Life's a great balancing act.

Yesterday would have been Dr. Seuss's birthday--106 years old. I'm a bit obsessed with the man's work, both the words and the art, because being a writer and artist myself, I am in absolute awe of his ability to make nonsense so very meaningful. Today's title is from Oh, the Places You'll Go! which, aside from being a fairly common graduation gift, is a lovely and (oh God, I'm going to say the i-word) inspiring poem that makes me feel hopeful despite the bleakest bleak sky through my window right now.

Lesson time.

Have you seen Obsessive Consumption? Brilliant blog (& now a book) detailing one woman's "battle" with consumerism. Kate Bingaman-Burt draws what she buys and posts it on her blog. It's visually interesting, but it also makes you think twice before you grab a bunch of crap off the check-out aisle at Target. Consumerism is a pretty complex and interesting topic, and I really like her approach.

I also really like Annie Leonard's "The Story of Stuff," a blunt but fun look at the problems related to consumerism. Here, now, the latest in the series: a look at the front-running "solution" to the climate change problem. I just wanted to share!

Did I ever tell you how lucky you are?

I had a dream last night that I got a Dr. Seuss tattoo, and I woke up thinking that this was a very interesting idea--I am a big Dr. Seuss enthusiast, maybe that explains things. Maybe not. But anyway, in case you're a fan too, I wanted to share this, Who's Who & What's What, a 157-page "directory" of Dr. Seuss characters with descriptions. No images, but still very interesting reading. This was compiled by someone at Dartmouth, and it's possible that person is my soulmate.

trouble is my business.

Reading Raymond Chandler, early stories. "The minutes went by on tiptoe, with their fingers to their lips." Anyone who disagrees with me about the genius of Raymond Chandler needs to step outside.