Bloggiesta Dia Dos

What have I done for Bloggiesta so far? Rather a lot, I think, considering I had to work yesterday. Let's look at the list:

• Link to my blog reviews on GoodReads. This didn't take as long as I thought it would. After about an hour, I linked to all my reviews through August 2011. I'm calling that good for now, and will hopefully remember to maintain linking back to my reviews in the future. I'm sorry if I unintentionally spammed you with the updates! Didn't realize GR was doing that...
  
• Tackle Technorati. I'm still ignoring this one.
  
• Find out why the FaceBook 'like' button on PGP isn't working. This is KINDA complete. I set up a FB fan page for PGP and linked to the feed with Networked blogs. Now I just need to confirm that my solution actually worked.
  
• Get rid of the TBFB at the start of every post and "This work by..." in the summary. Meghan from Medieval Bookworm helped me with this! I'll have to wait about 24 hours to see if it's working properly, but basically it has to do with adding meta descriptions to your blog and posts. Just Google how to add meta descriptions with your blogging platform and you should come up with directions on how to do it.
  

I also:

• Made a page listing with all my art and art history posts. There were A LOT of these. It took forever, and the list is still kind of unorganized.
• Designed some social media buttons. I plan on setting them up today.

And I need to write one or two blog posts for PGP at some point during the weekend. Or later in the week.

How has your Bloggiesta been so far?

Bloggiesta To-Do List

It's time for Bloggiesta, olé! For those of you who don't know, Bloggiesta is a blogging fiesta where bloggers work together to get stuff done on their blogs. Then we eat Mexican food and dance to Latin music. Wheee! It's really fun and will run the entire weekend. To sign up or find out more, check out There's a Book and It's All About Books.

Here are my blogging goals for Bloggiesta:

• Link to my blog reviews on GoodReads. I'm not sure why I'm doing this, but I decided it was a good idea. I'll probably just do it until I get bored.
  
• Tackle Technorati. One of the first Bloggiesta mini-challenges was signing up for Technorati and then using it to tag your posts. I tried signing up then, but Technorati kept crashing, so I decided I'd finish it at some point in the future. Now here we are, two years later...
  
• Find out why the FaceBook 'like' button on PGP isn't working. It's probably because the PGP feed isn't connected to FaceBook, which I tried to do weeks ago but it wouldn't let me. blargh
  
• Get rid of the TBFB at the start of every post and "This work by..." in the summary. This is something I definitely need help on. When I google my (main) blog, the results that show up look like this:
  

The page titles are either inaccurate (Review, Book Review) or the title of the blog, and the description below each is my feed's copyright notice. Compare that to what comes up when you google Dear Author:



DA has clear page categories, and the description underneath is mostly appropriate for the pages.

So why are all my post titles prefaced with the title of my blog, and why is the feed copyright notice used as the description? Does anyone know what the root of the problem is and where I can find help or info about this?

I will also be on twitter following the #bloggiesta hashtag and trying to help people where I can. Let's get the fiesta started!

Guest Post by JOANNE DEMAIO: Life Through the Lens of Art

As a writer, I often depend upon visuals to compose my ideas and words. I especially employ this method with my novel’s corresponding blog (joannedemaio.blogspot.com).  Each post is inspired by an everyday photograph. My view through the camera lens provides a clear perspective on examining how we live our passions and dreams, the theme of the blog. A boat marina becomes a post asking when the reader’s ship will come in. A crumbling stone wall parallels building the lives we seek one stone at a time. I’m never at a loss for a post; yet, without my photographs, the blog would not exist. Photographs provide my written vision.

The same can be said for my novel Whole Latte Life’s main character, Sara Beth. She sees circumstances in her days through the lens of her art background. Her art history education and a love for antiques provide her with a perspective that serves her well in understanding life and the choices she is to make. Words and family and feelings become the shapes and forms and brush strokes that comprise her life like a work of art. I’ve written passages where she sees her family through the idea of a Tonalist painting; others where she feels a personal longing through the fleeting colors of the summer evening light falling upon an historic carriage house; she understands the woman she wants to become through imagining sketched images of herself in others’ eyes.

And it works. When we bring a passion, be it art history or photography or song, to our inquiring thoughts, we often find a richer answer than we might have without that lens.

She dares to consider her reflection and study the woman, who, at forty, had to walk out of her life to find her way back. The eyes are less assured than she had imagined, her skin drawn. Instead of a small thrill, now there’s this nagging doubt. Did she do the right thing? They say that in an oil painting, colors can be painted over each other, changing the nuance of light. So maybe this is what she’ll do. Change just the nuance of Sara Beth.

Excerpt Page 14 ~ Whole Latte Life


This is a room from Paris’ Hotel de Varengeville, reconstructed in New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Find out more about Joanne on Twitter, BookFace, and GoodReads.

The Sunday Salon: Parallels Between Publishing Today and the Birth of Modern Art

Edgar Degas, Mary Cassatt at the Louvre, 1879. Image courtesy of the Met.

