Another book that looks interesting

From powells_review (aren't you glad, by the way, that I set up that feed?) here is a review of New New Left: How American Politics Works Today by Steven Malanga--although, judging from the review, I think I'd be reluctant to give the author any money. Christopher Hayes points out the usefulness of the book is that "there is a new kind of urban-progressive coalition that has won significant victories in the past decade or so, and The New New Left is useful largely because it lays out the rhetorical strategy that right-wingers are likely to use to try to defeat it."

I was struck by a remark in the review, attributed to Republican strategist Kevin Phillips, that liberalism fell into decline when it went from being perceived as representing the interest of the many against the interests of the few to representing the interests of the few over the interests of the many. That is an astute statement, and worth further thought.

Peonies at my desk

Three stems spear through the water, a perfect tripod at the base of the clear vase. The narrow green leaves thrust up like swords, bristling like a ruff at the vase's neck. Three peony blossoms burst like firecrackers from the flat base pink petals. Secondary sucker buds, fat and secretive, lurk underneath, waiting.

Glare Report: 6/9/05: Playing with marshmallows

I read a chapter and did one exercise from Sound of Paper. Then I opened the book file and glanced through it in disfavor. I have a number of incomplete scenes, and am stuck on all of them. With my old method (write from beginning to end) I could get stuck only in one place (wherever I was). With this patchwork quilt method, I can be stuck in ten places at once, which perhaps makes me feel ten times as incompetent.

So I opened a blank page and threw out a few tentative words on a new scene. I had written a partial scene earlier where Jack and Solveig were collaborating on the ice palace design and it's late and they're getting a little punchy. Jack starts fooling around with building a design with stale leftover donuts left in the conference room. They talk about how the design has to be playful (this is something I picked up from interviewing the architect of the 2003-2004 palace; they wanted something that would evoke a sense of play).

So i started a new scene where Solveig is at home, thinking about what Jack said about playing, and realizing that she hasn't thought of her work in those terms much lately. She's fooling around with mini marshmallows as building blocks for a model palace and Ingrid joins her. Solveig gives Ingrid the marshmallows to see what she'll come up with. This also usefully plants the marshmallows for later use in the ice fishing scene.

New words: 153
Total words (once I add them to the book): 16432
Stopping because: I'm tired. I'm stuck. Again. I'm very short on sleep. I'm finding it difficult to concentrate because I had a lousy 5 oz. of wine at dinner, and it just about put me under the table. I'm a cheap drunk.
Mood: mixed. Words! New ones! But so few, it's downright embarrassing. Yet another unfinished scene which means another quagmire of stuck-ness.

Very superstitious

misia has an interesting post here which starts out:

"I've noticed, over the years, that I am not the only person I know who works little bits of private magic/juju here and there as a regular part of life. I don't mean just superstition, I mean deliberate little invocations or charms or rituals or prayers that are designed to produce specific results, and that you do without making a big deal out of it, just an everyday thing. Some of them are intended to benefit me, others are intended to benefit other people.

She asked her readers to comment what sorts of things they do. I couldn't think of a magical ritual I have, to speak of, but I noted this: I frequently fight the urge to yawn when I pass a cemetary. I read when I was a kid about an old superstition that ghosts hover around your mouth to count the fillings in your teeth when you yawn, and so you are not supposed to yawn near a cemetary. Of course, passing a cemetary and thinking "Don't yawn," makes the compulsion that much worse.

Anyway, drop by misia's post and add your mite. The whole thread is quite interesting.