Reading books

Do you ever use bookmarks? I end up using scraps of paper and receipts, but this book hook would be a real step up. It would transform your book into a piece of art on your nightstand.
(Illustration by Caitlin McGauley)

I think we have narrowed down the reason that Borders went out of business.

Courtesy of National Confidential:

Sarah Palin’s latest book is causing a headache for the bankrupt Borders book, based on pictures release online. The national chain, closing its doors and attempting to rid itself of inventory, appears to have a Palin sized problem.

Okay I am exaggerating a little bit...maybe. But you have to admit that it certainly did NOT do Borders any favors to purchase all of those crappy books when there was NOBODY who wanted to murder their brain cells by reading them. After all there are only SO many paint chip eaters, and most of them have never actually read one them there books. "Cletus stop trying to push it into the damn VCR slot! You have to open it up and try to make sense outta those squiggly lines."

I like how they said they had a "Palin sized problem." I think we should all start using that in our day to day lives.

"Yeah Bill, you certainly do have a problem, but at least its not a PALIN sized problem!"

Feel good picture of the day!

This is the scene at the Borders closeout sale in Maryland.

So nice to see that the Grizzled Mama's stupid book of regurgitated stories she stole from more accomplished authors will STILL not sell, even at 90% off.

And it is equally satisfying to see it on the shelf right next to another lying Republican who should not financially benefit from his duplicity.

Perhaps they should relabel it "cheap toilet paper." I can think of a number of people who would LOVE to wipe their ass with a George Bush or Sarah Palin book.

(H/T to Wonkette.)

Good news! Nick Broomfield gets distributor for his documentary "Sarah Palin: You Betcha!"

Courtesy of Deadline.com:

Days before its world premiere at the 2011 Toronto Film Festival, Nick Broomfield’s hot-button expose documentary Sara Palin: You Betcha! has been acquired by Freestyle Releasing. The plan is to open in New York and Los Angeles on Sept. 30 and roll out. Broomfield raised over $30,000 on the crowd funding site Kickstarter to support the doc’s release, with private investors kicking in more money to launch the film. Cassian Elwes made the deal with Freestyle co-president Susan Jackson. The doc, directed by Broomfield and Joan Churchill, is not a fave of the Palin crowd, and the filmmakers say it lifts the veil off her image as a former hockey mom as the former Alaska governor and vice presidential candidate gears for a possible presidential run in 2012.

No slam against Geoffrey, Frank, Fred, or Joe, but I really think that I am going to enjoy THIS film about Palin even more than any of the books, articles, or blogposts written about her. Possibly including my own.

It just seems like Nick has the best sense of humor about his subject, and that he approaches this bizarre individual who, let's face it, has been covered to death, in a fresh and engaging manner.

As most of you know I really try to find the humor in things whenever possible, and it looks like "Sarah Palin: You Betcha!" is going to have some laugh out loud moments, that I for one could really use at this point in our little journey.

Just in case you missed my last update on this film, here is another look at the official trailer.

(By the way I missed it earlier, but the white truck that Nick is chasing while yelling "Frank!" is Frank Bailey's truck. Nick tried to interview him several times but he always refused.)

P.S. I just want to remind you that if YOU were one of the many who contributed to Kickstart to help Nick get his film distributed, you should give yourself a pat on the back for a job well done, and take pride in the fact that Sarah Palin now hates you too! Welcome to the club!

Doonesbury on McGinniss, day two.

I continue to be interested in where this storyline is going.

It appears that Joe may have been given a peek at future strips, as he appears completely at ease with the similarities between this strip and what happened with the Bailey book.

Courtesy of Joe's blog:

Hedley is the Fox News reporter who was stalking me last summer at Lake Lucille. 

If he ever starts tweeting the juicy stuff, I’m screwed. 

Nobody will ever buy my book.But surely he couldn’t do that without an okay from his boss. 

And because his boss is my old friend Roger Ailes, that could never happen. 

Could it?

Pre-emptive damage control? Fanning the flames of controversy to drum up interest? Knowing Joe I would not be surprised if it was a little of both.

Clearly Joe is inviting people to talk about his book and the controversy surrounding the release of the Bailey manuscript.  However since he has closed the comments on his blog, he has not provided a forum for that conversation to take place.

Now I know that many of you have strong feelings about all of this drama concerning Joe and Frank's books, and I will endeavor to give you all some leeway here to discuss those feelings.  However I am going to warn you that I might reject a comment that just seems overly insulting or designed simply to turn people against each other.

(Comic courtesy of Doonesbury.com.)

