[I start each week of the Five by Friday series by visiting a blog I already read and just randomly clicking an unfamiliar link on their blogroll. Unfamiliar because the point of this exercise, for me, is to move out and beyond routine and see a little of what else is out there. Then, I click a link on their blogroll, and then the next, so that by Friday there is a sort of six degrees thing going on from the starting blog/site.]

So, from Quiet Bubble I clicked our next site, Five Branch Tree (which name I may steal for this series, as it would fit so well), and wouldn’t you know it – the last one this week and it’s poetry!

Not that there is anything wrong with poetry, of course… I quite like much of it. I just don’t really know how to talk about it – but that’s okay. I guess I didn’t really delve into the depths of any of the topics in the profiles of the previous sites, so will just give an overall flavor of this one, too.

An auspicious beginning; the first poem on the page is a very short poem, accompanied by a cat. The result of a collaboration between Archie Rand and Robert Creeley – I believe part of a series where Rand does a drawing and Creeley writes a short (or maybe long, too, I don’t know) poem to go with them.  Five Branch Tree’s author, Brian, appears to be spending a bit of time with Creeley’s work, so there are several posts dealing with his poetry and life. Pretty interesting, actually. Including this one, where he wonders if Creeley is a solopsist, giving a several poems as examples – this one struck me as funny (for me, in this place in time):

egocentric
abstraction–
no one

else but
me again,
and people,

people as if
behind glass,
close

but untouchable.
[from 'Hong Kong Window']

Brian gives the same treatment to other poets throughout the pages, a brief glimpse at some of their work along with commentary. It is good reading, this site, I think – nothing too detailed or involved, lots of introductions to new (to me) authors and poets. Well worth a read – probably one I’d visit maybe once or twice a week, during a quiet time, and just absorb for a bit.

Well, that’s the end of our first weeks series. I think it went pretty well (well, except for that starting at the beginning of one week and ending at the end of the next thing, but anyway… ). There are maybe some parts I will change as this goes along, and I need to figure out better ways of bringing the sites alive to the reader as I’m not doing so great a job on that right now. Time and concentration and all that.

This weekend I’m going to try and write something about the blogrolls on the five sites we’ve visited. We’ll see if I can crib something profound out of them. Next week, we start with an entirely new site and take our five branches off from there.

Five by Friday – week 1 theriomorph —> Breakfast with Pandora —> Gridley Fires – A Blog About Books and Writing —> The Millions —> Quiet Bubble —> Five Branch Tree

[I start each week of the Five by Friday series by visiting a blog I already read and just randomly clicking an unfamiliar link on their blogroll. Unfamiliar because the point of this exercise, for me, is to move out and beyond routine and see a little of what else is out there. Then, I click a link on their blogroll, and then the next, so that by Friday there is a sort of six degrees thing going on from the starting blog/site.]

In the week since I profiled our last site, The Millions, they seem to have removed their blogroll! Had it not been there when I visited I, of course, would have chosen a different site as I do want to keep it a continuous link from the first click to the last. However, all is not lost – I was able to remember one word from the site I did click on from their blogroll when it was there – “quiet” – and, thanks to Firefox 3′s address bar which remembers everything (and which I find quite irritating at times), by typing “quiet” into the address bar, I found (again) our next site, Quiet Bubble. Yay!

Anyway, on to the profile.

Quiet Bubble seems, not surprisinging, to be about just what its tagline says – “arts, culture, Southern living, poppycock” (I have seen no sign, yet, of the poppycock, but I’ve not read everything).

This blog is authored by Walter Biggins (I love the story of the blog name) who seems to have a wide range of interests! He writes engagingly about movies, books, comics, music, books about music, DVDs and personal stories.  And more – all that was just on the current front page.

He also recently published a a book review —of Ted Gioia’s Delta Blues—in the latest issue of Jackson Free Press, which is good. I guess this is a fairly regular gig for him, as he has done other book reviews for the Press. I’ve not read the book (so many things I’ve not read yet, sigh) but maybe I will.  The last paragraph of the review caught my eye:

In the end, “Delta Blues” is slightly dispiriting. Gioia makes clear that, by the mid-1960s, most of what’s happening in blues music is blues revival (preservation) rather than blues resurgence (continuation and moving forward). Though Gioia never explicitly says so, the blues has become a museum exhibit. As such, this book is its definitive catalog.

