Drunken Owls and Other Delights

Despite being 98% settled in at this point, we still have a few outstanding things to do here at the new digs...

--Bring up the remaining boxes of books. I think I have maybe about five or six boxes in storage downstairs that need bringing up when I have time (and do not have a bum foot due to previous dumbassery). One of the tall bookshelves was missing a few pegs that got lost in the move and we put replacements in. The midsize bookshelf next to my side of the bed also has two empty shelves for my TBR/TBR-then-donate pile.
--Bring up the one box of musical box sets and find a good place for them. I'd rather they be up here, though where is a good question... My boxes of CDs and other music-related things will stay downstairs, though. I don't mind those hanging out and they're well contained.
--Bring down the two area rugs, and contemplate keeping or tossing. We've decided not to use them and they're rather run down due to wear and cat claw-sharpening and are just taking up floor space in the living room.
--Break down more of the boxes that can be recycled. Our bin isn't nearly as big as the ones our old place had so there's only so much I can put in there alongside our usual week's recycling. Same with the bags of trash. We rarely have a lot of compost so there's no worries there.
--Speaking of boxes, I should put up a post for Free Moving Boxes on FB Marketplace. I'm sure someone will want them! Also should put up the floor lamp, small table (the one we had in the kitchen at the old place) and its two wooden chairs. At this point I'll give them away cheap, as we don't need them now.

Still, this 2% is all stuff I can do over the course of several weeks with no cutoff time, so I'm not worried...

So last night I was thinking about how I love listening to new album releases as they're streamed online at various websites--I love the idea of giving something a full-album chance rather than a thirty-second sample once-over. This is mainly because I often take albums as a whole--there's the singles and the suites and so on, but there's always the one or two random songs on there that make me stop whatever I'm doing and pay attention. Over the last few years I've found quite a few albums that I loved that I'd otherwise not have paid attention to, were they not being streamed.

The secondary thing I like about these streamed albums, especially when they're grouped together with other new albums like AOL's Spinner (I'm still not sure if they closed that down or if it's merely being rebuilt...), is that it gives many indie bands a brief showcase. It's sort of like those old CMJ magazines that had the sampler cd inside--there are some well-known tracks, but there's also some otherwise hidden gems.

So last night it occurred to me...is there a literary version of this? I really think there should be, if there isn't.

[Bear with me here...if there is something like this out in the wild and I'm just oblivious to it, I'd love a link to these things if you have one. If not, well...feel free to steal my idea. :) ]

I'm thinking sort of like a sampler, perhaps: a website where you could go and read the first chapter or so of a new novel, just to check it out. Maybe you can download a txt or pdf file of those chapters so you can read them later on your Kindle/Nook/iThingie (and that right there is key as well: make the sample an across-the-board, non-DRM format, to reach the maximum number of potential readers). And in this electronic day and age, the last page of the sample can offer links to buy digital and/or physical copies, the author's website, and so on. [Note: yeah, I know this could be seen as giving readers yet another reason not to go to a brick and mortar store, but I'll get to that in a moment.]

I realized this would actually make a bit of sense, considering that one thing avid readers like doing when they're at book stores is to pick up a book or five, find a quiet corner or an empty chair, and read a chapter or so to check it out, see if they like it. The sampler would pretty much be the same thing--a free and quick read as a test drive. If you like it, come and buy it!

One of the reasons I thought this might work is that, a few years back when Tor went online, they gave out free copies of novels for a month or so--DRM-free pdf copies of full novels packed in zip files. Many thought it was a brilliant idea, because it introduced many readers to books they may heard of but never read. There's also the fact that many of the books were "Book One" in a series, so you got to check out the beginning of the story. Kate Elliott, John Scalzi, Jo Walton and other writers were more than happy to take part in this. Since then, I've seen various publishing websites do this type of giveaway every now and again, and it always has a positive effect.

So I'm thinking--how about some kind of site based on distributors rather than sellers--a distributor that would be willing to set something like this up, and do it right? I think a distributor rather than a seller would make more sense. I know Amazon has this to some effect with their "Check inside!" link to some of their available books, but those really aren't the best quality; most often they're middling-quality scanned pdfs of the book, and it's arbitrarily the first x number of pages, often cutting off midsentence. We'd need something more complete, a full first chapter or so, so the reader will be given the opening as well as a good stopping point.

