1. 16 May



    Every 14 minutes, someone in this country commits suicide, and research on ways to reduce that grim statistic appears to be on a plateau. In other words, psychologists don’t have much in the way of new ideas - at least right now - except maybe for what’s described as ground-breaking work on the notes that those who kill themselves sometimes leave behind. A team of researchers at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital used computers to break down the language in these messages of despair in the hope that they can better identify those at risk.
    — Analyzing The Language Of Suicide Notes To Help Save Lives : NPR
     

  2. 8 May



    Warm weather, movies

    What’s worth potential long-term knee damage? Running to and then around the Chestnut Hill Reservoir. It’s 2 miles to get there and 1.57 miles around. Depending on how you’re feeling, you can add or subtract loops. Keep your eyes on the path. You might stumble, almost down the incline and into the water… I’m staying at a friend’s place in Brighton, MA for the spring & summer. There’s a porch and a futon. Zero pets. Inside, regardless of how warm the day gets, the apartment is always cool and dim.

    I saw some movies at the Boston Independent Film festival last week: This is Martin Bonner, Much Ado About Nothing, The Way, Way Back, Here One Day and Some Girl(s). I linked them all because none of them were terrible. Maybe I’m easily pleased by things on large screens. (Such as Iron Man 3.) Bonner and Here One Day are the two that stuck with me the most (now, a week later and despite odd editing issues). I hope they end up on Netflix. Go watch them.

    On the writing front, I have a draft of something about 35k words that I’m sending out now. I’m moving on to a shorter thing (15k words) that I’m editing into a better draft. I haven’t written a truly short thing in over a month.

     

  3. 7 May



    Also, I was in possession of a positive outlook, which is just a trick whereby you convince yourself that the desolation of your world is a phase in your personal growth.

    The weird thing is it works.

    — Sam Lipsyte, “The Worm in Philly” (via hobartpulp)
     

  4. 7 May



    By all means be experimental, but let the reader be part of the experiment.
    — Max Sebald’s Writing Tips - Richard Skinner
     

  5. 6 May



    The world’s first gun made with 3D printer technology has been successfully fired in the US.
    — 

    BBC News - Working gun made with 3D printer

    i would be interested to hear an argument in favor of this that doesn’t use the word “liberty” or reference the U.S. constitution