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A Year in Reading: Blake Butler
Blake Butler December 3, 2014 | 78 3 min read
I had a dream I was locked in a cage earlier this year, a dream that went on for several years inside the sleep itself. In the dream, I was given no food or water, nor did I interact with any person or other sort of entity; the walls of the cage were flat and had no bars and no door for entry or exit. It was clear in the dream that I was sleeping, but that the time inside the cage was real, that the world was going on without me despite the illusion I would be presented with upon my return that no more than a night had passed.
The only thing besides my body in the cage was a book, which had been left there almost incidentally, as if by someone previously installed in the cage before I appeared there. The book was bound with leather that in this world would be called white, but in the dream was actually transparent to the point that seeing through it meant you were seeing through the actual cells of the world of the cell; like the texture of gasoline spread on the ground, but looking through it onto another planet. Though it was a very thin book in my hands, when it was opened it was as thick as a set of encyclopedias. It was written in a language I understood in my sleep but knew even while reading that when I woke not only would I not be able to remember what I'd read, but that I'd read it at all; that is, the text I remembered would be remembered as plates of color instead of words.
So each page of the book was a color, full and flat, and I read it. It expressed emotions I remember not feeling aware of ever before in waking, but that had always been through and through me, and underneath me, in my blood, in the dirt of the earth, in the wires of the computer, in the faces of the people. These emotions held us together as fibers and we didn't know it and couldn't read them in anyone else either except in passing moments that felt like pain or terror, and sometimes love, but actually in this book appeared as passages you could read and reread, could even memorize.
I was only able to read a few pages of the book over the several years the dream went on. I was aware of what was happening in my other life the whole time, the people I loved aging without me, changing without me. The book changed with them, too, reacting to me as the colors I had never before witnessed reflected the future of every person every inch, which included every book already created or to be created, as well as every film and painting, and every person. Each page was like death and like dying, where the meaning of that allowed transmission of the fractions of me remaining were transported not into blackness, but into a world between the two kinds of remaining worlds, between sleep and waking, and between aging and a sense of eternal time.
The dream ended like a movie cut off by someone remotely pressing a button on a film you were watching and did not know someone else had control over the experience of. There was a brief period of transition in which I could feel the smoke coming off of me from the transference from the state of the cage, where the book had touched me, and the body I had returned to, as well as the gap between the times of point of entry and return, and what has been changed in my absence, feeling like no change at all.
This is the state I have been reading in since the dream, which subsequently has caused all books I've read in that time to feel bound in the same edition, in the way that one pupil might be the same as any other pupil, for its blackness, more than what the blackness has absorbed.
Recently, I have begun reading with my eyes closed.
Image Credit: pixabay.
Don't miss: A Year in Reading 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005
Blake Butler 's latest book is 300,000,000 (Harper Perennial).
A Year in Reading: Jennifer Egan
Jennifer Egan December 1, 2011 | 1
Angela Davis-Gardner's Butterfly's Child was my surprise book crush of 2011. I say "surprise" because the title did not attract me, and I put off reading it. But I found the novel immediately riveting — to the point that it often eclipsed a family vacation to Ireland last August. "Butterfly" is the protagonist of Puccini's famous opera, whose mixed-race son, Benji, Davis-Gardner follows to America, along with his father, Pinkerton, and Pinkerton's new wife. In exploring Benji's struggles to define himself, racially and culturally, against a relatively homogeneous late 19th-century American landscape, Davis-Gardner also renders up a stringent, poignant account of Midwestern farm life — particularly the burdens and hardships it placed upon women. But Davis-Gardner's plans are more elaborate and subversive than that a mere reimagining of a tangent of Butterfly's story; the novel is finally an ingenious study of the dangers and distortions inherent in mythmaking. Butterfly's Child is a shimmering performance, revealing itself as gradually and seductively as the geishas whose secretive subculture Davis-Gardner authoritatively renders. I found myself talking about the novel obsessively with my husband, who hadn't even read it, which makes me think it would be an excellent choice for book clubs. Bottom line: this tour de force deserved many more readers than it found last spring, and I'm hopeful that they'll embrace it in spring 2012, when it comes out in paperback.
Don't miss: A Year in Reading 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005
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Jennifer Egan | 1
A Year in Reading: Condalmo
Matthew Tiffany December 18, 2006
Though relatively new, Matthew Tiffany's blog Condalmo quickly became a must read for me – and many others, I'm guessing. With Condalmo, Tiffany strikes the essential balance between quick news items and longer, thoughtful posts that has been mastered by many of my favorite bloggers. With his entry for the "Year in Reading" series Matt asks us to believe the hype about a book that was a favorite of many book bloggers this year:I had a pretty great year for reading – I was exposed to a bunch of new (for me) writers (Laird Hunt, Brian Evenson, Stephen Dixon, Marguerite Duras, Walker Percy), and got new books from some better known writers as well (Paul Auster, Haruki Murakami). The two newest Auster books were kind of a letdown, partially as part of "I liked the old stuff better, the new stuff sucks" syndrome, but partially also due to Laird Hunt's The Exquisite.In a year with lots of contenders, this one keeps on bubbling to the top – it's got the best elements of vintage Auster, combined with some weirdness that could be culled from Haruki Murakami or David Lynch, combined with a great narrative structure. It's no pastiche of any of those sources, but just struck the same tones of enjoyment for me as those artists do. Hunt's got his own style; I recently read his Indiana, Indiana which has an entirely different subject matter, but the same wonderful voice. I'll bet someone reading this is thinking "again?", as The Exquisite has been mentioned by a number of good Web sites already, but there's a reason for it. This one's got the goods. Thaanks Matt!
Matthew Tiffany
A Year in Reading: Nick Moran
Nick Moran December 3, 2011 | 11 7 min read
I've always loved recommending books to people. At parties, I've been known to hold hostages in front of my bookshelves. I have, however, always preferred to let the books speak for themselves. I like sharing passages more than impressions, and I think that's the best route to take.
I read some great books in 2011. Below, I'd like to share some with you. Think of this as me standing in front of my bookshelf, pulling out some titles as I ramble on, and then opening to pages I think you should read. Don't worry. I'll hold your drink.
The Orange Eats Creeps, Grace Krilanovich — A book that grew in my mind after I finished it. I remember opening my mouth a lot as I read it, nodding unconsciously, losing focus on the narrative to admire the prose. To read Krilanovich's book is to be hypnotized. Now, months later, I recall bits of phrases, such as how one drug-addled punk's eyebrows fluttered and raised like a manic toilet flusher. That's the language she used.
Excerpt: Our town is doomed. We're just hanging out waiting till it turns into the next thing, then we'll go to sleep. Just build your shit around us, we'll only go out at night anyway… The town slipped in and out of consciousness, depending on where you went. All the little twigs scraped at the ground like lace fans spread at the sun.
Buckdancer's Choice, James Dickey — Dickey's best known work is the film adaptation of Deliverance. In particular, his best known work is that one scene from Deliverance. Less known but nonetheless incredible is the man's verse. A true American master, Southern or otherwise. These poems will inhabit you, and you'll return to them often, and be better for it.
Excerpt from "The Firebombing":
But in this half-paid-for pantry
Among the red lids that screw off
With an easy half-twist to the left
And the long drawers crammed with dim spoons,
I still have charge — secret charge—
Of the fire developed to cling
To everything: to golf carts and fingernail
Scissors as yet unborn tennis shoes
Grocery baskets toy fire engines
New Buicks stalled by the half-moon
Shining at midnight on crossroads green paint
Of jolly garden tools red Christmas ribbons:
Not atoms, these, but glue inspired
By love of country to burn,
The apotheosis of gelatin.
The Devils of Loudun, Aldous Huxley — Everyone knows Brave New World, but few have read Huxley's historical nonfiction. Primarily about a French Jesuit priest's sex scandal turned witch hunt turned public execution, The Devils of Loudun is also an interesting glimpse into Huxley's ruminations on religion and mysticism before he experimented with mescaline. The work he wrote immediately after this one was The Doors of Perception, and you can see the beginnings of those thoughts here.
Excerpt: Sex can be used either for self-affirmation or for self-transcendence — either to intensify the ego and consolidate the social persona by some kind of conspicuous "embarkation" and heroic conquest, or else to annihilate the persona and transcend the ego in an obscure rapture of sensuality, a frenzy of romantic passion or, more credibly, in the mutual charity of the perfect marriage.
If on a winter's night a traveler, Italo Calvino — This book will hurt your head in the best way possible.
Excerpt: You are about to begin reading Italo Calvino's new novel, If on a winter's night a traveler. Relax. Concentrate. Dispel every other thought. Let the world around you fade. Best to close the door; the TV is always on in the next room. Tell the others right away, "No, I don't want to watch TV!" Raise your voice — they won't hear you otherwise — "I'm reading! I don't want to be disturbed!" Maybe they haven't heard you, with all that racket; speak louder, yell: "I'm beginning to read Italo Calvino's new novel!" Or if you prefer, don't say anything; just hope they'll leave you alone.
The Avian Gospels, Adam Novy — A man and his son can control birds. A judge is out to get them. War is perennial. If you've watched this video of a murmuration of starlings, you understand the beauty of bird swarms. If you read the book's opening passage, you'll want to read more.
Excerpt: So many buildings had already been destroyed, the solitary walls like ruins submerged in flames, the city like an ocean of flames. Circles of maniacs prayed in the middle of the streets, and flapped their arms like birds. Teenage conscripts lay trapped beneath rubble, crying for their mothers, while comrades tried to get them out. Cats hauled their kittens through the ruins, and vultures swooped to seize them; a donkey gave birth inside a restaurant where dogs sipped at puddles of champagne, and cut their paws on broken bottles. Explosions shook the Earth; Katherine hardly kept her balance. Cobblestones zoomed past her head. A girl tried to carry a newborn foal on her back. Whoever won the war would rule ruins, be the king of stones and buzzards. Fires hurled themselves against the sky, as if in rapture, the city a cathedral of flame, flames like penitents to the sky. An elderly man thought his beard was in flames, and slapped at his face as he ran, calling, It burns! It burns! Men writhed on spears which had been rammed into the ground in perfect rows, a field of pain. Women carried infants like footballs. Birds choked on smoke and died mid-flight, raining in a deathstorm.
Blood-Horses: Notes of a Sportswriter's Son, John Jeremiah Sullivan — When I read the much-deserved hype pieces about Pulphead, I was disappointed by their failure to mention this book. Blood-Horses is, like most of Sullivan's writing, a memoir that feels like it's about you. It's about horses, yes, but it's also about a young man and his father, about the concept of bloodlines, and about the pursuit of beauty and perfection in the natural world.
Excerpt: There is a passage on the tape [of Secretariat's 1973 Belmont win] that I noticed only after watching it dozens of times. It occurs near the end of the race. The cameraman has zoomed up pretty close on Secretariat, leaving the lens just wide enough to capture the horse and a few feet of track. Then, about half a furlong before the wire (it is hard to tell), the camera inexplicably stops tracking the race and holds still. Secretariat rockets out of the frame, leaving the screen blank, or rather filled with empty track. I timed this emptiness — the space between Secretariat exiting and Twice a Prince entering the image — with my watch. It lasts seven seconds. And somehow each of these seconds says more about what made Secretariat great than any shot of him in motion could. In the history of profound absences — the gaps in Sappho's fragments, Christ's tomb, the black panels of Rothko's chapel — this is among the most beautiful.
Packing For Mars, Mary Roach — I'm a sucker for well-written science books. Susan Casey's The Devil's Teeth explained scientific fact in a way I could grasp: she has a line about sharks predating trees. Roach writes like she taught Casey everything she knows. This book was a delight.
Excerpt: You never think about the weight of your organs inside you. Your heart is a half-pound clapper hanging off the end of your aorta. Your arms burden your shoulders like buckets on a yoke. The colon uses the uterus as a beanbag chair. Even the weight of your hair imparts a sensation on your scalp. In weightlessness, all this disappears. Your organs float inside your torso. The result is a subtle physical euphoria, an indescribable sense of being freed from something you did not realize was there.
Orientation and Other Stories, Daniel Orozco — I wanted to dislike this book. I always feel cheated when a publisher releases a collection of stories I've read before, and I feel doubly cheated when the author is mostly famous for a single story he wrote more than a decade ago. ("Orientation," by the way, is only the second most depressing thing about office life I read this year. Early in January, I found Theodore Roethke's "Dolor.") The point is that I went into this book hating it. I was proven so, so wrong. Read "Shakers" and you'll know why.
Excerpt: When they hit, rats and snakes hightail it out of their burrows. Ants break single-file ranks and scatter blind, and flies roil off garbage bins in shimmering clouds. On the Point Reyes Peninsula, milk cows bust out of feed sheds and bolt for open pasture. Inside aquariums in dentist offices and Chinese restaurants and third-grade classrooms, fish huddle in the corners of their tanks, still as photos of huddled fish. Inside houses built on the alluvial soils of the Sacramento Delta, cockroaches swarm from behind walls, pouring like cornflakes out of kitchen cabinetry and rising in tides from beneath sinks and tubs and shower stalls. Crows go mute. Squirrels play possum. Cats awaken from naps. Dogs guilty of nothing peer guiltily at their masters. Pigeons and starlings clatter fretfully on the eaves and cornices of buildings, then rise en masse and wheel away in spectacular rollercoaster swoops…
Fire Season: Field Notes from a Wilderness Lookout, Philip Connors — Reading this book was an exercise in personal restraint. Resisting the urge to read too rapidly, as I wanted to savor the experience. Restraining my jealousy for Connors' apparently marvelous life. Resisting the urge to drop what I was doing, pack my bags, hit the Gila Forest, and embark on a career in fire watching.
Excerpt: As in Frisbee golf, so in hiking: the movements of my limbs help my mind move too, out of its loops and grooves and onto a plane of equipoise. I have been followed all my life, in the chaos of my thoughts, by a string of words: song lyrics, nonsense phrases, snatches of remembered conversation, their repetition a kind of manic incantation, a logorrhea in the mind, and all of them intermingled with sermons and soliloquies– the spontaneous talker weaving his repetitive spell. At other times, tired of words themselves but intrigued by their internal mechanics, I find myself unconsciously counting syllables in sentences, marking each one by squeezing the toes on first my right foot, then my left, back and forth in order to discern whether the final tally is an even or an odd number. (Eighty. Even.)
Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov — This book is one everyone knows but few have actually read. (Moby-Dick is the exemplar of this type.) I'm actually glad I put off reading this one for as long as I did. I feel like its significance was built up so high– my expectations were built up so high — that when the book met and exceeded all of these things, it was all the more impressive. Much is said about Nabokov's linguistic acrobatics, and his artistry is a highlight of this book, but less is said about Nabokov's ability to wax terrifying and then suddenly hysterical within a few pages. This book is wickedly funny, but it's also just wicked.
Excerpt: We came to know the curious roadside species, Hitchhiking Man, Homo pollex of science, with all its many sub-species and forms: the modest soldier, spic and span, quietly waiting, quietly conscious of khaki's viatic appeal; the schoolboy wishing to go two blocks; the killer wishing to go two thousand miles; the mysterious, nervous, elderly gent, with brand-new suitcase and clipped mustache; a trio of optimistic Mexicans; the college student displaying the grime of vacational outdoor work as proudly as the name of the famous college arching across the front of his sweatshirt; the desperate lady whose battery has just died on her; the clean-cut, glossy-haired, shifty-eyed, white-faced young beasts in loud shirts and coats, vigorously, almost priapically thrusting out tense thumbs to tempt loose women or sad-sack salesmen with fancy cravings.
Nick Moran | 11 7 min read
A Year in Reading: Lorin Stein
Lorin Stein December 13, 2010 | 1 2 min read
Jack M says:
Are you serious? Is it considered cool to write like this now? I'm not impressed.
Eloise J. says:
This is well written, but I thought it was common knowledge that there is nothing more boring than dreams that aren't your own.
Harry Smith says:
Man, I was looking forward to your recommendations when I read the title. Quite a bummer.
So, what books did you like?
zk says:
You guys he's too cool for this quotidian exercise.
Dunbar Humbly says:
You guys, Blake Butler is serious. Books are over. Humor is over. Talent is over. Everything is over except Blake Butler. He's a shaman, he has a vision: a wave of dumb bullshit, swallowing the cosmos.
This is next-level pretentiousness.
I guess he didn't read anything in a waking state this year. Sort of pathetic.
Break Butter says:
Last night I had a dream that I got fired from my job because I was caught looking at pictures of Meiko Askara. She wasn't naked in the pictures, or doing anything pornographic, just posing in regular clothes. I think the reason I got fired is because I was the one who was nude. My boss tapped me on the shoulder and told me to get out of the building immediately. I asked him if I could put on some pants and he said no. When I got home my wife asked me why I was naked and I asked her if I could have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. My wife handed me the peanut butter and jelly sandwhich and I used it to cover my nuts. The next thing I know I'm in the hospital and my seven year old daughter is on life support. I walk out of the room and take the elevator to the basement. The doors open and I walk into what looks like a Kubrick exhibit, as it has still and props from all his movies covering the walls. But then I figure out that I'm really at the hospital's day care center.
Vardaman says:
Blake Butler is cool and wants you to know it.
Ed Bast says:
And with this, BB narrowly beats out Jonathan Saffron's side-of-a-Chipotle-cup musings for Most Pretentious, Masturbatory, Utterly Hollow Prose of 2014.
Josef Zeko says:
Didn't this guy post on some other website… about poets…. young poets from Brooklyn who went to expensive colleges… aww man, it's on the tip of my tongue…and then there was this thing involving underaged boyfriends and everyone got mad… and then everyone suddenly realized that none of them ever had talent all along and dropped them like a hot potato… ugh, what was the name of that website?
Shoot.
Some good books I read this year:
Limonov by Emmanuel Carrere
24/7 by Jonathan Crary
List by Matthew Roberson
How To Stop Living And Start Worrying by Simon Critchley
Almost Transparent Blue by Ryu Murakami
The Last Man by Maurice Blanchot
Gnit by Will Eno
The Self Unstable by Elisa Gabbert
Fiction, Inc. by Ralph Clare
This is the most elaborate 'i didn't do my homework' excuse ever written
Was it HTML Giant, the epitome of self-congratulatory ramblings by "writers" who created literary pablum for the sake of the praise of their peers? Happily, that site is now closed.
Patrick, Naturally says:
This isn't even pretentious, it's like a parody of pretentiousness. Actually, if it was an intentional parody of pretentiousness, I think I'd like it. But I don't think it's a parody. Is it?
Jack M-
Ahh, that's it! Thanks! Man, bad poets are like that. Here today gone tomorrow.
Jesus, y'all are a whiney bunch. Is this how you act every time a writer doesn't do the assignment exactly how you expect it to be done?
Bill, we just know BS when we read it.
Were this Mr Butler's first slip into inane babble, it might be forgiven. It is, however, a now-established pattern. Mr Butler has a History of Bullshittery and this is just his latest limp drizzle.
Eternal Time says:
Bill, some of us have read Blake Butler's work and recognize its contrived repetitiveness. I also disagree with the commenter above who said this is well written. Look at the fourth paragraph. Gotta be joking. Lazy as shit. Chock full of boring abstract nouns, a hallmark of crappy experimental writing. I'd kill myself before using "eternal time" in an email.
themba mabona says:
It's sad that the assignment was failed…the objective was pretty clear. One comes to this site expecting interesting recommendations, not – – – prose.
And it stirred a lot of unnecessary ire.
My god says:
Conform! Conform! Turn in your assignment on time Blake – many of us have spent years getting MFAs and learning to be as boring as possible and we don't like your weird response!
The issue is not that BB's post is "non-conformist". The issue is that BB's post is meaningless, pretentious, horribly-written garbage.
"The book changed with them, too, reacting to me as the colors I had never before witnessed reflected the future of every person every inch, which included every book already created or to be created, as well as every film and painting, and every person."
This is terrible fucking writing – the ramblings of the dude down the dorm hall who just discovered pot as transcribed by his drunken buddy who is currently failing freshman comp.
Non-conformism is great. Horrendous prose is not.
Hairy Dean Stanton says:
The issue isn't that it's weird, the issue is that it isn't good. It doesn't really express anything of interest in a narrative sense (basically, "I had a weird dream"). This would be fine if it was good poetic language, but it isn't–as someone else noted, it's a bunch of vague abstract nouns. If a freshman in my creative writing class turned this in, I'd tell them this is a good start, now try to identify the thing you're writing about and use specific language.