I'm also thinking that with a distributor, they technically don't have to sell it--they just need to tell you where to get it. If the reader likes it enough, they'll order it online, or go to the local bookstore. That's exactly what the streaming sites for music are all about, right?

As mentioned earlier, yeah, this could very well be seen as yet another nail in the brick and mortar store coffin, but honestly, it really doesn't have to be. I understand that the life of bookstores has changed both for the better and for the worse, and the economy, and the closing of various box stores like Borders, and so on. But there are those out there who are still open despite all that, and I really believe it's because they're paying attention to what they're selling and who they're selling it to. They're not only stocking 50 Shades of What Have You and Dan Brown and all the Big Author Names. They're stocking the occasional quirky book, maybe some PoD titles of local writers...they don't just know their stock, they know what their clients like, and what they might like. A lot of music fans really enjoy playing the "RIYL" game ("Recommended If You Like [musician]"), and if you look at the notes that employees put on the endcaps in bookstores, they do the same thing as well. Having a site like that would definitely introduce more readers to authors they may not otherwise pick up.

So that brings it back--why not a multi-title, multi-genre "spinner" site where you can check out new releases for free? I know there are readers out there who would like to find even more books to add to their TBR pile... ;)


Okay...enough about that. I have some writing to do. :)

Ah, Sunday comes and once again it feels like a Sunday of youth--a sort of day where there's nothing of import to do, maybe a few small errsnds, and that itch that I really should get some work done before it's too late and Monday comes. And in a few weeks or so, it'll also be the Sunday of turning on WAMH's Potted Plant countdown, another old Sunday habit.

Emm and I did a bit of shopping yesterday, and against our better judgement, went to Tanforan Mall in the early afternoon when pretty much all of San Mateo County was there. We also bent the "no bookstores for the next few weeks" rule and stopped at the B&N, primarily so we could buy the Rosetta Stone Level 1 of French. I know, I know...I took four semesters of it in college and it's part of my heritage, so you'd think some of it would have stuck in my head, right? Either way...thought it would be good to brush up on at least a passing dialogue instead of "je ne parle pas Francais" or making a hash of what little I remember from those classes.

Anyhoo...also picked up David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas and aberwyn's fourth Nola O'Grady book, Love on the Run. Looking forward to reading both! So yeah, if you're wondering about the 'no bookstores' rule, it's because I've decided that my birthday present to emmalyon this year is to go on a Book Crawl.

Yes, a Book Crawl. I know how dangerous that sounds, believe me! :p

Our plan is to make the rounds of some of our favorite North Bay bookstores like the multiple Copperfields (including the one in Petaluma that we haven't gone to yet), the new-and-used stores in Santa Rosa, Sonoma, and maybe even Napa. Yeah, I know. This is wine country, we should be stopping at all the vineyards and so on, but we're bibliophiles, not oenophiles. We even did a small book purge to clear up space for possible new purchases! It's gonna be a hell of a lot of fun. :)

Other than that, our weekends have been relatively quiet and unexciting, which is totally fine. After Emm's DC trip and Outside Lands the weekend after, it's been nice to have a few weekends where we do as little as possible except hang out and relax. I figure the rest of today will be a walk to Laurel Village to get more coffee, and a few other boring errands. Such is Sunday.


One last thing! Thanks to listening to KFOG on the way home yesterday, we were introduced to a local band that sounds all sorts of awesome: The Novelists. They're sort of quirky acoustic alt.folk and kind of similar to Ben Folds, and on the strength of one song, I now want to download the album from their site. Well worth checking out! :)

I'm still not happy with my writing output at this point. And I know it's my own damn fault. I've been letting myself get distracted again. I know exactly why I'm doing it, and I've already talked about it here, so I won't repeat myself.

So...time to pull out the Big Guns again--the Schedule.

