Madam Mayo: blogs

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Monday, June 20, 2016

Top 21 Surfing Faves: Marginal Revolution, Scott Adams, Holding the Light, Root Simple, Apifera Farm, Book Man's Log, Kevin Kelly, and More

Yes, it is true that most blogs, never better than mediocre, end up abandoned as their authors migrate over to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and the like. Nonetheless, there are many worthy, richly fascinating, and consistently updated blogs out there, some old, many new. Herewith, I share with you, dear reader, a my top 21 surfing faves as of this month.

CRUNCH-CH-CH-Y ECON & ROARINGLY ECLECTIC WHATNOT

Marginal Revolution

DILBERTERIE AND PERSUASION FILTER-O-RAMA

Scott Adams
By the way, if at first glance Adams' blog appears pro-Trump, look again, it is not. Over the past months Adams has been analyzing and explaining some of the more esoteric techniques that Trump employs in his speeches and debates and even Tweets. Long before any of the op-ed crew in major media, Adams predicted the rise of Trump. His blog is fascinating reading, and it's worth the trouble to read many of his previous posts. And yes, this is the cartoonist who came up with Dilbert. And no, I am not for Trump. Hey, I live in Mexico.

SOUTH OF THE BORDER, SOMETIMES

Mexico Cooks!

Rachel Laudan

David Lida

Sam Quinones
> Read my review of his latest book, Dreamland, for Literal Magazine.

TEXAS, HIS TEXAS

The Rambling Boy
Read or listen to my interview with Lonn Taylor here.

AMIGAS ARTISTAS

Holding the Light
Patricia Dubrava, translator, poet, writer

Work-in-Progress
Leslie Pietrzyk, writer

One
Sarah Zalan, photographer

ART & ANIMALS

Apifera Farm
> Read my 2011 post about this blog here.

God of Wednesday

RARE BOOK BIZ

Book Man's Log

DESIGN & ECLECTIC WHATNOT

Swiss Miss
Her Friday Link Packs are always a treat. The latest included a link to this Japanese shop and this stunning video by Method Design.

Screenshot from this Vimeo video by Method Design.

IMPENDING DOOM OR, LIFE WITH HORSES PROBABLY

James Howard Kunstler
Rolling preacher-like thunder and, on many an occasion, wackily wicked imagery.

The Archdruid Report
His sci fi is not my cup of chai, but his skill and prolificacy as an essayist is a wonder.

Club Orlov
Cranky sailboat doomer, but at times the language kicks samovar, e.g.:

July 19, 2016

"And there are all those who, whenever I publish something that mentions climate change, crawl out of the woodwork and gnash their exoskeletal mandibles at me, to the effect that climate=weather, and it's all a conspiracy theory. They are idiots and deserve a boathook in the eye."

July 5, 2016

"People were summoned to explore the heavens, they were promised universal prosperity, a world without borders, gender equality, and a third gender, and a fourth, and a fifth, and watermelons that taste like raccoons, and raccoons with the hair of mermaids. But people wanted a hug, warm tea, summers in the country, and to spend time with their relatives."

SETH GODIN
www.sethgodin.com

PEP TALK

Seth Godin

TECHNO WOW, WHOA, WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?!

kk.org
This is Kevin Kelly, whose latest is The Inevitable: Understanding the Twelve Technological Forces that Will Shape Our Future). Several blogs in there, including Cool Tools.

YUM & FIXIT

Orangette

Root Simple (best roasted tomatoes in the galaxy and solar ovenerie!)

+ + + +

For those of you who might be wondering, my book in-progress on Far West Texas proceeds... ayyy, and having taken a karmically necessary detour to write this book review/ essay (the strangest thing I have ever written), I am still working on Marfa Mondays podcast 21. There will be blood. Of the 19th century. I invite you to listen in to the other 20 Marfa Mondays podcasts anytime here.

Your comments are always welcome.

CLICK HERE.

Writers Blogs (and My Blog):

Eight Conclusions After Eight Years of Blogging

Top 13 Trailers for Movie with Extra-Astral Texiness

Notes on Xavier González, "Moonlight Over the Chisos"

and a Visit to the Antigua Academia de San Carlos in Mexico City

I welcome you to sign up for my free, usually podcast-packed,

once-in-a-while newsletter

which goes out via mailchimp... maybe... next month.

