Lady GaGa as savior of long-form music video: Owen Gleiberman talks about stuff

Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly offers an interesting take on Lady GaGa's recent video for "Telephone".

I don't normally go for electro-pop but I have to admit there is something intriguing about GaGa. She's a force of nature right now, and it'll be curious to see where she goes over the long haul.

Alternative 1985

Alexander Rubens is an author and humorist living in LA whose blog, Alternative 1985, is filled to the brim with everything from ruminations about the relative worth of The Fifth Element to urinal design. But no matter what he's yacking about it's always interesting, witty, and spot on.

You can check out his blog here.

Why do we like making things up?

This is a pretty important question to writers, and one that Lisa Zunshine from University of Kentucky is attempting to answer using psychology and cognitive theory. Patricia Cohen of the New York Times has more here.

Militant Grammarians Unite!

This can serve as both a Grammar of the Day and a Blog of Note post since you should not only go to this totally kick-a$$ webpage for the nifty grammatical lesson, but also because the page is really, really awesome.

This is how to use a semicolon.

Bastards and Whores

I am proud to announce that my flash fiction piece, "Ophelia" has been accepted and posted at the brand spankin' new literary journal Bastards and Whores. This magazine is awesome because it combines short fiction with paintings and experimental pieces. So definitely check out the whole magazine when you get a chance.

This story was inspired in part by this painting by John Millais, which is so gorgeous and haunting that it has stuck with me ever since the first time I saw it, nearly a decade ago. When I was an undergrad I used to work in a cafe and there was this girl with beautiful eyes who would come in sometimes. She always wore this look of exquisite pain, as though she carried the weariness of the whole world with her, and somehow she reminded me of this painting. This story is about finding comfort even when you think that solace is nowhere to be found. The last line in which the narrator and the girl "jump from the bridge" is referencing the very death which Millais captures in his famous painting. I hope you like "Ophelia".

To read the story click here.