meeting in the aisle

Weekend reader - links I loved

Cartoon: Hugh McLeod on giving up booze - inspiration for the holiday season…

I don’t know about you but I’m mad about the holiday season. In celebration, I’ve thrown together a mixed bag of links from this week which is as all over the place as I’ve been, but in a good way. Less work-related stuff, more fun.

Happy Holidays!

Taylor Orci on how she realised perhaps the system exists for a reason (but not until after she’d taken a pee test for an ex-con):

Honestly I wanted to back out, but I didn’t want to put her out. And also — her name may have been Lilly, and she may have gotten happy about eating turkey sandwiches and stuff, but she was still an EX-CON. Who KNEW what she was capable of? Then it hit me: I was her pee bitch. -

‘Tis the season to be generous, so who are Australia’s greatest philanthropists?

But analysis of giving by postcode has shown us that overall, it is people in the middle and lower socio-economic areas that give more as a percentage of their income.  In a sense Australia’s greatest philanthropists are to be found in places such as Toowoomba and Frankston, not Toorak or Potts Point. - Tim Costello, World Vision.

There are days when I know just how terrible multi-tasking is for me (email, SMS, twitter, phone calls, meetings…), and then there are days where I think it’s all ok. But really, I don’t think it is. And science agrees with me: You can’t multi-task, so stop trying

Remote distractions, the ones aided by technology, are often unaware of current demands on us. People who call you at work, send you emails, or fire off texts can’t see how busy you are with your current task. Nor can Twitter feeds or email alerts. As a result, every communication is an important one that interrupts you. - Paul Atchley, Ph.D. for Harvard Business School (via PSFK)

Are there any books you really wish you hadn’t read? Join in the conversation at HTML Giant. My contribution is Three Dog Night by Peter Goldsworthy - awful cliched sexist rubbish from a usually masterful writer. A close second would be anything by Phillip Roth.

I agree with Thought Catalog on the oft-overlooked Beatles songs. It is refreshing to see a list on the fab four that doesn’t include the same old same old. Dig a Pony and I don’t want to spoil the party hit the spot in particular.

I don’t play video games so I have no idea if this commentary on the way video game makers design characters is true, but I have seen Lara Croft, so…. - Kotaku

Let’s have a round of applause for the repeal of the ridiculous Don’t Ask Don’t Tell laws in the USA this week:

Barack Obama signed a landmark law today that allows gay people to serve openly for the first time in America’s armed forces. Fulfilling a campaign pledge, Obama said…”No longer will tens of thousands of Americans in uniform be asked to live a lie.” - The Guardian

I don’t know how I feel about this article proclaiming to discuss the difficulties of being single vs the difficulties of being in a monogamous relationship, but a couple of quotes are worth repeating:

On being single:

“A normal person with normal amounts of charisma and social ability cannot just walk into a bar and happen upon a relationship when he or she desires to do so”

“…you notice that when someone touches your arm as some sort of polite gesture you’re highly – almost inappropriately – aware of it.”

On the relationship:

“The person you once pined over and were thrilled about and with whom all your interactions felt so easy and graceful has turned into a difficult, staunch, adversary who has suddenly become many things that you do not want to deal with because dealing with them means a step into extreme discomfort, hours of talking and attempting to see the world through someone else’s perception…

Your partner’s so-called ‘issues’ are so closely connected to your partner’s personality that they’re actually informing it – both the ‘good’ and ‘bad’ parts.”

But overall? I’d say it’s the good stuff about being single and being in a relationship that make the alternative seem so hard.

Want more? Here are the things I couldn’t squeeze in: the Sady Doyle #Mooreandme #Assange saga - Playing the media can be a dangerous game, as yet another footballer scandal shows - Oh no, I’m giving books for Chrismtas! - “Characters are in books, you’re not going to have lunch with them”

Because it’s hard picking presents sometimes

It’s not even the middle of December and already I’ve shamed myself by making the foolish “oops I forwarded an e mail to the wrong person and it contained details of their top secret presents” mistake. Luckily my sister is a secret squirrel and hacked into our parents e mail accounts remotely and deleted my erroneous e mail.

In my defence, I was so excited about being with my family for my 30th birthday that I was not really in the mode to be cautious. It was a handy reminder (for someone who works in the risky world of online communications) to check, check again, and just to be sure triple check you fool, everything before hitting that remorse-laden send button.

But enough of my mistakes. Let’s talk presents! I love picking presents, but sometimes it’s really hard. Take my brother for example. I have no idea at all what to get a 20 something metrosexual with a fiance and a mortgage and all the toys he ever wanted. (Elliot, if you’re reading this HELP).

But I do have a lot of ideas for other people - like subscriptions. They’re the gift that keeps on giving all year. They’re often the kind of thing people won’t buy themselves. And there are so many awesome ones to choose from. My favourites are below.

The best gift subscriptions ever

1. The Rumpus Book Club - The prospect of being sent a shiny new book to read and then talk about with a bunch of seriously cool San-Fransiscan literary cats while in my pyjamas? Irresistable. They also have a Poetry Book Club which is pretty rare and wonderful. 

2. The Paris Review - have a holiday gift set that the literary tragic in your life desperately wants. Trust me on this.

3. Mag nation - being THE authority on all things magazine-related, it would be too hard to pick just one magazine to recommend, so instead I suggest spending some time drooling over their favourites. You’ll know it when you see it.