>> CLICK HERE <<

Monday, April 11, 2016

With a Ker-thunking Clash of Gamelan Puggy Hooha: On 10 (TEN!) Years of Blogging

[Newspaper clipping courtesy of www.fodey.com]

The 10 year anniversary of this blog, long looming on the horizon, has arrived with a ker-thunking clash of gamelan hooha. At least in my own mind! And whether you've been with me this long or surfed in a split-second ago, my thanks to you, dear reader.

A shout-out to a few of my blogging friends who've been at this along with me lo these many (or almost these many) years-- you're on my blog roll and in my heart. (I'm waving at you especially, E. Ethelbert Miller and Leslie Pietrzyk.)

Alas, most of the blogs that started back when have gone silent. What has kept me motivated for 10 years? To get a sense of what it's all about, draw some conclusions, and look to the future, in recent weeks I've been posting year-by-year lists of top original-to-this-blog content. (2015; 2014; 2013; 2012; 2011; 2010; 2009; 2008; 2007; and 2006.) And now, at last, I've arrived at five conclusions and aims going forward.

Five Conclusions and Aims for 2016 & Beyond

1. I started "Madam Mayo" blog in 2006 primarily to serve as a platform to announce and link to my work available in-print or elsewhere on the web. Such frankness may not sound too tewwibly chahming, I know. It's sort of like waving a wand over the top hat, then snatching away the silk handkerchief to reveal... a bean burrito. Not that my writing isn't yummy, if I do say so myself! But clearly, it would behoove me to jazz up ye olde blog up with, say, more pugs. Oh! Here's a GIF of Uliberto Quetzalpugtl (b. 2014). I asked him if he wanted a bean burrito.

This still seems like a fine idea, I mean, both using my blog to point to my books and other writing available elsewhere, and to bring on the pugs.

Katherine Dunn says she is "not sure pugs are real dogs, they are mystical little beasts." Here, here. And here's a video of my mystical little beasts Uliberto Quetzalpugtl and his little sister Washingtoniana Quetzalpugalotl:

And here are some of my books, all of which have to do with Mexico, two of which have a lot brown in their covers, and all which do happen to mention Mexican cuisine (but not bean burritos):

(P.S. If you're new to this blog and wondering why my books are all about Mexico, click here for the "secrets and surprises".)

Seriously, though, over the years I have come to see this blog as more than a mere platform. As I wrote on the eighth anniversary of this blog, I think of "Madam Mayo" not so much as a "platform" but as "a net that catches certain special fish-- the readers who care about the things I care to write about."

2. Over the past decade the "top list-worthy" posts for this blog were the ones I wrote as exercises in clarifying my own thinking. Sometimes I was working out ideas that would appear in my books (as with this book review and this book review and this mash-up on Francisco Madero and Dr. Krumm-Heller); other times such posts were for my workshop students or just for myself.

My personal favorite is this post. I reread it now and again, and try to take my own advice.

So: I aim to continue blogging to clarify my own thinking... and to take my own advice. Hence, herewith another pug GIF! This one is of my writing assistant / aka mystical little beast Picadou (2000-2014) and her doting godfather, Mexican actor and James Dean-channeler Fernando Catorri.

3. Several of the posts that made it into my top annual lists were written in a spirit of helpfulness and also, I confess, to save time with email. For example, after three writer friends asked me how I made my Kindles, I posted this; and after three asked me about editing their manuscript, I posted this and this; after three asked me about how to format a book I posted this. Yep, three's the charm.

The thing is, when three people ask me the same question, I can probably expect more of the same, and when my best answer is a more than a little bit lengthy, opinionated, and technical, the easiest thing for all concerned is for me to send my correspondent the link to my blog post. And of course I am delighted if any one else finds said posts of use and/or interest. Like I said, they were written in a spirit of helpfulness.

Since I've already tackled just about every question I can about writing and publishing, I aim to write more travel articles because the one question I keep getting is, what is there to see and do in Mexico City? (I do wish more people would ask me about Far West Texas.)

(Why don't I publish more often in magazines and newspapers such as LA Times and WSJ as in days of yore? That's another post.)

