What's What: Sunday Salon 4-6-2014 (Pre-FoB edition)

What I’m reading

• in print / on screen

It felt like most of what I read last week was spreadsheets! I’m in my work’s annual storm cycle, when things converge so that I’m closing the accounting records on a month and a year at the same time, and trying to juggle demands from both the external auditors and internal management. I’ve been short on time for reading books or blogs, and while I did make my blog-tour date last Monday, I missed Thursday’s (I’ll make it up next week).

If all goes as it’s supposed to, I’ll be out from under most of this in six weeks or so…

• on audio

I should have finished A Short History of Nearly Everything last week, but there were a couple of days when my brain was too fried to focus on it and I listened to podcasts on the commute instead. I think I have less than two hours of it left, though, so it won’t be much longer.


What I’m watching

I know I talk about Doctor Who and Sherlock a fair amount around here, but my biggest TV obsession is probably Mad Men, and next week it returns for the beginning of the end. AMC is prolonging the final season by splitting it across two years–the same thing they did with Breaking Bad–so we’ll get less of it each year, but we’ll get to have it around longer.


What I’m writing/blogging

This blog is the official stop for the blog tour of Beth Kephart’s Going Over on Tuesday, but I’ll be unofficially extending its stay with related content through Thursday, and you’re welcome to linger for that.


What caught my eye this week (a surprising amount considering how little time I've had for blogging, really!)

"And the main reason I don’t miss wedding planning? Because I really love being married...
The wedding was just the beautiful beginning.
All the great stuff comes after."

--"Why I Don't Miss Wedding Planning" (Write Meg!)

"Observation #5: The audience will forgive you anything — as long as it’s funny.
"This was something Johnny told the writers, and I think it’s still true, despite observation #3. But because funny is in the eye of the beholder and we’ve become a much more fragmented culture, I don’t think we’ll have many more comedians like Johnny Carson, who appealed to such a wide swath of Americans. My nephew thinks Comedy Central’s Tosh is a riot, while I think he’s simply obnoxious."

--"Comedy Is Hard" (Donna Schwartz Mills, SoCal Mom)

"This is the day the embattled field of book criticism has long feared… the day it’ll be taken over by swarms of opinionated amateurs with an international platform and no need for a paycheck. Kids, we’re talking about. BiblioNasium, the book-focused social network for children, has added a new feature in response to user demand. Children will now be able to post reviews..."

--"'Goodreads for kids' to spawn terrifying legions of underage book reviewers" (MobyLives)

• I've actually been intending to share this for a few weeks, as I've been fascinated by Julie's series on for-profit schools, based on her five years as an employee at one. However, the post I'm linking here includes links to all of the prior ones, so I think it's finally covered. The entire thing will open your eyes and/or confirm your suspicions about this particular segment of the higher-education industry.

• Write it once, use it twice (or more)--Buffer's Ultimate Guide to Repurposing Content is the Blogger's #PSAoftheWeek 

What Else is New?

I may not be posting here next Sunday, because I’ll be doing something even more bookish all next weekend–it’s time again for the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books! Anastasia posted a great user’s guide to LATFoB on Saturday, and tickets for the panel discussions and conversations are available as of this morning. I’m glad to be going back after missing it last year, and even more excited because I get to host Kim on her escape to a bookish weekend somewhere warm!

And so, this week's Gratutious Photo--a collage from the 2012 FoB--is a little less gratuitous than usual.

How's your weekend?