Stuart Woods has written a fun series of detective novels about an upper class private eye named Stone Barrington. Stone has an off-again on-again relationship with the lovely Arrington. A chief impediment to their committed love is the fact that if they married and she took his name, she would be Arrington Barrington. That really remains the most interesting thing I can say about Arrington.
Anne Zelenka does better. Offering advice to “A-Listers” about how to get out of a funk, she says,
The reason why my two favorite tech news blogs are Read/Write Web and Webware is because they are about the technology not about making lots of dough.
If there’s a downturn, and I hope there’s not, then we retrench. But we’ll still be able to blog, we’ll still be able to keep in touch online, we’ll still be able to do more together than we could apart… and that’s the cool thing about Web 2.0.
Anne of course is an A-Lister herself. She has the focus and intentionality of the best bloggers, people like Chris Pirillo, Denise Howell, Shelley Powers, and Doc Searls — A-Listers all. What makes these people great bloggers is that it is not all about them. There isn’t as much I/me/mine stuff in their work as you find in the work of the striving arrivistes, the self-important, and the self-anointed A-listers. Rather, these people are troupers, writing with focus and intensity, sharing themselves without making themselves the perpetual focus of everything they write. They use their talents and their personalities as lenses to focus on their subjects.
I read dozens of people whose work I rank right up there with Shelley and Chris, Doc and Denise, and Anne Z. Some of them have real “attitude,” and they’re funny and pointed and true. On the other hand, some people are just annoying and I don’t read them. How then can they be A-Listers?
[Disclosure: I take more pleasure from the artists than from the analysts. I'd rather read someone who plays a little bassoon, or who wails on the electric oboe than marinate in the public maunderings of some proto-suburban venture capricorn whiner.]
[Update -- while I was dithering about and scribbling the above, Anne Z. dropped two more posts into the conversation.]
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Norm Jenson 05.22.07 at 11:08
Having a read a number of Stuart Wood’s stories the reference to Arrington made me smile. Thanks for that.
Aunt Hentic 05.23.07 at 2:12
What a coinkydink! I went to the grocery store yesterday. Anyway, while checking out I realized the clerk and the bagger had rhyming names, Paul and Saul.
What are the odds?
Lighter Cheese Flautas
Prep: 10 min, Cook: 5 min.
* 5 ounces shredded fat-free cheddar cheese
* 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
* 12 small corn tortillas
* 1/3 cup light olive oil
* 1/4 cup plus 2 Tbs. fat-free sour cream
* 1 cup salsa
Combine cheddar cheese and 2/3 of the Parmesan cheese in a bowl. Divide evenly amongst all tortillas. Roll tortillas. Heat oil in a heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Brown stuffed tortillas in oil 2 minutes per side, or until brown. Drain on paper towels. Top with a dollop of sour cream. Serve with remaining parmesan and salsa.
DELISH!
Per serving: calories 347, fat 10.2g, 26% calories from fat, cholesterol 9mg, protein 20.5g, carbohydrates 44.9g, fiber 4.7g, sugar 3.6g, sodium 615mg, diet points 7.3.
The recommended wines are: Chenin Blanc, Beaujolais, or Fumé Blanc.
The early cherries are out! Raising a motherless baby lamb I named Sharry’s Lambchops! Cute as the Dickens, a button!
Have a good one!
“The release of atom power has changed everything except our way of thinking…the solution to this problem lies in the heart of mankind. If only I had known, I should have become a watchmaker.” –Albert Einstein
Frank Paynter 05.23.07 at 6:30
We have our tickets to merry-olde and I am itching to dig into some real fish’n chips. Beth says that globalization and the digital revolution will have shut down the deep fat friers and limited the newsprint available for wrappage. I don’t believe that. On another note, I should just add that neither Paul nor Saul was my favorite Beatle.
I hope Stuart Woods churns out another couple of novels for my transatlantic reading pleasure.