( The Schedule under this here cut to save space )


Also:

I love it when I find the perfect book completely by accident.

emmalyon and I went to Green Apple yesterday for our usual book shopping, and as I walked past the PC/Computer/HTML how-to section, a book caught my eye: Scott McNulty's Building a WordPress Blog People Want to Read. This is EXACTLY what I need to get the WP site up and running correctly. This is one of the weekend projects I'd need to work on initially, just to make sure I have it up and running okay. Once I have the technical side down, then I'll be able to blog to my heart's content. I'll let you know when that's up and running.

I'm currently re-reading Richard Neer's excellent book FM: The Rise and Fall of Rock Radio, and I have to say that if you are in any way a fan of radio, and especially if you have a background in it, however small, you should definitely read this book. It reminds me why I love radio--both as an entertainment vehicle and as an industry I once briefly worked for. (Why I never followed up on it is another thing entirely, which I won't go into here.)

Specifically, the book follows the history of progressive radio, alternating between his own story of getting into the industry completely by chance (he'd originally gone to college to study acting), and the story of radio's evolution from a crackly AM entertainment to the rise of FM radio. Even more specifically, it delves into the fascinating history in which the radio industry and the FCC didn't quite know what to do with this newfangled frequency band or how to regulate it in its first years. This controlled chaos on the FM band in its infancy is the birth of progressive radio--the idea that instead of rigid Top 40, the playlist was more experimental and adventurous, giving knowledgeable deejays near-free reign in what they played...which in its own way created the art of mixes and segues. It's fascinating to watch as Top 40 remained on the AM band well into the 60s (and even the 70s) while FM was regarded as a curiosity and an experimental playground for disc jockeys and general managers. The "fall" of the title comes in the late 70s when FM finally takes hold on the public and becomes more commercial, stations change sounds to make more money, and the creativity of the deejays is stifled. [In an interesting parallel, I'm seeing the same exact thing happening now with satellite and internet radio--some stations are staying with the rigid playlists, but a number of internet/satellite stations are much more experimental. Note to self: see if Save Alternative is hiring!]

It's also fun to read about his initial thoughts about radio as a kid, thinking that all stations, as in the 30s and 40s, were large glamorous studios with big house bands and audiences, only to find out that most are tiny shoeboxes with extremely outdated equipment, crammed into dank basements of hotels and office buildings, and held together by tape and half-assed welding. Further along he describes how WNEW, in its 60s heyday, became a proving ground for the new type of rock music coming out of the woodwork.

I say all this because this book is very much a template for my Walk in Silence project. While I personally don't have much of a current radio industry perspective (two years at Athol's tiny local station and five semesters at Emerson College's stations), nor do I have the "scene" perspective as an insider or a clubgoer, I do have the obsessive love of a music fan and I'm utterly fascinated by the history of alternative radio--not just alt/indie rock, but its history and its outlets--and so does Neer, so this book is a great reference for me.

Definitely worth reading.

Interesting reading from Joshua Bilmes (head of the publishing agency JABberwocky) about the slow and sad demise of Borders bookstores. Short version--it's vital to pay attention to your finances.

I haven't minded going to Borders in the past, but it always seemed that there was never one close by to me. Back when I was in Massachusetts, the closest one was (is?) across the border in Keene NH, but I figured, why go there when I could go to Toadstool Books in the center of town, which has a fun selection and a great atmosphere? Down in NJ, I'd go to the B&N on the corner of 202 and 10 rather than out to the Borders in Rockaway (nice and big as it was) or the one near the Eisenhower Parkway (which was a PITA to get to if you were heading east). Even out here in SF, we've got B&Ns galore and a lot of great indie shops...I think the last time I went to the Borders in Union Square was at least a few years ago.

Still...I've always felt more comfortable in a B&N...they've always felt homier, cleaner, and a little more on the ball. Borders always felt a little too flashy and mall-like to me. Not to mention, like JB states, that they seem to completely fail at being ahead of (or even on, for that matter) the curve.

Okay, so in the midst of my musical retrospectives and other "best of decade" memes out there, I thought I'd post what are probably my favorite books of the decade. Interesting that they're either genre or YA...there's only two nonfic books that really jumped out at me. This is far from complete, of course, since I know I'm probably forgetting a few titles.


For your enjoyment...

