Fry-day

Looking forward to the weekend, not because things slow down (they seem to never slow down), but somehow I can catch up on the things I fell behind with during the week.

Writing that makes me sound like a workaholic - I am not. I love leisure, love it, love it, love it. But I currently have seven irons in the fire, twelve plates spinning, and a bunch of lords a leaping (?).

I digress. Often.

But what I'm hoping for is to rent a movie and hang a bit. Oh, and bookclub is this week too, so I get to find out if other people were depressed as I was reading Empire of Illusion.

I better rent something funny to balance. Any suggestions out there?

Buy a book. NOW!

I am fairly caught up in Empire of Illusion this week (see post below) and by caught up, I mean depressed, but in a good way. Chris Hedges is an amazing writer and thinker - he connects the dots from some other books I have read (Culturally Savvy Christian by Dick Staub and Life is a Miracle by Wendell Berry).

What depresses me as a writer is the climbing rates of illiteracy and semi-literacy. As well, he pulls out a stat that 80% of U.S. did not buy or read a book last year. Can that be true??? Oh my, if it is, well... we're screwed. And by "we" I don't mean writers. I mean all of us.

I am very thankful (in the spirit of our past holiday) that I helped to create a family full of readers. It may be my greatest accomplishment.

Empire of Illusion

Under the category of books that tell me just how far we have fallen as a society is Chris Hedges, "Empire of Illusion. Hedges writes about pro wrestling, porn and Jerry Springer - just writing that abbreviated list makes me cringe. I am a reading this book and nodding my head, going, yep, we are really that bad (and I am really that bad - I know way too much about celebrity culture).

I am hoping that by the end of the book he will tell me how we can avoid all this stuff - but he may just confirm that the whole culture is headed to, or already in the crapper.

Yikes.

Wow - I Have Decided

I learned about this vid from my friend and recording artist (and award winning, awesome all around great guy etc.) Steve Bell.

I also know Mike (I'm good friends with his Brother-in-law).

But that's not why I am promoting this vid. It is amazing! What a player, what an arranger. He takes the golden, and somewhat moldy hymn I Have Decided to Follow Jesus and bends it, molds it and folds it into a beautiful jazz arrangment. Backing him up on bass George Kholler (bass / Holly Cole) and drummer Ben Riley (Bruce Cockburn).

Watch, enjoy, groove.

My bedside stack

I am constantly working on lessening the stack of books on my bedside, and of course like any good book addict, I am constantly adding to it.

Just finished Donald Pollack's Knockemstiff - and still unsure whether I liked it or not.

Working on reading Richard Ford's Rock Springs (yes, again and again). Finished Lansdale's Bad Chili a while back and came across his Mad Dog Summer short story collection (haven't started - though the review I linked to doesn't think much of it.).

Reading through the AMAZING BASS (Best Amercian Short Stories) from 1986, edited by Raymond Carver. Full of brilliance.

And lots of craft books as always - including How Fiction Works by James Wood. There is something beautiful in this book, even the way it fits in your hand. I want to savour it.

Adding to the stack is Barry Hannah's Airships - a recent discovery that I can't wait to dive into. And on their way our a few books for this years bookclub - including Atwood's new one, Year of the Flood.

Someday I will catch up to the stack. But probably not.

Can you will your unread books to family members? To read them I mean.