Self-Published and Then

Collin Hansen on "The Great American Novel That Almost Wasn't."

The Best of Hollywood Stories

 

First Paragraph

The white men in jackets and ties were obviously out of their element. Normally, at this time of day, they would be preparing to leave home or office for a couple of drinks, lunch and maybe a card game at their clubs. Now, on December 19, 1991, they shifted in their seats, returning hostile glares from black men and women in the packed basement of New Orleans City Hall. The city council was meeting in spartan surroundings while its regular chambers were being renovated, but the physical discomforts were nothing compared to the general psychic unease as everyone waited for the great debate on an ordinance to desegregate Mardi Gras parades and gentlemen's clubs. 

From Lords of Misrule: Mardis Gras and the Politics of Race in New Orleans by James Gill

[This was recommended to me by an old friend who, when Mardi Gras rolls around, can always be found throwing beads from a float. I may join him some year.]

Why Keep a Master List?

 

Nicholas Bate, whose productivity shows that he a Master of Lists, tells us why keeping one makes a huge difference.

[I use Dingbat journals for most of my lists simply because they possess a certain beauty.]

Once Upon a Time in a White House Receiving Line

History's small moments can be revealing.

[Photo by Eric Prouzet at Unsplash]

First Paragraph

I wasn't trying to play the victim until the world taught me what a powerful grift it is. Believe it or not, all I wanted was to be successful. To hustle like my Pops but to keep my life and freedom in the process. My desperate chase for your approval was really all about that. I needed that approval in order to be considered successful. I needed it to feel like my life mattered.

- From Victim: A Novel by Andrew Boryga

Glory Road

 

Have recently been reading Glory Road before bedtime. Bruce Catton was far more than a great historian. There is a poetry in his prose.

Inspirational

 My high school reunion is this weekend.

My job is to stand near the end of the bar so people can mutter, "Well, at least I look better than that guy."

I am a river to my people.

The Well-Being Gap Between Liberals and Conservatives

American Affairs: Musa al-Gharbi examines evidence indicating that liberals tend to be more depressed than conservatives.

AI Staff Work?

 Writing on Substack, law prof and Instapundit Glenn Harlan Reynolds presents a fascinating and highly plausible possibility:

"So this is purest speculation on my part. But watching the incredibly complex multi-domain rescue mission this weekend, it suddenly struck me that new, powerful AI might be behind this. Moving all these units into so many places at once, making sure that they have communications organized, fuel, ammunition, food, the right troops with the right transports, and so on is enormously complex. It normally requires the work of hundreds of staffers to do this sort of thing, and that takes time. But it happened awfully fast, and nearly flawlessly."

[HT: A Large Regular]