Syntax of Things

Breaking

I am suspending my blog until I'm able to fix my economic problems.  Or until Monday.  Whichever comes first.

Off Week

I'm hiding in my bunker for a few days.  See you next week.

Proper

From The Rut:

[Much thanks to good pal Kay for sending this along.]

Stet //

Following up on the post last week about the imminent demise of the newsroom copyeditor, an emailer sent along this link to a similar article by Gene Weingarten in the Washington Post.  There's even a little copyediting test that goes along with this one:

The inessentialness of copy editors is underscored by the advent of sophisticated spellchecking systems which have introduced a hole new level of error-free proofreading. No longer can we say that the editor's penis mightier than the sword. The sword's main foe is a computer now, and the computer is up to to the task.

But nowadays, things have changed. "Scoop" is gone. Young reporters are all named "P. Laurence Butterfield Jr." and they arrive at their first newspaper jobs fresh-faced and competent, straight from New Haven, Conn., with their high-faluting Princeton educations. They don't need copyeditors.

Truth to tell, I feel badly for all copy editors whom, I'm afraid, will suddenly find themselves out of a job. Time has past them by, however, efeated the Red Sox 6-5 in extra innings and it doesn't make sense for us to weep for copyeditors anymore than it makes sense for us to lament the replacement of bank tellers with automated ATM machines.

Stet

Are we in the last days of the newsroom copy editors? The NYT's Lawrence Downes thinks so:

The job hasn’t disappeared yet, but it is swiftly evolving, away from an emphasis on style and consistency, from making a physical object perfect the first time. The path to excellence is now through speed, agility and creativity in using multiple expressive outlets for information in all its shapes and sounds.

As newspapers lose money and readers, they have been shedding great swaths of expensive expertise. They have been forced to shrink or eliminate the multiply redundant levels of editing that distinguish their kind of journalism from what you find on TV, radio and much of the Web. Copy editors are being bought out or forced out; they are dying and not being replaced.

Webby doesn’t necessarily mean sloppy, of course, and online news operations will shine with all the brilliance that the journalists who create them can bring. But in that world of the perpetual present tense — post it now, fix it later, update constantly — old-time, persnickety editing may be a luxury in which only a few large news operations will indulge. It will be an artisanal product, like monastery honey and wooden yachts.

FuckShitPissCuntCocksuckerMotherfuckerTits

So long, George...

Here's my favorite Carlin bit:

Cyclical

I'm glad Ed's back doing his round-ups, even if he can't get things to work right to do his round-ups.  Just knowing Ed is there with his round-ups makes me feel better.  Because he's Ed and Ed cares.

I used to round-ups.  I'd spend long minutes scouring the bloglines and the googles just looking for things to round--up.  Now I look for that one thing that makes me say, "hey, that's the one thing" and then I link to it.  But I think I want to start doing round-ups again.  Only I'll call my round-ups something else.

They'll probably still be round.

Last night, I went to see music played.  It reminded me of how good music is when seen live.  Of course, it took a really good band (and good company) to get me out of the house, and Centro-matic is that.  They are damn good.  If you've been listening to them for any amount of time, you know that. And the 50 people that showed up in Chapel Hill to see them will probably attest to that. 

The M's are pretty damn good too.  In fact, they were impressively good.  Whatever that means.  I'd try to be like "you ain't no picasso" and say they sound like something mixed with something, but I think they sounded like a cross between the letter l and the letter n.   Which is better when you know what the letter p sounds like these days.  You can stream their album here.

I do recommend.

But I was looking forward to Centro-matic.  And they didn't disappoint.  In fact, I feel better now.  Not so guilty that it's been more than 18 months since I've had my hand stamped to enter a club to see live music.  I was beginning to fear that the next show I would see would involve puppets skating on ice while speaking Spanish or laughing in some frequency that only a kid of 2 can pick up on.

I'm glad it didn't come to that.  I got my hand stamped and paid $3 to get a card that tells me I'm a member of a club that sales real honest-to-bygod liquor in the state of North Carolina.   

