American Alligator—A Debut Novel by Peter Schnake

I am BACK after a loooooooong hiatus to bring you some very exciting news: my best friend has finally published his debut novel for Kindle! Get it here for only $0.99! The first chapter is free to sample and I dare you to stop reading there.

Here's what I have to say about it (my official Amazon.com review):

I had the pleasure of receiving American Alligator early for review/edits (so you can blame me for any typos/grammar mistakes you may find) and I can tell you that this little gem stays with you.

In just the first chapter, first-time novelist, Peter Schnake, drops the reader in an unlikely setting and ends it cryptically and provocatively. From there, the momentum of Schnake's debut novel carries the reader swiftly through troubled protagonist Josiah's current state of being while supporting it with memories of his past blessed by brilliance but cursed by circumstance.

Josiah's idiosyncracies make him a complex, sometimes pitiable, but always compelling figure. Though tormented by his own limitations, unique to Josiah's existence is the music which flows unbidden from him to his adoring fans and a woman so deliciously warm and desirous that her very presence works like a panacea on Josiah's wounds.

Schnake's solid plot is infused with poetic themes, rich imagery, and effective metaphors executed in such a way to reward both sophomoric and sophisticated readers alike.

I highly recommend this piece not just as a great debut novel, but as an overall high-acheiving work that I trust will more than likely bring well-deserved praise to a young, but accomplished new novelist.

THANK YOU for taking time to read this and this is my unofficial return to blogging...more to come in the coming month, Lovies! I've missed you so!

A Million Miles in a Thousand Years

A Million Miles in a Thousand Years
Donald Miller
Friends warned me to set aside a lot of time when I started this book because I'd read it in two days; they were wrong. I read it in one.

The book is about how Miller gets an offer to turn his bestseller Blue Like Jazz into a movie and the process of writing the screenplay. In writing an autobiographical screenplay, Miller is asked to present a cinema-worthy version of himself and discovers that his "story" is just not that compelling.


Miller realizes that he is being called to "write a better story" for himself. Somewhere between riding his bike across the U.S., hiking Machu Picchu, and starting The Mentoring Project, Miller lets the Author write him into a better character.

"You can call it God or a conscience, or you can dismiss it as that intuitive knowing we all have as human beings, as living storytellers; but there is a knowing I feel that guides me toward better stories, toward being a better character. I believe there is a writer outside ourselves, plotting a better story for us, interacting with us, even, and whispering a better story into our consciousness."

Miller talks about overcoming fear and addresses the problem of having over-elevated expectations about people, possessions, and even God: "When you stop expecting people to be perfect, you can like them for who they are. And when you stop expecting material possessions to complete you, you'd be surprised at how much pleasure you get in material possessions. And when you stop expecting God to end all your troubles, you'd be surprised how much you like spending time with God."

Like me (and countless other people), Miller had to unlearn about the God he knew growing up—a god that inspires guilt and fear—in order to trust Him to write a better story. "As a kid, the only sense I got from God was guilt...The real Voice is stiller and smaller and seems to know, without confusion, the difference between right and wrong and the subtle delineation between the beautiful and profane. It's not an agitated Voice, but ever patient as though it approves a million false starts."

Miller doesn't treat God as a fearsome ruler or swing too far the other way, thinking of God as a fairy godfather; he treats God with as much respect as he does familiarity. Miller acknowledges that while God can help write a better story, He does not promise a perfect one: "Growing up in church, we were taught that Jesus was the answer to all our problems. We were taught that there was a circle-shaped hole in our heart and that we had tried to fill it with the square pegs of sex, drugs, and rock and roll; but only the circle peg of Jesus could fill our hole. I became a Christian based, in part, on this promise, but the hole never really went away. To be sure, I like Jesus and I still follow him, but the idea that Jesus will make everything better is a lie. It's basically biblical theology translated into the language of infomercials. The truth is, the apostles never really promise Jesus is going to make everything better here on earth...I think Jesus can make things better but I don't think he's going to make things perfect. Not here, not now."

"It's interesting that in the Bible, in the book of Ecclesiastes, the only practical advice given about living a meaningful life is to find job you like, enjoy your marriage, and obey God. It' as though God is saying, write a good story, take somebody with you, and let me help."

