From Movable Type to movable type
On the flight to St. Petersburg I listened to the podcast of a session I missed at SXSW called From Blog to Book (audio). It was, duh, about turning one’s blog into a book. Now, don’t panic, I’m not naïve enough to assume that the content of this blog is worthy of bookdom. Seriously, I know. Nor do I assume that the number of readers of this blog constitutes enough of a market to make a print-run viable. But still. One can dream.
The upcoming trip to Barile just seems to me so apt for linear exposition, either as a series of articles or as a book. Why would it make a good story, you ask? Well, consider that I am hauling myself and my not-so-worldly parents across the ocean to a remote corner of Italy merely on the invitation of a municipal council whose only e-mail to me reads:
Dear Sir John Tolve, we’re the “Pro-Loco” of Barile in the province Potenza, Italy. We wold like to invite you to a conference and we want establish it (date) with your business. This event will be held next summer and we wish to award you for your activities developed in USA. As we are very prond of your “Barilese” origins and we would like to spend a celebration day with you. We are looking forevard to receive your news
My reply and subsequent re-replies have all bounced back because of a too-full mailbox in Barile.
Now, of course I’ve been in contact with others — a representative of the regional government, a family friend who is a travel agent in the area, a work colleague outside of Naples, and an Italian cousin whose coming in from Holland — but none of them really know what’s going on or what’s going to happen in Barile. This in itself I find interesting. As in, what the hell am I doing leaving my wife and children in Chicago to go to Italy for “a celebration day”? Might make a good start to a book, no? A mystery-travelogue of sorts.
So back to the podcast From Blog to Book. My expectations were fairly low since, let’s face it, not that many great bloggers have become great print writers. What esteemed example do they have on the panel? That’d be Tucker Max, author of tuckermax.com, one of the most offensively, hilariously puerile sites on the ‘tubes. Basically Tucker is a decent writer with an insatiable libido, a love of reckless inebriation, and zero moral qualms. As you might imagine, the session wasn’t exactly loaded with tips for aspiring writers because, well, humanity being what it is, anyone who can write well about drunken sex is bound to do pretty well for himself. As I do not plan on drunken sex in Italy (“day of celebration”, eh?) I am lacking a critical component of this sure-fire formula for success.
But I’d still like to try. Not sure where to begin (other than this blog, of course). Suggestions welcome. I know some of you out there have been published!
Of course, we’ll have to see what happens in Italy. My money is on the unexpected.
T-minus 3 weeks, 1 day.
Hi, I’m John Tolva!
Mission Elapsed Time: 20:00:21:06:42:40
Recently this blog (and my Flickr account) turned 20 years old, forever in Internet years. I went back through it all, retracing digital footprints made on what feels like a different planet. Here are some highlights.
The Terror Tourist
A roughly monthly exploration of places in horror fiction — real or imagined, geographical or psychological — culled from The Heavy Leather Horror Show.
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The Ampcamper
How I hauled myself, two teens, an 80 lb dog, and a whole load of crap 4000+ miles across six states in twenty days using an electric vehicle. And survived to tell the tale.
Latest Photos
Marginalia
Stuff I’ve found interesting from around the web lately.
A Mystery in the Shape of a Book
On a gravel road outside of Cheyenne, Wyoming, I stood before a Little Free Library painted the colors of the Pride flag.
‘Everyone thought it would cause gridlock’: the highway that Seoul turned into a stream
On a crisp December morning, office workers and tourists stroll along a tree-lined stream in central Seoul, pausing on stepping stones that cross its flowing waters.
Gulf ofSomething
Take the power of MapQuest with you wherever you go. Download our mobile apps for turn-by-turn navigation, live traffic updates, and more.
The Surprising Theory That Explains Modern American Life
Why don’t you move?
The Great Resegregation
The Trump administration’s attacks on DEI are aimed at reversing the civil-rights movement. Produced by ElevenLabs and News Over Audio (Noa) using AI narration. Listen to more stories on the Noa app.
Steal My Tesla
Don't waste any more time trying to sell your Tesla. We'll take it from here... Having difficulty selling your Tesla without all the hassle and negativity? Maybe its time to consider other options.
A Memorandum from the Newly Established Department of Grammar Efficiency
The federal Government is eliminating inefficient grammar. NO ONE understands how to properly use an em-dash or semicolon. Therefore, those types of punctuation are now ELIMINATED to protect hard-working American Citizens from further confusion. YOUR WELCOME.
What does Maga-land look like? Let me show you America’s unbeautiful suburban sprawl
In 1941 Dorothy Thompson, an American journalist who reported from Germany in the lead-up to the second world war, wrote an essay for Harper’s about the personality types most likely to be attracted to Nazism, headlined “Who Goes Nazi?” “Those who haven’t anything in them to tell them what
Bad at Goodbyes
On today’s show we learn about the Casey’s Larkspur, a critically endangered perennial herb native to the Kyrenia Mountains in northern Cyprus, an island in the east of the Mediterranean sea. Please find us on the web at Bad at Goodbyes and on instagram.
Yes, Paris has its own bicycle hearse and so does the United Kingdom
In the burgeoning bicycle city of Paris, France, those looking for a more gentle, environmentally friendly funeral service now have the option of a hearse powered by a cargo bike.