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I will be participating in the 2007 BookExpo America, which will be held May 31-June 3 at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York City. This will be my first book expo, which is billed as "the premier event serving the U.S. book publishing industry."
Sitting in front of a computer all day (not to be confused with Otis Redding's "Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay") isn't that glamorous. In fact, it's pretty easy to relax, lose focus on what you are typing slightly, hIT teh wrogn keys, and ... er, what was I saying?
Oh yes, the issue of people falling asleep at their cubes. Wouldn't it be nice to have nap time? At least in New Jersey, bosses aren't enamored with the notion of providing beds for employees.
Microsoft Office 2007 is missing one minor annoyance, er, ingredient that everyone commonly refers to as "Clippy." Yes folks, I'm talking about the talking paper clip, which ranks up there with file folders and the cubicle as the greatest workplace inventions in the history of ... um ... the workplace.
George W. Bush is trying - yet again - to slash funding for NPR and PBS. This week, Bush proposed a new budget with devastating cuts to public broadcasting. "Sesame Street" and other ad-free kids' shows are under the knife. So is the independent journalism our country needs.
Enough is enough. We've fought this fight before and won - but we can't afford the risk anymore. With the new Congress, we can make sure this never happens again. We need Congress to insulate NPR and PBS from the political winds.
In the latest IM tellin', Sean and I debate the rules that really should govern ninjas, among other things.
Sean: vampires, by nature, are essentially smooth criminals
Sean: if you think about it
Ben: that is a good point ... almost like ninjas
Sean: ninjas are not smooth criminals
Sean: because you cannot by any means measure a ninja to be smooth or not
Sean: because....who is going to see them?
This might be the first time I've actually publicized a website you shouldn't visit. But my reasoning is if I tell you what it is, you won't go there, unless you're the type of person who likes to do the opposite of what people to tell you. But I don't have time to play reverse psychology today.
Like most people (I hope), I spend a lot of time thinking. My best thinking moments by far are when I'm in the shower in the morning, just after a nap and anytime I'm at Wal-Mart.
In what appears to defy the laws of nature, an octopus has been videotaped taking a leisurely stroll along the ocean floor in Indonesia.
"I do this all the time," the octopus said. "What's funny is I recently showed my friends a videotape of people walking on two legs. They were stunned."
It's rather easy to assume you know something, especially if it's based on previous knowledge that you are familiar with. And there is oftentimes a level of obviousness in certain things that make questioning particular items unnecessary. But at what length would you go to be 100 percent positive something is true?