andy_noir

The Sense of Wonder was Rachel Carson's final book; her intentions to expand it into a full-sized dissertation were derailed by her premature death from cancer. As it stands in its posthumously-published version (usually presented as part of a nature photo pictorial), it isn't much longer than an essay - but it's probably her most potent book. Its thesis is on how to impart a sense of natural curiosity to the young, and its suggested solution is mere exposure to the great outdoors - not with any particular point or pointed instruction in mind; just to look and see and experience. As Carson explains:

I sincerely believe that for the child, and for the parent seeking to guide him, it is not half so important to know as to feel. If facts are the seeds that later produce knowledge and wisdom, then the emotions and the impressions of the senses are the fertile soil in which the seeds must grow. The years of early childhood are the time to prepare the soil. Once the emotions have been aroused - a sense of the beautiful, the excitement of the new and the unknown, a feeling of sympathy, pity, admiration, or love - then we wish for knowledge about the object of our emotional response.

Carson interweaves her thesis with treasured memories of exploring the wild with her own young nephew, Roger, venturing out together into the spring woods and pretending the new crop of spruce seedlings woulc make fine Christmas trees for the squirrels, or seated "in the dark living room before the big picture window to watch the full moon riding lower and lower toward the far shore of the bay, setting all the water ablaze with silver flames and finding a thousand diamonds in the rocks on the shore as the light strikes the flakes of mica embedded in them." Carson's genius was in her talent for bringing the workings of the natural world to life for a wide audience with lyrical prose, and The Sense of Wonder, though short, is perhaps her most graceful and compelling synthesis of beauty with fact.

Hello all. I've been lurking in the community for awhile, but haven't posted until now.

So, this the summer before my last semester of undergrad (Major: Sociology, Minor: Persuasive/Professional Writing) and I will be preparing admission applications for MLS programs (I've been thinking about it for at least a couple years now, and despite the dismal job market/rantings of "annoyed librarian", really want to pursue the degree) 

Now, here is my question - how much usefulness could I get out of an MLS in the political field, and how realistic is this? Currently, I'm on the executive board of my school's political club, working for a candidate for state assembly (of whom I'm hoping gets elected so I have a job after I graduate), and am active/heavily involved in local politics/political organizations. My top choice is UCLA (not a fan of on-line programs, will not work for me, unless I have a very, very secure job) due to proximity. I'm fairly confident I can get at least two letters of rec from political/community figures, plus two professors. GPA is still kind of shaky (overall, barely above a 3.0 due to some bad decisions made when I was doing lower-division classes, plus a couple of C's in upper) Unsure about the GRE, test-taking has never been my forte - though, if they offer accommodations for disabilities, it might help. I've never worked in a library, but I've done freelance archival work for the past few years on and off.

Anyway, thoughts?  

All HERE @coloryourdreams

Matt Smith and Benedict Cumberbatch presented the Dennis Potter Award to Steven Moffat:


A couple of video interviews with Matt Smith about the Olympic Torch, and some photos of the event.
Details of new Doctor Who novel by famous science fiction writer Steven Baxter starring the Second Doctor called 'The Wheel of Ice'.
Karen Gillan talks about episode 5 of series 7 with Total Film. Mild spoilers. Nice photo of her at Cannes:
( Read more... )

Well, hello, hello to one and all!  It has been an incredibly (re: unforgiveably) long time since I've posted or been very active with all of you fine and talented folks.  Lots of stuff has been going on -- both for me personally and around here, from what I've noticed.  Some of it has been for the good.  Some of it for the not so good.  But it's still a lot of stuff happening, and when lots of stuff starts happening at once things tend to get a little crazy.

So why don't we give all that crazy the bird and have a little fun with a Mini Contest, eh?

I love Mini Contests.  I love them because they're a break from the usual affairs, but they can also be challenging as hell.  Challenges make me happy, in a gleeful sadomasochistic sort of way.  I hope you all like challenges as well, because that's what I'm about to give you.

Several months (or maybe it's closer to a year?) back I'd challenged some of my writer friends to push themselves out of their usual sandbox.  Every writer has an area they're more comfortable with, something that they are particularly known for.  I don't care how much a writer claims that they have no genre, no particular style, that they morph to fit the story.  Every writer has something unique to them, something that defines a work as theirs.

