Website(s) of the week

Being a newbie to the world of literary agents, editors, and publisher, I’ve found the following blogs offered some insight:

Miss Snark – Written by an unanimous agent, Miss Snark, seems to call it like it is. Her snarkiness came to an end in May of this year, but this is still a great place to search for publishing questions and etiquette.

Pub Rants – The Glinda-the-Good-Witch to Miss Snark’s Wicked-Witch, agent Kristin based out of Denver offers tips and mini-workshops.

Editorial Ass – In a similar vein as Miss Snark, this editorial assistant takes readers behind the scenes of a publishing house….

Off strike, on a new strike

I learned that 24 is being delayed because of the writers’ strike so I’ve decided to end my participation in the writers’ strike and now have joined the readers’ strike.

I’, m tu[pying thiis wit my eyees closefd….

On Strike

To show support for my writing brethren, I’m going on strike.

I’ll be back tomorrow.

But by God I’m not writing another letter the rest of the day, in fact, I’m not even going to finish this sente…

Sign my blue jeans, autograph my undies

I went all the way to Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, and Honduras and I didn’t even have the sense to get my blue jeans signed by the people that made them.

The good new is that if you go to this blue jean boutique in NYC they’ll take your measurements and while you sip an espresso they custom make your jeans on the spot. When they’re done, the three people that made the jeans will sign ‘em.

How cool is that?

The bad news is that with their non-custom blue jeans running $250+, it might be more economical to purchase a ticket to Cambodia and have the workers there sign your jeans. Actually, having the Cambodian workers sign your jeans would be kind of hard. You’d have to get 85…

Spirit of Soccer featured on Fifa's website

My crazy buddy Scotty Lee’s organization Spirit of Soccer is featured on Fifa.com. The article is really cool for me to read because I’ve met all the coaches mentioned in it, but you should check it out.

An excerpt:

In a land where almost two million people died through war and hunger, Gne Kom’ Sorth’s story is unexceptional. On the day she was born her father was murdered by the Khmer Rouge. The young girl grew up in a terrifying environment involving dances with death through minefields as she fled between villages. But now, thirty years on, Gne Kom is fulfilling the vow made to the dad she never knew by helping to bring joy to the very fields that witnessed so…

Just Do it?

According to a Durex.com survey the Chinese have the highest number of sexual partners – 19.3 per person.

Don’t know about you, but this surprised me. Brazil, famous for bikinis, waxes for bikinis, and sexual freedom, was a distant second with 15.2. The USA, we’re at a prudish 10.3 partners.

I spent the month of June in China, and while I did get propositioned by multiple hookers on the way to grab a McDonald’s ice cream cone, I had no idea China was so sexually liberated.

I would have guessed the exact opposite to be true – that we’re twice as promiscuous as the Chinese. China, while modernizing at an alarming rate, seems to be a very traditional culture that is heavily concerned with face….

Patagonia's Footprint Chronicles

I briefly mentioned Patagonia’s Footprint Chronicles this weekend. The FC follows a few of their items from design to material sourcing to factory to consumer to recycling. Today, I revisited the site and realized that it was even cooler than I thought it was.

If you click on the pictures, you can view a slideshow or a video. They interview workers and managers at factories, talk about the process of producing the apparel, and even what the factory and the jobs mean to the country and the workers. I was blown away when I discovered this. I didn’t realize that any company had gone to such great lengths to introduce us, not only to the manufacturing process of their products, but, to the workers…

It’s out there

Last week my agent sent out the Where am I wearing? book proposal to a number of editors, one of whom happened to work as Eric Clapton’s editor, which, you know, is super cool. I may be a bit premature in imagining sipping a drink at the publishing house’s cocktail party talking with EC, but I can’t help it…

Me: That Layla is some song.

EC: Thanks.

Me: We named one of our dogs Layla. She liked to roll in poop and sometimes she did that crazy dog thing where she would drag her butt across the ground. In fact, sometimes she drug her butt on our concrete block.

EC: …

But seriously, I’m realistically maintaining my level of hope. I’m cautiously pessimistic. This has served me well…

Mrs. Butterworth’s boobs

Where did Mrs. Butterworth’s boobs go?

When I was kid she was much shapelier. Now, she’s as flat as a pancake.

There are only two reasons why they could have disappeared (none of which is that she is old and gravity plays on such things – because Mrs. Butterworth is ageless):

1) Economics – Pinnacle Food Company, which produces Mrs. Butterworth, decided that they could make a greater profit if they flattened her out, thus robbing consumers of two D-cups of her sweet nectar.

2) Prudishness – After decades of children and adult alike fondling the syrup maven, our culture cannot handle inanimate objects with anatomy.

Banished by corporate greed or by our ultra-conservative culture, Mrs. Butterworth’s boobs are gone.

I miss them.

Now when I’m…

Website of the Week: Patagonia’s footprint

Patagonia’s Footprint Chronicles

Patagonia is an outdoor clothing company that has stuck to its guns over the years. Their quality is at a premium and so is their price. The stuff just ain’t cheap. They understand that producing goods impacts our world and they try their best to lower that impact and to educate their customers how they can lower their own. They don’t shy away from telling people where their goods are sourced, in fact, they have a map showing the global journey a few of their products take before they end up in our closet….