Save This Date, Please

Poets and Writers League Party August 19th. Longtime readers of Working With Words know that the Society of Professional Journalists is one of my special causes. The group is nearly 100 years old, and for most of its life, it has been something of a dowdy overachiever. But it's also been a bit like the journalistic equivalent of your dad's old Buick, fussily worrying about issues of fairness and ethics like a censorious old school marm, joylessly rapping the knuckles of offenders. While parts of me rather like and respect that, I also think it has to grow with the times, and grapple with the far more complicated, grayer issues that are now at the intersection of journalism, citizenship and public affairs. Happily, the Cleveland chapter has, in spades. I'm happy to be a part of that crew of engaged hungry minds in the profession who are tackling all these issue and sparking conversation within the profession, and (here's the real key) increasingly outside it--with readers, citizens, those who are written about, etc. We have a new website courtesy of the talented web designer Jim Kukral which will allow us to reach more people with more issues.

But with SPJ so well entrenched in the civic conversation, I will begin this year to steadily move out into other related and allied organizations, in an effort to continue to try to influence the breaching of walls between all these writing categories. If you don't write yourself, you may not know that the writing community is full of more niches than a honeycomb, and that's just how some jealous guardians like it. There are of course the journalists (and they even contain subsets, such as literary journalists, a category to which I aspire). There are poets; novelists; children's book authors; and writers of mystery, romance and science fiction (often called genre writers by some purists, who never hesitate to add a note of disdain). There are specialists in nature writing and their newer-age brethren, environmental writers. And of course there are bloggers. And on and on it goes. For the most part (or am I wrong here?), denizens of these ghettoes prefer to keep to themselves, buttoned up in their walls, talking only to each other.

Nonsense, I say. We're all writers, and we all have much to learn from each other's disciplines and special interests. Those who write news and are forever being pressured by the market imperatives of journalism to shorten their articles, so they can learn poetic compression from poets. Pure bloggers have much to learn about generating story ideas, doing basic fact-checking and other subjects from longtime writers. And pure traditional journalists can learn a thing or two (or maybe two thousand) from their blogging counterparts about pouring more authentic conversation into their work and being a bit less full of themselves. Okay, so perhaps my ecumenical outreach is driven by a personal mania to bring coherence to my many writing selves. I see parts of myself in all of these specialties. And let me say that there's really no tension between any of these selves. I can't say that I've ever had a moment's hesitation, never felt a second of friction between my roles as writer, journalist or blogger. They all fit together seemlessly. My responsibilities to each are precisely the same: to give sacred witness to my beloved readers, to bring them some news or help them understand some point of view, to spur their thinking, to help them wrestle with some pain, experience some joy or to simply bring them into communion with others. After all, a wiser person than I once helpfully observed that in the end, we really read in order to find that we're not alone.

We have so many wonderful developments popping up in this broad writing landscape in the region. With all of this grassroots energy bubbling up all over the place on behalf of the written word, it seems only fitting that I should increasingly move toward what I consider the grandaddy, the hub of this network--the Poets and Writers League of Greater Cleveland. As the product of a merger between a predecessor poets' group and one dedicated to those who deal in prose, it's already done some knocking down of walls itself. It's the only such group in the region that I know of with an actual physical location--the charming Literary Center, or "the Lit," as it's affectionately known--and a fulltime staff member, the energetic Darlene Montanaro. It offers a wonderful array of classes and keeps in touch with a thousand small and large developments that affect those who write. And so I plan on spending significant time with the group in the coming year.

Anyway, I hope you'll join me at an August 19th evening event, a modest (and I mean modest: just $5) fundraiser for the group, which it's calling Raise the Rent (directions are here). It will be a wonderful way to celebrate summer's end among likeminded word lovers. I'm looking forward to seeing you there.

The PWLGC Effect

Last month, I told you about an enjoyable open house at one of my favorite civic institutions, the Poets and Writers League of Greater Cleveland, where I periodically teach. You may recall that I also mentioned two of my blogger pals were there--Jeff Hess and Chas Rich, who expertly kept a close watch over the beer supply while chatting amiably on the porch. These guys have been busy ever since, scooping up attention, both local and national. On Monday, I told you about Chas being named a national finalist by the Online News Association (check out his reaction here). And now Scene Magazine, which not long ago drew the ire of some bloggers for a largely meaningless throw-away line about most local blogs being "banal," has just named Jeff Hess's Havecoffeewillwrite.com as the best local weblog. Since the item's not online, here's what they said:

CoolCleveland.com may get more press, but Jeff Hess' Havecoffeewillwrite.com is terabytes above the local competition. His daily posts remind the public of Cleveland controversies long after the local media gets bored and moves on. His continuing series on grassroots efforts to keep Wal-Mart from swallowing every Ohio town is fascinating and more in-depth than anything in the dailes. While this East Side educator's left-wing philosophy comes off as heavy-handed at times, he does his best not to take himself too seriously--he'll often post haiku or bumper stickers for a quick laugh, or links to weird news from around the world. If you're wondering what's happening behind the scenes in Cleveland or how our town is connected to national news stories, this site is a must-surf.

Of course, I'm mostly teasing about there being any relationship between their appearance at a PWLGC event and their winning awards and attention, but for me it does point up the importance of bloggers to get out of the blogger ghetto occasionally and be part of the larger writing community. It perhaps means dropping one's post-adolescent anger at the mainstream media (however well-deserved that is occasionally), but I can almost guarantee it will prove valuable in the end. And I know it's good for the region and its creative milieu to have all these sharp minds and warm souls mixing together more frequently. As it happens, there's another open house at the Literary Center in Fairhill this very evening, from 6:30 to 9:30 (directions are here). Dubbed Writer's Night out at the Lit, it offers the chance to rub elbows with some famous and not-so-famous names in the writing community, all for a mere $5 donation (which includes wine and other refreshments). Where else will you find a deal like that to kick off your weekend? Here's hoping both Jeff and Chas will be on hand again, along with lots more of my blogging, writing and journalism pals. Whether these fellows make it or not, we'll be raising a glass in celebration of their accolades.

