We’re taking a short hiatus, and will be back (better, stronger, faster) very soon. Our reincarnation will be something like this:

I have a new addiction. Oh, and it’s so delicious. I just can’t seem to get enough. Each fix is only temporary and leaves me wanting more. But thankfully this addiction is free and doesn’t harm my body in any way. And it’s so simple, you’d never guess: The Moth podcasts. See, I spend a lot of time on trains. And while I am a voracious reader, I had the misfortune of inheriting severe motion sickness from my grandmother. Just like Granny, if I try to read more than a page or two while on a moving vehicle I break out in a cold sweat and feel like I’m about to hurl. So I’m left with hours and hours on trains with nothing to do but to listen to my iPod. Well, recently a dear friend of mine recommended that I download The Moth podcasts. And this dear friend opened me up to a whole new world of awesomeness. The Moth is kind of like a drug. Storytelling crack. Yes, The Moth is storytelling crack. And I urge you to partake. Read more »

I’m going to go with yes. Yes they are. But I have a pretty liberal definition of “art.”

Read the rest of the comic “Against Art” by Jochen Gerner, then sound off: do you agree/disagree?

Well, I do. I’ll use any excuse to procrastinate, even if I already have a ton of ideas of what to write about. If you’re in the same boat, then you’re in luck.  Author Gretchen Rubin has created a list of “13 Tips For Actually Getting Some Writing Done.”  Check out some highlights:

1. Write something every work-day, and preferably, every day; don’t wait for inspiration to strike. Staying inside a project keeps you engaged, keeps your mind working, and keeps ideas flowing. Also, perhaps surprisingly, it’s often easier to do something almost every day than to do it three times a week.

2. Remember that if you have even just fifteen minutes, you can get something done. Don’t mislead yourself, as I did for several years, with thoughts like, “If I don’t have three or four hours clear, there’s no point in starting.”

3. Don’t binge on writing. Staying up all night, not leaving your house for days, abandoning all other priorities in your life — these habits lead to burn-out.

4. If you have trouble re-entering a project, stop working in mid-thought — even mid-sentence — so it’s easy to dive back in later.

6. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that creativity descends on you at random. Creative thinking comes most easily when you’re writing regularly and frequently, when you’re constantly thinking about your project.

7. Remember that lots of good ideas and great writing come during the revision stage. I’ve found, for myself, that I need to get a beginning, middle, and an end in place, and then the more creative and complex ideas begin to form. So I try not to be discouraged by first drafts.

Rubin is also working on what she calls The Happiness Project, an account of the year she spent test-driving every conceivable principle about how to be happy.  Sounds like good reading to me.

Take Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis, rearrange the images, insert new captions, and what do you get? Persepolis 2.0, a prime example of transformative storytelling by 2 anonymous Iranian exiles who reimagined Satrapi’s novel in the context of the recent election and protests.

Persepolis 2.0 begins its story on voting day and continues to include the shocking results, the subsequent protests, and the use of Twitter and other social media in the dissension. The story’s final frames depicts a godlike figure cradling Neda Agha-Soltan in his arms as he croons, “Don’t cry Neda. Your death will not be in vain.” The final frame begs the reader to support Iran by forwarding the graphic novel and spreading the word.

This is by no means the first time someone has used the arts to further a political cause, nor is it even the first time someone has reinterpreted Marjane Satrapi’s art, but Persepolis 2.0 is particularly moving in that the remix so eerily resembles the original. In a recent interview with the Guardian, one of 2.0’s editors says that “the updated cartoon was intended to show how history was repeating itself in Iran.” He continues: Read more »