thebrainscoop:

Guess who’s on the cover of this week’s Chicago Reader?! 

SPOILER ALERT, IT’S ME 

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clavisa:

thedovenest:

lulabo:

allinablur:

lulabo:

thedovenest:

lexical-girl:

You can now pre-order The Secret Diary of Lizzie Bennet, the novelization of the Lizzie Bennet Diaries, by Bernie Su and Kate Rorick.

To be published by Simon & Schuster on July 1, 2014.

trying to decide if I want to read this or not…

(the US amazon site link)

and the description:

There is a great deal that goes into making a video blog. Lizzie Bennet should know, having become a YouTube sensation over the course of her year-long video diary project. The Lizzie Bennet Diaries chronicled Lizzie’s life as a twenty-four-year-old grad student, struggling under a mountain of student loans and living at home with her two sisters—beautiful Jane and reckless Lydia. What may have started as her grad student thesis grew into so much more, as the videos came to inform and reflect her life and that of her sisters. When rich, handsome Bing Lee comes to town, along with his stuck-up friend William Darcy, things really start to get interesting for the Bennets—and for Lizzie’s viewers. Suddenly Lizzie—who always considered herself a fairly normal young woman—was a public figure. But not everything happened on-screen. Luckily for us, Lizzie kept a secret diary. 

The Secret Diary of Lizzie Bennet provides more character introspection as only a book can, with revelatory details about the Bennet household, including Lizzie’s special relationship with her father, untold stories from Netherfield, Lizzie’s thoughts and fears about life after grad school and becoming an instant web celebrity.

Written by Bernie Su, the series’ executive producer, co-creator, head writer, and director, along with Kate Rorick, the novelist, TV writer, and consulting producer on the series, the novel features a journal-entry format and design, complementing the existing web series, while including plenty of fresh twists to delight fans and new readers alike. The Secret Diary of Lizzie Bennet expands on the phenomenon that captivated a generation and reimagines the Pride and Prejudice story like it’s never been done before.

(emphasis mine)

I have a lot of thoughts about this. I just can’t articulate them yet.

I would highlight all of this, really:

“provides more character introspection as only a book can, with revelatory details about the Bennet household, including Lizzie’s special relationship with her father, untold stories from Netherfield, Lizzie’s thoughts and fears about life after grad school”

and this

“expands on the phenomenon”

Can this be really true? Because the only way this book is worthwhile buying and reading is if they give us things that the videos couldn’t.

My thinking, such as it is, is also that if the videos couldn’tgive us something that would have influenced the text, then maybe they weren’t doing enough work. If there’s all this stuff underneath that is only barely hinted at but is important enough to merit an entire second interpretation of the existing world, then how successful is that existing world to begin with?

That’s a really cynical way to view it (as is the “how much are you going to wring out of this before you say you’re done” reaction), and I understand that there’s a lot of stuff that Lizzie wouldn’t have aired—part of her progression as a character has to do with not telling the internet everything, learning to deal with her own emotional processes in a way that’s more internal and more about relying on the people she loves, and talking to people who matter to her. But Ashley’s performance does, and the writing should, make those things very clear in the videos to begin with. So this is in a way bonus content but it’s also kinda fanfic of the thing by the creators of the thing. And I can’t really put my finger on what about that is a little bit bothersome to me, but it is, because while I like the idea of this, I also think—you had the chance the first time to get all this stuff in, and in some ways you did, and if in other ways you didn’t, then that’s something that’s part of the work you created and you can’t get a do over.

On the other hand, I super want to read every fucking word of Darcy’s letter and parse it for hidden messages of love and an undercurrent of barely suppressed bitterness because in my mind it is an object of glory.

I like these thoughts. These are good thoughts.

My main question is, how much did each of them contribute to the writing of it. Because I’ve heard good things about Kate Rorick. 

I was feeling anti. But the Mr. Bennet mention makes me teeter. I’m a sucker for Lizzie’s relationship with her dad, and really wanted more of it in the show.

But yeah, it feels like being played. Though maybe that’s the DVD talking.

Also, as people have said from the beginning, there’s something absurdly cheeky in the whole idea of doing a novelization of LBD.

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googlyeyebooks:

“Look like the innocent flower,
But be the googly eye under it.”

Heh. Googly eyes + John Singer Sargent. What’s not to love?

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rainbowrowell:

But I can’t share it until tomorrow.

