An old girlfriend once broke up with me by text messaging me. I thought that was the coldest form of text messaging I had ever seen, but it turns out that I was wrong. Consider the case of Katy Tanner, who was fired from her job through text messaging. (via Cheryl Floyd-Miller)
Year / 2006
Terrorist Plot
I woke up to craziness this morning. News here.
What is the evidence of this plot? There are 21 people arrested, but they better be damn clear on what went down. The skeptic in me wonders if the “no liquids” ban is a disingenuous way for airlines and airports to sell more beverages.
Confessions of a Junket Whore
Eric Snider: “I, on the other hand, don’t work for the paper and wouldn’t be representing them specifically on the junket. I’d be a freelancer, representing only myself. So the only thing stopping me from going was whether I, personally, had any ethical qualms about it. I do have such qualms, but I also have a curious nature and enjoy doing things that I have never done before. That’s why I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die, and that’s why I said yes to Paramount. This is the story of how I spent 24 hours as a junket whore.” (via The Hot Button)
Mish-Mash
Tanenhaus Actually Gets It Right for Once
Could it be? Joe Queenan has temporarily put away the hatchet (and the hubris)? Well, it’s true. And Sam Tanenhaus is (wait for it) to be commended for not only giving us a different side of Queenan’s, but also for writing an enjoyable overview of Richard Hofstadter (perhaps making up for the aborted Buckley bio) and being a little more relaxed on the recent edition of the NYTBR podcast. Did Sammy Boy get an unexpected refund check for the IRS? What explains this unexpectedly ebullient (well, as ebullient as the gruff-voiced man will be) Sammy-T?
Of course, I still have issues with the NYTBR‘s lack of literary fiction coverage, but perhaps the August sunshine might pierce Sam’s heart and spread some golden rays to make even Dwight Garner wear a pair of khaki shorts. Too bad the NYTBR is under no acknowledgment to accept the brownies.
In the meantime, Queenan wrote this surprisingly humble essay about reading far too many books simultaneously. Perhaps Queenan’s essay spoke to me because I am currently in the middle of reading about 17 books: many of them given to me by trusted people who have insisted that I read them, many of them having nothing to do with future Segundo interviews serving as a welcome respite. The usual figure around here is four books at a time, but books and reading desires pile up rather rapidly.
For the tome-loving multitaskers around here, how many books do you read at a time? The comments await.