We're studying impressionism in my art history course this week, and I couldn't help but notice some similarities between the art world during that time period and the publishing world today--specifically, the impact eBooks, self-published or otherwise, are having on publishing. For instance:

• Deskilling A common statement about modern art is that, "my five-year-old could do that." And when you compare a Pissarro to a Vermeer, the former does look pretty bad. But people don't care about skill! That much. They care more about the ideas behind the pieces and that they're something new and different. Similarly, self-published eBooks are often criticized for grammatical mistakes and lack of editing. But people don't care! I mean, I care, but if Fifty Shades is on the NYT Bestseller List obviously there are a lot of people who don't. They just want to read something new and different! But not too different, like different in the sense that you feel uncomfortable while reading it. Also, being really cheap or free helps. Moving on...
  
• Establishment vs the Salon des Refusés Whenever you have a system to evaluate the worth of something and promote that which is judged superior, there are going to be rejections and hurt feelings. However, in 1863, the Academy Salon in Paris rejected 3,000 pieces of art, far more than they ever had before. It was so extreme the French government sponsored a salon of the rejected work, which included what are now some of the most famous pieces of 19th century art. Basically all these young artists who set the groundwork for the crumbling of the Salon wanted to be let into the establishment in the first place. They didn't set out to tear the system down, but the Salon had become too conservative and didn't want to be shaken up by new ideas. Similarly, one of the complaints I hear from self-published authors are that the Big 6 publishers don't support mid-listers anymore, which is where most new authors would start out (keep in mind all my information is hearsay, and this may only be a few people's experience). It makes sense that, as the economy gets worse, publishers are buttoning down the proverbial hatches and not taking chances on lesser-known writers anymore; but where are those writers going to go? They'll probably self- or e-publish.
• Technology Impressionists are famous for painting scenes of modern life, not allegories with cupids or historic scenes. Their images included trains and factories, and they were interested in the latest and greatest technology, science, theories, and newspaper reports. I don't think one could say the total opposite was true of Salon artists of the same time period, but the work of artists like William-Adolphe Bouguereau, whom Degas and Monet believed would be the most famous artist of their generation (with more than a little disgust), definitely has a completely different sensibility. I.e., frolicking cupids. In a similar way, it seems like some publishers are being dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century--not just in their acceptance of eBooks, but also in their business models.

Obviously, none of these parallels are exact because we're looking at two different centuries, art forms, and cultures. But from my perspective as a reader, this is a very exciting time period in literature. The rules of how and what is being published are shifting rapidly, and that offers a great opportunity for writers to experiment, as well as an audience open to reading their work. Will we soon have the literary equivalent of modern art? Is Fifty Shades our generation's Impression: Sunrise?

Gawd. I hope not (but then I do confess I have a soft spot for Bouguereau).

Review: THE HUNGER GAMES by Suzanne Collins

Sixteen-year-old Katniss lives in a post-apocalyptic North America, where every district is required to send two teenagers to participate in the Hunger Games--an annual fight to the death broadcast on live TV. Like Highlander, there can be only one; but unlike Highlander, there are no kilts or Scottish accents. Naturally, Katniss becomes a Hunger Games tribute and has to fight her way through a bunch of people who want to kill her. Is she going to survive?! Considering there are two more books, I'm guessing yes.

Yes, I finally read The Hunger Games. What took me so long? It had mainly to do with the insane popularity of this book, and also because it's the type of thing I wouldn't normally read if it WASN'T popular. I have to say I'm happy I read it, since at last I can finally understand what people are talking about half the time on twitter.

First things: this is a very well-written book, and it only gets better as it goes on. The last quarter of The Hunger Games is especially good, with an interesting twist and lots of action and great emotion from the characters.

That being said, the novel wasn't really what I was expecting. It's billed as a dytopian novel, but Panem doesn't seem THAT bad. There are the Hunger Games, yes--but at least there seems to be racial and gender equality, so that's something! Also, when I think of a dystopian novel, I think of a critique of government or society. While there's definitely some of that in The Hunger Games, mostly it's about a tough-ass chick trying to out-fight or -think her way past mean humans and even meaner animal hybrids, including human-wolf mutants (hulves?), while protecting innocents. So in that respect the book reads more like an urban fantasy than a dystopian novel, and people who like UF will probably love it.

I, however, am notorious for not liking UF. So I had some difficulties. These were only compounded by the fact that I found Katniss to be really annoying, what with the whining about how terrible her life in District 12 is, the sullenness and temper tantrums, and the constant second-guessing of other people's motives.

Thank god for Pita Bread Boy, because he's the only likable character in the entire novel and without him I would have been bored out of my mind. He is WAY too good for Katniss. These two apples have fallen from different trees, and I honestly don't see them as having a future together. It's like when you go to a foreign country and you hang out with people you would never normally would hang out with, just because they speak the same language you do. That's Katniss and Peeta in the Hunger Games.

I'm not sure if I'm going to read Catching Fire or not. On the one hand, I am invested in the Peeta/Katniss storyline at this point (in case you couldn't tell) and want to find out what happens; but on the other hand, sometimes things are better left to the imagination. I'll probably break down and read it because I'm curious like that.

