Thanks to the invention of blogs and social media, you can intimately feel the summer malaise upon us. To participate in the change in moods, I’ll be lightening things up a little bit. I’ve always been kind of a joker and all this structured writing with beginning, middle and end is oh so well….. structured! Also, to invoke Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man from AP English class is going to the extreme of stiffness, right? I’m not sure many really connected with the reference at all.
Who wants to read about the struggles of an African American man in the oppressive 1950s when everything is so hunky dory and harmonious nowadays. I do, but I think most others don’t. Does anybody even read the classics anymore? A little Slaughterhouse V by Kurt Vonnegut or Crime & Punishment Fyodor Dostoevsky anybody? Yeah, maybe 20 years ago, but not now. Now, all we read are gossip magazines and blogs with bad punctuation (yours truly) that tickle our guts with spurts of information.
Hence, from now until the end of August I’ll be throwing a little wasabi on the teriyaki as they say in Japan. I just made that up, but thought it sounded good. You might read a little more rambling and a lot less structure as I attempt to change writing styles. The Yakezie.com project is well underway and now is my time to goof around a little bit.
HIGHLIGHT POSTS OF THE WEEK
* “Mountain West Is The Best” by Jeff . Great to see fellow bloggers challenge my assumption that there really is no comparison to West Coast living! I’m just stating my unequivocal, unbiased opinion why everybody should live and work out West for a better lifestyle. All I really want to see are those who object to my truth and stand up for themselves! Be proud of where you come from and where you’ve established roots! Don’t let some guy who undeniably loves where he lives pollute your mind with sunshine! Well done Jeff & Red!
* “Job Hurdles With Potential Holes Behind Them” by Don-san highlights something I failed to highlight in “Overcoming The Wall” with regards to progressing in the workplace. It’s important to have a manager who is secure with his or herself! If the manager is fearful of what his subordinates can do, then he’s going to oppress you! In this type of situation, I’d look for another job fast.
* “Find Out When You’ll Make A Million Calculator” by Monevator is a quick and easy plug and push tool. It’s important that people don’t get overly caught up with how inflation will erode your assets. Having a million dollars is a million dollars! Don’t let investment gurus and yada yada push you into investing in riskier assets so you can keep up and beat inflation. You’re letting them fear monger you to investing in something you wouldn’t otherwise invest in! Low inflation is here to stay, as I’ve indicated time and time again on this site. If you are happy with a 3-5% 5-7 year CD, then by all means use the “DVD Method To CD Investing!” Know thyself and think thrice before investing in something you aren’t comfortable with.
* “A Discussion With Carrie Schwab-Pomerantz, President of the Charles Schwab Foundation” on Consumerism Commentary. Carrie conducted a very interesting study on the Sandwich Generation and provides her survey findings. Did you know that Charles Schwab was a failing businessman when Carrie was 20 years old. She didn’t haven’t an allowance, and everything wasn’t a charmed life like some may believe. Her father taught her two things: 1) Importance of having a strong work ethic and 2) Savings.
Regards,
Sam @ Financial Samurai – “Slicing Through Money’s Mysteries”
Hey Sam, I read those books still, but then I am an old fogey in Internet terms and my blog has excellent grammar and punctuation but almost unbearably long articles and too many syllables. (Well, according to the online checker I put it through once. It said only Phds would stop by regularly! :( ).
In my experience though only women consistently read a lot of novels any more, and they tend to read what are (to me) absolutely rubbish ones. This is sort of depressing when I want to be a novelist in my spare time, some day! I wish they read Pynchon and DeLillo and the like.
So which authors will be your new inspiration? Chick lit and airport thrillers? ;)
Cheers for the link to the calculator!
I’m thinking of moving to romance novel type writing with Fabio on the cover. I have a grand plan!
Hey Sam . . . my book club is actually Classics only . . . and yes, we read INVISIBLE MAN . . . ;-) I read the classics all the time!!
Nice! Classics only could be a little dry, but that is a great initiative! I might have to get in on some book club action too. Seems like only women start these things though….. maybe a Book Club for Singles??
Thanks for the mention…
For the classics, sometimes I’ll get audiobook from the library and listen to it as I drive to and from work!
So far, I’ve listened to “Animal Farm”, “Fahrenheit 451”, “1984”, “The Grapes of Wrath”, “The Shawshank Redemption”, “I am Legend” and almost all of the Stephen King books (yeah, his books are not considered true classics yet, but they will be!).
I’ll look forward to your writing style changes, it’ll be interesting change of pace! :)
Try as I might, I can’t really change my writing style. I feel a little foolish.
Audio books.. that could be a good idea! Didn’t realize The Shawshank Redemption is a classic?! Although it definitely is one of my all time favorite movies!
I read serious books. My last one was “Theophilos”, by Michael O’Brian. He’s my favorite novelist but this one turned out to be my least favorite of his novels.
Next on the list is “The Sickness Unto Death” by Soren Kierkegaard.
I’m a barrel of laughs.
I agree that we are a dying breed.
Rob
I’m a huge Kurt Vonnegut fan and read the classics as often as possible and I don’t allow gossip mags in my home (my wife gets her fix when we visit the inlaws :) ). Nevertheless, I’m interested to see your style evolve for the summer :)
Failing miserably at changing my writing style. It’s like having a brain transplant, ain’t happening. Good job banning gossip mags at home! Women love em! And I only pick em up when i’m waiting in line at the grocery story.
Hah. I can’t exactly say everything is harmonious. At least when it comes to social differences at least anyway. But I can definitely enjoy what we have right now in similar regards.
I look forward to seeing the change in your writing styles!
Nah, I’m just kidding. Not everything is hunky dory, as our war in Iraq indicates! But, I have to imagine things are better now than how they were in the 50’s. Apartheid, segregation, what the f*ck was wrong with America and the world then.
Thanks Sam for including my post!
I actually just re-read Slaughterhouse Five a few months ago but even though I’m always up for a classic, I certainly enjoy my fair share of goofy rambling. So I’ll be looking forward to yours!
No prob Earl! Thanks for doing that wrap up of some other travel bloggers. Always fun to discover new folks.
What summer malaise? I’m enjoying the warm weather and the sunshine! Of course, I live in 2.5 season land, so perhaps that is why I am appreciating it a bit more, Mr. West Coast! ;)
The summer malaise is the decline in tweets, traffic, posts from the community etc. It has nothing to do with the weather! Although I heard the East Coast is a baking 90+ degrees recently. No thank you!
Nice post…and to answer your question… I want to read about the struggles of an African American man in the oppressive 1950’s.
I did a lot of leisure reading last year and enjoyed reading a few classics that I never read in school. Reading for fun is SO much better than reading for a class and having to over analyze books. I guess I never got into book clubs b/c I love to read as a form of entertainment, and having discussions and answering questions about books just makes it feel like homework to me.
Have a great 4th everyone!
I think book clubs is a great way for women to meet other women and chat about the insightful topics at hand. Tough for guys… actually, unheard of for guys. But for women, it’s a no brainer!
It’s great to see so many read the classics. Love Hardy and Dickens, strongly recommend “Frankenstein”.
Of today’s writers I agree that Delillo is awesome. It amazes me to see him describe an everyday scene in such detail and capture it in an entertaining way that borders on painting a picture.
I’m interested in seeing what the new Yakezie.com is all about!
Thanks for the mention sam. We need someone from the midwest & from Texas to join in on that action.