Your challenge this week is to write AGAINST your norm.  Break your own rules and boundaries.  Experiment with styles, subjects, and techniques outside your comfort zone.  And then you will present these entries to the community so that we can go, "Whoa, ______ wrote THIS?!?!"

Sounds easy, right?  For some people, this will be.  To fix that, and because this is the last contest I'll be hosting and I intend to have fun with it, I am also offering an ADDITIONAL challenge for those willing to take it on.  The additional challenge comes in the form of a prompt.  And that prompt is:

This prompt MUST be used to START AND END your entry.  Meaning, the first and last lines must be this prompt.  You may use it as a quote.  You may change the tensing and the pronoun, so it can be "she was an anachronism" or whatever, but the rest of it MUST appear in tact.  You have no other limitations other than to push yourself.  Write something that makes you uncomfortable or at least unusual for you.  If you write poetry, try prose, and if you write prose try your hand at poetry.  Play with format and punctuation.  Basically, try NOT writing like yourself.

Your entries are due by Sunday, June 3rd at 8 PM.  A poll will go up and voting will start.  The winner of this challenge will get a personalized banner and icon set, made by yours truly.

I'm very excited to see just how far outside the sandbox you all will go.  Good luck, and remember: have fun with this, because I'm sure as hell gonna have fun reading what you all come up with.  Cheers, folks!

Fed
by Mira Grant

Fanfiction for Newsflesh Trilogy

Can I really call it FANfiction when it was written by the author herself? I remember shortly after Feed was published Mira Grant saying she wanted to write an alternative ending to feed where one key detail changed and how the story would have ended. With the final installment of the trilogy coming out Grant allowed herself that chance and posted it to Facebook as a teaser for Blackout. I of course devoured the story and then was amused when it was alluded to a little in Blackout as the characters began discussing the same scenario. I felt the alternate ending was well written and believable and it made a nice addition to the other stories sent in this universe. I am glad Grant was allowed the opportunity to play a little more with her characters and share that with us. Read and enjoy but ONLY if you have already read Feed. If you haven't read Feed go read that now and then catch up.

Countdown
by Mira Grant

novella in the Newsflesh universe

I read this a little out of order finishing it shortly after I finished the trilogy but it was fantastic anyway. I love books about the apocalypse that are made up of journal entries from the people that were there. I do wish I would have read the novella first as it gives some nice insight into the characters and a little about the disease that caused the zombies in the first place but it was not needed for the plot. I think when I reread the trilogy I might reread this novella first so I have all the information fresh in my mind when I start.

Blackout
by Mira Grant

Book 3 of the Newsflesh Trilogy

I really should have reread Feed and Newsflesh first. Grant is an amazing author that has hints and goodies hidden all throughout every book so I look forward to rereading the trilogy to see what I missed in the first 2 books. Bias disclosure I consider Grant a friend of mine so my review may be somewhat colored by that. The other part of that bias is there are little Easter eggs so when the book mentions Agora and Brainpan I actually know of those names as actually places relating to things I know are important to Grant. This makes reading her books all the more enjoyable for me and I expect as I get to know her better I will have to reread frequently to find all of the real life references only her friends will understand. That being said I think this book is amazing for people who don't know her. Her characters are well written and you actually CARE when one of them dies. Many characters you get to revisit from previous books and they are like old friends to the reader by now. The one problem if you can call it that with this series is characters don't always stay dead. In a world of zombies and clones this is to be expected and handled VERY well in my opinion. All in all a wonderful read, a great way to close the trilogy and I will be rereading all three books soonish. Have a number of other books on my to read list but I might get back to this before the 2012 50 book challenge ends.

Cast in Courtlight
by Michelle Sagara

Book 2 of The Chronicles of Elantra

Another reread but oh so worth it. This book starts to get a little deeper into the species and classes and how they are divided. I love the political intrigue in this book and our intrepid heroine never fails to put her foot in her mouth. There were a few things I thought were done very well in this book regarding class and species and politics and of course our heroine manages the impossible. This book left me with a lot of questions about some of our supporting characters and I am definitely hoping to learn more about them as our saga continues. I'll be switching gears to another book next but am certain to return to this series very soon.