(It’s not a sequel.) (I feel like I need to apologize for that.)

NEWS. TOMORROW.

Hopefully it’s not something like, “here’s a list of 5,000 more people who will be able to read Landline before you will, John.”

Hm. Let’s guess.

News of a title/publisher/publication date/something for her next (post-Landline) book?

News of a movie deal for Eleanor & Park? (kind of hoping it’s not that, though having crazy-movie-money thrown at Rainbow Rowell would have to be counted in the plus column, even if Hollywood-ized Eleanor seems inevitably to be something that would end up making me sad)

I’m having a hard time thinking of what else could qualify as ALL CAPS EXCITING (TO HER) NON-SEQUEL BOOK NEWS.

Maybe a particularly Rainbow-squee-inducing piece of recognition for of promotion of Eleanor & Park?

Guess I’ll have to tune in tomorrow.

Edit: Fan speculation seems to be leaning in the direction of a Simon Snow novel. Time will tell.

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genderific:

edwardspoonhands:

keab42:

cold-neverbotheredmeanyway:

ohitsjustkim:

stammsternenstaub:

kirkwa:

And This Is Why You Shouldn’t Get Sick In America

Many believe that the US healthcare system is the best in the world. Not so according to the World Health Organization’s ranking of the world’s health systems. The US doesn’t even rank in the top 25. It ranks 37th and is the most expensive in the world. I would argue that even if we had the best healthcare system in the world, what good is it, if no one can afford to access it.

Most companies are buying 60/40-policys for their employees these days, but even if you are lucky enough to have good insurance with 80/20-policy coverage, that 20 percent your responsible for can drive you right into bankruptcy as easily as the 60-40 policy given the cost of healthcare.

Insurance cost have been going up dramatically in the last two decades, long before the new Affordable Healthcare Act has taken affect, in some cases as much as 35% per year.

But have you noticed the latest trick the insurance companies have roll out?

Yes, Higher Deductible… most averaging $5,000 per year, per person, but I have seen some as high as $10,000 per year. For those of you that are wondering, this tactic is specifically designed too stop you from using your insurance. It reduces the insurance companies out of pocket liability by shift costs onto consumers, especially those dealing with chronic illness such as diabetes and arthritis. Consequently, because consumers can’t afford the deductible they will avoid necessary care to save money.

Although insurance companies are a problem, the real crook is the healthcare system it self. A corrupt and bloated system desperately in need of reform!

OKAY SO I KNEW THAT TECHNICALLY IN AMERICA THAT YOU PAY FOR HEALTHCARE BUT LIKE THE IDEA IS SO BIZARRE TO ME THAT I’D NEVER CONSIDERED THAT YOU’D GET… A BILL?????? FOR BEING…. ILL?????????? I LITERALLY DON’T

how can anaesthetic cost that much??

how is this legal??

WHAT? And I thought having to pay £7 ($11.55) for stronger prescription allergy meds instead of £4 ($6.60) for the less effective store-brand ones was ridiculous.

You have to pay for the ambulance!?

OK, I’m shocked by the prices, but all of the people from other countries who are just shocked that there ARE prices just make me so so sad.

This is so screwed up.

When the whole “Obamacare” idea first came up and people in the US started talking about “socialized medicine” I was actually so confused because I hadn’t realized that the US DIDN’T have universal health care.  Like I legitimately thought that it was just a thing all first-world countries had, like public education and municipal garbage pickup.  As a university-educated and fairly aware individual!!!  

Yup.

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masterpiecedaily:

Hiroshi Yoshida

In the Botanical Garden

1926

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Knight Life: Fall Creek area nuthatch likely world’s oldest bird of its kind:

dasistalles:

Right in my own backyard! (ish)

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just-breezy:

Untitled

by Mike_tn

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I did a thing.

A few of you may recall that I decided to join in for NaNoWriMo, writing 50,000 words of a novel during the month of November. I continued after that (at a slightly slower pace, as you can see by the change in the slope of the graph above), and a few minutes ago I finished my first draft.

It needs revision; there are things happening off-camera (off-page?) that should be on-camera, and vice versa, and there are a few plot elements, and a few characters, that I want to rework pretty significantly. But as something that came through my dash the other day said, a first draft only has to exist in order to succeed, and now this one does.