Last-Minute Notice on Tomorrow's Writing Seminar. Sorry, I've been bad. The fall season has been packed with lots of writing, travel and speaking and teaching, and I haven't been good about telling you about any of the latter. Last week, I was at the Lakeland Community College semi-annual writers conference, leading a session on how writers can better leverage the Internet. Earlier this month I did a two-evening class on deepening your craft at the PWLGC. Tomorrow, Saturday, I'll be speaking at an all-day writer's conference at the Jesuit Retreat House in Parma. It's a special place for me, because the Jesuits have been a central influence shaping my life, my faith and my work. And since stumbling over this group, the (largely westside-based) Skyline Writers, last year when checking into the Retreat House as a venue for writing classes, I've become close friends with its president, Claudia Taller. By day, she's a high-powered legal talent who drafts the language governing giant corporate mergers, and in her off-hours she writes splendidly and generally follows the dictates of her hero Julia Cameron, author of The Artist's Way. In fact, Claudia and I had a chance to collaborate on something else recently, a radio appearance on a book-talk program (more about which later). Anyway, if you're free tomorrow and have an interest, do consider coming to this event. In fact, if you show up at the door and identify yourself as a friend of Working With Words, you'll receive a discounted registration.

Bombs, Blackouts and Computer Viruses

Sorry, but the mind is a bit numbed and the spirit just a tad low today as I try to take stock of all these converging disasters befalling us, here and overseas. Many if not most find their common thread in bad, even arrogant, leadership marked by a stubborn failure to do the hard but necessary things. And viruses wouldn't ordinarily mean much in that context, but for the fact that it largely killed a day's work for my best pal, John Westropp, who's a web editor at the Cleveland Clinic (which got hit). Pound for pound, he's one of the greatest men and most sublimely gifted writers I'll ever know, so I hate for him to lose even a moment, and for no reason but the savage arrogance of virtual terrorists. That of course can't compare with the feelings in the hearts of those who mourn for the dead U.N. workers who've given their lives to peace-making, only to have met with a cruelly violent end in that region that keeps breaking hearts with no end in sight.

But here's the good news: as compensation, my spirit was also buoyed by last night's too-quick (cause of kids' schedules) visit to Joseph-Beth bookstore, to drink in the spectacle of Kristin Ohlson's new book and the loving spirit that surrounded her. She's an acquaintance and colleague from the late, great Cleveland Edition (and here). And it was nicely fitting that the splendid little article written about her in yesterday's PD, was authored by yet another former Edition scribe, the gentle, book-loving teacher and writer Kathy Ewing. I couldn't stay long enough to negotiate the snaking line to wish her the best, but I did get to witness the good turnout and see her beaming pride in the moment, a coming-out party for her local admirers, some of whom might recall her role in a splendid community-building vehicle. Armed at the time with little but grit and perseverance, she and her pal Mary Grimm co-founded the newsletter Ohio Writer, which lives on under the sustaining and better-funded embrace of the Poets' and Writers' League.

Please know that her book, Stalking the Divine, isn't just any book (as our colleague Barb Payne, who tells me she has a review in the pipeline, can surely attest). It's a wonderfully written and deeply felt story that will resonate with anyone who's taking stock in their life and in their faith, whatever that faith may be (plus it's set in Cleveland, in the most unexpected places). And after the events of the last few days, well, you'd have to say that faith is all the more important. In fact, it's about all we've got...

The Fall Season Begins

As I noted last year at this time, when you have kids, the whole family naturally tends to follow the rhythms of the school year. And so when they head back to school, fall begins, no matter what the calendar or mercury reading says. My boys started school at St. Ignatius today. For the first time, they drove themselves to school. My oldest begins his senior year, surely a rite of passage.

Tomorrow, I'm headed to Chicago to begin what should be an intellectually stimulating fall tour of writing-related events. Along with a handful of Cleveland colleagues, I'll be attending the SPJ national conference, and speaking Friday on a panel about marketing yourself as a freelancer. I'm looking forward to visiting my old haunts in leafy Lincoln Park (where I once lived as a newlywed, a very long time ago, and a place that remains in mind always) and other favorite Windy City spots. On September 16th, I'll also be speaking (about publishing on the web) back in Cleveland at Lakeland Community College's 23rd annual writers conference. A few days later, on the 20th, I'll begin a three-session class on column-writing, at the Poets and Writers League of Greater Cleveland. And finally, on October 12th, I'm looking forward to being on a panel at the International Association of Business Communicators (check out their blog) with the sublime Cleveland-based novelist Sarah Willis. Not many details about that one yet (I assume it'll be a lunch session somewhere in downtown Cleveland) but when I find out more, I'll post it.

But needless to say, if you're an aspiring, rookie, intermediate or veteran writer--or even a serious reader--don't for a moment limit yourself to those events. There are so many more worth taking in, if you can. On Friday of this week, you can join my friends Jeff Hess and Mac's Backs Suzanne D at the PWLGC open house. A bit further east, the new Cleveland Heights Library will celebrate its grand reopening with a day of events on September 16th. Our gifted friends Kristin Ohlson (check out her new blog) and Michael Ruhlmann will be among the featured speakers. Meanwhile, Mike will also be the featured speaker at the annual Case convocation, the kickoff to the school year. This coming weekend, the westside-based writers' group Skyline Writers holds its annual writer's conference on Saturday, where Sarah Sphar, editor of Northern Ohio Live, will speak. It's not too late to register for that excellent event, expertly cobbled together by the talented writer Claudia Taller (who just published her first-ever piece today in Cool Cleveland, a review of the recent Tremont Art Walk).

I would be there in a moment to watch Claudia, Sarah and a few other pals and acquaintances in action, if I were going to be around that day. So please consider taking my place, if you can. In fact, let me up the ante. A free registration to that conference awaits the first two readers who email me today at the email address above (just put "Skyline Writers Conference" in the subject heading, please). And enjoy the rest of your week, will you? I'll be back in action here on Monday.

This Is One Group I'm Really Proud to Join

It's often said of writers that they're not "joiners." Something in their psychic makeup, a stubborn independent streak mostly, prevents many of them from joining groups or associations. And even when they do join together, you should feel sorry for anyone who's trying to lead them anywhere, because it can be like herding cats. This is all true.

But I suppose I've been a bit of an exception on that. While I'm as stubbornly independent as anyone--just ask my wife or kids or best friends, and they'll give you an earful about how it's one of my biggest failings--I've also seen the power of combining with the right carefully chosen people and groups to do what I do better. To share what I know with others and especially to learn what I don't know from them. At their best, these are giant learning networks that encourage one to continue to do more, aim higher, be better.

Thus far, I've been doing that only on a local and regional level (through SPJ and the Poets and Writers League of Greater Cleveland). As my work has grown and my vision has expanded (the web has certainly enlarged it), it was time to move beyond that geography. So I applied for membership to the group I thought might best help me do that.