Or what Ed Bast just said
I don't even care if it's "pretentious" (I liked "Nothing: A Portrait of Insomnia"). I'm just sorry that Mr. Butler didn't include any titles in his submission–I figured he'd definitely come up with some new-to-me authors and titles. I don't understand why he passed up this opportunity to highlight other small press or experimental authors. It seems kind of … selfish? disdainful? I guess his schtick lately is encouraging people to hate-follow him, but couldn't he have dropped the act long enough to drop a few recommendations for those of us who are truly interested? Kids these days, so disappointing.
My god:
Funny, 'cause when people bash MFAs, they often point to this type of writing. @guyinyourmfa could've written this as parody. Then there's warmed-over Carver and every other aesthetic people consider "MFA fiction." This is not about MFAs. It's about real shit vs. bullshit using faux-weirdness as cover. I have a Virginia Woold quote for you:
"Let a man get up and say, 'Behold, this is the truth,' and instantly I perceive a sandy cat filching a piece of fish in the background. Look, you have forgotten the cat, I say. "
re: reliance on lazy abstractions.
My god
As somebody who doesn't have an MFA, I think this is a pretty low-as-fuck bar to set for non-conformist writing. It's a bad description of a dream that Blake Butler never had, he's just bullshitting us about having had it because it sounds pseudo-poetic/prophetic (heavy emphasis on pseudo). Like Alice said, I actually like the Year in Reading series because it has a cool utility, and sometimes I pick up books that authors happen to recommend. It's a good way to spread word about other writers that might not normally get as much press as, say, Blake Butler. But why help a struggling author out or show readers some interesting books when you could just jerk off?
Whether or not I like Butler's writing (which I don't), I certainly would consider taking a look at books he thought were worthy of reading. In submitting the prose he wrote, he did himself, The Millions and us a disservice. There's no shame in keeping on topic in a case like this, and it doesn't mean you're a mindless robot if you actually stick to the subject.
And let's be clear, my god: Blake Butler has an MFA.
Sal Ignacio says:
So when will Matt Bell's "Year in Reading" post about how much he loved Butler's 300,000,000 be published?
Tah Dah - The Shit Lady! says:
"And let's be clear, my god: Blake Butler has an MFA"
And from Bennington, no less!
This, from a very long, predictably edgy post on his horrible blog about his MFA experience: "I got told at least several dozen times a residency how I had to be gay, I was too 'good looking' to be a male writer and not be gay, impacted probably because I never 'hooked up' in dorms, neat, I don't know what this means"
It hardly needs to be said, but whatta maroon
Mygod says:
dude got torn apart for putting responding creatively.
I'm not holding this up as "non-MFA" writing (whatever that means). I'm holding up the reaction here as how we're all uncomfortable, due to so much schooling (including MFAs, the cherry on top of 18 years), with someone "not doing their assignment." Like what – he thinks he's soooo cool. He thinks he's better! How dare he! Conform!
Mygod, did you even read all of the comments? Sure, it isn't an assignment. There is no grade. However, is this really the appropriate forum for experimentation? This project is an opportunity for authors, critics, and figures in the literary world to bring a spotlight to books that they think are deserving of wider attention. And yes, it's also an act of self-promotion–I know I've picked up the books or started following the of contributors to this project in the past. Regardless of what I or anyone else thinks of his writing ability, it's unambiguous that Butler squandered that opportunity. It's his prerogative to do so, but it's also mine to express my disappointment and the belief that this is childish, trolling behavior. Some of us are disappointed because we actually wanted to see what he would have recommended had he not decided to flaunt . Personally, I've already read everything that David Mitchell and Sarah Waters have written and while it's nice to see that other people like them, I was excited by the prospect of a contributor who would broaden my horizons instead of just mentioning the same few books.
Okay, my god, go one with your bad little self and submit that poetry manuscript to an agent who only represents novels. Good luck!
My God,
I personally liked the idea of someone responding creatively; there are plenty of suggestions in the other lists. But if you're going to take up column space that could be devoted to suggesting other, lesser known authors, it had better be worthwhile, and this isn't.
The dude writes about what he's reading almost every week at Vice
Again, mygod:
1. Dude got torn apart for unbelievably shitty writing.
2. I'm uncomfortable with unbelievably shitty writing. I don't care about his "assignment". Actually, the same old formula for these (self-promotion followed by friend-promotion) is getting tiresome, so I look forward to a "non-conforming" and well-written piece. Unlike others here, I'm not upset that BB didn't list any books; he's a an unbelievably shitty writer, as demonstrated here, so why would I care what an unbelievably shitty writer recommends? That would be like asking your broke-ass uncle for financial advice.
@ Alice – as Bill pointed out, Blake has reviewed plenty of books elsewhere. Writers finding exposure is not an issue. Writers being good enough is. Agree or disagree, that's fine, but don't assume your point is true and then criticize Blake for not doing everything he can to promote those poor suffering unnoticed great novels lying around.
@Ed Bast – I'd just like to say, Ed, I don't believe it's appropriate to call an author's writing "unbelievably shitty" if they are going to be reading your comment. Feel free to like or dislike the piece for literary reasons, but descriptions like "unbelievably shitty" should be reserved for your personality.
"I don't believe it's appropriate to call an author's writing "unbelievably shitty" if they are going to be reading your comment."
Wait, so it's okay to criticize, but only behind one's back?
Why is Blake Butler reading my comments?
It's okay for you to call my personality shitty, but not for me to call a published writer shitty?
Wait – are you Blake Butler?!?!?!?
Frank Rich says:
Ed Bast, it's inappropriate because it's mean-spirited and unkind. Also, the quality of one's writing is completely subjective.
You don't like it. Fine. What's he supposed to do? Stop writing because you don't like his stuff? Change his style completely to suit you?
If that's not the point, what IS the point? To save people who disagree with you? You'll prove to them that Butler is a bad writer by pulling out a single sentence and ridiculing it? That's the worst kind of criticism.
If you don't like it, just ignore it. Move on. Find something else to look at. No one is holding you by the scruff of your neck and making you read it. There is no dearth of reading material available to you.
Blake Butler doesn't owe you or anyone else anything. The Millions asked him for a submission, he made one, they approved sufficiently to publish it. No one is being victimized here.
You're acting like a jerk.
timble says:
"Also, the quality of one's writing is completely subjective."
The timeless opinion of the stupid and cowardly. If you really believe that, you're on the wrong website.
Right. Because the reviews listed here are objective facts, not opinions.
If you don't like Butler, and you think his writing is objectively bad, wouldn't it be you who is on the wrong website? I mean, since his writing is appearing here.
LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT! in other words? But since when were we only allowed to share friendly, nice thoughts? A turd's a turd, and yeah there's a lot of other stuff to read out there, but while reading other stuff also I happened to read this, and it's just so much fun to hate it. I can't resist! It doesn't get a pass because the Millions published it and because I read the Millions.
Also, I take your "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all" and raise you a "If it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it's a goddamn duck."
I've got to give a little credit to Butler, though. It's certainly very enjoyable to dislike his writing / read through this thread.
To be clear – I'm all for impolite dissent. The boring, polite back-patting and friend-favoring that literary lists like these encourage could use a little more passion, even negative.
I'd just hate to think that our literary culture is so small-minded that any variation from the established program – even something as boring and rote as year end picks – deserves some kind of vicious attack.
Unfortunately, this all appears to be a symptom of exactly that.
I wasn't aware that Butler is posting regular criticism and reading suggestions over at the Vice–last time I looked at it (several years ago, it seems) his contributions seemed like higher-brow Buzzfeed or Flavorwire articles. I don't care for that, so I never checked back, but I will definitely take a look at what he's reading over there. Thanks for the heads-up.
Sure, you can criticize someone's writing… if you have something INTERESTING to say about it. And you say it well. And you say it in a way that takes into account the fact that the writer will be reading it. But Ed's string of comments didn't add anything to the discussion, it was just a big loud "hey look what I'm randomly feeling for a microsecond – how about I tell everyone on the internet!"
I can sum this all up by saying that it's like the story of the Emperor that didn't wear any clothes. All the people that don't like the negative comments here are like those folks who wanted to shout down that little boy that pointed out the obvious.
God forbid we should have an opinion that is negative or that differs, or that we should express it in strong terms. If you don't like the intensity of some of the comments here, that's just too bad. If the editors of The Millions think any of these comments are inappropriate, they have the option to delete them.
Jacques Fleener says:
What a strange thing to say. It is incontrovertible that a judgment of the quality of writing is a subjective one. It's so much so that, very frequently, writing that is considered at one point in time to be brilliant, is years later seen to be less so. And vice versa. Melville and Fitzgerald died as failures. Etc.
The idea that someone who does/does not like a book is "right" and someone who does/does not like a book is "wrong" is just plain silly.
As for Blake Butler, keep in mind that the implosion of the alt-lit paradigm as it was known has to have been devastating – and a fresh wound when he was writing this. And he may have re-read this when it was published and been pleased – or not – and he may re-read it again a year from now and cringe, or not. Because even if not everyone does, Blake Butler knows that all opinions on writing are subjective. Don't believe me, read his essays.
Alex Jax says:
"As for Blake Butler, keep in mind that the implosion of the alt-lit paradigm as it was known has to have been devastating – and a fresh wound when he was writing this."
Haha! So adorable! So precious!
JF,
Although the judgment of writing quality is ultimately a subjective one, as you say, it's disingenuous to suggest that there hasn't, over the last, say, five hundred years, arisen a kind of critical consensus as to some broad traits shared by "good" writing. These might include things like specificity and originality of language, thematic coherence, fresh subject matter, etc. As near as is possible to authoritatively say, by those standards and others, the above is "bad" writing. I'm not saying BB is a bad person, and he's obviously gotten quite a bit of notice for at least being original, which is really something in itself, but basically no one on planet Earth wants to read vague abstractions about a dream.
In a similar sense, it's subjectively impossible to say that a five year-old scraping a bow across an untuned violin is "bad" musical performance, and yes, sometimes amateur primitivism and the like shades into the avant garde, but nonetheless, most people with ears don't want to hear it. Strictly speaking, you're right–it's subjective–but it gets pretty damn close to objectively true, close enough where imo the difference becomes somewhat unimportant.
Moe Murph says:
@Jacques Fleener
Mr. Fleener, you are many things (including a person possessed of a lapidary writing style and piercing intelligence) but one thing you are NOT is precious.
C'mon folks!
Moe Murph
Tried Not To Jump In, Failed Miserably, Still Devolving
P.S. I thought this essay was cool.
Whitey Strunk says:
Hey just saying I didn't like this piece so much, but Butler's story in the latest ActionYes magazine was pretty good, so I neither hate him nor exalt him.
Hey, don't get me wrong – I didn't like this piece one bit. It riled me a little. It's pretentious and useless (to me).
But what rankled me much more was the assertion that the assertion that "the quality of writing is subjective" is "stupid and cowardly."
I don't think Frank Rich was suggesting that Blake Butler's strange attempt to be edgy was good work. I think Frank Rich was merely suggesting that the dogpile was unnecessary and kinda pointless.
It sucks – let's move on. Maybe somebody liked it – why make them feel about it? What is the point of ridiculing Blake Butler? Especially knowing that he wrote this expressly to piss you off, so is now inordinately happy? (Or depressed and happy to be so – probably more likely.)
Idk, it's an interesting question: why do we argue about questions of taste?
Because it matters, somehow? Because it's fun? Because haters gonna hate? Because we're time-wasting goldbrickers?
For me, as a writer, I think there can be as much utility in disliking something as there often is in liking or admiring something else. And arguing about it, while pointless in terms of convincing someone else who likes it, can be a productive aesthetic exercise.
In BB's particular case, I think people already perceive him as a bit of an emperor's new clothes situation, hence the dogpile, though I agree that it's unseemly, even if somewhat justified.
"If you don't like it, just ignore it."
This is the most disturbing suggestion I've heard in a long time.
Any artistic culture needs criticism, both positive and negative. I don't know how I would grow as a writer without negative criticism. If everyone is always telling you your stuff is wonderful, it's very easy to get comfortable.
As to the point of criticism? Because we care! Nothing more, nothing less.
Look, BB is published by Harper. He's a so-called lit fiction writer who has a Big Five publisher behind him. This puts him on somewhat of a pedestal. Fair or not, he's representative of contemporary American literary fiction. A lot of the people commenting here (myself included) aspire to those heights. So when BB publishes this garbage, it's offensive to me. It's the worst kind of writing – abstract, emotionally empty, incoherent, faux-profound, and poorly written to boot. Should this writer be held up as one of the best our literature has to offer? Hell no! Should a spade be called a spade? Absolutely.
Now – is my overly-aggressive criticism on this website going to start a revolution? Doubtful. But perhaps it will arouse some passion in somebody. Perhaps it will inspire someone to write a little bit better. Perhaps it will bolster the confidence of some struggling writer, to know that there are others out there like her. Perhaps none of this will happen. I don't know. But I am ferociously opposed to the idea of self-censoring negativity. Negativity is healthy, negativity is honest, negativity is a cold bucket of water over your head. Negativity is another perspective, another side of the coin.
And The Millions is a forum that allows (encourages) the expression of opposing viewpoints. I've been critical of this site at times, but credit where credit is due: The Millions isn't in the business of censorship, and thank goodness for that. There just aren't many places to debate literature on the web, and passion for literary fiction is desperately needed in this day and age.
Hear, Hear, Mr. Bast! Well said.
To those debating about whether or not liking someone's writing is subjective – that debate is irrelevant.
What matters is HOW one should critique writing (regardless of if you believe your viewpoint subjective or objective). If you don't like the writing, you have to have INTERESTING reasons you don't, and you have to say it in a way that takes into account that the author will read it (because we are human beings living in a civilization dammit).
Radsauce says:
The comments are an enjoyable read if you read them as if it is one person talking to themselves
Not totally surprised that a person (not saying you, I don't know you) would take this and run as far in the wrong direction as humanly possible with it.
Criticism is of course valuable. Thoughtful, learned criticism that clearly explains the whys and hows of a work's flaws is instructive and can possibly unlock unforeseen potential in a writer who, let's face it, like most of us cannot see his or her own flaws clearly.
Personal attacks that read like vengeful venom against a Big Five-published practitioner of linguistic legerdemain are not criticism. They are bitterness.
Anyone who would think that I think that I like Blake Butler's work is a fool. However, I would defend Blake Butler's right to write his inscrutable scribbles, and I would respect a publisher's right to publish them.
I don't see any reason that I should tell you would I think of Blake Butler the person. I've already said I didn't like the writing. But I also am not a huge fan of the self-congratulatory fistful of commenters on here who believe they have access to a truth no one else can see. They have a firm grip on a bitterness that no one else can taste – that is the case. But as far as wisdom … well, make all the precious observations you like. It doesn't matter to me.
[Re: "They have a firm grip on a bitterness that no one else can taste – that is the case. But as far as wisdom … well, make all the precious observations you like. It doesn't matter to me."]
Powerful and thought-provoking.
@Radsauce
To close out on lighter note, sort of a Millions "Pod Mind." What a frightening thought! :)
Keep workin' it Moe! You'll get there eventually.
OK, have no idea where "there" is, but I'll keep toddlin' along…..1.
1. My criticisms were of BB the writer, and BB's writings. You may have found my criticisms harsh, but that doesn't make them "personal attacks".
2. BB has every right to write whatever he wants, and his publisher has every right to publish them. America! Nobody here implied anything to the contrary (except Frank, who suggested that we shouldn't really be positing negative opinions).
3. I have every right to dislike BB's work, and express that dislike. America!
4. Maybe I am bitter. I choose to believe it's frustration over the current scene in American letters – so much wasted talent and untapped potential – but I'm realistic enough to admit that if I were more swimming in a pool of cash from a Big Five advance I might not care as much. I hope that's not the case, but who knows.
5. Truth? Nah, nothing so absolute, my friend. Like an old acquaintance used to joke: "You're entitled to your own wrong opinion."
Sal Iganico says:
Blake Butler is trolling. He always trolls. And by the amount of vitriol being spread in this comment thread, we're simply giving in to what he wants, as evident in the following BB quote:
"I like art that makes other people angry and nothing else…"
(from #23 at the following link: http://www.vice.com/read/dont-want-to-read-any-more-books-about-straight-white-people-having-sex)
As much as I also dislike this piece and all of Butler's writing, I know my hate for it must be dampened, for if I spew the bitterness I feel, Blake Butler wins.
Wait, what? Butler does not identify with alt-lit. He'd laugh at your suggestion that he wrote this while freshly "wounded" as a result of the "implosion of the alt-lit paradigm." LOL! While it's true that HTMLG supported and promoted alt-lit writing, Butler never identified with the movement and often dismissed suggestions that he was alt-lit. There was also occasional overlap between edgy internet writers and alt-lit. Writers in the first category were not necessarily alt-lit, even if their names were mentioned on some stupid little alt-lit blog.
Dear Mygod,
People have offered interesting and specific reasons why they don't like the piece. Of course, you know this, and your implied suggestion that critics must write a 1,500-word essay suitable for submission for ENG 300 credit or whatever is nothing but a straw man.
Dear eternal time,
Did I say I had a problem with any of those critiques? My problem was with Ed Basts (and yes a few others but certainly not all) notion that he could say that this piece was "unbelievably shitty" along with a string of other dismissive and empty remarks. Don't attribute a straw man to me that I wanted "1500 word essays" when I never said anything like that. Like, try to read my comments, not attribute things to me I didn't say. I know that makes things harder but give it a shot.
Mike Osiris says:
Hey, Ed Bast, are you Ed Champion?!?!?!?
What have you brought to the table that defends the piece beyond its mere right to exist? How is the piece a successful subversion of the repressive and hegemonic practice of recommending new and interesting books?
Extra credit: is the "dreams-are-profound-things" thing a tad tired? Does the piece update the "dreams-explain-everything" trope? Or, to borrow your own language, does it "conform! conform!" ?
Due: midnight.
bill gaddis says:
ed bast is likely an edward bast reference, a character in william gaddis' JR
I got the reference, in fact that made me suspect EB was EC (EC is a Gaddis fan). Well, that + the pedantry, hyperbole, and envy of other writers.
Well, have pasted in here one of my own comments from April 2014, part of a huge chain of comments to a piece about the Iowa Writer's Workshop. The Iowa Writer's Workshop may be the only topic able to inspire more sheer disruption than Mr. Butler's Year in Reading!
Devolved Being w/All The Bitterness & Consistency of a Wormwood Jell-O Mold Left Out Too Long On the Holiday Buffet Table
The Millions Comment Section – The Internet's Answer To 18th Century London's Literary Clubs and Establishments For Gentlemen
LONDON – 1748
Messrs. Jackson and Humbly, Awaited the arrival of that Odd Fellow, Raab, before being informed that he had been taken with a Most Grievous Case of Gout, and was being treated with an avaricious blend of Leeches from the Coast of Greater Guinea. 'Twas doubtful he would live.
"Errm, Hruuuumph, what of that Bluestocking Bitch Miss Dunham, up Mayfair Way with her Rantings? Shut her up in a Nunnery, I say!! Haaarrrruph," grumbled Master Jackson from just by the stove, where he was making a Most Vain Attempt to warm his poor, ink-stained fingers.
"Humbug, you Clattering Fool," bellowed Master Humbly. "If Thou would stickest to Thine Own Verbiage, and attend to Matters of Grammatical Correctness, emulating the Great Johnson in That Endeavor, Thou wouldst have no time for such Frippery and Chatter!"
Darting from his chair with a great roar, Jackson tackled Humbly, and they commenced to pound each other silly, until separated at last by Charles, Son of The Proprietor, who quieted the Riotous Outbreak by pouring the contents of a full chamber pot 'pon their heads. What Ho! Walk On!!!
18th Century Swine Girl – County Cork
Hey you guys, here's a list of literally every book Blake Butler read in 2014. He even singles a few books out for analysis.
http://www.vice.com/read/all-the-books-i-read-in-2014-111
There. Now you can stop worrying about the deleterious effect his 692-word attempt to break with format is having on The Millions, literature, and the world.
@Mike Osiris
Wow. Rough crowd over at the Vice comments section.
A Year in Reading: Robin Sloan
Robin Sloan December 17, 2012 | 2 2 min read
A Year in Reading: Thomas Beckwith
Thomas Beckwith December 6, 2015 | 3 4 min read
Emily St. John Mandel | 4 4 min read
A Year in Reading: Saeed Jones
Saeed Jones December 4, 2015 | 1 2 min read