Bottom line: this is a good book, and I liked it; but I couldn't really get into it to the point that I know others have. If you haven't read it, you should, if only to find out what a Haymitch and Cinna are.



Musical notes: "Friends" by Bette Midler. Katniss needs someone to sing this to her.

Movie Review: HIGH SPIRITS

Originally released: 1988
Starring: Peter O'Toole, Daryl Hannah, Beverly D'Angelo, Steve Guttenberg, Liam Neeson, Jennifer Tilly, Peter Gallagher
Directed by: Neil Jordan
Based on: a script? I assume they had one, anyway.


It's time for another edition of Cheesy Movies Tasha Likes! This 1980s gem takes place in Ireland, which was an exotic place to travel in the '80s, or so I imagine. Peter O'Toole is the last in a long line of Plunkets whose castle is about to moved brick-by-brick to the US by an evil corporate dude. So he sets it up as a haunted hotel to make the money to buy it back. It IS haunted, but he doesn't think it is, so he makes his employees pretend to be ghosts and scare a bunch of American tourists. But the tourists take matters into their own tentacles and fall in love with a few of the ghosts.

I saw High Spirits when I was eight, and I swear I was obsessed with this movie. It has everything I could possibly like: castles, ghosts, people falling in love. But by far my favorite part of the film is Sharon, played by Beverly D'Angelo. She is SO hilarious. As an eight-year-old, she represented ideal womanhood, which is a little bizarre because she is a total raging bitch. I freaking love her! See, Sharon isn't a bad person, she's just trapped in a marriage with this boring guy who is completely uninteresting. But things turn out happily for Sharon, because she meets LIAM NEESON (aka, Martin, a ghost) and he knows EXACTLY what to do when she starts spiraling. *eyebrow wraggle*


Oh yeahs.

Strangely, it appears that in certain circles, this is not considered a "good" film. Like, seriously? Not a good movie? I don't... I can't even... You have true love, a talking horse, a castle, ghosts literally coming out of the walls, Steve Guttenberg getting bitch-slapped, and gratuitous scenes of drunkenness. A better question is, What's NOT to like? I suppose you don't enjoy The Butcher's Wife or Robin Hood either, huh? Huh? Okay, the talking horse is pretty stupid. And Daryl Hannah's accent is pretty bad. But still.

For me, this is a highly enjoyable movie. It's worth watching just to see a young Liam Neeson acting silly and lusty instead of broody and shouting into a phone. And look at how many stars are in it! You know you want to watch it.

The Sunday Salon: Random Spring Thinks

Hello, Sunday Saloners! It's been a while since I participated in a Sunday Salon, but I'm in the mood to ramble on about various things in my reading life today.



First of all, I am incandescent lately because the weather is finally getting into the 60s and 70s. I'm like a flower: when it starts getting warm and sunny, I come to life (actually, my theme song is "Coming Up"). That means I can go outside and read! More reading means less time for blogging, but I'm not getting too worked up about that. I can blog when it's cold.

As for what I've been reading, lately I've been having trouble connecting to characters, and I'm bothered by the cynicism in many novels. I am so tired of heroines that seem to have no emotions, dreams, or self-awareness. I'm also starting to realize that I'm more than a bit of an outlier. It feels like I'm never in step with the latest trends, and when I am my opinion goes against what the majority thinks. Not that it matters a lot (I'm not going to change my reading habits any time soon), but as far as blogging goes, I've been feeling more isolated in recent months. As much as I love writing down my thoughts on novels, there's something to be said for having the freedom to react to a book in any way you want without having to defend what you feel about it.



ANYWAY. It's warm! What else am I up to? I started a new blog with Melody from Redeeming Qualities called Liquid Persuasion this week. This one is devoted to cocktails and is on Tumblr. I know I need another blog like I need a broken leg, but this blog isn't dedicated to books, so it will be at a different speed than my other two blogs and shouldn't add too much to my schedule.


Source: Staples eReader Department

How fast can you read? Trish from Hey Lady Watcha Reading posted this week about a new web app that measures how fast you can read on an eReader. This is a fun thing to play with, but I was perturbed by the fact that the app designers related speed of reading directly to education levels. In the results, they place respondents on a sliding scale of grade schoolers to college professors. I read 34% faster than the average adult, yet my score is below high school level. How does that make sense? Are they implying the faster you read, the more educated/intelligent you are? Or that most adults read at grade school levels? But then how would you get a higher score for college students--wouldn't it be the same?

Also, reading speed depends on what you're reading. I read non-fiction much faster than I read fiction, because I've trained myself to speed read it. With fiction, I read a lot slower because that's my "fun" reading. I read novels more for the experience of reading them, to get to know different characters and be transported to another place, and for me that's worth the time and attention to read slower. With non-fiction, I'm looking for information, so it's easy to identify what I need and speed through the extraneous stuff.

In any case, the app is really interesting and I definitely recommend you check it out. Feel free to share what your score was!