Last week, I got word that I've been accepted into ASJA, the American Society of Journalists and Authors. It made my week. This is a pretty selective group. According to the membership roster I just reviewed, there are only 16 members in Ohio (I'll be the 17th), and only four others in the Cleveland area. Luckily, three are longtime friends: Mary Mihaly, Susanne Alexander and Kristen Ohlsen. The other has until now just been a familiar byline, Donna Marchetti, who regularly reviews books for the Plain Dealer. I'm looking forward to meeting her sometime soon, after having read her work for years. And I'm REALLY looking forward to attending ASJA's national convention later this month in New York. I'm feeling downright intoxicated by the prospect of all this new learning and connecting. It feels like the natural next step in both expanding and deepening my writing practice.

Bookstores We Have Loved

I was in Columbus yesterday, and so that meant one thing simply had to be worked into the schedule: at least a 90-minute wander around the city's best indy bookshop, the Book Loft in the splendid German Village section of town. Off the top of my head, I can't think of a more appealing bookstore in the entire state of Ohio (and trust me, the bricks & mortars are quite a bit more appealing than their terrible website). It's in a century-plus converted home, with perhaps 20 rooms, stuffed floor to ceiling with books. The only minor negative: there's no room to put a sofa or even a chair.

Coffee shops and similar places for gathering, thinking and composing one's thoughts are of course key components of any area's writing and literary life, but for my money bookstores are even more important. In the last decade, Borders and then Barnes & Noble have obviously ravaged the pool of independents, as the twin superchains marched through the country like General Sherman bearing down on Atlanta.

In Cleveland, a handful of independent shops have somehow survived, but each is relatively small and thus highly niched, and therefore unequipped to take the role once occupied by, say, Booksellers before its demise about six years ago. Appletree Books on Cedar Hill in Cleveland Heights is perhaps the tiniest, and its owner is about 80. The Learned Owl in Hudson is a pretty nice experience, but it closes before dinner most nights. The shop on W. 25th probably has the best selection of local stuff, new and used. Suzanne Degatano's Mac's Backs in Coventry, adjoining Tommy's, is easily the most serious about supporting writers and writing, hosting frequent booksignings and writers' meetings. Its owner serves as a board member/advisor/champion of everything from the Poets & Writers League to the new publication Urban Dialect. And cozy Fireside Bookshop in Chagrin Falls actually has some reasonable space for books, and it seems to take seriously its role as a literary center for the prosperous Chagrin Valley. The newest regional entrant is also in many ways the most interesting: Joseph-Beth. The jury is still out about these folks: the first Cleveland-area location has some of the feel of the old Booksellers while also somehow retaining at least a bit of a feel of the chain store. And we'll see if the Shaker Square location long survives the rocky retailing environment of its neighborhood, especially after it opens a new store in October in Lyndhurst's new Legacy Village, just a half hour walk (oh, joy) from my house.

Still, ever since some of us watched in horror as an unsmiling liquidator presided over a going-out-of-business sale at Booksellers in Beachwood, with owner Joan Hulbert off somewhere else as they closed down her baby, once a mecca for book enthusiasts, the sad reality is that this has been a second-rate book town. Don't even get older book lovers started about the demise of the hallowed downtown stores. They'll yack in your ear for hours.

And so hardened bookshop afficianados are left with occasional visits to our favorite out-of-town places. And for me, only one renowned destination remains unvisited: Denver's vaunted Tattered Cover. I've read about it, and pulled more detail from friends who have lived or visited there. And yet I've somehow never yet made it there myself. But thank god we have some family in Portland, Oregon. That's given me the chance to visit the even more revered Powell's City of Books a handful of times, including last year. While lots of well-known bookstores go for the upscale feel, Powell's has taken a contrary approach, with its city-block-square main location having the feel of a giant book warehouse. The star here is books, it seems to say, not spiffy furnishings and interiors.

Boston, for all its reputation as the Athens of America (for its thick concentration of colleges and universities) lost its best bookstore a few years ago, the impossibly appealing Harvard Bookstore on Newbury Street. It's yet to replace it with anything as interesting, in my opinion. Chicago, where we lived for a time, still has the venerable Barbara's Bookstore, on North Wells, about halfway between the Loop and Lincoln Park. While reasonably compact, it's worth browsing for hours. Unfortunately, in '95 my favorite (and even more venerable) Windy City bookshop, Stuart Brent Books, closed due to the retirement of its owner of the same name. But my guess is that the escalating rents along the booming Magnificent Mile didn't help any. It was a miracle of old-world bookishness, adorned with dozens of reminders of legendary Chicago authors like Saul Bellow who frequented the joint and its predecessor, Seven Stairs. The perfect place for a book lover to while the hours while a spouse visits more prosaic places such as Water Tower Place nearby.

But Washington, D.C., where I lived for a few years in the '80s, probably still has the best concentration of indy bookstores anywhere outside of Manhattan (which itself has been ravaged by chains, losing the likes of such neighborhood institutions as Shakespeare & Co.). Kramer Books at Dupont Circle is a bit cramped, but a Friday-night institution. Olsson Books & Records in Georgetown is a Saturday-afternoon-wanderer's delight, its owner having adapted to the realities of chain competition by holding his nose and selling Beany Babies. And perhaps best of all is Politics & Prose in upper Northwest, which to my regret opened just down the street from where we once lived, after we moved away. In any event, I couldn't pass within a hundred miles of that shop--no, make that I couldn't pass through the mid-Atlantic region--without making sure the itinerary somehow includes at least a brief stop there.

Having set the stage with this admittedly impressionistic roundup of bookstores in various cities, tomorrow I'll bring you word of a new study on America's most literate cities, which is considerably less impressionistic, full of actual research. Stop back to see where Cleveland ranks...

Celebrating the Written Word All Week

A year and a half ago, three of us got together at the Arabica's in University Circle to kick around an idea. We all liked the New Yorker Magazine's annual fall citywide celebration devoted to writing and reading, which began about 1999 and has steadily grown bigger and better each year. So why couldn't we have something like that here? We began drawing up some ideas, not only of the kinds of programs we thought would be interesting, but also the kinds of people and groups that might make for good collaborators.

Kathy Delong soon went back to her hectic schedule, editing Northern Ohio Live magazine (she subsequently became managing editor of the Cleveland Clinic Press). And I went back to what I do. But the third member of our trio, Darlene Montonaro, the pint-sized executive director of the Poets and Writers League of Greater Cleveland, did what she always does: began making it happen.