House of Leaves by Mark Danielewski. My favorite of the decade. This novel has so many levels to it, and so brilliantly woven together. Not to mention it being the written equivalent of The Blair Witch Project. Creepy, mindbending and entertaining all at the same time.

The Children's War by J.N. Stroyar. By no means the best "Germany won WWII" alternate history out there, nor is it exactly the most brilliantly written novel, it's nonetheless one of my favorites in that genre in terms of story.

Jim Butcher's Dresden Files series. Poor Harry Dresden is always in deep shit at the start of every novel, and it never seems to let up...but when he faces his foes by quoting nerdy things like Looney Tunes or They Live, you gotta love it. Exciting and funny at the same time.

Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse series and Harper Connelly series. Sure, they're the latest thing, but they're all kinds of fun to read. The Sookie books are fun in terms of supernatural weirdness, and the Harper books are just damn creepy.

J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series. Sure, some of them came out in the late 90s, but nonetheless...brilliantly written, and contains some of the best worldbuilding out there today. A series I wish I'd written.

Wen Spencer's Ukiah Oregon series. Interesting series about a guy raised by wolves who works as a tracker...and eventually finds some rather interesting things about his past. Lots of fun reading this one.

Sergei Lukyanenko's Night Watch series. There's something to be said about foreign writers writing in genre...they always give it a great twist that you don't always see elsewhere. This series is not quite horror, not quite supernatural, but pretty harsh and exciting to read.

John Harris, Britpop!: Cool Britannia and the Spectacular Demise of British Rock. One of the best books about a genre I listened to and obsessed about in college.

Inside 9/11: What Really Happened, from the editors of Der Spiegel. Out of all the books about 9/11 I've seen, this one got me the most, simply because it was decidedly clinical and nonpolitical. Pure reporting without any heartstring-pulling, anger-inducing or flagwaving, and extremely well-written.

Hitori Nakano, Train Man. Go ahead, buy the book and read it already...I dare you not to get all "Awwwwww ^_^" at the end! Very cute and excessively nerdy love story told in the form of a 2chan bbs. SO worth reading!

Cory Doctorow, Little Brother. Great YA book that takes place here in SF, and pretty intense in places. Sure, the parents might be a bit flat in the book (I'd like to think that was done on purpose to show a "go with the flow" fear on their part), but it's a great read.

Miyuki Miyabe, Brave Story. A doorstop-sized YA novel about growing up, changes in life that you can't always control, committing to a quest, and of course, learning now to be brave. Well-written, exciting, and definitely worth it.

Frank Portman, King Dork. Another YA book, this one written by the singer of the Mr. T Experience. Funny, nerdy and goofy in a very John Hughes-ish sort of way.

Steve Kluger, My Most Excellent Year. Most of my all-time favorite books and movies are ones that get me all wound up and want to sit down and get some hardcore writing done. This one, on the other hand? I just wanted to start it over and read it again, it was that enjoyable of a read. I did a brief blurb of it here. Not bad for a book that I impulse-bought up in Napa. :p

Alex Robinson, Tricked and Box Office Poison. Let me start off with BoP. If you gotta pick up an indie comic omnibus, you MUST pick this one up, and I'm not just trying to shamelessly plug alexbot3000. It's just that good. Sure, most of the issues came out in the late 90s, but the omnibus is from '01, so it counts. ;) As for Tricked, very interesting take on the jaded rock star story, not to mention AR's great ability to tell a story from multiple POVs.

Terry Moore's Strangers in Paradise series. Sure, it started while I was still living in Boston, but he finished the series about the middle of this decade, and it's a great series to follow.


Here's to hoping we get even more great novels out there next decade! :D

I am psyched that I bought not one but two books I didn't know had come out: Douglas Coupland's newest, Generation A (a sequel of sorts to his debut Generation X), and Pseudonymous Bosch's newest, This Book Is Not Good For You. I'm a big fan of DC's work and had no idea he had something new out already! As for the PB book, it's the third in an incredibly silly and fun YA series (actually, it's in the young readers' section, but well worth reading). I've been good with the impulse buys book-wise (I keep reminding myself that I need to work through my pile of unread stuff, and that usually works), so two buys today isn't too bad.

