http://empressoftheworld.com Promotional Site for the book by Sara Ryan Thu, 19 Jun 2008 05:56:10 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en N.B.: We did not put him in there. http://empressoftheworld.com/2008/01/sub-optimal-feline-storage-redux/ As I’ve said before, I am the child of two librarians. I grew up in libraries and used bookstores. I don’t remember Mom or Dad ever telling me that I was too young to read a particular title, though I do remember once being scolded for trying to impress my ... http://empressoftheworld.com/2008/01/books-that-built-me-the-inferno-by-dante-aligheri-the-john-ciardi-translation/ The sensationalistic title of Sudhir Venkatesh’s book, Gang Leader For A Day, is the only thing about it I dislike. In 1989, ponytailed and fresh from following the Dead, Venkatesh started out as a grad student at the University of Chicago. He wanted to study the impact of poverty, specifically ... http://empressoftheworld.com/2008/01/if-you-like-the-wire-read-gang-leader-for-a-day/ I was thinking about all the books with the premise of the protagonists suddenly getting famous, and the impact of fame upon their lives, and the following sentence popped into my brain: “Celebrities are hot right now.” …four hours til the wake-up call, six til my flight home. http://empressoftheworld.com/2008/01/%e2%80%a6/ I wonder if they got enough for new uniforms. The tile is embedded in the middle of a busy street. I saw a few similar ones, but they were more fragmentary. Turns out it’s one of these. Perhaps an honest self-assessment? Never know who you’ll run into. Did the paint just happen to peel ... http://empressoftheworld.com/2008/01/seen-in-philadelphia/ …you carefully assemble all the documents you need for the conference, including your e-ticket, your badge, all the agendas for all the meetings, and your hotel confirmation, all very tidily in a three-ring binder… AND LEAVE THE BINDER ON YOUR DESK WHEN YOU WALK OUT OF THE OFFICE. http://empressoftheworld.com/2008/01/you-know-you%e2%80%99re-not-really-ready-to-travel-when/ The Sound of Young America, a podcast I’d never heard until today, but to which I think I will now subscribe, has a fantastic interview with Wendell Pierce and Andre Royo. There’s a spoiler or two, but mostly they’re speaking more broadly and conceptually about the show as a whole ... http://empressoftheworld.com/2008/01/the-wire-great-interview-at-the-sound-of-young-america/ I’ve been reading Nicola Griffith’s enticingly packaged and very enjoyable memoir, And Now We Are Going To Have A Party: Liner Notes on A Writer’s Early Life. It’s making me think a lot about, among other things, how to optimize your life for writing. Not just in the obvious ways, like, ... http://empressoftheworld.com/2008/01/and-now-we-are-going-to-have-a-blog-entry/ I think the above must have been part of someone’s New Year’s Eve outfit. Now they suggest that, given the right weather pattern or incantation, the telephone pole will take flight. One of the fine baristas at one of my favorite coffeeshops told me: “I have trouble with contemporary fiction. I ... http://empressoftheworld.com/2008/01/january-2nd-2008/ Hey, everybody. It’s been a while. Man. You go away from easy Internet access for a week and somebody hacks your dang MySpace. For any of y’all who got bulletins from “me” alerting you to the latest horizontal hijinks of a young lady who I will not name, who is famous for ... http://empressoftheworld.com/2007/12/probably-my-last-post-of-2007/