It's turned into the weeklong Wordcrafters Literary Festival (details here). Events kick off tomorrow, Saturday, at the University Center at Cleveland State University, with the Writing for Money conference. It's an all-day (9:00-5:00) event, with sessions on poetry, journalism and fiction. I'll be moderating a panel on freelancing, but I'm even more charged to introduce the keynote speaker, Michael Ruhlman (check out his work here). Mike is, simply put, one of the most accomplished writers in the region, a nationally known pen who's written more than a half dozen books of quiet beauty, many of them explorations into what it means to have one's life work dedicated to craftsmanship. The influential business-change guru Tom Peters once recommended that everyone should read 10 books; Ruhlman's Soul of a Chef is among them.

But maybe the greatest thing of all to come out of all this activity is a slim oversized paperback book, with a beautiful red cover bearing a splendid Cleveland scene by the incomparable local artist Hector Vega. Cleveland in Prose and Poetry, edited by an energetic lady named Bonnie Jacobson, was pulled together in just four months. It's a collection of some of the most interesting observations ever written about Cleveland, by writers past and present (I'm still silently berating myself for not getting off the dime in time to contribute my own take). I hope you can make any or all of these events. If price is a hurdle for tomorrow's Writing for Money conference, Darlene at the PWLGC tells me a substantial discount is available for anyone who contacts her at 216-421-0403. (Just mention you saw it here, but you must first register ahead, no discounts for those who show up at the door). And finally, one free conference registration--call it the Working With Words scholarship--goes to the first of my readers who drops me a note by email or by phone before 4 p.m. eastern time, today, at 216-382-6548.

On Beginning Well

Employment counselors, parents and tailors have always espoused the wisdom encapsulated in the familiar saying that 'you only get one chance to make a first impression.' And writers know all about that, too. As I recently told my wonderful class of students at the Poets' and Writers' League of Greater Cleveland (more about which in coming days), some magazine writers have been known to spend half their time crafting the lead paragraph (or 'lede' in journalism speak) and the other half writing the rest of the piece. After all, if you don't begin well, if you don't induce a reader to stay with you from the outset, if each sentence and paragraph doesn't propel a reader on to the next, you might as well not bother.

Which is why for years I've tended to collect great lead paragraphs. You can find them everywhere, in any kind of writing. What these shimmering openers have in common is that they grab you by the lapels with their vivid images and crisp language. Sometimes they make you laugh, other times they leave you shaking your head at their elegance. But always they dare you to stop reading. In that grand tradition, is this lede from Joe Queenan's piece in the current Town & Country Magazine:

In the autumn of 1990, when my son turned four years old, he began to make specific, detailed inquiries regarding the possibility of obtaining an ATM card. I believe it was at this point that my wife, Francesca, a refined and elegant native of England's lovely Cotswolds, finally threw in the towel and realized she was parenting children who inevitably were going to grow up to be American and not English. Aggressive, acquisitive, demanding, precocious, entitlted. Tykes who not only demanded ATM cards but wondered what was causing the delay.

The Divine Ms. Barber,
A Women With a Past,
Wins Clev Arts Prize

Sometimes, it's hard even for us hyperarticulate types to really convey how deeply we admire certain folks. I try my best, here and in other venues, to describe why certain of these special people move me so, and why I think they deserve ever-wider recognition than they get. But sometimes the world does catch up to them, as it finally has to Cindy Barber.

Cindy, whom I previously wrote about here, here and here (the latter was actually the second blog entry I wrote, more than four years ago), was honored recently with a Cleveland Arts Prize. While in years past, the prizes have often seemed a little snooty and elitist, I credit the formidable Diana Tittle with systematically democratizing them, by her efforts to widen the nomination process in her years as head of the prize (Judy Mansour, the new executive director of the Poets and Writers League of Greater Cleveland, nicely explained it all in Angle Magazine). The fruits of that work were evident in this year's group of winners, my favorite yet (besides Cindy, longtime city planning icon Norm Krumholz, whom I wrote about here, were among the winners). Anyway, here's a brief piece (alas, not online) I wrote about her in the current issue of Northern Ohio Live. I especially loved the quote about how Cindy has a past in the community.

Few comments by prominent people are more widely (or rightly) ridiculed than the infamous observation by novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald that “there are no second acts in American lives.” Sometimes it seems there are only second, third and fourth acts in American lives. For proof, you need look no further than Cindy Barber.

For years, she was the long-suffering, overworked and underpaid den mother of Cleveland’s progressive journalism scene. She was the force behind everything from a Coventry neighborhood paper to editor of the Cleveland Free Times during a particularly difficult period, when then-Cleveland mayor Mike White was boldly snatching the alt-weekly paper’s distribution boxes off the street. She even put in the requisite multiple stints at this magazine, including several years as production manager and later as editor. Now, in her latest act, she’s part owner of an increasingly legendary nightclub, the Beachland Ballroom in North Collinwood.

Before its attractive neon signage and the plentiful car and foot traffic it attracts began breathing life back into this neighborhood beginning in 2000, the Beachland was a dilapidated former Croatian dance hall/tavern. Cindy took the eyesore personally, because it was in her neighborhood. When she decided to do something about it, some of her friends (including me, I must admit, so consider this a disclaimer), shuddered on her behalf, hoping she wasn’t about to flush her life savings down the toilet.

As is generally the case, she saw something others couldn’t. Along with her partner Mark Leddy, she soon turned it into the leading regional venue for the most eclectic punk, pop or blues acts. Fodor’s Guides notes that “it's not uncommon to hear jazz, Afro-beat, punk and folk all in one weekend.” And yet it’s a place so down to earth (a Cindy Barber hallmark) that it actually has free pinball machines and juke boxes, and serves working-class beers like Pabst Blue Ribbon and Schlitz as well as peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

Her efforts haven’t gone unrecognized. This year, the Cleveland Arts Prize awarded
her with a special citation. The prize, or shall we say prizes (there are at least a half dozen awardees each year) date to 1960, when they were established by the Women’s City Club. The sponsoring group calls it the oldest arts prize of its type in the country.

But just what exactly was her prize for--her lifetime support of the arts, as both editor and activist, or her more recent efforts with the nightclub? “You know, I have no idea,” says Barber herself. “I just got this phone call that said, you won the Cleveland Arts Prize.” She did learn at a cocktail party subsequently held for the winners that the vote on her behalf was unanimous.

“Here’s my take on it,” says one person who’s close to the prize. “Cindy has had a past in this community, in terms of her support of the arts, for 25 years.” And it’s this larger
contribution that’s being celebrated.

Hardened Cindy Barber fans seem pleased. Says current Arts Prize executive director Marcie Bergman, widow of the late Robert Bergman (for which one of the prizes is named): “I have gotten more comments about Cindy Barber and Brendan Ring (owner of Cleveland Heights jazz spot Nighttown, who was also recognized with a special citation this year) than anyone we gave awards to.”

