K-911

Posted by Laura McCulloch on April 26th, 2011 at 07:37 AM | (1) Comments

Last night, at the end of a very long and convoluted Monday, Bella the Dog got sprayed in the face at close range by Pepe LePew. Having been through this before, I knew that time was of the essence (pardon the pun) so I sprinted over to the drugstore to retrieve the cleansing solutions before the oily sprayage soaked too deeply into her coat. I picked up the requisite hydrogen peroxide, baking soda and dishsoap for the following concoction:

1 Qt 3% hydrogen peroxide
1/4 cup baking soda
1 tsp. liquid soap

We’ve used this before and it works. Kinda. So I also decided to try another solution this time and, on the advice of a friend, bought a bottle of Head and Shoulders. And guess what? It totally got the job done! We lathered Bella up real good, let it sit for a few minutes, then rinsed her off and voila! Now she just smells like a wet dog…which is better than being skunkified. I suspect we’ll have more occasions to de-skunk Bella, so I’m keeping Head and Shoulders on hand along with the peroxide/soda/soap fixins….just in case.

Shoulders

Posted by Suzy Vitello Soulé on April 24th, 2011 at 08:30 PM | Comment!

A beautiful poem by one of the world’s most gifted poets.

Shoulders
A man crosses the street in rain,
stepping gently, looking two times north and south,
because his son is asleep on his shoulder.
No car must splash him.
No car drive too near to his shadow.
This man carries the world’s most sensitive cargo
but he’s not marked.
Nowhere does his jacket say FRAGILE,
HANDLE WITH CARE.
His ear fills up with breathing.
He hears the hum of a boy’s dream
deep inside him.
We’re not going to be able
to live in this world
if we’re not willing to do what he’s doing
with one another.
The road will only be wide.
The rain will never stop falling.
~ Naomi Shihab Nye ~
from Reflections, Spring 2009, Yale Divinity School

Picture This

Posted by Laura McCulloch on April 21st, 2011 at 10:53 AM | Comment!

My job offers me ample opportunities to learn new things. Because we are always working on multiple projects, (which we call “client hopscotch”) everyday brings new discoveries and often in very unusual and varied areas. Yesterday I spent several hours deeply engaged in looking at food blogs and foodie communities. What I learned is that food bloggers are also usually excellent photographers. Seriously. I must have seen 1000 beautifully rendered mouth-watering photos yesterday, which of course, made me ravenous! In looking for the creme de la creme of food blogs, I stumbled upon one which isn’t going to make the list, but certainly got my attention. Profanity warning: don’t click here if four letter words aren’t in your vocabulary.

Fast forward to my next project which also involves looking at pictures. Lots and lots and lots of pictures. We are working on a print piece for one of our non-profit clients and need to find stock photos. So off I went into stockphotoland looking for the needle in the haystack. I have a love/hate relationship with stock photography. Love it because when you find that one shot that says it all, it is very satisfying. Love it because you can get professional images at a reasonable rate. Hate it because, well, it’s stock photography, full of shiny, happy people shaking hands and holding daisies. Hate it because of all the shiny, happy frogs that must be kissed before finding the prince or princess.

And while we’re on the subject of photography, check out Canvas Pop. I found out about this site from netted.net, a daily email which offers “the best sites, apps and online stuff that make life better.” I like this CanvasPop deal! You can turn your photos, or any original digital image into a canvas. I like that. I will be thinking of just the right shot to turn into canvas and hang on my wall. Maybe this one I took last Easter of my sister and daughter!

Jennifer Egan Wins the Pulitzer

Posted by Suzy Vitello Soulé on April 20th, 2011 at 04:03 AM | Comment!

The results are in! The 2011 Pulitzer Prize Winners were announced Monday.

It was a year of firsts. The Wall Street Journal won for the first time, (editorial writing on health care reform); Washington Post photographer, Carol Guzy, was the first photographer to win four Pulitzers; for the first time, the Pulitzer board did not award a prize for local reporting of breaking news. And, for the first time, a prize was awarded to reporting that did not appear in print: ProPublica’s online series “The Wall Street Money Machine,” which won for national reporting.

But, as a fiction writer, I always quickly scan through reportage and bee-line to fiction, where, this year, I was super excited to see this book in the esteemed winner’s circle.

Though I have yet to read “A Visit from the Goon Squad,” I adore Jennifer Egan. (“Look at Me” is one of my favorites.) What’s so exciting about Goon Squad having won, is that the book is risky and somewhat disjointed in that David Foster Wallace way. A reviewer claims that, “There is a madness to her method. She hands off the narrative from one protagonist to another in a wild relay race that will end with the same characters with which it begins while dispensing with them for years at a time.”

Seems that my reading list has been growing by leaps and bounds this year, a year which, ironically, has been deemed “an era of book death.” I’m enjoying the glut and the in-your-face proliferation of fabulous literary output. Luckily, one of the firsts in this Prize year was not the absence of quality fiction.

