Alum: Roland Goity

Ever wonder what happens to Fiction International assistant editors? Do they wind up sleeping in a dusty corner of San Diego, being harassed and arrested by San Diego's finest? Or worse - sleeping in a dusty office in a university somewhere?

Worry not more: one alum, Roland Goity, is editor of the illustrious online journal Lit 'N Image - well worth a visit. While you are there, take a look at the gorgeous photographs of John Patrick Ayson, another FI alum.

Elizabeth Gilbert and the creative process

I've never read Elizabeth Gilbert, but I came across her speech about the creative process and wanted to pass it along. Other writers might find her words helpful - even inspiring.

She gave this speech at a TED Talk. TED stands for Technology, Education, and Design, and a TED Talk is a conference where the world's geniuses and innovators speak to a select group of techies. There are many more lectures on the website; I invite you to sample them since, as artists, this is the closest we will likely get inside a TED Talk.

Looking for a New York Reading!

One of Harold Jaffe's scheduled readings in NY, at the Brooklyn Public Library, had to cancel because of withdrawal of city funds!

He will be in NY between Oct 8-13, reading at the KGB Bar on October 10, but he's looking for another reading venue to replace the cancelled Brooklyn Library reading. Can any NY fans help?

So You Say You Are a Writer

Then you will laugh and say "ouch"!

cat's paw

The Cat's Paw Nebula


This week's theme: Whose what? (animal edition)

cat's paw (cats paw) noun

1. Someone used as a tool by another.

2. A kind of knot used to connect a rope to an object.

3. A breeze that ruffles the surface of the water over a small area.

[The first sense of the term comes from the fable in which a monkey uses a cat to pull roasting chestnuts from a fire. The monkey gobbles up all the nuts while the cat is left with a burnt paw. See Edwin Landseer's
1824 painting Cat's Paw: http://museumsyndicate.com/item.php?item=2992

The second sense refers to the supposed resemblance of such a knot to a cat's paw: http://images.google.com/images?q=cat's+paw+knot

The origin of the third sense is unknown.]

Today's word in Visual Thesaurus: http://visualthesaurus.com/?w1=cat's-paw

-Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org)

"Prime Minister Tony Blair was reprimanded in the British parliament for
his willingness to be the cat's paw of the U.S."
Craig R. Eisendrath and Melvin A. Goodman; Shoot First, Talk Later;
USA Today (Washington, DC); Jul 1, 2004.



The above was sent to me via the email service A Word a Day (the third meaning of the term cat's paw is quite nice and is one I'd never heard before). Anyone, I believe, can subscribe for free for this service here:
http://wordsmith.org/awad/subscriber.html

Once one subscribes one is sent a word a day and it's definition, organized under a weekly theme. I recommend it highly.