‘It Happens Despite Me’: Learning the Lessons of Nearly Meeting Lucille Clifton

March 9, 2010 Bookish Babble

All too often, as I’ve come to discover, it takes the death of a writer before I finally take a serious interest in his or her books.
Such was the case a few times in the past year or so. After hearing about the death of someone whose work I either knew in passing, such as [...]

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Two New Excuses for Spending a 'Weekend' with a 'Beach House'

February 20, 2010 Musical Musings

We recently made you a mixtape of new songs designed to be a distraction from the wrath of The Snowpocalypse (and the inevitable Shovelations) and to inspire you to take a brief mental, warm-weather “staycation.”
And normally that’s how we roll, allowing the sum of the parts — in this case, 10 songs by 10 different [...]

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On Valentine's Day, Say Cheese (and Beer)!

February 9, 2010 Beery Scribblings

Not too long ago, I had to face a harsh reality: lactose no longer tolerates me.
And not the other way round, either. I’ve got nothing against the disaccharide sugar component of a glass of milk. We were BFFLs, in fact. Milk helped sweeten a lot of unpleasant and otherwise bland foodstuffs, like oatmeal. And I [...]

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Hey, June: A Playlist of Summery Songs to Snap Winter's Icy Grip

January 27, 2010 Musical Musings

You would have to have “a mind of winter,” as poet Wallace Stevens once remarked, to look around at all the snow, ice, and cold, cold rain that’s poured down on much of the country this January and not be affected by it all somehow. Call it the Modernist’s remedy for SAD.
But this winter — [...]

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Finding the 'Wit' in Twitter

January 20, 2010 Bookish Babble

Hardly leading-edge technologists, we at Scribbleskiff are no Luddites, either. We try to keep pace with newfangledness as best we can, though our vantage point is often the middle, rather than the front or the back, of the pack.
We’ve been faithful bloggers for almost two years now, for instance, though this still makes us relative [...]

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Like IPAs? Then Turn to the Dark Side

January 15, 2010 Beery Scribblings

How do you like your India Pale Ales, or IPAs? “Hoppy”? Yes. “Brisk and bitter”? You bet. “Strong”? Me, too! “Dark”? Whoa — I dunno. That sounds kinda weird, and scary.
Well, that’s what I thought, until I met “Sublimely Self-Righteous,” the newest member of Stone Brewing’s “Year ‘Round Limited Releases.” This new-to-me brew may also [...]

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Glancing Backward, Musically Speaking, in Order to Look Ahead

January 12, 2010 Musical Musings

This is the time of year when the supporters of self-help, the boosters of betterment, the promoters of purposefulness, and everyone else who exalts in the ethics of uplift, start hymning the glories of making New Year’s resolutions. Oh, joy.
The general belief is that the start of a new calendar year affords a kind of [...]

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Let Others Say It for You, Say It Best

December 30, 2009 Bookish Babble

Flummoxed. Faltering. Discombobulated. Inarticulate. Dumbfounded. Dumbstruck. Nonplussed. Tongue-tied. Tight-lipped. Laconic. Hushed. Speechless.
In other words, dear reader, Scribbleskiff is at a loss for words this week. I’ve been so busy again, getting caught up in the rigmarole of regular life, managing (and being managed by) the important things, that I’ve been unable to get carried away [...]

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A Flurry of Seasonal Beers to Warm Up Any Winter Wonderland

December 22, 2009 Beery Scribblings

Snow.
Snow, what? So,
snow.
Snow. Snow, snow. Snow!
Snowsnowsnowsnowsnowsnowsnowsnowsnowsnowsnowsnowsnowsnow.
Unless you were living under a rock, or hiding under your bed covers, you have probably heard by now that the normally temperate middle Atlantic region got snowballed over the weekend. It snowed so hard and so quickly, in fact, that it felt like we were living in a snow [...]

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A Sackful of Ideas for Last-Minute Gift-Giving the Scribbleskiff Way

December 15, 2009 Beery Scribblings

Dear Reader:
How are things with you? We here at Scribbleskiff have been very busy lately, preparing for and trying to enjoy the holidays. We’ve been trimming trees, decking halls, lighting lights, as well as reading, listening, sipping, supping, and writing ourselves silly. We ought to change our name to “Scrabbleskiff” it’s been so frenetic around [...]

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