Cleaning up

Swiss artist Ursus Wehrli is releasing a new book called The Art of Clean Up, which features photographs of everyday scenes rearranged into organized rows. The sunbathers made me laugh--look at their perpendicular feet! Very neat, indeed. :)

(Via Swissmiss)

Two years ago

Two years ago, yesterday, Alex and I got married in a lovely building in downtown Manhattan. It seems like both one second ago, and a lifetime ago. True to form, for our anniversary present, I made Alex a book of our wedding photos...
(Cocktails, with a lion and fascinators...)
(I love this photo of our flower girl!)
...It now lives on our coffeetable, and we haven't stopped looking through it since.
I also made a framed photo for him (and me:) to put on our mantlepiece. It shows the thrilling moment we walked into our cocktail reception, announced as "husband and wife." Alex, I adore you. xoxo

(Book photos by Laura Ratliff; wedding photos by Max Wanger)

Motherhood Mondays: 10 favorite bedtime stories

Let's talk about books! This past year, Toby and I read tons of bedtime stories, and he gravitated toward a handful of special favorites. (He's very opinionated!) Here are ten books we've love reading most...
Read more »

How in the world does the President even have TIME to read this many books?

Graphic courtesy of the Daily Beast.

That is TWENTY FOUR books!

And most of these are not exactly bathroom reading material.

I think in the same amount of time I have only managed to get through twelve books myself. And I am embarrassed to say that most of the books I have read are not quite up to the same literary standards as those that President Obama has read.

Pinhole Press vacation book

My darlings, we love taking vacation photos (who doesn't?) but then we never really look at them again. They're just stuck on our computers. So! We decided to make a Pinhole Press photo book with our England vacation snapshots, and I love love love the way it turned out. The paper is really soft, the photos look gorgeous, and it's amazing to have a little book of our vacation. Alex and I have read through it like fifty times. :) Here are a few of the pages...
Anyway, it was easy to make and it's so wonderful to have; now I'm dying to make litte photo books for all our vacations and events, including every Christmas break and our wedding and honeymoon. Thought I'd share! xoxo
P.S. Inspired, I also made some thank-you notes to have on hand at home, using a photo Amy Merrick emailed me of her flowers. :)

Five best graphic novels

Have you guys ever read graphic novels? They're full-length comic strips for grown-ups that often tell hilarious and touching stories. They're entertaining and compelling--it's almost like reading a movie. And you'll notice clever little things in the pictures that add to the story (like a flirty sideways glance or a suspicious bead of sweat). Here are my five favorites...

1. Ghost World, above, follows the adventures of two moody teenage girls, Enid and Becky, after high-school graduation, as they grow up and drift apart. (Did you see the film?) I find it mindblowing how a middle-aged male cartoonist--the hilarious Dan Clowes--managed to portray two listless young women so realistically. (He nailed it.) Ghost World won approximately one million awards for being the best graphic novel ever.
2. French Milk is a funny memoir of a 22-year-old's six-week stay in Paris with her mother--complete with drawings of croissants, striped shirts, the Eiffel Towel and some crankiness (which just makes her more charming). Really sweet to see the mother-daughter relationship.
3. Persepolis tells the story of the author's childhood under the Islamic Revolution. Her neighbors' homes are bombed, and her once-wealthy parents now struggle to educate her. Her father considers fleeing to America, but then asks to his wife, "I can become a taxi driver and you a cleaning lady?" As she grows up, the girl's rebellious streak puts her in danger. Touching that the story is told through a child's eyes.
4. Shortcomings follows Ben, a cynical Japanese-American guy in his twenties, on his search for contentment--and the perfect girl. He's kind of a jerk but you grow to love him, or, at least, understand him. Fascinating insight into a certain type of male mind. (The genius author Adrian Tomine also illustrates for the New Yorker; I once spotted him in a record store! I creepily trailed him around but was too shy to say hello.)
5. Cancer Vixen has a scary cover, but I promise you, this book is a-maz-ing. (Even my manly brother-in-law was obsessed with it.) Written by a New Yorker and Glamour cartoonist, the novel tells Marisa's true story of finding a lump in her breast right after meeting the love of her life. This book made me laugh out loud and shed tears, and I couldn't put it town.

Have you ever read graphic novels? Do you have any favorites?

P.S. Ten best documentaries and my favorite book of all time.

Motherhood Mondays: The best book...

My lovelies, have you read the book Operating Instructions? I'm reading it right now, and it's quickly soaring to the top of my list of favorite books.

The brilliant Anne Lamott tells the story of her first year as a mother to a sweet chubby baby boy; she was single, 35 and a recovering alcoholic. Her honest, smart and up-roaringly hilarious descriptions of new motherhood--including both meltdowns and sacred moments--made me laugh out loud and tear up. I LOVED this book!

Have you read it? What did you think? (I just ordered her book Bird by Bird, too.) What other books are you reading? I'd love to hear!

P.S. One more Motherhood Monday post coming up...

