Alan's Skew

Sloan Family Christmas 2009 Portrait

Sat, 02 Jan 2010 22:57:00 -0500

I've finally been able to capture the true nature of my family:

Of course, here's a slightly more "normal" family portrait:

Rowan's 8th Birthday

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 22:30:30 -0500

I've posted a few photos from my niece Rowan's 8th birthday.

Take a look and let me know what you think of the quality of the Picasa Web Album.

"Julie and Julia" is a Sweet Treat

Sun, 16 Aug 2009 20:55:22 -0500

To escape the 90+ degree temperatures and smothering humidity that have been smothering New England today, Melissa and I went to see the new movie, Julie & Julia. Bottomline: We thoroughly enjoyed it!

The movie tells two stories in parallel: the first of Julia Child's journey from bored diplomatic housewife to creator of the most popular cookbook of all time, and the second of Julie Powell, a frustrated wannabe writer who decides to cook her way through Child's cookbook over the course of a year and blog about the experience to overcome her writer's block.

Aspects of the Novel

Mon, 13 Jul 2009 23:51:42 -0500

Aspects of the Novel by E.M. Forster

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Overall, I enjoyed reading this book. As other reviewers have noted, this was a series of lectures, and therefore should NOT be considered a guide on "how to write a novel." If, however, you have a background in English literature and want to write a novel, then you may find this book an interesting exercise in critical analysis.

I found the sections on story, people (parts 1 and 2), and plot thought-provoking and insightful. What made these sections most interesting were how Forster used examples to explore his analysis. Even though he refers to several novels I have never read, he provided sufficient context that I was able to understand his points with relative ease. Having read these section, I feel that I will be able to assess my own work to see how it stands up in each area.

I struggled a bit with the section on prophecy as it stabbed at my memories of reading Moby Dick, Billy Bud, and The Brothers Karamazov, from almost 20 years ago. Even so, combined with Forster's examples and analysis, I remembered enough to feel like I had a reasonable grasp of the analysis. That said, I think it will be worthwhile to revisit at least one of those books in the near future and then reread this section to see if I really understood it.

When Forster's subjects increased in complexity, diving into the more nuanced aspects of fantasy and patterns & rhythm, I floundered. I found it nearly impossible to fully understand his points without having read the novels from which he drew his examples. The concepts of rhythm & patterns in particular I feel are macro-level elements that one can only really appreciate in the context of having read an entire novel. Because of this, I didn't feel as though his examples could do the concept justice. I have limited experience reading Henry James, and none with Marcel Proust, Anatole France, or Percy Lubbock, all of whose novels Forster used as examples, so I had reason to flounder. And, unlike my interest in Melville or Dostoyevsky's work, I honestly have no interest in reading these authors, so it seems that my only opportunity to gain insight into Forster's analysis on fantasy and rhythm & patterns will be if I read some of his novels in which I hope he managed to demonstrate some of his advice.

View all my reviews >>

Amelia Earhart Movie Looks Promising

Sun, 28 Jun 2009 22:01:36 -0500

Take a look at the trailer for the new Amelia Earhart biopic, starring Hilary Swank, Richard Gere, and Ewan McGregor:

Based on the trailer and the powerhouse cast, I'm looking forward to this film when it comes out in October. Let's hope that it doesn't prove the sentiment of a quote from Earhart that I found on her somewhat dated official web site:

"Anticipation, I suppose, sometimes exceeds realization."

Liesl's Visit

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 21:59:04 -0500

Last week my friend Liesl was in town teaching a training course. She had a hectic schedule, but was able to find some time to come over for a tour of our house and then join us for dinner. We went to Feng Shui, my favorite Asian restaurant, then went for ice cream at Kimball Farms.

Of course it's been nine years since we've seen each other in person, so I couldn't let her leave without snapping a couple of photos to commemorate her visit.

Melissa took one of me and Liesl:

Here's one Liesl took of me and Melissa:

The Hurt Locker

Sat, 13 Jun 2009 21:08:07 -0500

I just saw the trailer below for what looks like an incredible movie, The Hurt Locker:

It opens in select theaters on June 26th and I'm hoping to see it.

The Butterfly Garden...a work in progress

Sun, 07 Jun 2009 20:07:50 -0500

Melissa's been working the last few months on transforming our rather dull, front flower bed into a work of art. Here's a few photos of the work in progress:

Niko's "Ruff" Life

Wed, 13 May 2009 20:03:46 -0500

In late April Niko developed a mild rash on the left side of his muzzle, near his nose. We took him to the Vet, who wasn't immediately certain of the cause. With the rash being localized to a small area and not spreading, it didn't seem to be an allergic reaction, so she took a skin sample and ruled out certain varieties of mites and other microscopic critters. She prescribed a course of antibiotics with the hope that they would knock out any infections, thinking that was the most likely cause. Unfortunately the antibiotics had no effect and Niko started scratching the area with his paw the last few days, so I took him in for another visit today.

