More Randutiae (Extra-Random Edition)

I'm proud to report that Bitterblue is a New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association Book of the Year, along with Rules of Civility by Amor Towles (for fiction), Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity by Katherine Boo (for nonfiction), I, Too, Am America by Langston Hughes and illustrated by Bryan Collier (for picture book), and Wonder by R. J. Palacio (for middle readers). I'll be at the NAIBA Awards Banquet on September 29, as will artist Ian Schoenherr, who did the beautiful maps and illustrations.
With apologies for throwing this in with other things -- I wanted to be sure to blog the link, but am too depressed to say much -- writer David Rakoff died way too young on August 9. I'm going to miss his voice on This American Life so, so much. The show put together a beautiful episode in his honor. It aired last week. Warning: it's really sad.Laurie Halse Anderson is doing Write Five Minutes a Day this month -- with frequent (excellent) writing advice and prompts. Check it out.If the Vatican keeps up its usual crap, someday they're going to wake up and discover they're talking to an empty room.Beck's new album is unrecorded sheet music.Have you seen this deeeelightful performance of "Clap Hands" by Beck on SNL? The percussion is performed by a bunch of guys at a dinner table and there's a simultaneous marionette version. (Thanks, J, for the Beck stuff ^_^) The word "marionette" cannot appear on this blog without a plug for The Cashore Marionettes. Check the performance schedule and see if they're coming anywhere near you. And watch the excerpts; you won't believe them. (That's my dad's cousin Joe.) A recent favorite Scrabble word: "borty." Bort is a low-quality diamond used for cutting and drilling or as an industrial abrasive. This makes "borty" the adjectival form. I imagine it being used thus: "Have you seen her engagement ring? Is it fabulous?" "Hell, no. It's totally borty."