While that piece isn't online, my friend Miles Budimir's (aka Milenko Budimir) splendid piece on the greening of the North Coast is. Do please read it when you have a moment. You can also read a little more about Cindy's innovation in this interview with a researcher from the CWRU Weatherhead School's Center for Business As An Agent of World Change (more of those innovator profiles here).

Congratulations Cindy, Norm and all the other winners. And a special tip of the hat to the Arts Prize organization, for being increasingly on the ball with their selections.

The Swing-State Essayist

If you know Sandy Woodthorpe, and you should, you already know she's a swinging lady. She wears several hats: writer, networker extraordinaire and leading citizen of Lake County's coolest little place, Fairport Harbor. As head of the National Writers Union's membership outreach in Ohio, she's the local face for this group (a unit of the United Auto Workers), and for some time she has organized a popular writers' forum series at the Mayfield regional library, whose latest installment is this evening at 7. More recently, Woody (click here, here and here to learn more about her) has steered her group to valuable collaborations with the Society of Professional Journalists and the Writers & Poets League (more about which in coming weeks), and she plans to soon merge her writerly listserv with that of her pal, the similarly formidable communications maven Susanne Alexander. All of which is helping the regional writing community break out of its stale little mini-conversations and engage in a larger, more fruitful discussion that will benefit everyone.

But this former California resident has also encountered a rough time in the shifting job market. Sandy's specialties, technical writing and video production, have been hit hard by the economic downturn. So she's decided to make lemonade from her lemons, savvily capitalizing on the national media's mania for reading every possible tea leaf in a swing state such as Ohio. In June, the Boston Globe published this absorbing op-ed piece about her job struggles, in which she elegantly placed her situation into the larger macroeconomic context. And in classic he-said/she-said fashion, it paired her piece with a very different take by National City Bank's chief economist.

The idea of Ohio as the ultimate swing state in this presidential election was kicked off in a big way with a very fine New York Times Magazine cover piece by Matt Bai (who formerly specialized in reporting about Russia) in late spring, which focused on the slow but steady electoral balance of power shift from the liberal northern part of the state to the conservative central and southern portions. That touched off the usual media herd dynamic. The Economist magazine, whose expanding coverage of the U.S. is often better and less driven by pack mentality than any of its domestic competitors, has also done a series of reports on U.S. swing states, though oddly it hasn't yet gotten around to Ohio. The New Republic and some others have just started their own installments.

But back to Sandy and her op-ed argument for a moment. She and I have an ongoing debate, enlightening to me at least, about various related subjects, most of which center around economics, the role of markets and the realities of human behavior. And I'd respectfully submit that she, like a lot of other writers and analysts who focus on the narrower economic issues at work in today's job market, are missing important larger structural changes that we'd all better wake up to before they sweep us out to sea. As it happens, many of these subjects are wonderfully dramatized in an engaging piece of literary journalism by Katherine Boo, published in the July 5th issue of the New Yorker (sorry, it's not online--you'll either have to head to the library or cop a copy from your dentist's waiting room). The piece, The Best Job in Town, describes how India's fourth-largest city, Chennai (formerly called Madras), has become Wall Street East and home to an increasingly wide swath of outsourced back-office America. And it has happened not merely because of brutal "wage arbitrage," in which companies scour the globe for the cheapest labor rates. The work is often performed with more care overseas by workers who are hungrier for lower-wage work, in the estimation of the story's subjects, a pair of young former American Wall Streeters, who founded the offshore company Office Tiger. "It had become apparent to them that not every typist and copyist working the midnight shift in their investment banks--the moonlighting actor, the artist with the ring in his nose--was putting his heart, soul and syntactical memory into completing the PowerPoint presentations they needed to be done, perfectly, by morning. Randy began to speculate that workers overseas might invest more care in the menial jobs that Manhattanites seemed not to relish."

For any American whose family got ahead through hard work after immigrating to this country, basically just about all of us, it's a powerful argument, and one not so easily dismissed, I think, by the simple-minded cant about "Benedict Arnold CEO's" (John Kerry, during the period when he was slavishly following consultant Bob Shrum's tired script) and CNN anchor Lou Dobbs' transparently pathetic attempt to ape the faux-populism of Fox's Bill O'Reilly. Through the inevitable hydraulic pressures of capitalism, companies will always seek out those hungrier (and yes, less-costly) workers, just as money will always splash its way into politics, no matter what barriers we may erect. I'd argue that we'd be smart to understand and react to these forces rather than trying to wish, shout or even vote them away.

I thought of Sandy again today, when I read this surprising little Washington Post piece about how writers--generally of the non-union variety--are the unacknowledged but essential players behind so-called "reality TV" series, a category which will comprise no less than 17% of the coming fall TV season's prime time schedule. The networks are loathe to acknowledge them with credits, since that defeats the myth of their unscripted nature. And since the entire niche is predicated on its considerably lower production costs, the networks are trying their best to keep them non-union. As I finished the story, I envisioned Sandy reacting like some latter-day Civil War general, studying the intelligence from the field before repositioning her big guns, oratorical and otherwise, to blast away in the direction of this latest perceived injustice. May she keep firing away in support of scribes, building creative community and reminding everyone of the importance of good writing. And here's hoping she also does well for herself while she's doing all this good for others.

A Writing Class for Your Consideration

From the fall course schedule for the Poets and Writers League of Greater Cleveland (click here and scroll down to the bottom. But don't forget to check out the other offerings too):

Editors Steve Gleydura from Cleveland Magazine and Sarah Sphar of Northern Ohio Live have teamed up with award-winning journalist and writer John Ettorre to offer this three-session course on the fundamentals of writing for a living. While regional magazine editors provide insight and instruction on how and why they go about choosing free-lancers and on becoming an “expert” on food, business, arts, education, and other magazine fodder, the veteran writer instructs practical skills such as leveraging the Internet, how and where to pitch articles, meeting the deadline, and the value of awards and professional affiliations.
Segments 1 & 2, taught by Sarah Sphar and John Ettorre, respectively, are offered Tuesdays at the Northern Ohio Live (2026 Murray Hill Road #103, Cleveland, 44106), October 16 & 23, 6:30-8:30pm. Segment 3, taught by Steve Gleydura, will be held Tuesday, November 6 (location TBD), 6:30-8:30pm.
$95 for Members
$115 for Nonmembers.

Hope at least some of you will be able to join us for this. It's a good chance to hear first-hand from two area magazine editors how to go about writing for their audiences. I'll try to add what might be called the less sugar-coated perspective about magazine writing.