Steve Jobs was a phenomenon. He went from being an unemployed college dropout to becoming one of the most successful entrepreneurs of all time.
Here are 12 Success secrets from Steve Jobs from his great quotes and wonderful speeches.
2. Be different. Think different. Better to be a pirate than to join the navy.
4. Perform SWOT analysis. As soon as you join/start a company, make a list of strengths and weaknesses of yourself and your company on a piece of paper. Don't hesitate to throw bad apples out of the company.
6. Start small, think big. Don't worry about too many things at once. Take a handful of simple things to begin with, and then progress to more complex ones. Think about not just tomorrow, but the future. Put a ding in the universe.
9. Ask for feedback from people with diverse backgrounds. Each one will tell you one useful thing. If you're at the top of the chain, sometimes people won't give you honest feedback because they're afraid. In this case, disguise yourself, or get feedback from other sources. Focus on those who will use your product – listen to your customers first.
10. Innovate. Innovation distinguishes a leader from a follower. Delegate. Let other top executives do 50% of your routine work to be able to spend 50% your time on the new stuff. Say no to 1,000 things to make sure you don't get on the wrong track or try to do too much. Concentrate on really important creations and radical innovation. Hire people who want to make the best things in the world. You need a very product-oriented culture, even in a technology company. Lots of companies have tons of great engineers and smart people. But ultimately, there needs to be some gravitational force that pulls it all together.
11. Learn from failures. Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit them quickly, and get on with improving your other innovations.
12. Learn continually. There's always "one more thing" to learn.