And I got to listen to music.  Music that was impressively good, whatever that means.

If you get a chance, you should go get your hand stamped to see Centro-matic.

You might get to see them do a pretty good English Beat cover.

Remote

I saw this photo earlier this morning and I can't stop thinking about it.  I don't know why but the idea that there can still be "uncontacted tribes" out there is something that's hard to comprehend.  Apparently there are still more than 100 such tribes with more than half of them in Brazil and Peru. Look at those guys (or gals) aiming their bows at the airplane.  Primitive as can be and amazingly compelling.  More here.

Six Degrees of Wikipedia

I warn you:  the following may sound trivial, but it will suck you in and then you'll finally understand that the Internet is a meaningful and omnipotent entity:

Ever heard of the game Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon? If you haven't, it works like this: Every actor gets a Kevin Bacon number. Kevin Bacon has a Kevin Bacon number of 0, actors who were in a movie with Kevin Bacon get a Kevin Bacon number of 1, actors who were in a movie with someone who has a Kevin Bacon number 1 get a 2, and so on (Everybody always gets the smallest number possible, so if you were in a film with two people, one with a 4 and one with a 6, your Kevin Bacon number would be 5).

The same idea could apply to the articles Wikipedia. Instead of taking "in the same film" as the relation, you can take "is linked to by". We'll call the "Kevin Bacon number" from one article to another the "distance" between them. It's then possible to work out the "closeness" of an article in Wikipedia as its average distance to any other article. I wanted to find the centre of wikipedia, that is, the article that is closest to all other articles (has minimum closeness).

The site is more than just informative.  You can actually enter two search terms and find out how many wikipedia clicks separate the two.  For instance I found out there were four clicks separating syntax and things.

I think I've spent too much time playing around at this site this already, time I should have spent coming up with something halfway interesting to more people than just me to post here this morning.  Back later.

Back to SoT

I'd like to thank Steve Gillis for taking time out of his schedule to grace Syntax of Things with his presence.  If you want more Gillis, be sure to check out his Largehearted Boy playlist or his interview over at Bookslut.  And be sure to pick up a copy of Temporary People.  You won't be sorry.

I hope to do more of this sort of thing in the coming months.  I have a couple of contributors lined up, so stay tuned.

Steve Gillis Wrapping Up

The end of the day, end of the road, end of my time on the Syntax of Things and I want to thank Jeff for inviting me and sharing his space.  Means a lot.  Awkward of course hawking my wares, but I do hope those of you inclined to give my novel, Temporary People, a read, that you enjoy.  And those of you interested in Dzanc and possibly considering submitting a work, please know we are here to support and publish the best writing we can find and are pleased to already have in our stable such great writers as Roy Kesey, Yannick Murphy, Kyle Minor, Peter Markus, Suzanne Burns, Robert Lopez, Mike Czyzniejewski, Henning Koch, Terese Svoboda, Dawn Raffel, Laura van den Berg, Stefan Kiesbye, and Hesh Kestin.  We are equally excited by our imprints, OV Books - edited by the great Gina Frangello, and Black Lawrence Press, edited by the dynamic duo Diane Goettel and Colleen Ryor, as well as Monkeybicycle Lit Journal, edited by our brilliant design guru at Dzanc, Steven Seighman.  Peace and love, my friends.  Let's remember that.  Now go out there and elect the best damn democratic candidate and read 100 new books this year and lets see if we can't right this ship.  It's a glorious world.  Let's try not to get complacent again and allow the bad guys to take over.  There's too much at stake.  Thanks for all.   Steve Gillis

