Smorgasbord

Whoa!

Do you know that I've got something like 25 windows open in Firefox? Good gracious! Every night when I shut down my computer, I click "Save and Quit" instead of just "Quit." That way, my 25 or so saved windows open again the next morning when I turn on my computer.

Confession...it's making me a little nuts.

What is all this stuff?

Mostly stuff I've been meaning to share here on my blog, but haven't gotten around to.

So...today you get a smorgasbord of goodies.

Lucky dogs.

Here goes:

1. If you read this blog regularly, you know that a) THIRSTY is about domestic violence, and b) I often blog about domestic violence. On December 15, I posted a video of Patrick Stewart talking about the violence he experienced in his home growing up. If you missed it, watch it here.

Here's a follow-up video of Stewart discussing the same issue. Sure hope you're all listening...

2. Jon Gugala reviewed THIRSTY for "the review lab" at Columbia College Chicago. Has some thoughtful, interesting things to say, including (alert! alert! shameless self-promotion ahead) "[Bair] O’Keeffe’s power as a storyteller should mark her as a writer to take note of in the years ahead." Read Gugala's review here.

3. Two uber-cool writerly events are coming up in Shanghai:

• M on the Bund (one of Shanghai's best restaurants & bars) is sponsoring the "M Literary Residency Program," which offers a writer (published or unpublished) the opportunity to write and live in either Shanghai, China, or Pondicherry, India for 3 months. Are you adventurous? Do you love to travel? If you're interested, don't dally. The application deadline is January 15, 2010. More info? Click here.

• The Shanghai International Literary Festival is coming up in March. As always, a gaggle of brilliant, funny, interesting writers is heading for Shanghai, including Rachel Kushner, Peter Hessler, and Junot Diaz (again brought to you by the mostest marvelous M on the Bund). For a complete list of authors, click. (P.S. I'll be there, too...)

4. So often buying, reading, and falling in love with books is a word of mouth journey. (I told two friends and they told two friends and so on and so on....) I love what Susan Ideus has to say about THIRSTY here at "Telling Her Stories: A Broad View" because it says so much about how important it is that readers talk and share...not just about THIRSTY but about all books.

5. As we move into the new year (and the new decade), the FCC has decided that bloggers who accept free stuff for online review have to post a "blogger disclosure policy" on their blog. (Want to know more? Here. Read this.) Now, to date, I haven't accepted any free stuff (I promise!)...no books, no toys, no food, no nothing. But who knows what the new decade holds? So I'm thinking about adding one...and I'm kinda writing a fun one in my head. Stay tuned.

Well, that covers it for how. Enjoy the smorgasbord. A little something for everyone.

And, oh yeah, be sure to check in tomorrow. Big changes to the blog are a'coming.

Cheers!