A hemophiliac with a factor VIII inhibitor was bleeding massively from an extensive surgical wound. After 10 days of unsuccessful management by conservative measures, he was given a single infusion of prothrombin complex concentrate (Konyne). Bleeding stopped immediately and the wound healed without further recurrence of bleeding. Although the activated partial thromboplastin time shortened following the infusion, the exact physiologic mechanism whereby these concentrates bypass the need for factor VIII clotting activity is unknown.


The Government has gone to market for a new mobile data system for ambulance trusts in all parts of the UK apart from Northern Ireland – and is committing £14.5 million to make it happen.
The work is another step towards the commitment of moving away from the Airwave arrangement and to the imminent Emergency Services Network for voice and data communications.
The plans have taken shape with the Department of Health (DoH) posting an official EU tender notice, indicating that it wants a short list of no more than six suppliers.
The tender lists 13 ambulance services across the UK as partners in the joint procurement, including the Scottish Ambulance Service Board and Welsh Ambulance Service NHS Trust. The bodies, working in lockstep with the DoH, are looking to procure what it describes as a new Ambulance Mobilisation Application and Associated Services (MP1) deal.
This will be made up of a mobilisation system and associated services. The former is envisaged as "a highly available and resilient ambulance mobilisation application solution to enable dispatchers and other control room staff to rapidly communicate timely and accurate information as efficiently as possible to responders such as paramedics, nurses, GPs and community responders".
It will have to "enable mission critical communications between responding resources and control rooms" 24/7 basis, says the DoH's requirement, and provide enhancements to existing commercial offerings "readily available in the market ".
These should cover specific ambulance service functionality and system interfaces, as well as other mission critical public safety functionality and services, including appropriate security, additional resilience and enhanced availability.
The winning supplier will also provide a series of associated services including design, development, maintenance, support and training services. MP1 will be a seven-year contract (up to 24 months for implementation and 60 for it to be operational) with the option to extend for another two.
All 13 trusts are the service recipients for MP1, which is said to form part of the Mobile Data and Vehicle Solution Programme (MDVS), and the wider Ambulance Radio Programme (ARP). The latter is aimed at rolling out a national integrated control room and mobile data vehicle solution for NHS Ambulance services in England, but also potentially for Scotland and Wales too.
However, the tender cautions that the latter two parties may decide not to adopt MP1.
The document also emphasises the use of open standards and published application programme interfaces, and says the system will eventually be managed by a multi-disciplinary authority team capable of guiding developments while adopting agile methodologies "to ensure users requirements are met".
The MP1 solution will not be required to connect to any legacy systems, although the supplier will need to support users as they transition from Airwave to the Emergency Services Network and from the existing legacy Mobile Data and Vehicle Solution Programme to its successor.
Its implementation will be phased across each trust and the roll out must be completed by the expiry of the authority's current ARP contracts.


