Netflix and the Roku

When Bush handed out the last taxpayer bribes...errrr....'refunds'...Ed and I splurged on the Roku, which costs a $100 for the box but will then let you stream all these Netflix movies to your TV. (Much to my annoyance, you can now do the same thing with the XBox.) You get these movies with anything above 1 movie a month, and while you can technically watch them online, I felt it was a large untapped entertainment reservoir.

Man, was I right. We watch the Roku almost exclusively now. I would get rid of cable if we could pick up Lost without it. I mean, it's awesome. I've watched the entire series of Hercules, I'm working on Xena. My daughter has seen most of the Wiggles films, and the whole family is now working on American Dragon, which is really hillarious and fun in the old school cartoon tradition of actually entertaining both adults and kids.

But for some reason - the old Godzilla movies aren't available yet. What's up with that? I know there are some rights issues, but surely no one's holding the rights up on those things?

Netflix: Consider yourself on notice! Add those Godzilla films to the Roku.

True Notebooks

I just finished reading True Notebooks, by Mark Salzman. It's about the year he spent teaching writing to a group of juvenile offenders; primarily, they were in for murder.

It was pretty powerful, although I must say the writing didn't surprise me that much. I assumed they had family problems and such. But sometimes, what they wrote would really hit you.

As a reader, I thought it was fascinating to follow the boys and their evolution in how they understood their situation. Sometimes, they blamed society or their fathers; sometimes, their fellow gang members; often, themselves. I also found Salzman's own internal struggles and how he handled the classroom itself fascinating.

As a writer, it was a bit of a kick in the pants, because for the most part, these boys dug deep and wrote from a very real place. It's not like they were great writers. True, one of them had a clear talent, but for the most part, it's powerful because the words are honest and straight-forward and just...real. It's so easy to get into the actual craft of writing and forget to be real with yourself.

Of course, my reality is a lot prettier than theirs. My dad never beat me and I'm not facing life for murder.

Trimming the Verve

I've went back and trimmed most of the post out of this blog. I've decided to use it more as a professional blog, with notes on writing projects and other items of professional interest.

That meant all the Doctor Who posts and whining about family holidays had to go.

Awesome Blogger

Recently, I've discovered the joys of The Dilbert Blog.

No doubt you're read Dilbert. But the blog actually has nothing to do with the strip - it's just Scott Adam's blog, and it turns out, he's a REALLY funny writer.

I mean, I know Dilbert's funny, but being funny about corporate America with cartoons is way different than being funny in a blog. And he's just really good. It's totally worth reading. Plus, I happen to agree with him. Especially about President McCain and the boys & bats.

Quote of the Week

"The average American doesn't have enough intestinal fortitude to tell someone to shut up if they are talking in a movie theater."
-Mikey Weinstein, president of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation and a U.S. Air Force Academy graduate, on Jeremy Hall's harassment suit against his superiors for discriminating against him after he admitted to an atheist.

Apparently, there are atheist in foxholes.

Bad Blog Writing

After spending a week with Twitter, I'm thinking about setting up a blog about better Web 2.0 writing. It's not just because of Twitter, though: I've noticed for some time now that Web 2.0 technology really invites bad writing.

I don't mean grammar or spelling errors - although, yes, certainly those exists. I mean writing problems that actually make it impossible for people to understand what you mean. Self-indulgent writing on a blog is to be expected; by all means, indulge yourself by telling all those boring stories an editor would cut to bits.

If I were to write such a blog, this would be where I'd start:
Good Blog Writing Tip #1: Get to the point. Even if you have a cute little antidote, don't spend more than two short paragraphs on it before you get to the point.

An example: Recently a professional blogger, who writes about a topic-specific blog on technology, started off a post with an explanation of journalism's inverted pyramid. His point was that sometimes journalist pick things to put at the top that he would never pick, and he had a particular example in mind. What he felt was the real nugget of the story was buried underneath all this crap. Pointing out this nugget was the point of the post.

Fine. He could've explained the pyramid, criticized the other piece and gotten to the nugget within two paragraphs. But instead, he goes on and links to other articles he's written about the lead topic - the very topic he felt should not have been the lead in the first place. It actually takes him six paragraphs to get to the nugget of the story - the information she supposedly believes should have been the lead in the first place.

In other words, his story duplicated the error of the article he was criticizing. He's dogging someone for burying the real information - and then he does the exact same thing in his post. He's not only committing the same error, he's committing it with the exact same material.

I recognize this error because I've done it myself. It's easy to do, particularly in the fast-paced world of blog writing, where first drafts tend to be the only draft.

Good Blog Writing Tip #1: Get to the point. Even if you have a cute little antidote, don't spend more than two short paragraphs on it before you get to the point.

To Billy Collins

I'm going to be daring and do something I just never do: Post a poem.

To Billy Collins

I am afraid I might be a poet
And so I'm writing to you
space- The only plain-spoken poet I know -
To ask what I can do.
Perhaps you know a cure
You yourself refused
But which you would not mind sharing
with me?

Because I am a mother, and
before that a journalist
And I can assure you
No One cares what we have to say anymore,
having listened to mothers and journalists
since birth.

It'd be so much better for me if I could be
A Novelist,
A Playwright,
An Essayist,
Even a Blogger
than a poet.

And yet...
Everything I write
Flows into broken lines

Like this.

Please send help
spacespacespesp soon.