Daily Thoughts

Robert Frost on a Postage Stamp.

Daily Thoughts

Although, I finished reading Guerrilla Negotiating, I don't think I am going to review it. I'm beginning to realize some of the material I am reading lately is a bit off topic for most people who are reading the blong. I'm going to bring it back to the library with the other book on negotiating I read.

I had the day off this morning, so I had a chance to watch The Dark Knight Returns. It took about a month of waiting for me to get it from my library. I really enjoyed the DVD. Keith Ledger did an excellent job as the joker. Christian Bale also did an excellent job as batman. It was probably the best batman I have ever seen so far. I really liked how they presented the story of Harvey Dent as well. It had a nice surprise ending. I also likd that two of the main characters died. This made it a much darker film than most superhero films.

It was also a chance to do my yoga exercises while watching the movie, then eat my lunch. This is one of the reasons I like watching films at home. It gives me a chance to do light exercise, maybe have a snack and relax.

I am walking up to my local library to drop off some books in a few minutes. Here I am, I've dropped off my books, now I am sitting at the computer typing away here. I picked up three books, The Merchant of Dennis The Autobiography of Hank Ketcham, c2005 Fantagraphic Books. This looks very good. It has lots and lots of cartoons and photographs in the book. The next book is Spunk and Bite A Writer's Guide to Punchier More Engaging Language & Style by Arthur Plotnick. He was a publishing executive and wrote The Elements of Editing. The third book is another practical business oriented book, Getting Results For Dummies by Mark H. McCormack. Mark H. McCormack is the founder of the largest international sports marketing organization, International Management Group.

I admit, I have a few too many books to read right now. I have them on my desk at work and at home in piles ready to go. I will eventually catch up with them. You get a brief lull then something happens and you have something interesting to do. I enjoy looking at and examining books.

Good Evening

Langston Huges, A Harlem Renaissance author and wonderful poet.

Today, I did everything I usually do; weed some books, arrange the central display, and sit at the reference desk. It was a pretty good day.

I also went through January through Marches Paperclips catalog to order mass market paperbacks for the library. I am going to go through three months worth of the catalog at a time. It is the kind of work which requires patience and focus.

Me and my colleague handed in the first draft of the new brochure describing services at our library. It is a simple two page brochure. I am trying to get the brochure so it will fit on a single piece of paper front and back. It is really designed so we will have something to give people on January 8, 2009 when the local nonprofit agencies come to visit us to show what we can offer them.

I sat with a colleague at the local corner restaurant. I have been trying to watch my weight lately. I try to eat a little better. I had a greek salad and two cups of coffee. Tonight, I am going to do my yoga exercises.

I am sorry if this blog seems a bit slow. I am still reading Guerrilla Negotiating Unconventional Weapons and Tactics to Get What You Want. It is a substantial book, not because the contest is particularly good, but because it is very varied. A lot of the content is suggestion lists, hints, and tips. It is very easy to pick out suggestions that can help you negotiate from long lists of ways to prepare for negotiating.

There is a lot of material. Most of it is useless. But among the suggestions are a few truly useful gems. The gems may be different for different people because there is so much covered. It is taking me quite a bit of time to read the book. The content is very dense. They are trying to make all of their suggestions count. If you have patience, you will probably learn something from reading this book. I will probably finish reading it tomorrow.

It looks like there is going to be more consolidation in the publishing industry after Black Wednesday, December 3, 2008. MacMillan laid off people and is consolidating its childrens division. http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6622740.html

I noticed there was a new collection called Mammoth Book of Best Horror Comics. It looks like something worth getting. Nobody in our library system has it. I reviewed The Mammoth Book of Best Crime Comics earlier. I really liked it. The early horror comics are a major inspiration for the Comics Code Authority. I think it would be interesting to see what inspired people to change the conduct of an entire industry in the 1950s.

While wandering through blogland, I found a book which I probably should read. I might want to write a book some day and get it published. A lot of the battle is making it ready for the editors desk. Copyediting and Proofreading For Dummies by Suzanne Gilad looks kind of interesting to me. But, then I am book obsessed and like to read books on grammar and structure. I am hoping understanding the process will improve my grammar enough so I can become a better writer. I even requested it from my library.

Good Morning, Films Based on Graphic Novels or Books

E.B. White (Elwyn Brooks White) Author of Charlotte's Web and Stuart Little, editor of the Elements of Style. A great writer.

Good Morning

Last night, I tried to read Teach Yourself Negotiating by Phil Baguley. I honestly tried to read it, but the writing was very tepid. It was thick and boring. The content itself wasn't bad. It probably was very good advice, but it had a soporific effect on me. I had to put the book down about halfway through it.

I am starting on reading Guerrilla Negotiating Unconventional Weapons and Tactics to Get What You Want by Jay Conrad Levinson. This book so far has caught my attention and held it. The writing is gripping. The book describes you as a guerrilla who is fighting an unconventional war to win in business. Strategies are described as you being a maverick out to change your business into a winning position. It is quite appealing. The content might not be that different than the first book, but the style certainly is.

There really is no excuse for when people write poorly, no matter what the subject is. A good writer can make almost any subject interesting. At least, this is what I believe. Writing should hold peoples attention with a little bit of wit, even if it is a textbook on plumbing. All it takes is a little bit of extra effort on the writers part.

I also watched Ultimate Avengers 2, Rise of the Panther an animated Marvel comics feature. I really enjoyed it. It was fun seeing the classic Marvel characters of Thor, Ironman, Black Panther, Giant Man, Black Widow, Wasp, Captain America and Nick Fury in action. The interaction of the superheroes was the best part of the film. The villains were cookie cutter evil aliens.

The imaginary African kingdom of Wakanda was also quite interesting. Black Panther is the king of Wakanda. The theme of isolationism and refusal to let outsiders into Wakanda added to the back story. Of course the heros win, but one of them dies which adds to the melodrama. Captain America is especially well done in this animation. He is not just portrayed as a superhero, but as a supersoldier in the service of the American government. Also Thor casts runes and speaks to Odin revealing his connection to Asgard.

The film had a lot of action in it. Most of the film was fighting the evil aliens. One of the aliens is a shapechanger who fought Captain America during World War II. There is also the evil alien superscience with the weird metal vibranium. Vibranium is something which might have come out of Flash Gordon or Buckaroo Banzai.

The animation special feature includes a clip on the making of the animated movie. The talent used in the film is all top notch, Joe Quesada, Mark Millar, Stan Lee, Greg Johnson, and many others made the film possible. If you like superhero comics this is a very good set of animation. It also is a standalone film. The authors specifically wrote the film so you would not have to have read the comic books to understand what was happening.

The Ultimates comics are a revamping of the older comics like X-Men and Spiderman for a new audience. We bought the Ultimate X-Men and the Ultimate Spiderman graphic novels for our library for the young adult collection because they are a rewrite of the old storyline for a more modern audience.

I just started two threads on Blogcatalog discussing Films based on Graphic Novels, and Films Based on Authors lives. I am looking to get a new list of films to watch. So far people have suggested Barfly about Charles Bukowski and A Mighty Heart about the Wall Street Journal Reporter Danny Pearl. Both are probably films I might want to watch.

Two other films were mentioned, Capote and Shakespeare In Love. Both sound like very interesting films.