text:
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;

using Landis.Core;
using Landis.Utilities;
using Landis.Library.BiomassHarvest;
using Landis.Library.SiteHarvest;

namespace Landis.Extension.LandUse.LandCover
{
    /// <summary>
    /// Replicates the SiteHarvest PartialThinning class for parsing
    /// percentage-based changes in land cover, exposing for change over time
    /// </summary>
    public static class LandCover
    {
        public static Dictionary<string, LandCoverCohortSelector> CohortSelectors { get; set; }
        private static IDictionary<ushort, Percentage> percentages;
        private static Percentage percentage;

        public static bool DontParseTrees { get; set; }
        //---------------------------------------------------------------------

        static LandCover()
        {
            // Force the harvest library to register its read method for age
            // ranges.  Then replace it with this project's read method that
            // handles percentages for partial thinning.
            //AgeRangeParsing.InitializeClass();
            //InputValues.Register<AgeRange>(LandCover.ReadAgeOrRange);

            percentages = new Dictionary<ushort, Percentage>();
            CohortSelectors = new Dictionary<string, LandCoverCohortSelector>();
            DontParseTrees = false;
        }

        //---------------------------------------------------------------------

        /// <summary>
        /// Initialize the class.
        /// </summary>
        /// <remarks>
        /// Client code can use this method to explicitly control when the
        /// class' static constructor is invoked.
        /// </remarks>
        public static void InitializeClass()
        {
        }