4. Melbourne cinemateque - 12 months of the artiest-fartiest films you can imagine at the rate of one a week? An offer too good to refuse giving any of your Melbourne-based loved ones. Honourbale mention goes to the Palace movie club in Sydney and Melbourne.

5. Crikey - The only kind of junkie you ever wanna’ be is a Crikey news junkie. News with extra sauce in your inbox every day, sans Murdoch. Need I say more?

And good luck picking your presents this Christmas.

p.s. If subscriptions aren’t your thing, you could try my book suggestions, or the gift that really keeps on giving.

[Image: someecards, the most inappropriate christmas card you’ll send all season]

Christmas 2010 - The Year of the Book

I hereby declare Christmas 2010 The Year of the Book - although truth be told, every year is a bit like year of the book for me. It seems I’m yet to outgrow the “Bookworm” moniker, which suits me just fine.

Choosing books for myself, incidentally, is a piece of cake. I’ve been tracking the books I’ve read for a couple of years now (via Goodreads) and have noticed that 90% of the books I read now get a rating of 3 stars or more. A few years ago, this was dramatically less. I put this down to a combination of new (bookworm) friends who come with quality recommendations, and my ownership of the (flawed but ever useful) 1001 Books you should read before you die.

But Christmas is about choosing gifts for other people, and help in this domain is always welcome in my book (ha, geddit?…)

Ahem - where was I?

My picks for playing Literary Santa this year are:

1. Freedom, by Jonathan Franzen

Touted as the next Great American Novel which is a big call for a big book, but ‘they’ just might be right (though it’s a close call between this and Franzen’s other masterpiece The Corrections).

Suitable for: grown ups, people not scared off by a thick book, anyone in a family.

2. Super sad true love story, by Gary Shtyengart

Because it has a totally rockin’ title (and comes highly recommended by reviewers I trust, but that’s by-the-by).

Suitable for: the disillusioned souls in your life, especially if they happen to be discerning readers.

3. The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Attwood
Like all good dystopian novels, this one creeps under your skin, seeps into your subconscious, and makes you question things you thought you knew about power and gender and - yes - Big Brother.

Suitable for: anyone following the Wikileaks and Assange saga, arts students, your brother (unless your brother is like mine that is).

4. The Life You Can Save, by Peter Singer

Because who doesn’t want to be a heroine?

Suitable for: the optimists in your life, and maybe even some of the pessimists too. And the girl with kaleidoscope eyes, of course.

5. The White Album, by Joan Didion

Awesome title, awesome lady, awesome book.

Suitable for: anyone who wishes they were around in the 60s so they can find out just what they were missing, and anyone who was around in the 60s so they can find out just what they were doing.

Other recommendations:

• The Atlantic - Best books read in 2010
• New York Times - 100 notable books of 2010
  

Have you got any picks for me? New fiction by female authors particularly welcome.

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Weekend reader - links I loved

Let’s start with a letter to Santa by Saul Williams:

And who says I understand how to fight disingenuous governance, poverty or hate? I’m just saying I understand the importance of counterculture, of those who prefer boom over pop. Hardcore. Underground. The ones who dare to question and expose, who put their lives at risk… Those who stand up and speak out even when the masses seem apathetically addicted to the status quo, which is probably good for business. And I’m not anti-good business. I’m just for new business models. And new fashion models, while you’re at it. They don’t have to be so skinny!
             - (via Champagne Candy)

Just because she isn’t saying no…doesn’t mean she is saying yes is a Canadian anti-rape campaign discussed here by Rachel Hills:

There’s a big difference between sharing a couple of glasses of wine on a date - or flirting with someone who’s had a few vodka mixers at a club - and deliberately pursuing someone who is stumbling around wasted or passed out on the couch…

Have you heard about the new Oscar-buzz movie Black Swan starring one of my favourite actresses Natalie Portman? Here’s why I’m not going to see it (Jezebel).

Here’s what the average American thinks is spent on foreign aid (or if you prefer to watch over reading, here is Peter Singer talking about this issue).

There’s a new bottom billion, according to Andy Sumner from the Institute for Development Studies, and they live in middle-income countries, not low-income countries. Look out  for the implications for aid budgets.

What makes countries corrupt? Richard Florida, The Atlantic:

If we really want to combat corruption we must deal with the broader and much harder challenges of economic development. When less developed nations begin to leverage their knowledge, skills, and human capital to raise their levels of economic output, then the battle is already won.

When is a movement a movement?

Getting 50,000 people to join a Facebook group is impressive…but it’s not a movement. - Samba

The Cancun climate talks are in danger of collapsing, reports The Guardian.

These cartoons depicting the relationship of Belgium and The Congo are …arresting. That might not even be the right word, so take a look and come up with a better one - Africa is a country.

p.s. I know it’s not cool, but I love Christmas

It’s not cool, but I love Christmas

I love the holiday and choosing gifts and lazing around in the afternoon rubbing a belly full of chocolate and apricot squares (a tradition in my family) and playing trivial pursuit and waking up to the boxing day test match.

I love christmas drinks and tinsel and the smell of pine trees in the lounge room. I love the time we are given to spend away from work, that thing which can be all consuming and encroach into every space we have until it is waking up that feels like a chore.

In ode to my love of the festive season, I will be writing random posts here and there about the gifts I would like to give this year. To start, I’ll go with the obvious.

This Christmas, consider giving a gift that keeps on giving.

You could start with a condom, or a chicken, or health education for a pregnant woman.