July 21st, 2009
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So. You don’t speak Russian, do you? Neither do I. The phrase you see in the subject line of this post is just a literary come-on. It’s my way of introducing a fine new online utility, Wordnik. It looks Russian, doesn’t it? You know, like Sputnik? Alright, alright!
Technically it is an online dictionary; yet so much more versatile than what you might expect. Yes, you can look up words; but Wordnik has one or two bells and whistles you might not find with other dictionaries. First, Wordnik polls a number of dictionaries when searching for a particular word. Once it has found that word it lists related words, and not just its synonyms.
You can choose to hear a recorded pronunciation of a word, and you can see how often the word is used. There’s even a feature for those of you who Twitter. But my favorite feature is the ability to view a word’s etymology, which is its history and evolution. But then I’m an exciting kind of guy!
Oh yeah, the subject line translates as “Where is my dictionary?” It’s at Wordnik.
до свидания
July 7th, 2009
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As I near the final year of my MFA I’m glad to know the large volume of reading is behind me. Yes, reading is 
one of my top three favorite things to do. But like everything, too much of a good thing . . .
I only wish I had come across Eyercize in my first year. It would have saved me a great deal of time and work. Eyercize is the kind of site the Internet was made for. It provides above average value, measurable results, it’s easy to use, and free.
I’ve used it for only a short time, and already my reading skills have remarkably improved. Below, the graphic shows that I am reading almost 300 words a minute; 30 seconds faster than an average reader. 
Readers use speed-reading systems for a number of reasons: they want to ease their workload, reduce eyestrain, get better grades, and retain more of the information read. That last is what I find most important. As we age, reading comprehension can suffer, just as other things do. And I am aging!
To make your speed-reading practice more accessible, and easy to incorporate into your routine, there’s a bookmarklet you can drag to your bookmark toolbar. So with one click you’re off to the races. Literally!
June 30th, 2009
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Yikes! I had no idea it had been so long since I’d written a post. My goal is to write three a week. But this is my thesis year and it’s already demanding a lot of my focus. Add to that a hectic schedule of running a business, managing websites and blogs, my quest for an MFA (ergo the thesis), ballroom dancing several nights a week (hey, a guy’s gotta stay in shape), walking the dog and . . . well, you know the drill. It’s no different for you, I’m sure.
And while you are celebrating the holiday weekend I am, against my will, revisiting a personal and heartbreaking memory now attached to that holiday (that’s all I will say about that).
Yet from both circumstances I can escape . . . into a book! Lying in bed last night with Carlos Ruiz Zafon’s latest novel The Angel’s Game, I realized I’ve been doing this for nearly 50 years. And how well it has served me. Whether during difficult or better times this simple pleasure has been available to me. And more often than not I feel revived and soothed after my time hiding in a book.
It may sound as though my personal escapism only masks reality but reading is real, stories are real, and they affect greatly the reality of our everyday lives. Thanks to reading (referred to as a gateway skill), I have learned to write, converse articulately, perform at complex tasks and projects, find and keep a job that’s interesting; all these things and more are tangible constituents of what we call reality.
Enjoy the 4th! It’s time I made my escape.
