An interesting week so far... (with the help of an old friend: the bullet list)

Here is what happened in the last four days:

• I went to two concerts in one day: a small show by Ra Ra Riot (where my sister and I got autographs) and then a full-length show by Jónsi. Both excellent shows with great music.
• That same day, I discovered I liked Ra Ra Riot more than Arcade Fire.
• Rock Band 3 came out and I've been playing with my all-girl band "Isis In Darkness" (named after a Margaret Atwood short story). The keyboards are haaaaard.
• Before that, I've been playing Fallout: New Vegas as my character, a guy named Jeremiah.
• My sister bought me this and I'm happier than a clam in smooth, clean sand.
• I did stuff at my internship, including some work on a style guide.
• I saw this commercial, which made my week suck at first. And then finding out there were two more of these, OMGwat. I'm disgusted by it, aack. I mean, I nearly puked. Yeah, lead poisoning is serious stuff, but it's paint going into a baby bottle WTF. (After seeing it again to get the link, I'm a little nauseous and lightheaded.)
• At the same time, I was in a terrible mood for a week. Then I learned I'm due for my monthly period. And I got better. How does that happen?
• I finished Mockingjay, the last book of The Hunger Games trilogy. Man, it's like The Matrix all over again: we have to pretend the last two parts don't exist. Dammit.

No more boring things to relate. And so I go.

On the topic of e-readers and literature these days (from the bookseller)

So yeah, I work at a bookstore that is concentrating on selling e-readers, besides the usual I normally do. I got to try it out a while back. It's a neat little gadget, pretty easy to use especially if you already own a smartphone of sorts (in this case, iPhone). I'm a sucker for awesome gadgets, and e-readers do charm me for that alone.

There is a purpose for these little e-readers, they're for those who travel a lot and don't wanna carry a whole bunch of hardcover bestsellers. But I am concerned that it will be replacing the standard published book. If it does, I feel then that I have no choice but to go to e-readers, when having one right now is an optional choice.

Lemme clarify this: it's like the way we all rent DVDs. You almost have no choice but to rent online. In my town, there are no Blockbusters and Hollywood Videos. If I searched, there's a chance even Movie Gallery and other smaller stores like that aren't around, either. Yes, I've seen RedBox, but the variety is limited.

This Slate.com article points out how these days, one can Wiki practically anything and learn all there is to, let's say, major depression. For some, that is enough. But even as someone as pro-Wikipedia as myself, that is not enough. I can Wiki all about Talking Heads until my eyes bleed, but nothing beats reading entire books on them. Think of some of the best Wiki pages you've ever seen. Even then, those contain a "greatest hits" of information, if you will.

I've had customers tell me that they do own e-readers, but still buy hard copies. While that does comfort me some, not everyone is gonna be like that. There are gonna be folks who will embrace the technology and think nothing more of it. And there will still be folks who don't give two damns about books anyway, but that's not the focus.

But this article here also gives me some hope. To say the "literary snob is dead" would be appropriate. The writer points out that literature as we know it is dying, and it should. But also, it assures me who believes that e-books will not replace hard copies entirely. Like MP3s to CDs, it is just another option.

The article also talked about the situation going on at the New York Times Book Review, where Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Weiner criticized the section for thumbing their noses at writers like them while praising Jonathan Franzen and his new novel Freedom. I agree with the situation, especially with chick lit. It's just as legit as any other form of writing. It deserves the same attention. So yes, down with the literary snob!

I keep finding articles that tell me different statistics, the percentage of those who have one and those who don't. Also, that Salon article mentioned something that I'm getting damn sick of: social networks. Having read The Shallows, the writer talked about how e-readers will be able to connect readers to Facebook on books, making it easier to socialize. Uhm, hi. Forgot about book clubs? Message boards? We already have something like that, you silly geese. It also doesn't help that I think social networking sites are (slightly) necessary devils. I'm all for connecting people with their reading, but this might be the wrong way to go about it.

On a lighter note, a fun reason why Kindles are not the best thing.

I'm excited about the future, but honestly I'm also as fearful. Anything is possible, but all I hope is that it is for the good. May we have the choice of either the e-reader or a hard copy.

Amen to that.

It's one of those times

For the last week or so, I've been low in mood. Few things truly excite me, with some exceptions (like writing poems, reading, and playing video games). I wanted to write a review of Traveling with Pomegranates but decided against it after reading some reviews (I have a thing where I don't write a review of something if I already read a published review).

I did enjoy the book, mostly relating to the daughter's POV for obvious reasons (we're about the same age, at least she in the book). I got back into playing Rock Band 2 and am enjoying Fallout: New Vegas. While I'm off my writing schedule (and other schedules), I feel like I'm having some free-time fun. Reading is relaxing and thoughtful, so is writing, but I needed something silly and fun. I should note that I haven't played video games in a long while. That spell will soon end when Rock Band 3 comes out next week.

So my mood has been a little better, thanks to realizing some obvious truths. I'm now living with a sense of wanting, that there must be an alternate to what I've considered common. I guess it's good to always strive for something better.

Here's the dealio...

A review of Guster's new album is forthcoming, as reviews of some books I'll be reading in the meantime. I'm inching closer to the end of Part 1 of Invisible. As I get closer, I came to an interesting realization: that there may be a Part 3. I probably will get an answer once I reach the milestone of Part 1.

This isn't much, but it's better than nothing.

I leave you with music.

"Invisible" is alive once again!

I've been hard at work for the last few days to get the end of Part 1 of the novel. I can't believe it. Nothing really inspired me to go on, other than this need to do it. It also helps that I read Stephen King's On Writing (I read it while working on Blues when I began to hit some rough spots). I've waited over two months to try again and this time, I swear there will be no breaks like that again.

Let's do this thing right.