My fear of writing a better story is obvious: I'm worried where God will ask me to go and what He'll ask me to do. Also, I worry proximity to God will mean losing too much of myself. I'm not that great or anything, but at least I know who I am.

I worry that if I get too close to the source of all good that somehow I'll be absorbed; I'll never swear, or drink, or think about sex again. I'll become this Jesus drone—that God will steer me back to the Lutheran bubble, ask me to preach apologetics, and cause me to inexplicably volunteer to bring ambrosia salads for the church potlucks.

But what if it's not like that at all—what if proximity to God meant that I could be more myself than ever? Perhaps closeness to God would mean I could love more and judge less, have confidence to approach my Christian community with my biggest doubts and hardest questions, and read the Bible less for platitudes and more because it's full of stories about people even more messed up than me. What if it meant that, overall, I could live a better story?

I guess there's only one way to find out. I don't have a good conclusion for this post but I think I've at least got an inciting incident for my story.

Everyday Ordinary

I threw together this graphic because I loved this quote from Woolf, a woman who saw the extraordinary in the most banal of objects and circumstances.

I stumbled upon these photos of what someone did with chain link fences and I wondered what that person had to do to get permission to alter the fences, how much work went into them, was that person hansomely paid? Or did he or she do it for peanuts just to beautify something plain? Regardless, how much time went into these? I don't know the origin or the story behind these but I sort of prefer it that way. It's enough to see that someone took something prohibitive and harsh and wove it into inviting, delicate lace.

Song Steps

Amazing, I wish I could think of something like this to inspire and motivate people to do change one behavior for the better...just give me time.

Turn On

I didn't know lighthing could be this gorgeous. This is not even remotely Halloween related but I had to share these lovelies from Yellow Goat Design.

Chaos Theory

200 Drop Pendant
...or 100 drop pendant or 150 drop pendant or whatever size you require. The unit pictured is 2400mm in diameter with 200 drops as the name implies. Each drop can vary in length and each drop consists of a 600mm long x 40mm diameter crystal glass tube with a frosted band around the outside (optional) and a bi-pin inside.

Angels & Demons

Besa
12 oval shaped polished metal hoops dripping with crystal strands, each hoop suspended inside and above the other. Finally a shower of 90mm diam solid glass balls containing a 12V bi-pin or LED light source completing the illusion of frozen rain.

Celeste
There is an elegant twist in this combination of long crystal strands. Each is built and weighted to create a deceptively simple helix and is lit by unseen downlights set off to one side.

Fireflies
These beautiful wings in 6mm clear acrylic with edges that glow in the dark are best hung in clusters.

Frills

Salsa

Koolstick Chandelier

Last night I went tangoing for the second night in a row (am considering going again tonight). I'd worked a 12-hour day and gone straight to Barry's to dance with two older, distringuished tangueros who were kind enough to dance with an amateur like me (it helped that I was the only female who showed up to Tuesday tango night). As I drove home last night, I wondered why I was spending my time dancing when there were so many other things I should be doing. I have goals I'll never reach if I don't start getting organized and apply myself and there are people I neglect to feed my dance habit. I thought about it, and this week I'll spend five nights out of seven out dancing. Why am I doing it?
For one thing, the exercise is great. It's the only workout I enjoy and as my appetite shrinks and my legs grow strong, I feel my waistline veeeeeeery slowly diminish. But there's a better reason: four years ago in Buenos Aires, I tried to tango and after a horribly failed practica, I swore it off for life. I just knew I couldn't do it and uncharacteristically took it off the table forever, or so I thought. Now that patient instructors and kind male partners have taught me that I can be an acceptable tanguera, I feel immensely empowered. It is the first time in a very long time that I believe that we can do the impossible if we try. That, as cheesy as this line is, we truly do miss 100% of the shots we don't take.
Now that the lessons and practicas aren't a huge struggle, just a matter of polishing and improving, I feel ready to use this as a springboard toward accomplishing other things I've been putting off out of laziness and hopelessness.

Thanks for indulging yet another selfish post—I hope that someone might read this and feel encouraged to try something unfamiliar and uncomfortable and overcome his/her own fears. It's a wonderful thing to discover you have more in you than you thought.