The Year In Review (for 2005):

Our Year-End Salute To Some Remarkable People & Other Stuff
So We're A Year Late--We'd Rather Be Timeless Than Timely

Below is something I wrote at year end last year but never published/posted. Why? I kept tinkering with it, changing it, adding and subtracting to it. I kept seeing holes, things I wanted to add, others I wanted to rethink. And on and on it went. Anyway, we thought it might be fun to bring you now, a full year late. Some of the things I've mentioned here have changed a little in the year since I wrote them, and where that happened, I've pointed it out in an editor's note. So away we go:

Our Favorite Book of the Year:
(a four-way tie)

We've already mentioned, via brief excerpt (here) historian Ron Chernow's masterful biography of John D. Rockefeller, which we consider simply the finest book ever written about this region's history. It wasn't published this year, but '05 is when we read it, so here it belongs.

We haven't, however, mentioned three other astounding books, none of which is tied to this area:

Lincoln's Melancholy, a luminous study of the moods and madness that drove our 16th president. A stunningly well-executed book, from a guy (Joshua Wolf Schenk) who's neither academic historian nor a specialist on Lincoln. He pulls it off so well that it can only be considered a major victory for that hardiest of hold-out souls: the writerly generalist.

E=mc2--A Biography of the World's Most Famous Equation. The book just flat out blew me away. It's a splendid example of an impossibly learned specialist (an Oxford physics don, no less) writing wonderfully for a general audience, which gives the lie to so many who say they can't translate complicated stuff into layman's English (the real reason is they can't write well). I especially love how the idea first occurred to the author. He writes in the introduction that while he was once watching an otherwise forgettable entertainment show on TV, the interviewer asked actress Cameron Diaz what was the one question she'd most like answered. "I'd like to know the meaning of E=mc2," she said. He took his marching orders, and turned it into a memorable book. God bless him.

78 Reasons Why Your Book May Never Be Published & 14 Reasons Why it Just Might. Besides some brilliant hands-on advice from a been-there/done-it book editor, written in a sardonic wise-guy-with-tender-heart-delivering-tough-love style, it also happens to be the catchiest book title of the year, I think. I'll excerpt from these final three books in coming weeks. If I forget, you'll remind me, please...

Our Favorite Regional Book

Creative Essence--Cleveland's Sense of Place. It began as a series of lectures by longtime poet and arts advocate Nina Gibans. And this year, the singularly energetic Kent State University Press helped turn it all into a fabulous book, which I reviewed favorably in the pages of Northern Ohio Live a few months ago (alas, not online). There's also a brief Q&A with the author in the current Cleveland Magazine (they're always a bit late). Anyway, I recommend it highly. It happens to be the only comprehensive history I know about of this region's art and its artists. Please give it a look, will you?

Runner-Up:
Cleveland in Prose and Poetry. A wonderful new anthology gathered by the Poets and Writers League of Greater Cleveland, and edited by the able Bonnie Jacobsen. This would make a great gift for anyone, anytime.

Our Favorite Writerly Migration

That would have to be one Steve Coll, an industrious middle-aged guy who was beginning to carve a status as a minor (though growing) legend at the Washington Post, where as managing editor he was odds-on-favorite to rise to the top job when Lakewood native Len Downie retires (soon). Earlier this year, after publishing a well-received book on Iraq, he chucked it all and went back to his first love, writing. But don't feel too bad for him, since he accepted a slot at the New Yorker, where his editor will be the former WaPo reporter David Remnick. Sure enough, he hit a home run in his first piece, in the Dec. 12th issue, a sterling mid-length piece on fugitive Osama Bin Laden's formative years in school. The piece (not online) includes a story about Osama's son's p.r. shop. We'd call it surreal.

Our Favorite New Local Blog Voice

This was a tough one, because there have been so many wonderful new writerly voices added to the regional blog environment. But in the end, we gave the nod to Tina Vance's Distracted Mind, a sometimes angry but always thoughtful and insightful writer. The fact that she's of tender years--mid-20s, I believe, and is the mother of a small child, makes her all the more interesting.

Our Favorite New Cause-Related Blog

The nod goes to my friend Marc Majercak's Leading Hands blog. Technically a group effort (though Marc is certainly the founder and main engine), this site is refreshing in how it tackles its subjects in a new way. I think we've all had it by now, in about Year 4 (or is it really 3 or 5 or 6?) with all those hundreds of me-too blogs. This one takes a fresh look at new subjects. And the design's pretty nice too (editor's note: this blog has since been discontinued, but there's an archive of sorts here). Marc has been a regular on the circuit for some years. A tech guru who spent some time at Progressive Insurance, he's now at an offshoot, Insurance.com. But you can also catch him digitally DJing at various events (including the Web Association holiday party), armed with nothing but his Ipod. You'll not find a cooler guy in all of Northeast Ohio, nor one with more passion.

Our Favorite Re-Energized 'Local' Blog Voice

The quote marks around local are because Christine technically lives in New Jersey. But her heart continues to focus on NEOhio. And I'd say in the last year, this gen-next librarian has found her voice. The lady is a writer, and a splendid one. Check her out when you can.

Our Favorite 'Newish' Print Voice

Michael Gill of the Free Times, for his ability to dig deeply, write beautifully and for his astonishing range of subjects. Mike, a frustrated poet, has found his calling with prose poetry in the form of luminous weekly journalism. Like far too few practicing the craft here, he gets Cleveland's soul. I was going to point you to some of his leading gems, but found it impossible to decide which half dozen I liked best. So just keep an eye out for that byline, and sample his earlier greatest hits by either googling him or checking the FT archives and reading away as you have time, will you?

Our Best Corporate Use of Blogs

Okay, so our parameters for this aren’t global, nor even national. We’ve narrowed our search to this region. For 2005, the award goes to Ideastar, the highly entrepreneurial web developer based in Garfield Heights. The company’s founder and still its leader, Jim Fisher, was a journalism student at Kent State University, and that background certainly shows in much of the company’s work. There are an abundance of blogs connected with this company. Fisher has one himself, as does VP Mike Wise and Suzanne the search specialist. But the company’s overall blog may be the best of the bunch. It’s full of interesting photos, lively news and commentary (including news of Ideastar’s recent Weatherhead 100 honors) and just plain makes the company sound like one anyone would want to work with or for. In other words, this is a company that has figured out how to inject its blog with personality. Hats off to Ideastar and Jim Fisher. Please, dear readers, add your thoughts about your favorite regional corporate or organizational blog(s). If we get enough good ideas via your comments, perhaps we’ll even rethink this award. Or more likely, we’ll add to it.