        /// <summary>
        /// Creates a new InputValueException for an invalid percentage input
        /// value.
        /// </summary>
        /// <returns></returns>
        public static InputValueException MakeInputValueException(string value,
                                                                  string message)
        {
            return new InputValueException(value,
                                           string.Format("\"{0}\" is not a valid percentage for insect defoliation", value),
                                           new MultiLineText(message));
        }

        //---------------------------------------------------------------------

        /// <summary>
        /// Reads a percentage for partial thinning of a cohort age or age
        /// range.
        /// </summary>
        /// <remarks>
        /// The percentage is bracketed by parentheses.
        /// </remarks>
        public static InputValue<Percentage> ReadPercentage(StringReader reader,
                                                            out int index)
        {
            TextReader.SkipWhitespace(reader);
            index = reader.Index;
            int nextChar = reader.Peek();

            if (nextChar == -1)
            {
                throw new InputValueException();  // Missing value
            }
            if (nextChar != '(')
            {
                throw MakeInputValueException(TextReader.ReadWord(reader),
                                                "Value does not start with \"(\"");
            }

            StringBuilder valueAsStr = new StringBuilder();
            valueAsStr.Append((char)(reader.Read()));

            //  Read whitespace between '(' and percentage
            valueAsStr.Append(ReadWhitespace(reader));

            //  Read percentage
            string word = ReadWord(reader, ')');
            if (word == "")
                throw MakeInputValueException(valueAsStr.ToString(),
                                              "No percentage after \"(\"");
            valueAsStr.Append(word);
            //Percentage percentage;
            try
            {
                percentage = Percentage.Parse(word);
            }
            catch (System.FormatException exc)
            {
                throw MakeInputValueException(valueAsStr.ToString(),
                                              exc.Message);
            }

            if (percentage.Value < 0.0 || percentage.Value > 1.0)
                throw MakeInputValueException(valueAsStr.ToString(),
                                              string.Format("{0} is not between 0% and 100%. Insects", word));
            //  Read whitespace and ')'
            valueAsStr.Append(ReadWhitespace(reader));
            char? ch = TextReader.ReadChar(reader);
            if (!ch.HasValue)
                throw MakeInputValueException(valueAsStr.ToString(),
                                              "Missing \")\"");
            valueAsStr.Append(ch.Value);
            if (ch != ')')
                throw MakeInputValueException(valueAsStr.ToString(),
                                              string.Format("Value ends with \"{0}\" instead of \")\"", ch));
            return new InputValue<Percentage>(percentage, valueAsStr.ToString());
        }

        //---------------------------------------------------------------------

        /// <summary>
        /// Reads whitespace from a string reader.
        /// </summary>
        public static string ReadWhitespace(StringReader reader)
        {
            StringBuilder whitespace = new StringBuilder();
            int i = reader.Peek();
            while (i != -1 && char.IsWhiteSpace((char)i))
            {
                whitespace.Append((char)reader.Read());
                i = reader.Peek();
            }
            return whitespace.ToString();
        }

        //---------------------------------------------------------------------

        /// <summary>
        /// Reads a word from a string reader.
        /// </summary>
        /// <remarks>
        /// The word is terminated by whitespace, the end of input, or a
        /// particular delimiter character.
        /// </remarks>
        public static string ReadWord(StringReader reader,
                                      char delimiter)
        {
            StringBuilder word = new StringBuilder();
            int i = reader.Peek();
            while (i != -1 && !char.IsWhiteSpace((char)i) && i != delimiter)
            {
                word.Append((char)reader.Read());
                i = reader.Peek();
            }
            return word.ToString();
        }

        //---------------------------------------------------------------------

        /// <summary>
        /// Reads a cohort age or a range of ages (format: age-age) followed
        /// by an optional percentage for partial thinning.
        /// </summary>
        /// <remarks>
        /// The optional percentage is bracketed by parenthesis.
        /// </remarks>
        public static InputValue<AgeRange> ReadAgeOrRange(StringReader reader,
                                                          out int index)
        {
            TextReader.SkipWhitespace(reader);
            index = reader.Index;

            string word = ReadWord(reader, '(');
            if (word == "")
                throw new InputValueException();  // Missing value

            AgeRange ageRange = AgeRangeParsing.ParseAgeOrRange(word);

            //  Does a percentage follow?
            TextReader.SkipWhitespace(reader);
            if (reader.Peek() == '(')
            {
                int ignore;
                InputValue<Percentage> percentage = ReadPercentage(reader, out ignore);
                percentages[ageRange.Start] = percentage;
            }

            return new InputValue<AgeRange>(ageRange, word);
        }

        //---------------------------------------------------------------------

        /// <summary>
        /// Creates and stores a specific-ages cohort selector for a species
        /// if at least one percentage was found among the list of ages and
        /// ranges that were read.
        /// </summary>
        /// <returns>
        /// True if a selector was created and stored in the CohortSelectors
        /// property.  False is returned if no selector was created because
        /// there were no percentages read for any age or range.
        /// </returns>
        public static bool CreateCohortSelectorFor(ISpecies species,
                                                   IList<ushort> ages,
                                                   IList<AgeRange> ageRanges)
        {
            if (percentage == null)
                return false;
            else
            {
                LandCoverCohortSelector lccs = new LandCoverCohortSelector(ages, ageRanges, percentages);
                if (CohortSelectors.ContainsKey(species.Name))
                {
                    Model.Core.UI.WriteLine("Contains species: " + species.Name);
                }
                CohortSelectors[species.Name] = lccs;
                percentage = null;
                return true;
            }
        }
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
You are here: Home / Starting a Business / Motivations for Starting a Business
August 20, 2010 By Isabel Isidro Leave a Comment
Why do people start a business? Why do they want to become an entrepreneur?
Each business owner has his or her own reasons for starting a business. There are those who have unequivocal beliefs that their products or services are just what the world needs. Others start a business because of their firm resolve that their business can provide help to their target market. Others start a business because of their need to achieve personal gain, to help their families, and still others feel that entrepreneurship is their best path to achieve their goals in life.
According to a University of Maryland study entitled "Entrepreneurial Motivations" by Scott Shane, Edwin Locke and Christopher Collins http://faculty.weatherhead.case.edu/shane/pem/PEM1.pdf
"The pursuit of entrepreneurial opportunity is an evolutionary process in which people select out at many steps along the way, decisions made after the discovery of opportunities – to positively evaluate opportunities, to pursue resources, and to design the mechanisms of exploitation – also depend on the willingness of people to "play" the game."
The study identified several motivations that compel a person to become an entrepreneur, such as need for achievement and risk taking. Entrepreneurs also possess "tolerance for ambiguity" — even though there is no assurance that a business will succeed, entrepreneurs are not daunted by this uncertainly and instead continue to pursue the idea of starting a business. They also possess "locus of control" – they want their actions to have a direct impact on results. These are individuals who want to be in direct control.
Empirical studies are great, but I prefer listening to stories of entrepreneurs and what made them decide to become an entrepreneur. In our recently concluded Lenovo giveaway contest, we asked entrants their motivations for starting a business.
A lot of responses focused on their families and what entrepreneurship can give them. They see entrepreneurship as a way to help their families and give them better opportunities. As our winner Rachel Hull of www.mommamoney.info said:
"My inspiration to become an entrepreneur is my family. I love being able to work from home. I love knowing that I can provide for our livelihood. And I love showing my daughter that a person can claim their own thoughts and ideas."
But more than the personal motivations, the economy also has a lot to do with why many are turning to entrepreneurship. As Hull also said:
"My business is small and Internet based. Until recently I could only claim it as a hobby. But with my husband laid off in May, it has given me a rare opportunity to give it my all. In doing so, I've finally found not just a paying job but a career."
Sometimes becoming an entrepreneur is the fulfillment of a lifelong dream, mostly influenced by family. Even studies show the strong parental influence in instilling the desire to be entrepreneurs: there is a higher likelihood for a person to become an entrepreneur if their parents are also entrepreneurs.
Others are influenced by the dreams of their parents for them. As Michelle Chen, who owns a Chinese restaurant in North Carolina said:
Seven years ago, at the age of 17, I came to America with my mother with nothing more than couple hundred dollars and a small suitcase of old clothes. And now after seven years of hard work, I am about to fulfill my childhood dream of opening my very own Chinese restaurant (Cooking has always been my utmost passion). Getting to where I am right now wasn't easy. It took a heavy dose combination of motivation, determination, commitment, and perseverance. I had to work two jobs at a time while learning a second language and various other types of cooking styles: all in preparations of opening my own restaurant. More importantly, I am also doing this for my late father, who passed away before realizing his dream of owning a restaurant. As his daughter, I shall finish the path for him.
Of course, there's that "locus of control" reason, as Jason Rogers of Canada said,
I was inspired to become an entrepreneur because I was intrigued with the idea of seeing one's dreams be realised and goals come to fruition. I liked the idea of having independance and not having anyone tell you how much you are worth (being salaried). Entrepreneurs can make as much or little income as they wish and the sky is the limit in terms of achieving whatever they set out to do. No one is there to keep you confined to a box. You are free to explore the world and face it head on
What motivated you to start your business?
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Filed Under: Starting a Business Tagged With: Starting a Business
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text:
Home Business Funding Boost for Young Cancer Patients in South East
Funding Boost for Young Cancer Patients in South East
The children and young people's cancer support charity CLIC Sargent has been awarded £75,738 from the Masonic Charitable Foundation to help improve the lives of 16-24-year-olds who are going through cancer treatment in the South East.
The grant will fund a travelling Young People's Community Worker (YPCW), attached to the CLIC Sargent team at the specialist Royal Marsden Hospital in Sutton, for the next two years. The YPCW will make sure that younger patients at general hospitals in the region, who are often treated on wards with patients decades older than them, get the support they need.
Rachel Alfieri, CLIC Sargent, explains:
"Being treated on an adult cancer ward alongside people much older than you and dealing with the impact of the disease on your life when you are young can be a lonely and confusing experience.
"But thanks to this new funding our Young People's Community Worker will be able to provide them with the age-appropriate support they need to cope with the devastating impact of cancer on their lives.
"That could be help with dealing with the financial impact of cancer on their lives, somebody to talk through worries with, or somebody to liaise on their behalf about housing, college or work issues.
"The funding for this post really is a lifeline for young cancer patients, and we're so grateful to the Masonic Charitable Foundation for its support."
CLIC Sargent is the UK's leading cancer support charity for children and young people and their families. Its specialist teams provide practical, emotional, clinical, and financial support from diagnosis onwards for children and young people with cancer, and their families across the UK.
Kate Lee, CEO, CLIC Sargent, said:
"When a young person is diagnosed with cancer, their world is turned upside down overnight, and every aspect of their life can be affected. By funding the work of our CLIC Sargent Young People's Community Worker at the Royal Marsden Hospital for the next two years, the Masonic Charitable Foundation will make a huge difference to the lives of around 60 young people with cancer, enabling us provide emotional, financial and practical support in a way that suits them."
David Innes, CEO Masonic Charitable Foundation, said:
"The CLIC Sargent team do a fantastic job supporting young cancer patients through the hardest of times – and we're proud to be funding this important work."
www.clicsargent.org.uk


