Chris Nicholson's Writing Weblog
February 28, 2008 • Thursday
Things here are busy, in a good way.
Today I'm wrapping up a corporate publishing project, and then finishing up some work on my website.
Tomorrow I'll be writing two small articles, one for a magazine, the other for a university.
And then on Monday I'll begin my next big project, editing another book. This one is about John Lennon.
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February 25, 2008 • Monday
For an amusing look at the freelance writing "process," see this blog post by "Dilbert" creator Scott Adams: "How to Make a Comic Strip." Though about comics, it's pretty representative of the freelance life.
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February 19, 2008 • Tuesday
Mike Luongo, a good friend of mine since high school, was in the news today. Mike is preparing to compete in the national Transplant Games for the second time since receiving his new kidney in 2003.
See the Norwich Bulletin article "Norwich man to participate in Transplant Games."
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February 15, 2008 • Friday
This week I finished reading Bill Bryson's new book, "Shakespeare: The World as Stage."
I didn't (and don't) have any strong interest in William Shakespeare. But Bryson is probably my favorite contemporary writer, so I'll read pretty much anything he writes; I enjoy his style, and I've come trust that he'll make any topic interesting to me.
As he did with Will.
In reading the book, I was mostly fascinated with how little we actually know of our language's finest writer. I'm amazed at how much information can be lost in just 400 years. I also found interesting the sections about how words and writing and theatre have changed in four centuries, and at how many words Shakespeare used for the first time in written English — or that he altogether coined.
It's a good book, worth the gift card I spent on it.
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February 12, 2008 • Tuesday
Some historic photographic negatives have been found after a long, long time lost. In fact, for years they've been believed destroyed.
The negatives belonged to Robert Capa, considered by many to be the father of war photography as we know it. At the very least, he did more for the genre than anyone since Matthew Brady during the U.S. Civil War.
The missing negatives were found in a suitcase in Mexico. Among the images are some priceless documentations of the Spanish Civil War.
So why am I mentioning the find here? Because among the frames found are photographs of American novelist Ernest Hemingway and Spanish poet and playwright Federico García Lorca.
To learn more, see the New York Times article "The Capa Cache" (what a great headline). (Unfortunately the Times website requires registration to view articles. If you'd rather not bother, see CNN.com's coverage instead: "Lost negatives may shed new light on famed photographer." But the former is a more comprehensive piece.)
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February 11, 2008 • Monday
It's been a while. As happens sometimes, when I'm busy working, the blog is one of the first activities to fall wayside.
What's kept me so busy in what is traditionally my slowest time of year? Editing.
Specifically, I edited the book "Boycott: Stolen Dreams of the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games" by Jerry and Tom Caraccioli, to be released by New Chapter Press on May 1.
It was a great project to work on, and a very interesting book that delves not just into the politics of the boycott, but also into the lives of the athletes who were effected.
Both Amazon and Barnes & Noble are taking pre-orders.
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