Most Potentially Interesting Industry Convergence

Northeast Ohio Communications Affiliates (here). The region's entire advertising, p.r., journalism, printing and communications industry is slowly coming together to explore how they might modestly collaborate in ways that make sense for all of them. In other words, to explore where they have some shared interests. The conversations are sketchy, but thus far quite interesting. Do stay tuned...(this one, I'm sad to say, hasn't really gone anywhere too interesting yet, as evidenced by its website since being restricted. But we'll keep hoping).

Most Touching Thing I Heard at a Writers' Conference

One shy, retiring 60ish woman, who drove all the way from Dayton to attend a Cleveland-area seminar, when asked why she refused to call herself a writer for the longest time, even after breaking into newspaper column-writing as a largely self-taught novice: "I figured if I used the word, I might jinx myself." She still emails her delightfully folksy columns to me regularly. If you're interested in being added to that distribution list, let me know.

Most Mind-Expanding Experience at a Writers' Conference

Listening to local folk singer Anne DeChant beautifully expound on how writing song lyrics isn't too different from writing good prose. While her presence on the program confused some initially (a songwriter talking to a bunch of prose writers?), she quickly left everyone wowed with her soulful insights and hard-bitten wisdom about the creative process and the urge to express oneself. Those subjects, you see, are full of ideas and habits of mind that apply universally across every possible creative boundary.

Our Favorite Digital Archiving Project

http://www.clevelandmemory.org/
Nuff said about that. It includes a range of goodies, and it's growing all the time. But among our sentimental favorites on the site are the Roldo archive and the holdings dedicated to the late Cleveland Press. Just make sure you have a fast connection and lots of time when you visit, because one can get lost browsing in there for hours (editor's note: I subsequently wrote about the Press here).

Most Innovative New Media Project

http://newwest.net/ (editor's note: I subsequently wrote about it here).

But look for this cool digital project this year: One Cleveland's Lev Gonick is setting up a wiki to help the editors of the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History reach out to the general public for ideas about possible entries as they prepare yet another update of this singularly useful volume (note to myself, check in on how that's progressing).

Most Consistently Brilliant Columnist

An easy call, really: Vanity Fair's James Woolcott. Besides starting a blog this year, with the help of his then-Newhouse empire colleague Jeff Jarvis, he also become, I think, the de facto lead columnist for VF. That's because Chris Hitchens seems to have short-circuited some mental wiring as he transforms himself from Trotskyite to right-winger. We can only hope that's temporary. But meanwhile, it gives Woolcott a chance to shine all the brighter. Do read him--he's one of those rare pens who seems constitutionally unable to write a dull sentence. As a chronicler of the foibles and outrages during this era of the Bush imperium, he's simply a man without peers.

Most Satisfying Foiling of Rovian Skullduggery

The sacking of the White House plant who absurdly chaired the Corporation for Public Broadcasting for a time, at least until the agency's Inspector General (praise Allah for these bastions of independence, a remnant of post-Watergate reforms) blew the whistle on him. Ken Tomlinson was a pathetic neanderthal right winger. Special award goes to NPR's brilliant David Folfenflick for filleting this fat phony with a series of unflinching reports that could easily have cost him and his colleagues plenty. All in all, a proud moment for the quality media this year.

Dumbest Media Replacement

CNN's pathetic decision to replace the always-interesting, sometimes-headscratch-inducing anchor, Aaron Brown. His replacement, the pouting, smoldering Anderson Cooper (aargh). Note to CNN: Sorry, but the full-page ads in the New York Times, depicting Anderson fervently scribbling notes in a reporter's pad, fool no one. Save your money in the Promoting Faux-Reporters column of the budget and instead channel it to some real reporting.

Most Innovative Media Person
(Tie)
Nick Denton
Henry Copeland

Freshest, Most Innovative Thinker/Writer on New Media
(Tie)
John Battelle
Jay Rosen

Most Hopeful New Media Pulpit

Dan Gillmor's bi-coastal quasi-academic Center for Citizen Media.

Most Innovative Academic
Sandy Piderit (here)

Most Innovative Teacher
Mary Beth Matthews (here)

Mentors Who Keep Getting Better With Wisdom & Experience
Roldo Bartimole
Bill Zinsser

Best Use of Pink
Daniella's impossibly charming blog (editor's note: alas, Daniella decided to mothball her blog earlier this year. But we choose to look on the bright side: at least she's kept her earlier work right there where we can see and re-enjoy it).

Our Favorite New Print Pub of the Year

Alas, it's an empty category this year. We're still mourning the loss of Urban Dialect, the smart and sassy brainchild of Daniel Gray-Kontar and Clarence Meriweather and their fellow former Free Times renegades. Better luck next year...

Sorry to briefly break the upbeat new year's momentum, but we feel duty-bound to briefly bring you this momentary departure into a trio of Worst of Awards:

Worst Site Redesign

Salon.com. It may have been done (or so I surmise) to try to hide the fact that far less fresh features are running than in the past, but whatever the reason, it's simply dreadful, a complete turnoff. The superior, timely writing (kind of) keeps me going back, but does the thing have to be so damn butt-ugly? It wouldn't be so bad if the site didn't look wonderful in its last iteration.

Worst Area Restaurant Menu 'Upgrade'

Great Lakes Brewery, which in mid-year got a new upmarket makeover, with higher prices and a new chef. But what stung me like a blizzard was the untimely demise of my favorite, even revered, dish: the legendary (to me, at least) bratwurst & pierogies platter. I noticed about a $5 increase, nearly a 50% rise, and still I was prepared to pay it, since it was so good. But when I saw what came out, I freaked: far less food, done up in silly frou-frou fashion, for far higher price. In the only personal example this year of hostility to a service person (I promise) I momentarily lashed out at my waitress. "You'd sure better hope I'm not a restaurant reviewer!" I said (I know, pathetic). When she sicced the manager on me to make nice, I was still steaming, promising to tell 200 of my best friends not to come there anymore (weenie that I am, I didn't follow through, at least till now). Please, GLB, if you're reading this, bring it the hell back...

Worst Experience With a Bank

National City's abject failure to get with the times and service a new generation of auto purchase. It happened like this: We bought a slightly used minivan in mid year, from a pleasant middle-aged hippy couple in Cleveland Heights, via a free ad in Craigslist. So far, so good. The price was great, our parish credit union cheerfully drew up all the paperwork and okayed the loan, sending it along to National City for processing. And there it waited and waited and waited, and then waited some more. After a dozen calls to a branch manager there, who , referring it to it by some telling bank lingo (she called it a "casual sale") we finally got things approved, though only after we had to threaten to go to the Better Business Bureau (we had to pay insurance all the time on a car we couldn't drive). Because of that frustrating merry go-round, I got a special satisfaction out of this journalistic evisceration of the bank, by Scene editor Pete Kotz, published at about the same time we were also knocking heads with these dummies.