Dental implant surgery is a common procedure at most dental clinics. As with any significant oral surgery, there are several options for sedation, which can help ease your discomfort through the procedure. If you're facing dental implant surgery and find yourself struggling with anxiety over the procedure, you should take some time to discuss your sedation options. Here are a few of the choices that you may have available for the procedure.
Oral sedation is great if you're looking to calm your nerves and deal with your anxieties before the procedure. You'll have to take a dose shortly before your appointment. The medication prescribed for this is usually one like those used to treat insomnia. In most situations, this treatment is reserved for procedures that will be completed within around an hour or so. You may be advised not to eat within a certain number of hours before the procedure, and you'll want to have someone drive you to and from the appointment for your own safety.
This treatment is typically administered throughout your procedure, and it's used to ease your nerves and anxiety. It's mild treatment and is usually a mixture of nitrous oxide with oxygen that's delivered through a mask. The mask stays in place through the entire procedure, so you're getting the benefit of the gas throughout the entire surgery. Nitrous oxide is flavorless and odorless. It's also easy on your respiratory system, so you won't have any irritation.
When you breathe the gas in, it will give you a sense of relaxation and light-headedness. The ease that you feel will make it easier for you to stay calm through the procedure. Like with oral sedatives, your dentist may suggest that you avoid eating for a set number of hours before the procedure. It's also recommended that you have someone available to drive you home, since it will not be safe to drive on your own.
A conscious sedative is often chosen when you're facing multiple implants or complex extraction procedures. Conscious sedatives allow your dentist more control over your physical condition during the procedure. This type of sedation keeps you calm and relaxed even when the procedure might be lengthy.
You'll receive a regulated amount of sedative delivered at consistent volume throughout your procedure via an intravenous line. Since it's administered this way, you'll have to be monitored by a specialist who will track your respiration and heart rate throughout the surgery. You won't be discharged until you're fully alert, so make sure that whoever is driving you home understands that it could take some time. You'll have to avoid eating for several hours before the procedure with this sedation approach, so ask your dentist about what you can have and when.
In the case of more complex procedures, your dentist may suggest that you seek general anesthesia. This is typically reserved for extensive or significant surgery, because this type of sedation requires hospitalization because of the level of monitoring required with it. General anesthesia is often recommended if you need to have bone grafted to your jaw to create a solid base for your dental implant. Plan to spend most of the day in the hospital with this type of sedation, because you'll need medical observation until you're completely alert again. You'll most likely be advised to avoid eating before general anesthesia for your own safety, so make sure you check with your dentist about it before the procedure. You won't be discharged from the hospital until you're alert and cleared by the doctor, but you may still want to have someone drive you home to be safe.
For more information, contact a local dentist or visit sites like http://www.nwidentist.com/.


Last night Janis and I ran into Beverly Giammalva at a function. She is the widow of a very dear old friend, Joey Giammalva. Joey and I grew up together in Kenner, and we go back as far as I can remember, like when I was around six. I lived on Sixth Street near the corner with Williams Street. Joey lived on the same block as me but facing Minor Street, and just so happens right across the street from my future bride, Janis Cristina.
Joey, Manard Lagasse, and I were the closest of friends in those days and remained so through high school, even though I went to East Jefferson, and Joey went to De La Salle. We kind of drifted apart after that, simply because we were separated by schools. Both Manard and Joey were two years younger than I was. Joey and I reconnected a bit, when I transferred to the University of Southwest Louisiana, and he was attending there.
As I was talking to Beverly, my emotions were flooded with memories of Joey and me as kids. What came to mind?
For one, his home on Minor (in which Beverly still resides). I can still picture every room. I would show up there on Saturday morning and find Joey watching TV in their den, a smallish room at the back of the house. He had a back porch that was initially only screened, and then Mr. Giammalva added jalousie window glass. We were not allowed in the living room. The sofa was even covered with plastic. No, I'm not making that up. I think they used that room only once a year, Christmas.
And, of course the kitchen.
Mrs. Giammalva (Miss Mary) was a fantastic Italian cook and somewhat tradition bound, because they had the same meal every Sunday at noon: spaghetti and meatballs and fried chicken. I'm not sure, but I don't think fried chicken is very Italian? Whatever, it was great fried chicken! I must confess that I sometimes managed to be around the Giammalva house about lunch time on Sunday a bit more often that perhaps I should have been, and naturally, they invited me to eat with them.
Mr. Giammalva was an ice peddler for my future wife's family business, Cristina Ice in Kenner. He delivered ice (some of us still had "ice boxes" then) to homes and businesses in his red, stake-bed, Studebaker truck. I will never forget that truck.
And get this! His helper was none other than Lloyd Price, before he became a famous recording artist. Some of his hits: Lawdy Miss Clawdy, Staggerlee, Personality, and I'm Gonna Get Married. A resident of Kenner who made good.
Mr. Giammalva also was a part-time trapper. He ran a trap line somewhere west of Kenner and brought in muskrat and little animals I think were mink. He treated the skins and hung them to dry in his two-car garage.
I spoke elsewhere of Joey and me having Red Ryder BB guns. Did you know robins were good table fare? I didn't either, but the enterprising Mr. Giammalva did. Robins migrate and in the fall stopped on the way south in his hackberry tree to feast on the little hackberries, often filling that tree with robins by the hundreds. Mr. G and Joey's Red Ryder BB gun were waiting for them. Many robins went into his freezer after getting their fill of hackberries. And no, that wasn't legal. But, hey, it was Kenner in the 1950s.
Joey was a bit chunky when we were young but slimmed down as an adult. He suffered from flat feet, and I mean flat as pancake. We often played with the hose on the summer and Joey's feet would make flatulence sounds on the wet concrete. Funny what you remember. And that one brought on the tears.
We also had go-carts, and we were often chased by the Kenner Police for running them on the streets of Kenner. I wrote about some of those adventures here and here.
The photo above of (from left to right) me, Manard Lagasse, and Joey was taken by Mrs. Giammalva in Joey's back yard. He carried that old photo around in his wallet for decades. Finally about twenty years ago, he made 8×10 copies for Manard and me and presented them to us. It hangs in my home office. I am sorry to say that both Manard and Joey are gone now.
I miss them both, and unfortunately, we often don't realize how much we miss someone until they are gone. If you have friends you love, spend time with them, because they won't be here forever, and neither will you.
Joey was a great guy. For some reason, I remember his driveway. I guess because it was next door to the vacant lot I put our pole vault pit on. It was one of those driveways with two ribbons of concrete and grass down the middle. It was on that driveway one Holloween night in 1958 that I was sitting listening to a transistor radio when Billy Cannon made his famous run against Ole Miss. I can remember it like it was yesterday. His uncle Jake was the policeman who used to turn his hearing aide down when he would drive by us shooting illegal firecrackers so he wouldn't hear them and have to report us.
I remember I, Martia and Robin would pick the neighbors flowers and then sell them to the neighbors. Miss Mary always had a quarter to buy back her own flowers!
I really enjoyed your historical book…I read it straight through…my favorite time period…I to am a southern…Tarheel…please hurry on the third book.
Thank you, Sharon. Book 3 is in the works. Details here.


