Author: christopherbarzak

  • New additions

    Two new additions to the Outlook household, Yuki (Snow) and Kokoro (Heart–because he has a faint heart murmur the vet on duty at the shelter told me). Yuki has blue eyes and Kokoro green–otherwise I’d never be able to tell them apart.  They’ve been playing for the past five hours straight, and have finally settled…

  • More on Americans and reading

    Okay, one more entry before I head out for the weekend.  This one is a review by Laura Miller on a book called The Age of American Unreason, by Susan Jacoby.  It seems to be related to the ideas Ursula Le Guin addresses in her essay “Staying Awake” in the most current issue of Harpers. …

  • Okay, I laughed

    Hillary Clinton was in Youngstown yesterday, speaking to workers at a nearby GM plant.  One reason why I always love to read local and regional blogs during political periods is to see what the politicians face from the locals, who are not all that impressed and loverly with politicians due to trust issues we have…

  • What are you reading?

    I have been tagged by Dave for this meme: I. You have to look up page 123 in the nearest book around you. II. Look for the fifth sentence. III. Then post the three sentences that follow that fifth sentence on page 123. IV. And then tag five people, just like you were tagged. But…

  • Are you up to it?

    If you haven’t read it, go out now and purchase the new issue of Harpers magazine. Ursula K. Le Guin has the most perspicacious (not to mention a bit angry) essay on the state of reading, and the book, and the social bonding capacity of books, and their capacity to house cultural information and memory,…

  • Cruddy

    Our hometown middleweight champion of the world Kelly Pavlik goes back to the ring this Saturday to defend the belt he won this past autumn. In an article in the LA Times about him, he refers to Youngstown as “cruddy,” but as the reporter contextualizes, with Pavlik that’s a sign of honesty and affection. Which…

  • You ain’t see nothing yet

    YouTube is amazing.  (Thanks to Jeremy for sharing!). [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gwqEneBKUs]

  • Got lit?

    If you’re in the mood for an evening of poetry, fiction and creative non-fiction, you should definitely check out next Tuesday’s readings that YSU’s Poetry Center has arranged.  It’s a great line-up.  I’ll be there for sure.  Hope to see some of you locals, as well. On Tuesday, February 19, 2008 at 7:00 PM in…

  • Wow (now with links)

    It has been brought to my attention that my novelette “The Language of Moths” has been honored with a Spectrum Award (in a three-way tie) in the category of short fiction. I’m surprised that people are still reading that story, but also really happy. At some point in the near-ish future, “The Language of Moths”…

  • Frozen Grand Central

    [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwMj3PJDxuo] It’s been making the rounds in the internet, but just in case you’ve missed it, check out this very cool experiment. (Thanks for the link Maureen!)