Okay, back to the bright and cheery side of life...

Our Favorite Article About Blogging.

Ah, there have been so many this year. But this masterful Washington Post Sunday Mag piece on two women who blog from opposite ends of the political spectrum is the cream that rises to the top. Here's a link to my earlier entry about the piece).

Our Favorite Example of Digital Media Convergence
Kent State University's School of Journalism. On a trip there in the fall, I learned from the students that the radio station is working with the student newspaper to deliver podcasts, and that the student TV station will soon be sharing a newsroom with the newspaper. Beyond that, there's a larger and even more exciting overarching initiative, called The Franklin Hall Project, which will house all student media together. Even if adults and their various media institutions are warring over assorted turf battles, student journalists seem to instinctively understand that they all have much more in common than not. A round of applause for them all.

And finally...
Our Working With Words Person of the Year

We think we'll keep this one open, at least for now, while our readers inundate us with their own ideas. Here's our criteria: the person who has done the most of anyone in 2005 to make Northeast Ohio a smart, literate, interesting place to be, a place that encourages learning, growth, innovation and reasoned debate. A place in which it feels comfortable to live, learn, love and get on with one's life work. It certainly wouldn't hurt if they've demonstrated a superior grasp of the native language, but that's not a must. Get your comments in by January 10th, and the winning recommendation will nab a complimentary copy of Creative Essence. Perhaps we'll also convene either a lunch or a modest cocktail party in honor of our person of the year, whichever they prefer (though we just might wait a full year, in a nod to our preference for timelessness over timeliness).

Getting Really Small

If I needed any more reasons (which I don't) to cherish and admire Ben Small, my favorite magazine designer, a longtime friend as well as collaborator, and a guy with a much-derided last name, I could simply point to the quote I noticed he placed recently near his work space. It silently speaks volumes:

Should any political party attempt to abolish Social Security, unempllyment insurance and eliminate labor laws and farm programs, you would not hear of that party again in our political history. there is a tiny splinter group, of course, that believes that you can do these things. Among them are a few Texas oil millionaries and an occasional politician or businessman from other areas. Their number is negligable and they are stupid.
--Pres. Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1952

Does e-mail Make You Dumber? That was the headline of a brief article in the August Discover Magazine, which I breezed through while on vacation recently. Writer Anne Casselman had this to say, in part, as the answer. "If you feel like a zombie at work, perhaps you're suffering from infomania, the term the Hewlett -Packard affiliate in Britain coined for people addicted to e-mail, instant messaging and text messages. A recent study for the company found that British workers' IQ test scores drop temporarily by an average of 10 points when juggling phones, e-mails and other electronic messages--more of an IQ drop than occurs after smoking marijuana or losing a night's sleep." I guess I should be happy that I don't do text or instant messaging and never have, and so maybe my temporary stupidity is only half as bad as some of my multitasking friends. Or at least I hope so.

Small Type, Big Party. We had a blast at last Friday's end-of-summer party at the Poets & Writers League of Greater Cleveland. The weather cooperated, the turnout was brisk. My wife loved seeing (in one case) and meeting (in another) authors whose work she's read and admired. She even found enough fellow teachers in the crowd to chat away with while I worked the room (and the lawn outside) a bit. I was especially heartened to see and be able to chat with at some length a couple of my blogging pals, two especially good and serious writers, Jeff Hess and Chas Rich. They nicely kept watch over the beer supply from a good perch on the porch, while teasing me about my small (there's that word again) type on this site, and the colors which make it hard to read. Okay, guys, I promise to eventually respond with some changes. As for the PWLGC soiree, if you missed it, don't despair. Another in the series is planned for late September. We'll keep you posted.

Here's a Trust You Can Trust

The Trust for Historic Preservation is facing the crisis over home foreclosures head-on. It offers this excellent primer on how communities can manage teardowns while still maintaining their appealing character. "No single tool will solve the problem of teardowns, but rather a combination of strategies works most effectively...A growing number of communities have established 'green' building programs. As such, preservation of historic buildings and conservation of historic neighborhoods are key green building strategies." And while you're on that topic, why not take a read of this article from the Trust's excellent magazine, Preservation, about the rehabilitation of James Madison's home, Montpelier.

Looking for Something to Do Tonight? It's not too late to get tickets for tonight's Writers and Their Friends event, a gala celebration held every two years as a benefit for The Lit, formerly the Poets and Writers League of Greater Cleveland. I teach classes there occasionally, and it's a wonderful cause. Tix for the event, held this time at the Ohio Theatre at Playhouse Square, are just $25 a pop, and can be purchased by phone at the numbers you'll find here. They'll hold them for you at the Will Call window. Hope to see some of you there.

Every Long-Suffering Wife's Secret Dream:
Flushing No-Good Husband Down the Toilet

Only this German woman appears to have literally done just that. We have just two words of reaction: good Lord.

Okay, on to some cheerier news. Glad to see our friend Suzanne D's Mac's Backs bookstore get some national publicity with a mention in this New York Times holiday roundup about how local stores support local authors. In this and a thousand other ways, Suzanne has been the backbone of the local writing community for as long as I can remember. In early December, she presided over a celebration marking the opening of the new downtown loft offices of the former Poets and Writers League of Greater Cleveland, which has just been renamed The Lit (a name change that the organization's own website is yet to reflect, but you know how that goes). Naturally, Suzanne was board chairman and guiding light on that, as well. For earlier mentions of Suzanne and her shop go here. For past items on the PWLGC go here.

Brain Tune-Up. Are you like me, in that you're sometimes haunted, other times challenged, by statistics about how little of our brain capacity most humans actually use? Reports tend to vary from 5% on up, but whatever the correct number might be, I'm forever thinking about how to do more with whatever gray matter I've been given. And if you're hitting the middle years (or older), you may also be thinking about just keeping what you've got as sharp as it's been. Anyway, wherever you're at on that continuum, you may find some food for thought on this interesting site. I found lots of gems buried here, and I hope you will too.

We Began With the Battle of the Sexes, & That's How We'll End. With this interesting Washington Post take on the different gender wiring behind the sexes' very different mental orientation when it comes to directions. A clash as ancient as the scriptures, but one that even Mapquest will never solve.