#michael agger

[writinggallery-blog]

“Professional Writing Expertise,” by Ronald Kellogg, contains enough writerly insight to fuel a thousand Iowa workshops. And the opening words could not be more comforting: “Writing extended texts for publication is a major cognitive challenge, even for professionals who compose for a living.” See, Dad! This is hard work.

[skymcelroy]

One strategy: Try to limit your working hours, write at a set time each day, and try your best not to emotionally flip out or check email every 20 seconds. This is called "engineering" your environment.

How to Write Faster by Michael Agger

[minusmanhattan]

This is a hilarious old New Yorker article from 2005 about a middle aged white guy named Russell Jones. If you're unaware, Russell Jones was also the real name of now deceased rapper Ol' Dirty Bastard.

Fans and friends alike would call to say hello, and even though Jones would explain to them he was not the Russell Jones they were looking for, they would often still ask that he give ODB a message.

One time Method Man called:

“This is Method.” Methane? Methadone?

“Yo, Rusty, how you been, we need to get together.”

“I’m Russell Jones but not who you think I am.”

A pause. “O.K., well, tell my man to call me.”

[lacartaajena]

Michael Agger of Slate.com on David Brooks' latest book:

The Social Animal, in both its ambition and its occasional ear-shattering hectoring, resembles another product of the University of Chicago: Allan Bloom's The Closing of the American Mind. Bloom wanted higher education to instill core virtues based on classic texts, music, and art—in order to combat mushy moral relativism and the banal horror of MTV. Brooks has the same interest in character-building but he doesn't have Bloom's confidence in our ability to control ourselves. It's almost as if we have to construct society as a playpen for the unconscious: Don't leave any sharp objects around that will cause us to become despondent, make rash decisions, or place high value on the wrong things like money and real estate instead of friends and finding a calling.

Very. Funny. Review.

Read it all here.