Will Nyquil show up on a drug test?
What's up, guys. Today, we're talking about if NyQuil will show up on a drug test, and this is a very simple answer, and a very simple question to ask, because you shouldn't be as worried as what you think you should be because NyQuil is an over-the-counter medication that anybody can take, and if you were to fail a drug test for that, that would be pretty ridiculous. So, I'm gonna tell you exactly if it will show up on a drug, and I'm gonna tell you what to do if it does show up on a drug test, and what else to do to completely detox that there's no question of it showing up on a drug test.
So, before we get into all that, go ahead and click the link in the description below right now. It'll take you to cleardrugtest.com. It'll talk to you all about how to pass drug test for whatever it is that you're taking and give you peace of mind. So NyQuil, does it show up on a drug test? It does show up on a drug test, depending on how much you take and what time you take it and that type of thing. It does have a compound in there that will show up as methamphetamines for a five-panel drug test. So, you just want to be aware of that before you are taking it a lot and taking a drug test. If you have the flu or something, of course you're taking NyQuil, or you're taking NyQuil to fall asleep, what happens is, before you take the test, just tell the test administrator that you have been taking NyQuil, and you want to make sure that it doesn't show up on the test, and they will give you plenty of leeway if it does show up, and you should be completely fine.
So, I wouldn't worry about it too much. If you're really worried about it showing up, and you just don't want to have to deal with that at all, there's a detox kit that we have called Toxin Rid, and that should be able to help you out, and give you what you need in order to pass the test. So, that's really it. It doesn't really show up on a drug test. You have to take a lot in order for it to do it. And if you really want to detox, go ahead and get the Toxin Rid detox kit in the description below.


text:
Q: How to return a reference, then increment iterator Please consider the following code:
struct Foo
{
    //some useful unique data
};

std::vector<Foo> foos;
std::vector<Foo>::iterator foo_iter;
//populate with a load of Foo objects.

Foo& getNextFoo()
{
    return *foo_iter++;
}

What I wish getNextFoo() to do is, as you might expect, is dereference the iterator, return a reference, and then post increment the iterator.
I'm not convinced this will work, and I am a bit hazy on operator precedence, and would appreciate some guidance as to how to achieve this

A: Foo& getNextFoo()
{
    return *foo_iter++;
}

The post-increment operator has higher precedence than dereference, so this will work as you intend.
If you want to make it more explicit, you could also say
return *(foo_iter++);

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Dispute Resolution FAQs
The Department will respond to questions that we are frequently asked concerning the Special Education Complaint process as detailed in Ed 1121. We hope that these FAQ's become an ongoing dialogue that provides information concerning the complaint process.
What is a special education "complaint"?
Why does the New Hampshire Department of Education (NHDOE) investigate special education complaints?
Who can file a complaint?
Is there a special form for filing a complaint?
Are there timelines that apply to filing a complaint?
What are the steps to resolving a complaint?
How is a complaint investigation different from a due process hearing?
How does NHDOE resolve the complaint issue?
What if the investigator finds evidence supporting the school district and the parent?
What happens if, based on a complaint investigation, NHDOE determines that a school district has violated federal special education laws or regulations?
What are "compensatory services"?
A special education "complaint" is a written, signed statement alleging that a school district or other agency has violated state or federal special education requirements.
The federal regulations that implement IDEA require states to investigate written complaints of IDEA violations.
Any individual or organization can file a complaint. The individual filing the complaint may live out of state. If the individual is not the parent, guardian, surrogate parent, or adult student the complaint decision will not be sent to the complaining party unless the Department receives a notarized release of information form signed by the parent, guardian, surrogate parent, or adult student.
Although NHDOE does have a form that you may use, it is not required. A complaint must be in writing and signed. The complaint must identify how the school district or program violated special education requirements. The complaint also needs to include facts or details about the violation.
If you choose to use the form, it can be found on the Department's website or by calling the Department at (603) 271-3843.
Yes, under the federal regulations, the violation must have happened within one year of the the date the complaint is filed with the NH Department of Education.
After receiving your letter, it will be reviewed by the Complaints office of the Bureau of Special Education.
If the issues are appropriate for the complaint procedures, then:
An independent investigator is assigned to the case.
A courtesy telephone call is made to the school district's director of special education stating that a complaint has been filed telling them who filed the complaint and what it is about and what federal and/or state regulations are involved.
A letter is sent to both the complainant and the school district giving them the name of the investigator, a copy of the complaint letter and identifying what federal and/or state regulations are involved.
If necessary, the person filing the complaint may contact the complaint officer and may correct any errors made in summarizing the issues.
The investigator will review appropriate educational records and interview both the parents and school district officials and staff to determine the facts. When the investigation is complete, the investigator will submit a written report to NHDOE.
The NHDOE Complaints officer will review the report and issue a decision based upon the investigator's finding of fact and the relevant state and federal rules and regulations.
The Commissioner of Education reviews the decisions and makes a determination of what corrective action, if any, is warranted. The commissioner signs the decision. The decision will be issued no later than 60 days after the complaint was received by NHDOE. The timeline may be extended if the Department determines that exceptional circumstances exist that delay the decision.
If any party is aggrieved by the decision, he or she has 10 days from the date the decision was received to request reconsideration. Within 20 days of receiving a request for reconsideration, the Commissioner will determine whether reconsideration is merited and will issue a final determination. Any party still aggrieved may request a due process hearing or file an appeal in accordance with Ed 200.
A due process hearing is a formal administrative hearing before an impartial hearing officer. The parties to a hearing have an opportunity to present and cross-examine witnesses, to have a record of the proceedings, and to enter and object to evidence. Parties can subpoena witnesses and testimony is under oath. Due process hearings provide for detailed due process rights. The final order can be appealed to state or federal court. The court will look at the hearing record, along with the final order. The IDEA includes an attorney fees provision so that parents who prevail in an administrative hearing may ask the court to order reimbursement for reasonable attorney fees.
The complaint process is an informal review of the situation by NHDOE staff and independent investigators. The investigators will review the paperwork, talk to parents and school staff, and look to see whether the school district's actions comply with the IDEA. There is no formal testimony or record of the proceedings. There are no oaths, subpoenas or other due process protections.
NHDOE looks at all the information that is available to determine whether the school district or other program met the requirements of the IDEA. Below are some examples.
If the issue is NHDOE will look to see
Disagreement about a specific service or amount of service
the team's decision is supported by student-specific data and consistent with IDEA requirements
Disagreement about placement (or "least restrictive environment" for the student)
the placement team followed proper procedures, the placement was based on the student's written plan and whether the team's decision is supported by student-specific data
Implementation of the student's IEP
the school district or program implemented the student's IEP as it was written
Lack of progress toward the student's annual goals
the school district or program implemented the student's plan as it was written and made good faith effort to assist the child in meeting the child's annual goals
As this chart indicates, the student's IEP is an important consideration in the complaint investigation process. Parents are important members of the team that develops this plan. As children get older (especially in high school), they also become important members of the team.
NHDOE will substantiate (or verify) an allegation if there is more evidence supporting it than denying it.
It depends. The NHDOE may require the school district to hold an IEP meeting to consider certain student needs. NHDOE may require the school district to conduct an evaluation or take other specific action to correct the violation for the individual student.
If the violation resulted in a lack of appropriate services for the student, NHDOE may order compensatory services or reimbursement. Sometimes, NHDOE will require the school district to meet with the parent to work out the details of the compensatory services or reimbursement. The Department may ask the District to submit a voluntary corrective action plan and may choose to negotiate the terms of that plan.
If it appears that the violation was systemic, NHDOE may require the school district to revise its policies or practices. NHDOE may require staff training on specific problems. NHDOE may require periodic monitoring or reporting of implementation.
The purpose of "corrective action" is to correct the situation. NHDOE does not impose "penalties" or fines as part of corrective action. However, if a school district fails to comply with the corrective action required in the Order, NHDOE may ensure compliance by initiating one or more of the procedures detailed in Ed 1125 "State Department of Education Enforcement"
Under the federal regulations, if a state finds that a violation results in the failure to provide appropriate services to a student, the state must address how to remediate (or correct) the denial of those services. Compensatory services are services provided at a later date to correct the denial of services.


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Martin Kersels: Tumble Room / Museum Tinguely, Basel
By Enrico on 30. December 2010
Martin Kersels' installation "Tumble Room" is one of the most spectacular works on display in the exhibition "Under Destruction" at Museum Tinguely in Basel, Switzerland. First presented at Deitch Projects in New York in 2001, Tumble Room is a newar lifesize recreation of a little girl's bedroom. Turning on an axis centered on its back wall the room slowly spins, tumbling its contents from floor to ceiling. The spinning room grinds its furniture much like a rock tumbler grinds its stones.
Martin Kersels is a contemporary artist born in 1960 in Los Angeles. Kersels works with sculpture, audio, photography and performance. He lives and works in Sierra Madre, CA an is currently the co-director of the Art Program at the California Institute of the Arts. He has had one-person shows in New York, Los Angeles, Bern and Paris. In September 2008 Martin Kersels' retrospective exhibition, Heavyweight Champion, was shown in the Santa Monica Museum of Art and at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York. He won a Guggenheim Fellowship Award for 2008/09. Martin Kersels' work has been shown in numerous group shows such as Departures: 11 Artists at the Getty, Young Americans 2 at the Saatchi Collection, and The 1997 Whitney Biennial. His work is held in various collections including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, MOCA Los Angeles, The J. Paul Getty Museum and the Norton Family Foundation.
Martin Kersels: Tumble Room / Under Destruction, Museum Tinguely, Basel. October 27, 2010.
> Right-click (Mac: ctrl-click) this link to download Quicktime video file.
Posted in: art, Basel, no comment, VernissageTV
Tagged with: Martin Kersels
Seduce Me by Isabella Rossellini at The Wolfsonian-FIU
Michel François / Solo Show at Carlier Gebauer Berlin


These are my tried and true recipes and my tutorials. Baking is my favorite thing to do in the kitchen. If I could make and decorate baked goods once a week I would be so happy. My waistline might not be quite as happy, though, because sugar is also my favorite!