The Writing Process

I am reserved by nature, am always then red faced and surprised when people want to know more about me.  "How do you write?  What is your process?"  The question gets posed and has been posed here again so I will tell you in short, for me, writing is - as Edison said of work and genius - in general 5% inspiration and 95% drugs.  No, I mean 95% perspiration.  I write everyday, 365 days a year.  I get up ridiculously early  -  don't ask  - go for a run, come home, shower and write.  And write.  I wrestle my ideas to the ground, get thrashed about, bruise my knees and bloody my head.  I don't ever quit.  I respect the process and learn from it, even now, after all these years.  Temporary People went though many many drafts.  I had an idea what I wanted to write, but getting there is not linear.  I just rely on faith (not religious faith but real faith) and no sleep and forge on.  I don't ever go "diminishing returns" on the entire novel or story, am aware of not beating a dead horse, but if a passage or chapter isnt working I labor until I figure out why.  In short, it is never the muse I wait on, but just the old fashioned nose to the grindstone and even on the worst of days, I remind myself there is nothing in the world I would rather be doing.

A fan of the author

What blog would be complete without some name dropping?  At the risk of leaving someone out, a list then of authors I have recently read or am forever returning to and thus recommend:  Mark Sarvas, Samantha Hunt, Eileen Pollack, Roy Kesey, Yannick Murphy, Kyle Minor, Jeff Parker, Lee K. Abbott, George Saunders, Pinckney Benedict, John Cheever, Lydia Davis, Keith Taylor, Philip F. Deaver, Steven Almond, Sam Lipsyte, Stephen Dixon, Jason Ockert, Andre Dubus, Jim Shepard, Stephen Elliott, Suzanne Burns, Brian Evenson, Elizabeth Ellen, Jim Harrison, Yasunari Kawabata, Jonathan Lethem, Lee Martin, Cormac McCarthy, Erin McGraw, Chris Bachelder, Flannery O'Connor, Don Pollock, Robert Lopez, Peter Markus, Peter Ho Davies, Aimee Bender, Ben Percy, Tod Goldberg, Rusty Barnes, Pia Z. Ehrhardt, David Morse, Mike Czyzniejewski, Stefan Kiesbye, Anton Chekhov, Gunter Grass, Fyodor Doestoyevski, Jo Neace Krause, Felicia Sullivan, Norman Waksler, Kevin Moffitt, Corey Messler,  Hesh Kestin,  Louella Bryant, Allison Amend, Daniel Chacon,  Peter Selgin,  Laura van den Berg, Henning Koch, Terese Svoboda, Dawn Raffel, Norman Rush, Christine Hume, Janet Kaufman, TC Boyle, Aaron Burch, Harold Pinter, HannahTinti, Jim Tomlinson, Colson Whitehead and Kellie Wells.  And a host of others to be sure that I apologize for excluding off the top of my head.

Dzanc Books

At the risk of taking advantage of this forum offered me, I'd be remiss if I didn't write a bit about Dzanc Books.  Dan Wickett and I founded Dzanc in 2006  with the aim of bringing great writing to a wider audience.  With lots of sweat and focus and support from folks like Steven Sieghman and Keith Taylor, we have put together a list of authors which we feel rivals the top tier presses in the country.  We are a hands-on, here to help you, buddy up to the bar, publishing house and damn proud of it.  Consortium now distributes our books nationally, as well as the books of our imprints, Black Lawrence Press, Monkeybicycle and OV Books.  Our Dzanc Writers in Residency Program, our Dzanc Prize and dozens of workshops further extends the Dzanc vision for giving something back to the community.  Its been a grand 2 years and we are looking to run for 100 years more.  After that, it's anyone's guess.  Now, if anyone can tell me what Dzanc stands for, we'll send you a copy of Roy Kesey's great Dzanc Book,  All Over.

Detroit loves literature. It also loves sports.

Having finished the task of describing the fundament of Temporary People, I can move on to more imperative concerns:  SPORTS.  Let us not pretend there is anything more significant or moving than the mark and measure of the home team.  I am a homer.  A Detroit boy forever rooting and what can I say?  Right now, without exception, there is no better sports city in America.  Go ahead and differ with me, the proof is in the pundit, I mean the pudding.  Pistons?  Second round of the playoffs and up 3-1.  Red Wings?  Western Conference finals and up 2-0.  Tigers?  On the move after a tough start, the team to beat for sure after 40 games and having just taken the Yankees in 2 series winning 5 games.  Lions?  Ok, so we have a blip on our screen.  Are we going to focus on the mole on Cindy Crawford's cheek or look at the body in total?