Coming soon, an update on the progress of the "babygate" book.

Sarah Palin on March 26, 2008. Eighteen days before "birth" of Trig Palin.

I currently have in my possession an e-mail from the author of the upcoming "babygate" book.

I will post it fairly early tomorrow morning because, and some of you may not be aware of this, IM receives more visitors on the weekdays than on the weekends.  In order for the most people to have the opportunity to read what Fred has written I decided it would be best to post it on a day that saw more traffic so that I would not have people asking me over and over again about an update.

I think that most of you will be very pleased with the information, though for some of the more impatient ones it might be a little frustrating.

Just like with Joe and Geoffrey's books, there are ALWAYS new revelations which threaten to change the tenor of the book or delay its release.  I learned long ago that patience is my best friend.

Speaking of patience, I should also let you know that there are many MORE revelations coming out about the Grizzled Mama, and her "Alaska mafia." Including one that I heard just the other day that I am hoping like crazy I can manage to prove, because even among the most jaded Palin watchers this one will be huge.

One thing I can share is that some, who are claiming to be in the know, are convinced that Palin actually WILL announce her candidacy during her speech in Iowa on September 3rd.

I remain somewhat skeptical, but as I have said before I would not put ANYTHING past this lunatic.

I know a couple of authors who would be thrilled if Palin DID launch a short lived, ultimately doomed campaign in early September.  And I do have to admit that it would certainly bring more players into the "Sources for Gryphen" family.

I guess that would not be all bad now would it?

Update: I was just now watching Meet the Press, and sitting there with my plate of eggs watching David Gregory ask David Plouffe just WHICH bills the government will pay for certain if the debt ceiling does NOT get raised by Tuesday suddenly just pissed me the hell off!

So I would like to vent a little.

When the Tea Party was in its infancy and nobody was paying it much attention, the Koch brothers arranged for Sarah Palin to make appearances on their behalf and essentially, along with the spastic Glenn Beck, become the face of the Teabaggers. Because of her unrivaled name recognition she brought tons of undeserved attention to what was clearly a very unsophisticated astro-turf group of angry racists, who, over time, were polished with corporate money enough so that they were able to choose and back candidates who are currently holding our country hostage.

While that was taking place there were those who were working overtime to convince me to drop the babygate story because it was never going to "make any difference."

"Just focus on the wild ride story, Gryph.  That will be enough to stop her if enough people hear about it.  The babygate story just makes you, and ALL of us, seem like crazy conspiracy theorists."

Of course I refused, and as my reward I found myself isolated.  I learned over time that journalists were steered away from me, for fear I would bring up"that crazy conspiracy story."

At one point I was so close I could taste it, to REALLY blowing this whole thing up. But I was sabotaged by those I considered my friends. In my personal opinion if I had received more support, and if others had worked side by side with me, Sarah Palin would NEVER have been able to provide the spark that the Koch brothers used to start the Teabagger bonfire.

So I would just like to take a moment to say FUCK YOU!

Fuck you for playing it safe.  Fuck you for worrying about appearances more than truth.  And fuck you for being a coward.

And while I am on this rant I would also like to say fuck you to those who wanted the babygate story all for themselves.  Fuck you for driving people off of the net who were selflessly working to bring this story to the American people.  Fuck you for chasing away sources who were timidly coming forward, until they realized that people might soon learn their true identities. And fuck you for damaging the reputation of good people because YOUR ego demanded that you get credit for EVERYTHING.

Okay I am done now.  Sorry if some of you found that offensive or a little out of character, but damn I have been holding that inside for years.

The babygate story is NOT just about a mother protecting her daughter, or her family.  It is MUCH deeper and uglier than that. And once it is really out there in the public consciousness, it should serve as the stepping stone to revealing all kinds of political manipulations and Faustian deals that might finally awaken a slumbering populace and get them to focus on taking back their country from the corporations and political fat cats who have held the reins of power for much, much too long.

And with that Gryphen steps off of his soapbox.  Thank you for listening.

Motherhood Mondays: The sweetest book

Have you seen My Quotable Kid? The book gives you a place to write down the funny, sweet things your child says and save them forever. What a brilliant idea.

P.S. I just bought one for Toby and am excited for him to get talking :)

(Via Unruly Little Things)

The Children of the Russian Rich

German photographer Anna Skladmann's portrait series features children of the new Russian elite. "They live in a secluded world," says Skladmann, who spent years befriending and photographing the little ones. "Their parents are attempting to make up for the Soviet times--they only want the best for their children. They receive private language lessons; they go swimming or play tennis. The lives of these children are very planned and regimented." This interview and these slideshow captions are fascinating.

P.S. The series reminds me of the riveting documentary Born Rich about American heirs and heiresses. (Have you seen it?)