4. Over the past decade I started up then phased out guest-blogs that followed what I called my super-simple "5 link format." A chubasco of lotus jpegs upon y'all, dear fabulously talented guest-bloggers! (See the archive of "Madam Mayo" guest-blogs here). But alas, it was too much trouble to seek them out, then edit and format them, so, sorry, dear reader, you will just have to settle for guest-appearances by my mystical little beasts. Here is Uliberto Quetzalpugtl demonstrating the Orphic Journey:

But seriously, albeit not via guest-blog posts, I aim to continue seeking out and featuring other writers whose work I admire. Over the past couple of years, and especially since 2014, I started running infrequent Q & As such as this one with historian Carolina Castillo Crimm and this one with historian Paul Cool and this one with writer and editor Michele Orwin. These are far more work to prepare, yet far more satisfying for me, for the other writer, and for my readers (so I am told). It's hard to say how often I'll feel comfortable doing these Q & As, but my guess is, probably every other month or so.

(Yes, I am still running my Conversations with Other Writers podcast, but it's an unholy amount of work to edit audio, so for now I plan to post those on a more or less one-podcast-a-year basis.)

5. Another type of post I started up and then phased out was what I call "cyberflanerie." In 2016 I'll let other blogs, such as Swiss Miss, Brain Pickings, and Marginal Revolution natter around with that sort of browsing and curating, fascinating fun as that is. My aim for 2016 is to fry the monster.

Five Things You Can Expect to Stay the Same at "Madam Mayo" in 2016

1. Look for posts every Monday, except when not, and oftentimes more often.
2. Your emailed comments are ever and always welcome. But no, I won't be publishing comments on the blog itself.
3. Look for occasional Q & As, book reviews and, at year-end, my top 10+ books read list.
4. Look for more posts about Texas, Far West Texas, and literary travel writing-- may this be the year I finish the draft of the book.
5. My philosophy of blogging, that it is not so much a platform (although, yeah, it is) but "a kind of net, to catch the readers who care about what I care to write about" remains essentially unchanged from a couple of years ago. See Writers' Blogs (and My Blog Blog): Eight Conclusions After 8 years of Blogging, my talk for a panel on writers blogs at the 2014 Associated Writers Conference.

And finally, know that you have my appreciation, dear reader.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Blogfully Pro-Blog

Comment du jour by Seth Godin re: blogs.

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Mexico Institute's Mexico Blog, The Mexico Portal

The Mexico Institute at Washington DC's Woodrow Wilson Center has launched a blog-- an outstanding resource for anyone interested in Mexico. The Mexico Portal.

Friday, April 18, 2008

Puff, Puff, Puff

Via DC writing amigo and fellow-WIW member, John Curry, here's a link to a fun article from the Chronicle of Higher Education:

Reading Blogs Can Become Habitual, Like Smoking (but Safer)
A study of blog readers' behavior found that for many people, checking favorite blogs is part of a routine that they feel compelled to repeat each day.

"I don't know if I look forward to" reading blogs, said one participant in the study. "I don't really look forward to cigarettes anymore, but it's something that happens through the course of the day that I feel like I might need to do. It just becomes habit, I guess."

Similar sentiments were expressed by many other participants in the study, which was conducted by researchers at the University of California at Irvine. "When asked about motivations for reading blogs, participants said they visit blogs for information, inspiration, entertainment, and to a certain extent because ...READ MORE

What's on my feeds page? More anon.

Monday, April 07, 2008

Delia Lloyd on Academic Blogs

But will she start a blog? My Mexico City amiga (now living in London), political scientist and writer Delia Lloyd has a guest-blog post on academic blogs over at Urban Muse:

For a long time, academics sat on the sidelines of the public sphere. Sure, there were famous professors like John Kenneth Galbraith--or more recently, Paul Krugman--who had tremendous influence inside the scholarly community and also shaped the public debate. For the most part, however, academics just seemed to do "something else" and we, as a society, had little knowledge of--or interest in--exactly what that was.

In recent years, however, a growing number of Ph.D.s--both inside and outside of the university--have begun sharing their expertise with a wider audience on a range of subjects that spans economics, law, political science, even literature. And the way they've done this is through blogs.

Among the most famous of these "academic blogs" is probably Freakonomics, the New York Times blog (based on the best selling book by Steven. D. Levitt and Steven J. Dubner) that sheds economic insight onto everyday occurrences....READ MORE