That said, recent books I've read:

And Another Thing... by Eoin Colfer, aka, the sixth book in Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide trilogy. As said to Emm, this one felt a lot like it was written as fanfic. A very good and well-written fanfic, though. It had less of the absurdist silliness of the first few books and more of the satiric Britishness of Mostly Harmless, of which this is a kinda-sorta direct sequel. It took the characters in interesting directions, especially Zaphod and Ford, formerly caricature-like and somewhat one-dimensional. They were both shown in a more expanded, deeper fashion. And extra points for a character quoting Bladerunner with a completely straight, serious face and making me giggle uncontrollably. Interesting expansion on the series, if anything...I'll probably end up picking it up once it's in trade or mass-market.

My Most Excellent Year by Steve Kluger. LOVED this YA book. Not only is it fun and silly, it's epistolary (in the form of an english class journal assignment, multiple emails, and IM sessions, all in multiple POVs, including the parents), and it captures blue-collar Boston brilliantly. At the heart of it, it's a simple boy-meets-girl, girl-despises-boy, boy-wins-girl-over (boy's-silly-sidekick(in this case gay and realizing it for the first time, after everyone else in the novel including his love interest has figured it out)-getting-all-the-laughs) type of story but so full of Boston-smartassery and sheer goofiness that I was tempted to read it again right there and then. HIGHLY suggested.

CURRENT READS:
Spike, Mike, Slackers & Dykes, by John Pierson. Been meaning to read this one for quite some time now. Man, this book is like I'm reading one of my college textbooks again! :p Seriously, it's a bit dry and self-important in some places, but at the same time it's an interesting read about indie movies that came out during a time when I was watching a lot of them in college. Interesting read, but not really sure if it's one I'll keep.

Farthing by Jo Walton. Reading this as my commute book. Very well written, it's like reading one of those old Ngaio Marsh/Agatha Christie sort of myster novels, but it's set in an alternate history. Emm's already read the two sequels and deems them AWESOME, and I'm inclined to agree. :)

Forgot to tell you...yesterday I stopped by Edge's really nice setup in the dealer's room at Worldcon and said hi...and ended up finally buying Not Your Father's Horseman. Just thought you'd want to know. :D

Yeah, we pretty much passed on going to Amoeba today. Being that we finally got to uninterrupted sleep sometime around 1am, we're both too lazy to do anything other than some necessary errands, most of which we've already done. No big, we'll go at a later time...for now, some random updates:

--Most likely will go to Borderlands on the 18th (two Saturdays from now), as jaylake is going to be signing there and I really want to pick up Green.

--As said, nearly all errands done. Just need to do laundry, vacuum the apartment (which takes all of ten or so minutes to do--the good thing about a small place!), and run the dishwasher.

--I'm not sure, but I think the people across the street--you know, the guy I talk about who stands in front of his window for hours on end, either staring or talking on his phone, and I swear he's watching me--look like they're moving out. I can't be sure, but there seems to be packing going on in that apartment.

--In a related note, the quiet, unassuming woman that lived next door to us (not the couple across the hall) that we've only ever seen in person maybe three times since we've been here, seems to have moved out as well. We can see into her apartment from one of our windows and it looks empty.

--Also related, I'm seeing a strangely large number of empty apartments here. But to be honest, this is normal this time of year, when all the kids move out at the end of their college year. On the plus side, I've seen our management showing people apartments all the time, so at least business is moving.

--One of our local channels played How I Won the War last night. I'd forgotten just how absurdly weird this movie was... :p

--Amazon's having an anime dvd sale! YAY! Going to order the Paniponi Dash and Ergo Proxy box sets!

--I just started reading The Lord of the Rings, after not picking up the books since 7th grade (and even then, I didn't get far). I find it a bit unnerving that I found myself geeked out by the "Notes on the Text" and author's foreword about how he wrote it? I haven't even gotten to the novels themselves yet. And why do I get the sinking feeling I'm going to feel all this nerd love for the books? This may or may not be a good thing... O_O

--If I have the time, I may post a few more edencycle chapters. I'll let you know when I do. :)


That's it for now. Hope everyone has a swell weekend! :)