch calls himself a 'radical pragmatist.' To the uninitiated, his philosophy might best be described as rigidly humanist. It centers on an unsentimental vision wherein we must fight the siren temptation to obsess about our (mostly superficial) differences, lest we miss the chance to embrace our (very real and very numerous) commonalities. "

Words To Live by ... part of the continuing series....

Your Camera Does Not Matter - 2005 Ken Rockwell: "So why do the artists whose works you admire tend to use fancy, expensive tools if the quality of the work is the same? Simple:
1.) Good tools just get out of the way and make it easier to get the results you want. Lesser tools may take more work.
2.) They add durability for people who use these tools hard all day, every day.
3.) Advanced users may find some of the minor extra features convenient. These conveniences make the photographer's life easier, but they don't make the photos any better.
4.) Hey, there's nothing wrong with the best tools, and if you have the money to blow why not? Just don't ever start thinking that the fancy tools are what created the work."

Little Late Isn't It?

The Globe and Mail: Hunter S. Thompson sales soar: "Sales of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and other favourites by Hunter S. Thompson have soared since the 'gonzo' journalist killed himself Sunday."

Jelani Cobb:::::hangman's chambers: interview w/ stanley crouch

or "The Transcription Needs Some Work But It's Good Reading Nonethless"
"A point that I make that a lot of people don’t really get because they think universal humanism is something you inhale. See, the fundamental human attitude is xenophobia. Getting to the pint where the other is not the enemy is a big leap. Because we live in our period, we think people just automatically knew. You go to Africa now an people in one tribe don’t think people in other tribes are human. You’d never know that listening to people in the UN but tribalism is the father of racism."

And The Inevitable Follow Up

Justine Larbalestier - More on First Nove Advances: "Several people wrote to ask me, why, if the pay's so bad am I trying to make a living as a writer? Good question. Because I'm insane? Because I prefer to live in a state of permanent stress about money?"

What To Expect When You're Expecting

Justine Larbalestier - First Novel Advance: "An advance is a sum of money that is paid (or advanced) to a writer by a publisher against the future earnings of a book. I sold my first book (not a novel) to Wesleyan University Press for US$1,000. I got to keep that money no matter what happened, but I didn't get any more cash from Wesleyan until the royalties on the book exceeded the $1,000 needed to pay Wesleyan back for this advance."