Object Orange

I can't take any credit for this whatsoever, I found this on my friend's blog, Jerry. Jerry is a new friend of mine; he's the best tango dancer I've found in Lincoln so far but he only moonlights as that, in real life, he'a an architect with a really cool Web site and blog. Here is a recent post about art students in Detroit who, sick of looking at all the dilapidated houses in the area, decided to paint them bright orange. Find out why by clicking here, I thought it was an awesome story. Thanks Jerry!

Photo Phabulous

These made me happy and gave me ideas. That's all. Enjoy Carl Kleiner's work!

Three Things to Tell You:

1) I love classic literature. LOVE it. Like, pretty sure I ruined a couple promising dates by waxing poetic about the brilliance of Jane Eyre's caracter or the deep perversion of Dracula, or arguing that Gatsby is the most tragic individual in literature since Hamlet. I even loved The Scarlet Letter while my classmates scoffed! However, I have finally determined (with 100 pages to go, mind you) that Anna Karenina is nothing but a verbose doorstop. This massive tome was NOT worth my time. I know it's this multifaceted Russian commentary covering everything from religion, sportsmanship, politics, industrial revolution, to infidelity, parenthood, and sex (and well it should, comprising a whopping 864 pages--only Harry Potter can get away with that much heft).

Seriously, I didn't find any particularly redeeming qualities about this book. No real take away quotes, thoughts on life, none of it. I am not totally sorry I read it but I will be much more selective in the next Russian novel I take up. Giving it minus one star out of five. Blech.

2) On the upside, Mumford & Sons music has given me new-found hope in new alternative/indie music (so has Florence + The Machine, I guess) but check out these fabulous songs! WARNING: "Little Lion Man" has the f-bomb in it over and over--not in a totally crass way, I think the group was trying to add edge to their folk song with the expletive and I forgive the gimick for its fabulous sound.




3) NPR.org is the I Ching. If you haven't messed around on that site lately, you're genuinely missing out. I discover my best music on "All Songs Considered" (though I would skip the most recent show and try this post), get my literary snack from "The Writer's Almanac" and have been known to listen to up to 12 past episodes at a time just to catch up. Morning Edition is the best news site you will find period (BBC is a close second). Don't forget my post on StoryCorps
I posted (and probably made you cry, again, sorry!) in August.

Enjoy the latter two, skip Anna Karenina.

StoryCorps

StoryCorps is an independent nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide Americans of all backgrounds and beliefs with the opportunity to record, share, and preserve the stories of our lives.

NPR brings us touching, funny, and often heartwrenching stories and feature them for about five minutes on morning edition weekly. I hardly ever listen to one of these without tearing up so be warned! Now, animators have taken a couple stories to the next level by animating the recordings through illustration. Check out this sweet one below about a mother and a son who has Aspergers:

Q&A from StoryCorps on Vimeo.

And I will warn you now that this one had me shaking with sobs but personally, it was an important one to watch and I'll admit to you why. I've always been and am still single. Ninety percent of the time these days, I'm really pleased about it and enjoying this time in my life. But 10% I consider that my single friends count is dwindling so I can count them on one hand, my heart swells with happiness as women I've walked through life with say "I Do" and start their own families with little baby bumps. But it's a bit hard not to feel a little like the last one picked in kick ball. So for me, this story along with countless others I've been blessed to witness reminds me that great love exists and how many forms it takes. Watch with a box of Kleenex but leave hopeful in love, single or not:

Danny & Annie from StoryCorps on Vimeo.

Other great stories (they're almost all amazing):
Intertwined Love Story: Twins Who Married Twins
"You're not a fantastic dancer, but you hold me fantastically and I feel it."

After Just 10 Days, 'Best Years' Of Life Begin
"Even if you stop loving me tomorrow, I could never pay you back for all of the love and affection you have given my baby."

Inspired—Jessica Hische

have been inspired by Jessica Hische's daily drop cap project for a long time but I didn't admire her for more than her art until I heard this interview with her. I was suprised how wise this young designer was and how well she articulated what I love about graphic design.

