I've mentioned this in Literary briefly, but:

My mom, a retired Bay Area indie bookstore manager, current book reviewer for her former local paper, and eternal voracious reader, has started her own book review blog, Bookin' With Sunny. She doesn’t write high-toned critical studies of what she deems Works of Great Import; she writes pretty much exactly the way she talked to customers when she was a bookseller: This surprised me. I fell for these characters. I got lost in these lives. I loved it, and I think you will, too, and here’s why.

Her publishing rep friends have stayed in touch and are supplying her with new titles and ARCs at a dizzying rate, and now that she’s retired from the bookstore she is racing through her TBR pile and updating the blog with a new review damn near daily. (I am supposed to be contributing too, but my reading pace is painfully slack between the day job, the editing gig and the 4-year-old; I don’t know how to manage it, but I swear I’m gonna turn in at least one review before the end of the week month year if it kills me.)

She’s a great resource for librarians, fellow booksellers, and fellow voracious readers. Read, subscribe, and if you know a deserving but neglected book that more people should know about please let her or me know; suggestions are welcome and eagerly devoured.

Bookin' With Sunny. ‘Cause my mom rocks the review, and maybe someday I'll get my brain and fingers off their asses and start rocking too.

Here's an article I wrote for the AV Club about Precious Life, a documentary appearing tonight on HBO. Watch out for the emotional minefield in the middle!: [link]

I have used the inconvenience of having oral cancer as the basis for a personal meditation on technology, sustainability and social context. My latest on Grist.

[link]

Small child parental type Buffistas:

I have been completely slack (and, well, short on funds) about mailing out Matilda's clothes to the next crop of baby Buffistas, but I think I'll be able to get my act together in the next week.

I also have to, because our landlady left a threatening note about the boxes of kid clothing squirreled away in every corner of every storage space in the building.

So, I have probably a half-dozen boxes of assorted baby and toddler clothing, everything from PJs to fancy dresses to t-shirts and fleecy pants to socks to jackets to even a stray pair of shoes that Matilda has managed to outgrow before she completely destroyed them. Most of it is pretty girly, but there's also some unisex and boy stuff in the mix.

I have most people's addresses, but I don't want to just blitz everyone with clothing because some of y'all are also getting plenty of clothes from local friends and relatives and some (Gracie?) have just about caught up with Matilda size-wise.

Hence this post - if your sweet critter is smaller than a 4T and you want or need some clothes, please ping me at my profile addy in the next week or so to let me know where you want me to send them and the sizes you need. Most of these items have already been through two or three Buffista kidlets and are thus soft, comfy and imbued with much awesomeness; most of them are still in lovely condition; and due to the Buffista factor most of them are interesting and funky and fun (though there's also quite a lot of sturdy practical basic grubbling-around-and-playing stuff).

In case you've not read enough Treme blather in Premium, I finished up in Daily Kos. [link]

As some of you may have seen, VictoryLand in Alabama is ending its live greyhound racing. [link] What this means in practical, doggy matters, is that the rescue orgs are about to be swamped with dogs needing homes and fostering. Sure, some dogs will go to other tracks, but with the industry circling the drain, it's looking like the majority are going to be in a rehome-or-die situation.

If any of you in the Seattle/Tacoma area (lurkers and posters alike) have considered greyhound adoption or fostering, let me know at the profile address, and I can put you in touch with the organization that placed us with Daisy.

For those of you not in the Seattle/Tacoma area, I can track down the closest organization to you. The more dogs who can be placed in the next month or two, the better.

Hear Ye, Hear ye! Erin has made the following proposal that has received the required secondses:

Proposal:

A new thread for Buffistas who are in business for themselves, be it writing, freelancing or other, or those pondering it.

Thread would be clearinghouse for Buffistas business owners to have "watercooler" discussions about issues germane to running/starting a business, and also for all Buffistae to offer or seek assistance in various fields which Buffistas could offer (or at least point people in a reliable direction, if possible.)

Business spamming would NOT be acceptable practice, but persons could certainly mention services other Buffistae might be in need of.

Discuss amongst yourselves (in the voting thread).

Thoughts on the Celebrity Apprentice finale and other important issues: [link]

Hear Ye Hear Ye

Voting is now open for the following proposals:

Should we open a Buffista Businesses thread? and Should we add a Buffista Businesses category to the Buffista Links page?

The full proposal and discussion starts here.

Voting closes Monday (May 30, 2010) at 7PM (PDT).

VOTE NOW

(questions should be posted in Bureaucracy)

I have Angel s3 and s4, in non-original packaging. Yours for the price of postage. Takers email at profile addy.

eta taken!