… because of a conversation I had a few years ago with a friend, about the blues – well, not really about the blues but about music and art and the perception or reality of that art once it is mainstreamed and no longer underground – or musicians no longer under oppression, I guess. Or something like that.

The more I wander Quiet Bubble, the more I feel that this is a site I could spend time on – looking through everything, engaging in conversations and just having a good time, even though I am not much into music or movies (understatement).

As he wishes on his “about” page:

I hope you’ll find it a refuge from the brisk pace on-the-spot blogging and the desperate need to be Relevant, but still a place where you’ll find joy, wit, grounds for debate, and passion for life.

I think he’s accomplished that.

Five by Friday – week 1 theriomorph —> Breakfast with Pandora —> Gridley Fires – A Blog About Books and Writing —> The Millions —> Quiet Bubble —>

[note: This is also an open thread and a place to drop links to your own blogs or writings, or to other interesting places you visit.]

Works for me

I also have about 5 other posts started in ‘drafts’ – since I think part of what I will use this site for is sort of public accountability for actually *finishing* writing projects I start, and start writing projects in the first place, I’m going to list the general ideas of the pieces here. Might come back to check them off as they are finished.

Actually, will make a separate post, so that I’ll have easy access to it. I doubt, when looking for it later, I’ll remember to look under “Gah!”

Although that would make a great category tag thingy.

(Yes, I know it’s already Friday but, well… the title is “by” Friday, so I have until the end of the day to complete the series. According to me.)

I start each week of the Five by Friday series by visiting a blog I already read and just randomly clicking an unfamiliar link on their blogroll. Unfamiliar because the point of this exercise, for me, is to move out and beyond routine and see a little of what else is out there. Then, I click a link on their blogroll, and then the next, so that by Friday there is a sort of six degrees thing going on from the starting blog/site.

I clicked over to The Millions from Tuesday’s site, Gridley Fires – A Blog About Books and Writing, and almost clicked away again! Not that there is anything wrong about The Millions – quite the contrary – but it was just such a difference in look and tone than the previous two sites we’ve visited this week.

Where they were quiet and somewhat personal, The Millions is multi-author, big and bold and chock full of stuff. Here is how they describe themselves:

Welcome to The Millions, offering coverage on books, arts, and culture since 2003. The Millions has been featured on NPR and noted by The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, and The Village Voice, among others.

The first post on the page on my visit is a wide ranging and very interesting interview with Zoe Heller, author of The Believers. Scattered elsewhere on the page is literary gossip, cultural observations, reviews and movie talk.

This really is a great little site. There are no flashing or jumping things on the page itself (thank the gods) but the layout makes it seem fast moving, lively and it draws you in to click on not only the current offerings but archived stuff as well. Plus, I learned how to write “millions” in roman numerals – you never know when that might come in handy.

If you love talking about books, reading about them, searching out new ones or just wandering the shelves, you’ll love this site.

Five by Friday – week 1 theriomorph —> Breakfast with Pandora —> Gridley Fires – A Blog About Books and Writing —> The Millions —>

[note: This is also an open thread and a place to drop links to your own blogs or writings, or to other interesting places you visit.]

I start each week of the Five by Friday series by visiting a blog I already read and just randomly clicking an unfamiliar link on their blogroll. Unfamiliar because the point of this exercise, for me, is to move out and beyond routine and see a little of what else is out there. Then, I click a link on their blogroll, and then the next, so that by Friday there is a sort of six degrees thing going on from the starting blog/site.

Yesterday was Breakfast with Pandora but already today I’ve wound up breaking my own rule to write about the first site I click on. I did click and had just begun to write when I noticed that there was no blogroll! Nothing wrong with that, of course – some people really don’t like them or see the need for them. However, as the purpose of this series is to connect from one site to the next, in a linear fashion, I had to choose another link. No great hardship, as the next click brought me to:

Gridley Fires – A Blog About Books and Writing, which is exactly what it says it is. As I love books and am fascinated with the art of writing well – not to mention envious of those who do just that – this site is a pleasure to read this morning.

The first post on his (Bob Mustin’s) blog when I arrive is a review of Ken Follet’s The Pillars of the Earth. Of course, I immediately consider Mr. Mustin a genius as my thoughts on this book followed along the same paths, pretty much. For instance:

Perhaps my expectations were too high, but the story is often mired in soap opera messiness, the history and Tom’s potentially great character lost in the verbiage.