I have a sense (from the nonfiction book I wrote a dozen years ago) of how much work remains. But it feels good to get even this far. And since I don’t know how much farther I’ll get, I want to take the opportunity now to thank you all, my Tumblr friends, by which I mean, my friends, for being so cool, and creative, and such fans of fiction yourselves that your enthusiasm spilled over and inspired me to do this.

So, thanks.

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cloudyowl:

Barred Owl by Mark Schwall

Judgmental owl is judging you.

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rainbowrowell:

siminiblocker:

Cath is very subtle about her fandom.

An old piece from the Fangirl reblog book club, that I got stalled on and recently went back to. Reagan is one of my favorite parts of the book. SHe makes me miss my college roommate, even if they are not at all similar in the details.

THIS IS AMAZING!!!!!

LOOK! NO, LOOK!

LOOOOOOOOOK!!!!

IT’S ART’S WEDDING PHOTO! AND SIMON AND BAZ AND THE LEAVES!

AND REAGANNNNNNNNN!!!!!

(This Reagan is perfect.) (No, really, perfect.) (She’s perfect.)

AND THE SIMON SNOW BOOKS!

AND THE FAN ART OF BAZ ON THE THRONE!

IT IS FAN ART OF FAN ART.

SIMINI BLOCKER SHOULD BE GLAD SHE LIVES MULTIPLE STATES AWAY FROM ME, BECAUSE THIS ISN’T THE FIRST TIME I’VE WANTED TO HUG HER HALF TO DEATH.

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atelierentomologica:

Curtis Steiner, Insects and Alphabets, drawings 2010

Think of any two things. Now put them together. Go.

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sarahandvictoria:

u should listen to this song because i think you’d dig it

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utnereader:

A near-death experience can reveal the truth about nature in an instant. But putting that insight into words can take years.

David Quammen described this same attack in his book Monster of God. Scary stuff.

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matterofawesome:

biblioboner:

My Edgar Allan Poe lunch box!

For my shipwreckedcomedy people.

I want to eat lunch with that kid.

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Portrait of Margaret Sutherland as a Young Girl (c. 1890) by Jane Sutherland. Pastel on Paper

The Daydream (c. 1895). Oil

On the Last Tramp (1888). Oil

bourbakiaxiom:

Works by Jane Sutherland (1853 -1923)

1. Portrait of Margaret Sutherland as a Young Girl (c. 1900) Pastel on Paper
2. The Daydream (c. 1895). Oil
3. On the Last Tramp (1888). Oil

From the National Gallery of Victoria website:

“In the 1970s feminism systematically challenged many of the social and artistic values and beliefs that marginalised women, including the idea of ‘male artistic genius’ and the gendered construction of art history. It also presented new perspectives on the art of the past that recognised the achievements of women artists, such as Sutherland. However, Sutherland was one of a significant number of women artists before this time who effectively challenged such values and beliefs during her own lifetime through a passionate and professional commitment to her art.”

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How Emily Graslie went from YouTube science star to full-time at the Field Museum:

A 20-year-old aspiring artist visited a zoological museum. Four years later, Emily Graslie is working at the Field Museum.

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I can describe the entire night in detail (and I’m going to):

I got to the bookstore around 6, which was an hour early for the scheduled reading. Since you had to buy a book to get stuff signed, I was in the cashier line with Naomi & Eli’s No Kiss List by David Levithan and Rachel Cohn. Meanwhile, my friends took a seat towards the backroom where all the famous writers were, and when Rainbow came out, they were like “HEY!” and she was like “HEY! I’m looking for a girl named Andi” and they screamed and pointed me out and Rainbow told me to come back to the room so I did. (According to my buddies the rest of the people were watching with confusion and/or envy AND YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW AWESOME THAT MADE ME FEEL.) I was jumping and squealing and Rainbow was also on that same level of happy so we kind of mutually fangirlled together. Then I gave her the drawings I made her and she fangirlled more. We took lots of selfies. She signed a book for me, and we talked about art and stuff, and she gave me a cookie. Then she had to rehearse for the reading and I went to sit with my friends.

I also got to talk with David Levithan (his portrayal of Levi was SPOT ON) and Lucy Christopher (she is SO ADORABLE (and obsessed with the post-men)).

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libutron:

Hymenoscyphus | ©Atli Arnarson

Cup fungi – Southwest Iceland.
Ascomycota – Ascomycetes – Helotiales – Helotiaceae

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