Stephen Leary's Blog, page 10

What If The US Kidnapped Edward Snowden?

Edward Snowden is in talks to return to the United States from Russian exile, according to news reports. He is ready to face justice, but only on condition he be given a fair and impartial trial.

Snowden said last year he didn't want to go to jail, as that would serve as a bad example for whistleblowers. With that in mind, it's hard to see Snowden returning without a guarantee that jail is off the table, and surely he would prefer to perform "community service" in lieu of prison, if only that...

In Search Of The Hot Trendy Cafe

Some cafes I go to are hot and trendy. All the right people go there. Writers, young people, students, professionals, runners--it's a hot crowd. But other cafes are deserted, except a few bums and some scary people--the wrong people or a "cold" cafe. These two disparate cafes could be one block apart. I've seen it in many places.

So why is one cafe a roaring success but the other can't buy customers? If I were the owner, wouldn't I want a hot cafe, rather than one that is ice cold and doomed t...

Luxury Pens And Pencils For Offline Writers

Whenever I'm out and about, I typically write using a bluetooth keyboard paired with my iPhone, and a cloud service where I keep my manuscripts, such as Microsoft's Onedrive.
I'm led to believe I'm on the bleeding edge of technology since strangers regularly ask me about my setup.
Maybe you don’t want to be on the cutting edge, but rather ensconced comfortably on the opposite side. In that case, you'll find at Amazon or just about anywhere various types of notebooks for sale filled with bright...

Cafe Morning Groups

I used to go to one Starbucks cafe most of the time. In one corner, sitting in a cluster of upholstered chairs and a couch, is a loud group talking politics, and certainly not my politics. So I chose to sit in the back of the cafe diagonally opposite from them. They would talk loudly about the hot political topics of the day, and I would type on my keyboard ignoring them.

This arrangement continued for a long time. Years passed by. But somewhere along the line they got the idea to possibly inv...

Unearthly Entities Haunt Starbucks Part 2

Last time I wrote about an oversize photo print on the wall at Starbucks that "attempted to communicate" with me ("Unearthly Entities Haunt Starbucks").

When a seemingly inanimate object "attempts communication," its desire is to bring attention to itself for its own reasons, which I find difficult to decipher.

But the motivation of an animate entity in the cafe is the opposite. It attempts to evade communication and avoid attracting attention.

For the sake of discussion, the "animate entity" co...

Unearthly Entities Haunt Starbucks

A few times while drinking coffee in Starbucks, I've been struck by the odd feeling that something or someone was attempting to communicate with me. And that something or someone wasn't a fellow human being.

Most of the Starbucks I frequent include artwork on the walls. These are oversize photo prints illustrating scenes from the coffee industry. It isn't always clear where or what the photos depict, as there are no explanatory cards accompanying these framed photos.

One photo in particular has...

Does Anyone Respect Literary Prizes and Book Awards?

The Nobel Prize for Literature has always had its critics, and with good reason. Many forgettable writers have won, while some of the superstars of the 20th century—James Joyce and Vladimir Nabokov among them—left the world empty-handed.

Winners are chosen more for “political” reasons rather than literary merit. I don’t think I need to hedge that statement any.

I see so many of today’s books claiming to be “award winning.” I’m convinced every book ever published qualifies for an award of some k...

The Last Great Novelist-Poet

With rare exceptions, you are one or the other: a novelist or a poet. Many great poets have written a novel or two, and towering novelists such as Faulkner and Hemingway wrote poetry, but it didn't measure up to their prose. In most cases, an author's oeuvre is composed of a fat slice of poetry or fiction and a narrow sliver of the other, and the dominant format is often superior to the subordinate.
The list of top-drawer writers who were equally adept at both poetry and prose is short. Among...

The Day Poetry Reached Its Zenith in the United States

January 20, 1961.

At the inauguration of John F. Kennedy, Robert Frost read a poem. It was a large moment at the time. Frost had long been a famous person, and he had a history with Kennedy.

In 1959, Frost had predicted Kennedy would be the next president, and his statement made headlines in the New York Times and Washington Post. Kennedy went on to thank Frost for helping him with his campaign. Frost kept repeating his prediction at speaking events and Kennedy started quoting from "Stopping By...

Authorship of 'Lost' Sherlock Holmes Story Questioned

Last week I wrote about an unknown Sherlock Holmes story that has been found after all these years ("Unknown Sherlock Holmes Story from 1903 Found").

The authorship of the story has been challenged by experts. The Los Angeles Times reports the opinion of Les Klinger, author of "The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Short Stories," who feels it is likely the product of someone other than Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.


The UK Mirror quotes "Swedish Sherlock Holmes expert" Mattias Bostrom as sa...