Tempest in a Tea Cup

Posted by Laura McCulloch on April 19th, 2011 at 07:15 AM | Comment!

Three Cups of Tea author Greg Mortenson is under fire this week for allegedly perpetrating an elaborate literary hoax and mismanaging his non-profit, Central Asia Institute. 60 Minutes ran an investigative piece in which it was revealed that many of the facts in Mortenson’s best-seller were exaggerated at best, and at worst fabricated entirely. Steve Kroft and the 60 Minutes team also looks at CAI and questions its financials and sloppy operations. Author Jon Krakauer, a former supporter of Mortenson and CAI, was interviewed for the 60 Minutes piece and then on Monday published a scathing article on byliner.com, which you can download for free at the link below. Mortenson gave an interview to Outside magazine offering up his response to the accusations.

More will be revealed as Mortenson’s publisher, Viking, has announced that it will engage in a book review with the author. Huh? What? Don’t they do that sort of thing BEFORE they publish? Aren’t there fact-checkers on staff? Or is this book “creative non-fiction”?

Remember back when James Frey exploded into A Million Little Pieces? Well the teapot has just boiled over for Mr. Mortenson.

Krakauer article on byliner.com

Mortenson interview with Outside magazine

60 Minutes

Why Writers Must Embrace Social

Posted by Suzy Vitello Soulé on April 18th, 2011 at 02:23 AM | Comment!

Author Sara Sheridan (SECRET OF THE SANDS) has a great piece in The Guardian cautioning writers who think they can ignore social media. 

As an historical novelist, Sheridan rebelled every step of the way. She admits to being a late-adopter of email, and a holdout of a cell phone that’s “big enough to fling at the wall when I lose my temper.” When a colleague invited her to try Twitter, she says, “My soul rebelled. This wasn’t my thing. No way.”

She did put up a Twitter profile, and was soon rewarded by a following full of librarians, historians, readers and the like. But what struck me as the most important point of the article’s caution against keeping one’s head in the sand when it comes to social media was when Sheridan discussed digital rights: “[In] an era where our digital rights are being defined and because so many writers consider it beneath them, many important issues are not being considered and decided by writers themselves but by the digital operations departments of major publishing houses, online booksellers and other corporate entities.”

Clearly, the world of words, publishing and literary relevance is largely taking place on a digital medium where succinct brevity is key, and time is of the essence.

Follow Sara on Twitter at @SaraSheridan.

The year of George (and I don’t mean Bush)

Posted by Suzy Vitello Soulé on April 12th, 2011 at 08:48 PM | Comment!

Is George your favorite Beatle, by any chance? Well, listen up.Olivia Harrison, George Harrison‘s widow, has wrangled a deal for Living in the Material World: George Harrison set to be published by Abrams this fall—which is exactly when Martin Scorsese’s documentary on the Beatles charismatic guitarist will be out.

What’s your favorite Beatle’s song?

Webby Award Nominations Announced!

Posted by Laura McCulloch on April 12th, 2011 at 06:08 AM | Comment!

Today the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences announced the nominees for the 15th Annual Webby Awards. I love the Webbys. It is so interesting to look at the work of the best and brightest on the internet. And you can even vote for your favorites! Here’s the lowdown from the Academy’s website:

The Webby Award is the leading international award honoring excellence on the Internet. Established in 1996 during the Web’s infancy, the Webbys are presented by The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, which includes an Executive 750-member body of leading Web experts, business figures, luminaries, visionaries and creative celebrities, and Associate Members who are former Webby Award Winners and Nominees and other Internet professionals.

The Academy is an intellectually diverse organization that includes members such as musicians Beck and David Bowie, Internet inventor Vint Cerf, political columnist Arianna Huffington, Real Networks CEO Rob Glaser, “The Simpsons” creator Matt Groening, R/GA Founder and Chairman Robert Greenberg, Virgin Atlantic Chairman and Founder Richard Branson, and The Weinstein Company Co-Founder Harvey Weinstein. Members also include writers and editors from publications such as The New York Times, Wired, Details, Fast Company, Elle, The Los Angeles Times, Vibe, and WallPaper. The 14th Annual Webby Awards received nearly 10,000 entries from over 60 countries and all 50 states and generated over 750 million media impressions worldwide.

Reflecting the tremendous growth of the Internet as a tool for business and everyday lives, the 15th Annual Webby Awards expands the mission of the Webby by honoring excellence in over 100+ Website, Interactive Advertising, Online Film & Video, and Mobile & App categories.

The Webby Awards presents two honors in every category—The Webby Award and The People’s Voice Award—in each of its four entry types: Websites, Interactive Advertising, Online Film & Video and Mobile & Apps. Members of The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences select the nominees for both awards in each category, as well as the winners of the Webby Awards. However, you, the online community, determine the winners of The People’s Voice by voting for the nominated work that you believe to be the best in each category. Each year, the People’s Voice Awards garners hundreds of thousands of votes from the Web community all over the world.