Take it from veteran journalist and computer writer James Fallows, of the Atlantic: For my own workaday purposes, the most useful recent invention has been the Livescribe Pulse pen, which I bought just after its introduction early last year and now can hardly be without. It looks like a somewhat bulky, cigar-shaped metallic writing instrument.Continue reading “The unheard-of and suddenly indispensable Smartpen”
Author Archives: Kit Stolz
The truth about Super Sad True Love Story
Super Sad True Love Story is a brilliant new satirical novel, set in the near future, built on what writer Gary Shteyngart realized was the crucial difference between the great futurist novels Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley, and l984, by George Orwell (of course). As Shteyngart points out in this typically great interview withContinue reading “The truth about Super Sad True Love Story”
The science of attraction: which size do men prefer?
In response to complaints from fans that this site is too doomy, an effort is being made to look for insights offered into subjects less dire than climate change. (And, to be fair, climate change will not be all bad for everyone; after all, it might tend to cool L.A.) But nevermind. Here's a storyContinue reading “The science of attraction: which size do men prefer?”
Our children, messengers
Surely the most beautiful quote ever seen in a parenting book: …someday we will regard our children not as creatures to manipulate or to change but rather as messengers from a world we have long since forgotten, who can reveal to us more about the true secrets of life, and also our own lives, thanContinue reading “Our children, messengers”
Media wakes up to underemployment on Labor Day
Give credit where it's due: both the Los Angeles Times and NPR's Scott Simon ran excellent stories about the difficulty of being unemployed or underemployed this Labor Day weekend. I especially liked the LA Times story, because so often reporting on this topic falls into the either/or trap; that is, either you have a full-timeContinue reading “Media wakes up to underemployment on Labor Day”
Environmentally Incorrect: the Peripheral Canal
…as depicted by the late, great Paul Conrad: We as a state have forgotten — if we ever knew — the environmental facts about the peripheral canal through the San Joaquin-Sacramento delta, but we remember this: the l982 vote against its construction was an expression of a resentment against Southern California. That's what Paul ConradContinue reading “Environmentally Incorrect: the Peripheral Canal”
LA Times: out of the fire, into the Eisner frying pan?
The Los Angeles Times is in the middle of a bankruptcy proceeding that is opaque, to say the least, from the outside; it's shed literally hundreds of reporters and editors over the last few years, its circulation has plummeted…but despite all that, it's been on fire this summer. Its series on the public pensions inContinue reading “LA Times: out of the fire, into the Eisner frying pan?”
The “Kochtopus” and climate change
The political blogosphere has been buzzing about a huge story in The New Yorker by Jane Meyer on "the Kochtopus." To put it in short, just as Hillary famous said, there really is a vast right-wing conspiracy, funded by $100 million from the ultra-right-wing Koch brothers, who run a fossil fuels empire. The amount ofContinue reading “The “Kochtopus” and climate change”
Peak cinema: Are the movies fading out?
Lately I've been asking friends and acquaintances a simple question: What are you really looking forward to seeing in the movie theater? Last year the answer I heard, again and again, was: Avatar. And this summer the answer was equally predictable: Inception. Each of these movies, though flawed in details and heavy-handed in execution atContinue reading “Peak cinema: Are the movies fading out?”
La Niña will bring heat, wind to SoCal: Forest Service
According to the seasonal outlook from the US Forest Service, the developing La Niña will bring warm temps and an increased possibility of Santa Ana winds to SoCal in the next two months: So far this summer, the lingering affects of the El Niño have kept much of the state under a cool, onshore flowContinue reading “La Niña will bring heat, wind to SoCal: Forest Service”
Kit Stolz 