Like Days of our Stone Cutter’s Lives or something.

He also has a review of Stephen Johnson’s The Invention of Air, which I’ve never heard of, but it sounds like it could be interesting. The title alone is fun.

The bulk of the page, however, is taken up with a series about 2666, by Roberto Bolaño, who I’ve also never heard of but who it seems has written a 900 page book – originally in Spanish and only recently translated into English. Might be worth the read but I confess to not having spent a lot of time reading the review or the rest of the series, due to time constraints.

Interspersed with the book reviews are hints on publishing and marketing as well as other book and writing related stuff. Definitely someplace I would visit daily or from time to time, particularly to increase my knowledge of books at least some others consider worth reading – or not.

I have already clicked on tomorrow’s link (and checked, yes they do have a blogroll!) so we’ll see you back here then.

Five by Friday – week 1 theriomorph —> Breakfast with Pandora —> Gridley Fires – A Blog About Books and Writing —>

[note: This is also an open thread and a place to drop links to your own blogs or writings, or to other interesting places you visit. Image at top via stock.xchang]

I start each week of the Five by Friday series by visiting a blog I already read and just randomly clicking an unfamiliar link on their blogroll. Unfamiliar because the point of this exercise, for me, is to move out and beyond routine and see a little of what else is out there. Then, I click a link on their blogroll, and then the next, so that by Friday there is a sort of six degrees thing going on from the starting blog/site.

So, this week I’m starting at theriomorph’s. She’s a teacher, published writer, playwright, poet, fierce advocate for the underservered, familiar to Gilly the dog and a good friend. I visit her site all the time but still approached her blogroll with a hint of trepidation. It appeared to be filled with links to classical texts and literary journals and such – and while I do like to putter through those from time to time, it’s not what I wanted for this series. Ah, but then I discovered the real blogroll – now that was more like it.

It’s a long one and I could have probably spent the day clicking through and discovering new places, but I had to choose just one – and I have to with whichever one I click through to. I loved the name “Breakfast with Pandora” – so that’s who I went with. What else was there to go on, after all?

I lucked out. Here is how the writer, whose name I have not yet found, describes his site:

Breakfast with Pandora caters to everyone interested in ancient Greek and comparative mythology, good stories, the craft of writing, food, theology, education, and other humane things.

Now, I happen to really like mythology. I used to read it all the time, when I was much younger (pre-teen on up) – mostly from Bullfinch’s Mythology, which was all the rage back then. I should probably dip into studying it again – I can imagine the wealth of nuances I would pick up reading various mythologies at 50 that would never even have occurred to me at 11 or 12.

Anyway, back to Breakfast with Pandora -

Coincidentally, the author (who I will just call BWP until I find a name, if there is one) also seems to be attempting to branch out and see what else is out there worth reading in the webisphere. I’ll let you read about that there and what he’s found (hint: he’s joined Open Salon).

On his own site, not only does BWP have breakfast with Pandora, but other meals and snacks – for instance: (these lead to category pages)

Biscuits with Pandora: Notes on Language and Linguistics

and -

Dim Sum with Pandora: Chinese and Greek Mythology

One of my favorite sections (shows you how much of a scholar I am is Etwart, the search for his roots. Etwart, you understand, is described as “the only pygmy Cypriot hippopotamus in the world-famous San Diego Zoo”, but his earthly (or, at least, BWP form) appears to be that of a stuffed animal. A really cute one, but still…

But every day he wakes up with a hole in his heart.  He wants to know the story of his family and the deeds of his forehippos– maybe even find some of his relatives. So with his friend junior zookeeper Katterly Meadows he sets out on a journey of discovery.

And so BWP tells the story of Etwart’s search for his roots. Really fun and interesting.

So, well worth the read, this Breakfast with Pandora – glad I found it. The talk about mythology is in very accessible and friendly language, not too involved. In fact, I found myself wishing for more detail, but that’s a good thing, I think. Whet the appetite and then, for those who want to pursue things further, there’s a wide world of information out there, just waiting.

I have already clicked the link, at BWP, for tomorrow’s blog. It’s something completely different. Will see you then.

Five by Friday – week 1 theriomorph —> Breakfast with Pandora —>

[note: This is also an open thread and a place to drop links to your own blogs or writings, or to other interesting places you visit. Also posted at Stalking Sunlight]