The Vet still doesn't know what is causing the rash, so she did another skin sample and checked it to no avail. She also took a hair sample and is sending it for a culture to check for a fungal infection. The Vet said if that's the cause, then she would typically prescribe a topical ointment, however because of its location, she thinks Niko would just lick it off before it had a chance to work. So, while we're waiting for the hair culture results to come back, we're going ahead with what's probably the only treatment that will work if it's a fungal infection: making Niko wear an Elizabethan collar, also known as a ruff, to prevent him from scratching the wound. As you can tell from this photo, I don't think Niko is too happy with this idea:

If this isn't a fungal infection, then we're probably going to have to get a skin biopsy and see if it's some form of immune disorder. Please keep us in your thoughts as we hope that a few weeks of wearing an uncomfortable ruff is all he has to endure to get better.

The The Impotence of Proofreading

Sun, 10 May 2009 21:48:22 -0500

Here's a video I'd recommend you share with any friends and co-workers who rely on automatic spelling and grammar checkers to catch all the errors in their documents.

Thanks to Melissa's friend, Eric, for sharing the link.

Red Neck Tank Top

Wed, 06 May 2009 20:12:17 -0500

Found this online, just had to share...

From the Typewriter to the Bookstore: A Publishing Story

Mon, 06 Apr 2009 18:18:58 -0500

I'm a regular follower of Mur Lafferty's I Should Be Writing blog and podcast. Recently she posted this YouTube video from the Digital Marketing team at MacMillan Publishing. Based on my years of professional experience, I can attest that it accurately captures the entire process for how books are made. Enjoy!

As the video states, non-fiction books take far less time to produce than fiction, often because we are only allowed a few weeks to write them (versus decades) and also because we only have time and the staff to copyedit one out of every 18 books, rather than each book 18 times.

Senior Prom Flashback

Sun, 29 Mar 2009 18:12:11 -0500

A former high school classmate of mine recently posted some photos on Facebook. Below is the one I was most surprised to see: it's yours truly and my friend Kelly at our Senior Prom.

In case you wondered, the answer is yes, that is a Miami Vice tuxedo I'm wearing. :P

Where The Wild Things Are: The Movie!

Tue, 24 Mar 2009 19:48:36 -0500

Hollywood hasn't impressed me much this year, however there are two movies coming out that have me excited: the new Harry Potter movie in July and the long overdue, live-action version of one of my childhood favorites, Maurice Sendak's classic, Where The Wild Things Are.

This movie is being directed by Spike Jonz. For those of you who aren't familiar with the name, Jonz directed Being John Malkovich, the wonderfully dark and surreal movie which starred John Cusack as a puppeteer who discovers a portal into the brain of John Malkovich. Jonz also directed Adaptation, another brilliant, but more neurotic movie with Nicholas Cage, Meryl Streep, and Chris Cooper (who won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor). I thoroughly enjoyed both of these films. One down side of Jonz was his involvement in MTV's Jackass movies, to which I readily acknowledge (and am proud) that I am not part of their target demographic. My hope is that Jonz did those for the money so he could continue making high caliber artsy films.

Speaking of demographics, any movie of this classic Sendack work will automatically have a large family demographic. I read in interviews that, like me, Jonz read the book as a kid, and will want to share it with his own kids. Now given his track record with the dark, artsy films and hoping that he has the sense not to incorporate any elements from the Jackass series, I'm still a bit anxious about the final product. That said, another potential positive factor for this film is that the screenplay was written by Dave Eggers, the creative mind behind McSweeney's Internet Tendency. Eggers is co-founder of a program called 826 National, which promotes writing skills in kids ages 6-18 at seven centers across the U.S. Given that level of interaction with kids, I think there's very good reason to be hopeful that the script Jonz started with was in tune with younger audiences.

Heathers: The Musical

Sat, 14 Mar 2009 11:01:25 -0500

I just heard that the 80s classic movie Heathers is being made into a musical. I'm not much for musical theater, the last show we saw being Spamalot! a few years ago, but I have to say that if this show comes to Boston and is getting halfway decent reviews, then I'm going!

Here's some of my favorite lines from that movie that I hope make it into the lyrics (warning: adult language):

"Grow up Heather, bulimia's so '87."
"This is Ohio. If you don't have a brewski in your hand you might as well be wearing a dress."
"Did you have a brain tumor for breakfast?"
"I like it. It's got that what-a-cruel-world-let's-toss-ourselves-in-the-abyss type ambience."
"Dear Diary, my teen-angst bullshit now has a body count."
"Well, f*ck me gently with a chainsaw. Do I look like Mother Theresa?"
"Tomorrow, I'll be kissing her aerobicized ass, but tonight, let me dream of a world without Heather, a world where I am free."