From Slate:
Meet the Family That Never Learned to Walk on Two Legs
Reply
Tag Archives: culture
Spengler’s Ominous Prophecy
From The National Interest:
A question haunts America: Is it in decline on the world scene? Foreign-policy discourse is filled with commentary declaring that it is. Some—Parag Khanna’s work comes to mind—suggests the decline is the product of forces beyond America’s control. Others—Yale’s Paul Kennedy included—contend that America has fostered, at least partially, its own decline through “imperial overstretch” and other actions born of global ambition. Still others—Robert Kagan of the Brookings Institution and Stratfor’s George Friedman, for example—dispute that America is in decline at all. But the question is front and center and inescapable.
It may be the wrong question….
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2013 James Ament Neil Gaiman’s 8 Rules of Writing
From brain pickings, with a few other links offering more “rules.”
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2012 James Ament Book Bloggers vs. Literary Critics
In Praise of the Clash of Cultures
From The New York Times, Carlos Fraenkel‘s plea for civil debate:
When we transform the disagreements arising from diversity into a culture of debate, they cease to be a threat to social peace.
Good luck with that!
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2012 James Ament The lessons of culture
A fascinating piece—lessons of history?—from The New Criterion (hat tip Maggie’s Farm), with its many detractors bitching about it in the comments. A quote:
We Athenians, Pericles said, are “free and tolerant in our private lives; but in public affairs we keep to the law”—including, he added in an important proviso, “those unwritten laws,” like the lawlike commands of taste, manners, and morals—“which it is an acknowledged shame to break.” Freedom and tolerance, Pericles suggested, were blossoms supported by roots that reached deep into the soil of duty.
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2012 James Ament Culture Archives Online
From Frank Wilson—a link to an article in The Telegraph offering “the best online culture archives.” It will actually take a while to dig into all these resources.
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2011 James Ament 10 Random Thoughts
The following are ten random thoughts, which tells the reader a little about how my mind sometimes works—randomly:
Elevator Speech for my Novel
Examples of my understanding of the definition of an elevator speech:
You’re a bright young businesswoman with credentials waiting for an elevator on the first floor and you’re on your way to the eleventh floor for an important meeting at a high class firm. The door opens, and as you step in, Warren Buffett appears behind you, enters the elevator, and pushes the button for the tenth floor. You’re the only two people in the elevator. He notices you and not only asks you what you do for a living but is interested in your career goals. The elevator starts to move. What you say is your elevator speech–and you’ve got a very short time to impress him.
Or…you’re an unpublished novelist and a similar situation occurs but this time it’s your favorite writer, one that you know has influence and helps new writers get in the door with major publishers. You introduce yourself and tell him you’ve written your first novel. He is gracious and then says, “What’s it about?” You’ve got maybe thirty seconds to knock his socks off.
So here’s my elevator speech: Continue reading