The Science of Writing

No, I'm not really a writer.  I do love reading just about anything that is extremely well-written though.  I'm also pretty decent as a technical writer/editor.  I've dabbled on and off in creative writing, but I rarely finish anything I start because I never think what I'm working on measures up to all the wonderful examples I've personally read.

Earlier this year, I picked up "The Best American Science Writing 2005," edited by Alan Lightman.  It's a fairly small paperback volume that has been riding around in my purse for several months.  I pull it out whenever I'm in a Dr.'s office, which is nearly every Friday this year.  Last week, the article I was reading, "Dining with Robots" by Ellen Ullman turned out to be some fabulous food porn!  I want to share it here, but I've done food to death lately, so today I'm sharing the next-to-last article, "The Sea of Information" by Andrea Barrett.  Ms. Barrett is a novelist, and her essay "...illuminates the differences in the way that artists and scientists work, especially in their use of information" (Lightman).  The passages that struck me most were:

( Writing Meta )

I'm really glad I found this compilation.  There are some fascinating and informative articles and essays in it; only 2 in the whole list didn't hold my attention.  I never would have seen any of these on my own, so the compilation serves a useful purpose in giving these fine works greater exposure.  I'm sure that's exactly what the editors intended, so yay for them.  And yay for me, because I'll be looking for the 2006 volume as soon as the year turns.

Our Town

I have to say it again, "I LOVE our town." It is so SQUARE!

( Art Fair on the Square )

( Concerts on the Square )

( Ever haul a canoe around the Square? )

God, I love our town!!  If you ask me, it's as close to heaven as a city can get.  

And don't even get me started on next month.  rougebitch has aptly renamed it "the day of public drunkenness," but it's real name is  "The Great Taste of the Midwest."  The midwest's largest, most popular, most exclusive beer festival, where 5000 or so  beer fiends will descend upon Olin Turville Park and drink themselves silly.  If you didn't get your tickets the first week of May, we won't be seeing you there.  You'd think with these conditions, there'd be fisticuffs galore, but these are the happiest, politest drunks you'll ever meet.  We're all just so damn grateful to be there, tasting the fantastic lagers, ales & meads, thrilled to meet the brewers and hear about their trials and inspiration, delighted to see friends we've made in the past, that we only see here, once a year.  It's another fantastic recurring event hosted in our town, but this one isn't held on the square.  

What's not to love? (and hey, that's rhetorical, okay?  don't be killing my buzz in comments today)

OMG! OMG!

I just caught the last 15 min of Desperate Housewives tonight.  I have studiously avoided the show, but I'm waiting for Grey's Anatomy to start up.  And Dana Lynette was in a bar, dancing on the bar to "Boogie Shoes!"  OMG!!  It was the exact same dance she did, lo these many years ago, on the table in SportsNight!  It was hilarious!  Well, it was to an SN freak like me.  I can't believe they got her to do that.  And she was wearing something very near to the biker outfit from "Epiphany."

Small world.