Bookworm

Jeter provides Moment of the Year | MLB.com: News

Jeter provides Moment of the Year | MLB.com: News

"For all of us up here, it's a huge honor to put this uniform on every day and come out here and play," he opened, pausing as Rivera and Jason Giambi shifted uncomfortably alongside him. Brushing his left hand across the brim of his cap, Jeter looked past the flickering cameras and continued. "And every member of this organization, past and present, has been calling this place home for 85 years," he said. "There's a lot of tradition, a lot of history and a lot of memories. Now, the great thing about memories is, you're able to pass it along from generation to generation. "And although things are going to change next year, we're going to move across the street, there are a few things with the New York Yankees that never change -- its pride, its tradition and, most of all, we have the greatest fans in the world." With that came a great roar and television cameras showed former New York mayor and self-proclaimed No. 1 Yankees fan Rudy Giuliani clapping from the front row. The smiling players waved their caps. "We're relying on you," Jeter concluded, "to take the memories from this stadium and add them to the new memories that come to the new Yankee Stadium, and continue to pass them on from generation to generation. "On behalf of this entire organization, we want to take this moment to salute you, the greatest fans in the world."

Holiday Message from Roy Blount Jr.: Buy Books

"We don't want bookstores to die. Authors need them, and so do neighborhoods. So let's mount a book-buying splurge. Get your friends together, go to your local bookstore and have a book-buying party. Buy the rest of your Christmas presents, but that's just for starters. Clear out the mysteries, wrap up the histories, beam up the science fiction! Round up the westerns, go crazy for self-help, say yes to the university press books! Get a load of those coffee-table books, fatten up on slim volumes of verse, and take a chance on romance! There will be birthdays in the next twelve months; books keep well; they're easy to wrap: buy those books now. Buy replacements for any books looking raggedy on your shelves. Stockpile children's books as gifts for friends who look like they may eventually give birth. Hold off on the flat-screen TV and the GPS (they'll be cheaper after Christmas) and buy many, many books." [The Authors Guild - Holiday Message from Roy Blount Jr.: Buy Books From Your Local Bookstore, Now]

Back at Junk Value, Recyclables Are Piling Up - NYTimes.com

Back at Junk Value, Recyclables Are Piling Up - NYTimes.com.

"The economic downturn has decimated the market for recycled materials like cardboard, plastic, newspaper and metals. Across the country, this junk is accumulating by the ton in the yards and warehouses of recycling contractors, which are unable to find buyers or are unwilling to sell at rock-bottom prices. Ordinarily the material would be turned into products like car parts, book covers and boxes for electronics. But with the slump in the scrap market, a trickle is starting to head for landfills instead of a second life."

Photography, and the Tolerance for Courageous Sucking | 43 Folders

"All I know is that sticking with things that don’t arrive with instant mastery does have its own reward, even if you’re the only one who ever collects it. Because the more you push through the barriers for these little avocations, the easier it becomes to remember you always have everything you need to just keep banging until you’re satisfied with any work that’s thrown at you. Next time I need inspiration to get through a bad patch, or to get past that persistent feeling that I’ll always be stuck in the lowest creative gear, I hope I’ll remember to stop and ask myself what exactly is keeping me from just laying on the sidewalk until I get my shot. Even if it’s cold, even if I look like an idiot, and even if I risk missing the first crucial minutes of Judge Judy." [Merlin Mann | 43 Folders]

I like the photo Merlin took (that accompanies his post); the lighting and depth of field make it look like the bright orange shoe is floating.

I can really identify with not wanting to look like a nerd taking pictures.  I had a chance to take some shots at work that got used (on the front page!) of an internal publication and I was so concerned about not looking like an idiot.  I tried to take the pictures while being as invisible as possible, even wore dark clothes. 

But I remember the physical abandon with which a Picture People studio photographer flung herself to the floor to get good angles of my daughter.  She, honestly, didn't look particularly graceful, but I admired her ability to just not care about that in order to get the pictures she wanted.