Guest Post - Steven Gillis

Hey All:

    Steve Gillis here.  I've been invited to blog away, to rant and riff and indulge myself today on Syntax of Things, and I want to thank Jeff for this opportunity.  I am well pleased the Syntax of Things dug my novel, Temporary People, (Black Lawrence Press, April 2008) and figured a good place to start the day would be with a brief bit about the book.
    I got the idea for TP around the time George W. Bush was elected president.  In short, I wondered with a good deal of shock how the hell this happened.  (And not once but twice!)  How did a moron become the leader of the free world?  It's an astonishing development and one which lead me from there to ask the question:  What can we do about it?  This is the fundamental question being raised in TP.  What can any one of us do to when we find ourselves under an oppressive government, one that is intent on taking away our liberties, distorting reality and messing with our lives.  What if the called for response clashes with our personal philosophies?  I am by nature a pacifist - though those who have argued with me might disagree.  I am against the war, against violence.  Yet, what if the only way to get rid of a despot was to put a bullet in his brain pan?  Is it ok?  Is it indeed the intelligent decision or must one maintain their personal convictions in the face of adversity?
    Temporary People has been described as:  "A political fable of the first order, sharp and satirical, a hilariously insightful romp."  I hope this is true.  My intent when writing the book was to examine every option from all sides, the pros and cons of passive resistance, bloody coups and rebellions and collective indifference.  The story - I hope - works well in subscribing to what Swift said about relying on humor and a hint of satire when addressing a serious issue.  In the end, I reach no easy conclusions.  Hell, I'm not so smug as to assume it is in my purview to reach any conclusions at all.  I am, as a writer, an observer.  The only truth I know is that, at least for me, ultimately, all we can do is follow our hearts.   What else is there?

Primary

I got an email yesterday asking why I wanted the blog to remain politically agnostic.  Good question.  For one, in case you haven't noticed Syntax of Things isn't really about politics.  However, I think if you read this site enough you'll probably catch on to what my politics are and you'll probably be able to hazard a guess as to whom I plan to vote for in the upcoming North Carolina primary.  There may come a time in the next few months when I'll feel more comfortable jotting down my thoughts about the elections, but for now, I'm too busy trying to make sure that I limit the number of curse words I say in front of the wee one as we watch CNN's election coverage together.  I've already caused her to swear twice and while there is some humor in hearing "shit" come out of your toddler's mouth--with more clarity than she can muster for even the simplest words like "sky"--I'm pretty sure that filling her with this vocabulary is not such a good idea.  (Imagine if I were to sit down and watch FOX News with her...the horror.) 

Also, I don't often pass along press releases to you because, well, I'm not really the press, but sometimes I get them and on the very rare occasion that I find one worthy I might just go ahead and put it here.  And this morning, one came to me that seemed worthy, so here you go:

NEW YORK CITY (April 24, 2008)-Salman Rushdie, Francine Prose, Edward Albee and Rick Moody will be among the writers attending a press conference Thursday, May 1, at which the PEN American Center will announce the delivery later that morning of a petition to the Chinese Mission to the United Nations. The petition demands the release of 39 writers and journalists imprisoned in China who PEN believes have been jailed for exercising their right to speak and write freely, which is guaranteed under Chinese and international law.

Li Jianqiang, a lawyer who has represented seven of the writers currently imprisoned in China, five of them PEN members-and who has twice lost his license for defending Chinese dissidents-will speak at the press conference. The aforementioned authors will attend the press conference to represent the thousands of PEN members and supporters who have signed PEN's petition. Other PEN luminaries and international writers taking part in that week's PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature are expected to attend as well.

May 1 is the 99th day before the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympic Games, and PEN is asking that all writers and journalists be freed before the Games start. "The Chinese government made explicit promises to the world to improve human rights before the Olympics, but if anything this year has seen even greater restrictions on freedom of expression and freedom of the press. We are delivering our petition now, while there is still time for China to fulfill these important pledges" said Larry Siems, Director of PEN American Center's Freedom to Write and International Programs.

