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Books, Blogs, and Brain Clouds

Newsletter No. 32 (February 2024)

Published almost 2 years ago • 2 min read

Newsletter #31 - February 2024

Hello! Nice to see you again.

Writer's Break

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After nine years of constant work on one book or another, and always knowing what big project was coming next, I now find myself on a break. This is partly by design and partly by circumstance.

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Becuase of the way my last three projects piled up on each other, I purposefully didn't look to start anything new. At the same time, I just haven't encountered that spark that insipred my other books.

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I'm okay getting off the hamster wheel for awhile; I've been keeping busy, and I still have three projects in at various stages of the post-writing phase. I'm still anxiously awaiting word on when my biography of Mark Gruenwald will be scheduled for release. The major work on my collaboration with Mike Berenstain is done, but we're waiting on next steps. And I still hope to get my early reader chapter book The Groundhogs of Linden Manor out into the world eventually.

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Heroes for the '90s

Speaking of keeping myself busy, I'm halfway through the final act of this project. My latest essays explore the animated Batman and a vision of the future of the DC Universe through the lens of 1996.

What I'm Reading

I started off this year reading the unauthorized MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios (which was fascinating but unsatisfactorailly glosses over the past five years). Now I'm reading Dave Itzkoff's engrossing biography of Robin Williams and wanting to do another Mork & Mindy rewatch.

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Meanwhile, Theo and I are back on a Lloyd Alexander kick with The Wizard in the Tree and The Town Cats and Other Tales. When we finished the latter, Theo remarked "I liked that book!" which from him is definitely a rave.

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Speaking of Cats...

Last summer I wrote about having to say goodbye to our cat Rusty, who loved to join the boys and I at reading time.

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In December we adopted a kitten named Bruno. He has been an excellent and energetic addition to the family. He also likes to join us for reading time, but instead of laying on my lap while I read, he mostly just zooms around under our feet.

Hopefuls Song of the Month

Spymob "National Holidays" (2004)

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This spring marks the 20th(!) anniversary Spymob's Sitting Around Keeping Score. As a spotlight track, I've chosen the amazing "National Holidays." Taking a cue from the work of Billy Joel and Fountains of Wayne, this is a short story in the guise of a pop song. The narrator is a father who is heartbroken over how little he's allowed to see his daughter. With its driving rhythm and soaring melody it turns a downer subject into a heartfelt singalong anthem.

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Give it a listen here.

And Finally, a Brain Cloud

(This completes our seven-part series on logical fallacies, but I urge you to remember the Fallacy Fallacy: An argument is not automatically invalid simply because it contains a fallacy.)

Peace, love, and thank you for reading.

paul.allen@gmail.com
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Books, Blogs, and Brain Clouds

Paul V. Allen

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