Finally, that Coldplay song makes sense. Chris Martin was actually singing about Atlanta being covered, nay, buried, in yellow pine pollen. It is crazy here. Black cars are now yellow. Streets are yellow. Slow moving dogs and small children are yellow. Everything is yellow. The air quality guys say that a measurement of 120 partilces/cubic meter is “extremely high.” We’ve been over 5,000 for about a week. Half the city is goofed up on Claritin. The other half are waiting for their sinuses to explode at any minute. So far, I’ve managed to escape complete nasal apocalypse. Knock on wood…
I’ve received word from good authority that Marisha Pessl, author of Special Topics in Calamity Physics, will be coming to the Atlanta area for a reading. The Georgia Center for the Book will present Ms. Pessl at the Decatur Public Library on May 29th at 7:15 PM. Mark your calendars. If you don’t have the book, you can pre-order the paperback from our friends at Wordsmiths’ and pick it up at the reading. We may have a copy or two to giveaway as the event gets closer. You can read my review of the book, which made my 2006 Top 10 list, here. As always, this blog will continue to take the high road and not mention how hot the author is.
That Chuck Klosterman guy we were just talking about is getting paid top dollar by ESPN to blog at the Final Four all weekend here in Atlanta.
A journalist friend sent me an e-mail earlier in the week letting me know that the Romensko blog, a highly regarded journalism site, is following recent stories regarding whether David Sedaris should be given the James Frey treatment for his “non-fiction” stories. The pros and cons of the story are presented here and David Sedaris’ response can be found here. Has anyone ever read a Sedaris story and thought for one minute that it wasn’t embellished in one way or another? The man’s appeal is simply that he can tell a funny story…
Gary Shteyngart’s Absurdistan mercifully beat One Good Turn in the second match of the Zombie Round in the Tournament of Books. One Good Turn sounds truly awful. The Road is as close to a sure thing to beat Absurdistan in the finals as you are likely to see in your life time.
Finally, l’il Cayenne and I went down to Decatur Square last night to visit The Little Shop of Stories, hands down the best children’s book store within a tri-state area (I don’t know, pick any three). They have an ice cream store inside the book shop. We hung out on a huge couch, ate ice cream, and read Olivia stories. Great evening. I mention it for two reasons. 1) Wordsmiths’ is slated to move in next door - which will soon make the Square a day-long book lover’s destination for the whole family and 2) I just had to share with the world that we saw this sign outside the store:
Who sends their kid to “law camp” - is this the competitive edge your child needs to distance herself from the riff-raff on her application to private elementary school? I want to show up on the first day just to see who these people are. Then call them names.
March 30th, 2007 at 8:43 am
LAW CAMP. oh my god we at Wordsmiths Books can’t compete. not that we ever were *going to* (not selling kids books and the like), but STILL.
and i thought getting packed off to space camp was odd.
March 30th, 2007 at 9:48 am
DFACS needs to organize a sting operation and arrest every parent who drops a kid off that morning. In fact, they can swing by and pick up my parents as well.
Marisha Pessl = [that roaring tiger sound I don't know how to type]
March 30th, 2007 at 9:49 am
I’ll bet the waiver you have to sign for Law Camp is unbelievable. Of course, at Law Enforcement camp, the kids have the right to a nap and a snack. If they cannot provide a snack, one will be provided for them.
March 30th, 2007 at 12:51 pm
Herm: In law camp, the campers are represented by two separate yet equally important groups: the police who investigate crime and the district attorneys who prosecute the offenders. These are their stories… *dong dong*
Frank: We’ll see you at the Pessl reading. Plenty of time to get back to the gym and get a haircut…
March 30th, 2007 at 2:00 pm
Hey, I heard about your wicked pollen count while watching the Leafs play in Atlanta last night. (What else do I watch on TV?)
Your “guys’” won.
Re: law camp. Boy, you start ‘em young down there. The competition for spots in law school must be worse than “up” here.
Or maybe it’s actually a camp to teach kids how not to run afoul of the law?
March 30th, 2007 at 5:01 pm
I’m thinking law camp could be used for good and not evil (especially if run by a children’s book store). I see it working like a “Scared Straight” program so that when the campers grow up, they’ll run screaming at even the suggestion of possibly going to law school.
“Our topic for Day One: What is a Billable Hour?”
April 1st, 2007 at 12:48 am
Why would any parent do that to him or herself? “No mommmy, in fact I do NOT have to eat my green beans. May I refer you to the 1979 ruling in ‘Billy v. Port Washington Elementary Cafeteria,’ which found that green beans are yucky, and therefore not a viable side dish for those averse to yucky foods. I might also add that witholding dessert based on your arbitrary assessment of an ‘un-clean’ plate may be grounds for punitive damages.”
April 2nd, 2007 at 5:11 am
Quit knocking the law camp idea. I think it’s a great idea so that when your nerdy kid is about to get knocked around on the playground when someone calls him or her a “dork”, they’ll learn to demand proof — proof beyond a reasonable doubt, that they are, in fact, a dork and therefore deserving of the punishment they are about to receive. And that will put the bully back on his or her heels because they won’t know how to formulate a proper response. And your kid will be regarded as a hero for taking the intelligent, non-violent protest route.
And secondly, it will prepare all of your kids who will one day complete their undergraduate studies with degrees in fields for which there are no jobs, or in which they’ve decided they don’t want to work, for the inevitable fall-back route for those who don’t know what to do (or what else to do): law school.
April 2nd, 2007 at 9:43 am
I was back at Little Shop of Stories last night with my nieces and daughter. I “inquired within” but the person behind the counter wasn’t sure what it was all about. I will get to the bottom of this.
April 2nd, 2007 at 10:48 am
I’d just be afraid that my kid would serve me with a restraining order one night when I tell him it’s shower time.
April 2nd, 2007 at 12:03 pm
Camps suck. Whatever happened to school is out so amuse yourself in the neighborhoods with all the other kids who wouldn’t dream of spending money on glorified “play dates” ? The pressure of figuring out what to do with three kids all summer is oppressive. Oh, wait, I do have Shaft’s Frisky Dingo DVD ! Problem Solved !!
P.S. DJ: I wanted to post on a book I finished ” The Way We Eat : Why our Food Choices Matter” by Peter Singer and Jim Mason. Interesting stuff and in keeping with my love of non-fiction. Tell me what to do, oh wise one.