or maybe that’s minutes… When people ask me why I’m blogging I always have a hard time coming up with an acceptable answer. Because writers need a web presence? Because I want to? Often I mutter something about World Domination. And if I’m going for that, I think it’s important to bring my friends with me. Towit, I’m going to take some time today to draw your attention to a few of my friends on the glorious World Wide Web.
1. Freedom with Fred. I’ve mentioned Mac Freedom before, but as some of you are trying to go through an Internet-free February, I thought I’d mention it again. (Of course if you’re reading this you’re already failing miserably.) Mac Freedom was invented by our UNC friend Fred Stutzman. It’s free software that allows you to set a timer and keep yourself on the computer but OFF THE NET. You can’t get on Facebook. You can’t get on e-mail. You can’t even get on Wikipedia until your time expires. Only good for Macs, but if you have one and if you’re as lacking in self-discipline as, say, I am, you might give it a go. www.macfreedom.com
2. Ruta Sepetys. I haven’t met Ruta in person, but I consider us “label mates” since we both started with the same agent. Ruta has a book coming out in 2011. A book I will read, and I hope you will read, too. But before anyone gets to read that, everyone should read her January post about said book and also about the worst critique she ever received. The fact that she was still standing afterwards is amazing. The fact that she faced it with such — pluck (though I tend to want to flick myself in the forehead when I use words like pluck) — just blows my mind. A hilarious post and also bracing, especially if you’re looking for courage in the face of adversity, on a sort of authorial level. (Did I just say that? Flick. Flick. Flick. FLICK.)
3. Cece Bell, whom I do know in person very well, thank you, has started blogging about when she first learned she’d lost her hearing, back when she was 4. The blog is in its infancy, but she is beginning to think she’s ready for a visitor or two, to which I say: It’s never too soon for WORLD DOMINATION. Her most recent entry offers a quick course in deafiquette. And remember: Not even Cece can read your lips in the blogging world, so a little hello in the comments would not be remiss (though Cece is a notorious lurker herself.) Visit eldeafo.wordpress.com
And finally, a quick note about that Washington Post article today, recapping the rerecording of “We Are the World.” (And no, I don’t know any of these guys personally.) I’m not snarking on Babs here, though she might deserve it. But I am going to snark on Lionel and Quincy and just say: Guys. RERECORDING? What, you couldn’t take 10 minutes and come up with something new? I remember having issues with the first We Are the World when it came out 25 years ago, namely thinking that A. It was drek and B. Bruce Springsteen sounded totally constipated. But over the years I’ve come to embrace even that. Dylan’s lines, and Cyndi Lauper’s lines. So familiar. So … right? It’s like suddenly realizing you like meatloaf, after your mother’s fed it to you for two decades. Okay, there’s a new guard; I get that. I’m just saying give the new guard a new song.