About a hundred years ago, I saw Dave Gorman‘s Googlewhack Adventure live. It’s been uploaded to YouTube and worth a watch. It is a relic of a different time, one in which Google would occasionally have almost nothing to show you…
Last week I was in Greece swimming (Patmos, SwimTrek, highly recommend) and I wanted suggestions for sights, food, etc. Back in the day, these here blog things used to be the lifeline–some ex-pat who’d lived in Greece for ten years would spout off their favorite dives and tavernas.
Not. Any. More.
I had to scroll through AI consolidated reviews from Tripadvisor and Google that made everything sound mediocre. “Diner say that…” “Most customer think…” I don’t even know if anyone else has a blog anymore or if they’re all Substack subscriptions and Patreon pleas. But Oh Reader, there was a time before podcasts where putting a few thoughts about souvlaki and ambiance on a global bulletin board was greatly appreciated.
So, about this dinosaur of a webpage…I may consider it an act of resistance going forward.
Ddo I have anything to say? Just a little. My two-year writing hiatus continues sadly uninterrupted (although I do have a new idea percolating). I have been reading a lot lately and took on a new challenge. After reading Time Shelter this summer, I realized that I’d never read a Bulgarian writer before. From there, I realized that there were dozens of countries whose literature I had not seen on the “Books We Can’t Wait To Read This Season” or “100 Best Books Ever!” lists. It turns out that there is a website for this, but I decided to read a book from each. It’s really about filling in holes, but Albania, Angola, Antigua are done…Andorra, Armenia, Azerbaijan are on deck. It’s arbitrary, but why the hell not?
And along that line…
7 Books that I’ve Really Enjoyed This Year (The Last Will Completely Shock You!)
Blackouts. Erasure presented on so many levels that content and form are inextricable. Incredible.
Perfection. This book captured something what I hadn’t articulated to myself previously–these cultural shifts that have occurred over the last decade (interest in cooking as an example), occurred simultaneously across the globe but had no precedent. We have all started caring or ignoring things, shifting attention without choice. Ubiquitous unconscious shifts in taste, values, culture. Terrifying.
Colored Television. Hilarious writing, fascinating topic. She definitely has an eye for people.
On the Calculation of Volume (I,II) I’ve pre-ordered the next two. Meditative.
Biue Ruin. Very well-constructed and drawn. Living as art form.
10:04. Whose best line is a doozy: Shaving is a way to start the workday by ritually not cutting your throat when you’ve the chance. The Topeka School was great as well.
Don Quixote. This was my third go-round, first time by audiobook and I couldn’t have enjoyed it more. The world would be a very different place if Quixote had been the cornerstone of English literature instead of Spanish. I have a feeling that everything I love about Bolano, Borges, Marquez can be traced to Cervantes as the rule-breaker of fiction (long before there were rules). By contrast, didn’t the rest of “western” literature evolve from hegemonic realism?