John Steinbeck on Love

There are several kinds of love. One is a selfish, mean, grasping, egotistical thing which uses love for self-importance. This is the ugly and crippling kind. The other is an outpouring of everything good in you—of kindness and consideration and respect—not only the social respect of manners but the greater respect which is recognition of another person as unique and valuable. The first kind can make you sick and small and weak but the second can release in you strength, and courage and goodness and even wisdom you didn’t know you had.

From a letter from John Steinbeck, to his teenage son Thom, on love. Read the full letter here - it's worth it.

Mr Pearl, master corsetier has an 18-inch waist…

theworstday:

Mr Pearl, master corsetier has an 18-inch waist and wears a corset 24/7 except to bathe. he’s laced for shows including McQueen, Galliano and Gaultier and has corseted clients like Dita Von Teese, Kylie Minogue, Sophie Dahl and Victoria Beckham.

born Mark Pullin in South Africa, he grew up helping his grandmother lacing her corsets and began wearing tightlace corsets at the age of 30. Mr Pearl currently works from a shop behind Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. he eschews all modern technology including email and mobile phones, and can only be reached by leaving a brief, direct message on his land line.

There's something very surreal about this guy.

Help Find Ruaridh!

A beloved black Labrador cross has gone missing in Nairn in the Scottish Highlands - I've put up a page on the site so that people can comment without needing a Facebook account, and can share his picture and info using the row of buttons at the bottom of the post. I'm reposting the info here as well.

The Gurn from Nurn is also on the case.

Ruaridh, an 11-year-old BLACK LAB CROSS, has gone missing from the Boath Park area of Nairn.

He slipped out of his collar after being startled by a firework on Bonfire Night. He's very friendly and will respond to his name. He will also jump into a car if called.

If you see a black lab wandering without a collar, please please contact owner Aileen on 07813022717, the dog warden on 1667 458542 or the Nairn Police on 01667 452222

Latest Reported Sightings:

12/11/2011: Dog seen in Croy garden

10/11/2011: Dog see lying under a caravan at the Nairn Caravan park yesterday.

R.I.P. Steve Jobs

"Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.”

Competitions, News and E3!

Just got confirmation from Random House that I can give away my brand new, super-special-shiny-awesome paperback of Lauren Kate's "Passion" in a competition. I've never run a competition here before, so that's going to be exciting! The competition should be up by next week.

On less awesome news, the Wall Street Journal posted a ridiculously biased article saying Young Adult fiction is corrupting children. Janet Reid had a strong response, and I left a comment too: "We all hope the events in stories don't happen to us, or our kids - but sexual violence, suicide, self-harm, mental illness and other horrors are more common than most people realise. For teens, the knowledge of how to get through it can be vital." It's important for teens to know they're not alone.

Kirsten Hubbard also wrote an honest and scary post about being a midlist author - midlist authors, if you haven't heard the term before, means you're not a 'big name' and your publisher won't put as much energy into promoting and hyping your work. After reading, I immediately went and bought her debut, "Like Mandarin". This girl's amazing.

Oh, and one last thing - E3 news is slowly tricking my way. Can't say I'm thrilled about the amount of Kinect games, though Minecraft could be amusing. The new Spyro game is all kinds of disappointing, I miss the classic games.

Also, I broke a washing machine today. This means I'm now obliged to figure out how to fix it. DIY MODE ON. *rolls up sleeves*