Art In The Age Presents... Jessica Hische from Art In The Age on Vimeo.

She talks about how she did the art school thing but that she was less into self-expression and more into design because "it was about solving problems and communication" which is exactly why I love design. I don't desire to free form, I desire to beautify and aesthetically improve the world around me. She also talks about how the "death of print" is really just the death of unnecessary print, which is something I can completely get behind as well.
Enjoy this sampling of her brilliant work!






Describe your design in one sentence.
“Jessica Hische’s work combines equal parts design, typography, illustration, brown sugar, and heavy cream.” (Thanks, Jason from the Heads of State, for that one!)

What other designers / illustrators inspire you?
So many its hard to say. I have a major design crush on Marion Bantjes and a brain/concept crush on Christoph Niemann (you should reread the illustrated article he did for Print a few years back (2005? 2006?) on being an illustrator). I have a really talented group of friends that also keep my motivation high. I see work every day on sites like ffffound, the dieline, etc. that makes me seethe with jealousy. Envy can be a big motivator.

(Now I want to buy Marion Bantjes' book, I Wonder.)

Monsters and Post-Its

Oh my, I have found a fabulous new blog. Don Kenn Gallery is a blog by a man who draws monster scenes on post-its. Here's his blurb from the blog:
"born in Denmark 1978. I write and direct television shows for kids. I have a set of twins and not much time for anything. But when i have time i draw monsterdrawings on post-it notes... it is a little window into a different world, made on office supplies."
The only thing that makes me sad is that I've been working on a post-it portfolio for ages and ages and not much has come of it. Also, I have no theme to what I draw on my little 3x3 stickies so I'm very jealous.
Don also did a short film and posted it to Vimeo, please enjoy.

Said the Shark - True Love from Iwave records on Vimeo.

Rules

I love this site and the pearls of wisdom that come from the various sources that contributed to it. For example:
392. When you’re with new friends, don’t just talk about old friends.

390. Eat lunch with the new kid.

389. After writing an angry email, read it carefully. Then delete it.

“Don’t pick fights with the bullies or the cads, ‘cause I’m not much cop at punching other people’s dads.

David Bowie, Kooks

395. Be mindful of what comes between you and the earth. Buy good tires, good sheets, and good shoes.

402. If you aren’t hungry enough to eat an apple, you aren’t hungry.

“Always read something that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.

P.J. O’Rourke

411. At the ballpark, never start the wave. But don’t let it die.

415. The pleats on a cummerbund face up.

“Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better man.

Benjamin Frankiln

434. A suntan is earned, never bought.


I think I want to buy the book for my father on Father's Day. Shhh, don't tell him.

De$ign

Monday Must Haves

Better than a spork.


My new thing is owls and this is my favorite girly color ever so this t-shirt is epic to me.


Well this is brilliant! I like to think even I could handle nailing a couple rustic, wire baskets to the wall and filling them with fresh towels. I also just love pile and piles of fresh towels/linens.


Brings a whole new meaning to "climbing the walls"—WANT!


I want to do this! Love love love this idea and I think I have a new "brilliant blogger" to add to the crew, click here to see what I'm talking about.

Midnight Knitter Strikes Again!

'Midnight Knitter' Wanted In N.J. Shore Town
March 11, 2010

Someone in West Cape May, N.J, has been covering tree branches and lamp posts with brightly colored little scarves and sweaters. Police are on the lookout for the perpetrator dubbed The Midnight Knitter by a local paper. Technically the action is illegal because it's being done on public property without permission.

It's a weird happening but a pretty good yarn! I just thought this was too fantastic not to post. Keep creating, Kids!

Why Didn't I Think of This Friday

Oh my gosh, LOVE this. Click here to see "vanity barcodes." I am constantly floored by the creativity and ingenuity of others.

Last weekend in San Diego!! How bittersweet it is...and how blessed I am to be too busy to notice.

Want!

As I said in an earlier post, will provide more substantial updates once I'm all moved and back in the Midwest, but for now I hope you like seeing the videos/things that inspire me and make me happy!

One Creepy Thing Friday

Alma from Rodrigo Blaas on Vimeo.

Scintillation

SCINTILLATION from Xavier Chassaing on Vimeo.