Recently Read: Apple's Role in Japan during the Tohoku Earthquake

Kevin Rose posted a couple emails from a friend of his who works in an Apple store in Tokyo. Whatever else I may think of Apple, I think it's awesome that they stepped up in such a way for their customers and employees in such a hard time.

Kevin Rose - blogg - Apple's Role in Japan during the Tohoku Earthquake

The whole thing is a great read, but this part especially impressed me:

"You know how in disaster movies, people on the street gather around electronic shops that have TVs in the display windows so they can stay informed with what is going on? In this digital age, that's what the Tokyo Apple stores became. Staff brought out surge protectors and extension cords with 10s of iOS device adapters so people could charge their phones & pads and contact their loved ones. Even after we finally had to close 10pm, crowds of people huddled in front of our stores to use the wifi into the night, as it was still the only way to get access to the outside world...Even after we had to close, many of the staff stayed outside the store to fixing iphones and teaching people how to contact family or stay informed via wifi. "

Et tu, Tuesday?

Beware the Ides of March...


YouTube - Julius Caesar: the Ides of March

Happy Pi Day!

Today is Pi Day! Why not celebrate with pie? :)

By pauladamsmith

Recently Read: The awesomely terrifyingly amazing power of counting to three

Mom-101: The awesomely terrifyingly amazing power of counting to three: "I love that the mere act of counting to 3 can make my children quake with fear."

Ain't it the truth! Click through for a cute story of "misusing" this superpower.

Remember the 'lost civilization' of Friendster? [video]

Someday, will we look back on Facebook, Twitter, et al in the same way?


Internet Archaeologists Find Ruins Of 'Friendster' Civilization


via Explorator

Celebrate International Women's Day with women writers

I've been in a Nyquil coma for days, so I almost missed noticing today is International Women's Day. The Google Books blog has a great post on Five Female Trailblazers in Literature You May Have Never Heard Of:

"Though it's impossible to compile an exhaustive list, we're highlighting a few individuals who went places no woman, and sometimes no man, had ever gone before in the world of words. These woman made history with their pens, quills and ancient stone tablets...The 100th anniversary of International Women's Day is an apt opportunity for us to look back and celebrate the profound influence of these often unsung female stalwarts. Without the pioneering work of Enheduanna, Hrotsvitha, Lady Muraski, Aphra Behn and Selma Lagerlöf (not to mention: Virginia Woolf, Jane Austen, Margaret Atwood, Toni Morrison, Doris Lessing, Emily Brönte, Charlote Brönte, Willa Cather, Edith Wharton, Pearl S. Buck, Frances Burney, George Eliot, Amy Tan, Eudora Welty, Gloria Steinem, Louisa May Alcott, Agatha Christie, Flannery O'Connor, Emily Dickinson, Anne Frank, Mary Shelley, Sylvia Plath, Alice Walker, Harper Lee, Danielle Steel, J.K. Rowling and many others), who knows where we might be?"

Work as a game

I got a kick out of this post by Chris Baty, depicting his workday as a series of online "games." I'll have to ponder a bit about the best way to characterize my job in that light. It will have something to do with getting books and articles from across the country (sometimes from around the world - bonus levels?) in the fastest time at the lowest price. Maybe finding an article free online = bonus points? Hmmm....

What would your job be like if it was a game?

The Office of Letters and Light - Playing Online Games at Work 

The lonely life of a writer...not so much

Saturday, Rainbow Rowell's latest column for the Omaha World-Herald focused on how writers in Omaha often don't realize how many other writers are local, how it seems hard to find and feel part of a supportive community when writers are such solitary creatures. It's such a common trait of writers that it's practically a stereotype. But she did uncover one special secret:

"Nebraska's tightest-knit, most welcoming writing community has to be the romance writers. The Heartland Writers Group (the local chapter of the Romance Writers of Nebraska America) meets monthly and is open to all sorts of writers, published, unpublished or just getting started." [the correction is mine]

Cut to me with a big grin on my face - Heartland Writers Group is MY writers group!

I've never met a more welcoming group of people, writers or otherwise. I look forward to our monthly meetings and any other gatherings we can come up with and I'm really disappointed when life interferes and I have to miss one. Thankfully we have an active email loop (several, in fact) where we give and get support 24/7 between meetings.

I'm so thankful I found this group - they keep me going in so many ways - and it warms my heart when others notice what a great group it is.

So check out Rainbow's column, then come visit us at our website and blog! If you're a writer, you might even want to visit us in person. If you're not, I hope you have a community in your life that's as supportive of your goals, whatever they may be, as Heartland Writers Group is of mine. I love you, HWG ladies!

In case the world isnt high-definition enough for you:

Hey, they're cheaper than a TV :-)

How to accept your Oscar

Photo by prayitno

Highlights from Accepting Your Oscar: A Guide:

• Thank the spiritual being of your choice. Point up/over/ wherever (probably not down).

• Definitely act surprised. Practice this one in the mirror beforehand.

• Thank significant other, then blow a kiss to him/her. Have significant other practice “in love” face.

via Shoebox (they have a great blog)

A Lost Choose Your Own Adventure Book? That would be awesome!

I wish this was real:


Lost Choose Your Own Adventure by ~Hartter on deviantART

Trying Jedi mind tricks

Hey, it could work...

Christchurch earthquake on Flickr

Some amazing pictures from New Zealand, both of the devastation but also of people helping out in such a tough time:


via a search set up by Flickr Blog

Happy Presidents Day!

Pearls Before Swine

Studs of the '80s: Ooh La La or Not So Much?

Photo by Gage Skidmore

A little weekend guilty pleasure:

Studs of the '80s: Still Hot Today? - Photo Gallery - LIFE

A nice then-and-now gallery. I have to say Denzel Washington and Bruce Willis definitely hold up (Bruce was one of my first celebrity crushes and it's never faded). Jon Bon Jovi has actually improved. Some of these other guys have definitely gone in the other direction. David Hasselhoff (another early crush) just makes me shudder these days.

I'm reading: Don't Believe The "Lots Myth"

Don't Believe The "Lots Myth": "You see, money doesn’t make us smarter; it just amplifies what we already are. If you’re a mess with a dollar, chances are you’ll be an even bigger mess with a million dollars. If you’re wise with a nickel, chances are you’ll be great with a thousand nickels."

Gah! Where'd that other parenthesis go?

via xkcd

Neil Gaiman on Piracy

Neil Gaiman has an interesting perspective on piracy:


YouTube - Gaiman on Copyright Piracy and the Web

via Travelin' Librarian

Not one perfect draft, but many imperfect ones

From my evening's reading last night (boldface is mine):

Plot Whisperer for Writers and Readers: More than One Draft: "Do you understand that writing a novel, memoir, screenplay involves not just writing one draft but many?...Get your ego out of the way. The more you are able to tolerate imperfection, the more quickly you can finish a draft and every draft makes the story better."

How true. As much as I think I "know" that the first, second, maybe even the final draft down the road won't be perfect, something in my head digs in its heels knowing I have to get words on the page imperfectly in order to make progress. I think this is why I did so well on NaNoWriMo in 2009 - I had permission to write a messy first draft.

I need to remember to give myself permission to write imperfectly on a daily basis or I'll never get anywhere. Just in case you need it: I give you permission, too.

Cross-posted at Heartland Writers Group

Humorous headline of the day

Police: Burglar Caught With Beef, Sausage In Pocket

I'll let you add your own dirty jokes.