The petition is one part of PEN's "We Are Ready for Freedom of Expression" campaign, which challenges the Chinese government to release all of the writers and journalists currently imprisoned in China, and to guarantee freedom of the press before, during, and after the Olympic Games. To date, over 2,500 writers and supporters have signed the petition. More information about the campaign can be found at: http://www.pen.org/china2008

X Key

If you need your typewriter erotica fix, you can find it here (probably not wise to click on the link from your work computer, but the link opens a page that is fairly safe for virgin eyes).  Don't ask...

Yips

Black is beautiful, no?  I'll be working on the design off-and-on this weekend so expect changes.  The banner is high-priority.

Around the Corner

Dearest Reader,

I'm tired of what Syntax of Things has become.  Tired of feeling like I have to force out a post just because.  Starting April 1st, I'm going to try something different.  It may be similar to what has been but it won't be the same.  I'm not going to speak of what will be quite yet; I'm still trying to figure it out.  Until then, feel free to offer suggestions of what you'd like to see, what you'd like to read about, what you think has worked and what should be avoided.  I miss writing about baseball; I miss hating on Madonna; I hate being part of the litblog scene just because...Time to reinvent.  Time to talk more about the weather; time to figure out if R.E.M. can redeem themselves.  Time to figure out if my time has come, if maybe at 37 I need to give this all over to someone who has the energy and time.  Or maybe I should just not worry about any of it.  I do know that I'm not ready to quit.  Not when there are battles to be won.  Not when I still have to finish that Denis Johnson novel.  Not when I keep getting strange ARCs in the mail, ARCs about stem cell research for godsake.  Nope, not done. Not yet.

See you on Fool's Day.

love
SoT

PS.  The Litblog Co-op is no more.  It suffered from being insufferable at the end.  Something like it can work, even if it's run by the little people.

Gag Order

While traveling to the south of the continent in a bold effort to reunite grandparents with child, the brave father contracted a possibly lethal form of the flu.  At least it felt lethal to him.  Now after flying back from the south of the continent, flu in his veins, toddler in his lap, he figured on a day or two of rest, but lo and behold, his wife had relapsed, she having had this same flu some two weeks ago, an illness the father/husband helped nurse her through back then.  So this morning, it was a battle of who was sicker.  She won, claiming as her award a vomit bucket of purple plastic and the honor of holding down her side of the bed longer.  Miraculously, husband/father/flu victim was able to make it through the day but is begging of his ever faithful and too patient blog audience to give him but another few days to get back to feeling close to normal again. 

CNN Projection

According to Lou Dobbs (and I'm paraphrasing), the South ain't the backward hickhole that it used to be even a few years ago. 

In other news, a tornado hit Clinton, Arkansas.

Enough of politics, I need some sleep. 

All Ears

I hear your pleas for me to name the book I mentioned, to make book recommendations, to come out and play some more.  I hear them and I will comply.  Check back on Monday.  I may have two books to recommend.

Half a Mil

At some point in the next 24 hours, Syntax of Things will pass the unofficially official 500,000 visitors point.  I say unofficially because I didn't put an accurate stat counter on here until some months after I started the site, but of course, in those early days, daily visits included me, my brother, my wife, and the random google search for "Janet Jackson's nipple." 

Since I don't really have time or even know how to figure out exactly who will be my half-millionth visitor, why not let's say that it's you, the person reading this right now.  Congrats. 

And Thank You.

Random Head Hanging

What does it say about the state of one's present condition when he (or she) uses the Internet to confirm that he (or she) did indeed spot a factual error on Sesame Street?  And the fact that this was perhaps the most intellectual stimulating thing he (or she) has done in a couple of days.

The letter of the day is sigh.

Of course, doing something similar is how I found out that the woman behind Marlie's favorite show, Signing Time with Alex and Leah, is a second cousin to Win and Will Butler of Arcade Fire.