January 2010
55 posts
My CBS MoneyWatch review of Daniel Pink’s new book, Drive: http://bit.ly/a7AdZD
I’m reviewing biz books for CBS MoneyWatch. First up: Daniel Pink’s Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us.
Sign up for SpiersList!
A year or so ago, I thought I’d create a monthly email newsletter to update people on projects I’m working on, positions I’m hiring for, things I’ve written elsewhere, etc., but I never got around to it. So I’m giving it a shot again.
I’m also going to include some component that goes beyond shameless gratuitous self-promotion and is actually useful to...
On individual liberty and complusory behavior.
ninety9:
So I got a Southern District jury questionnaire (like @girlfriend last week — we do everything together). Proving that the jury system seems optimized to ensure large swaths of the less, um, contemporary, pool of applicants, it requires completion with a No. 2 pencil. I can’t remember the last time I saw one. Aside from computercomputercomputer, I studied architecture, so I haven’t...
Letter of the Day: The Devil and Mister Robertson
evangotlib:
thedailywhat:
Satan (in the form of Minneapolis resident Lilly Coyle) writes an open letter to Pat Robertson, excoriating the televangelist for his claim that the Haiti quake was the direct consequence of the put-upon nation’s long-standing pact with him.
From the Minneapolis Star-Tribune:
Dear Pat Robertson,
I know that you know that all press is good press, so I appreciate...
New Skills, Python, etc. : An Irritatingly Sincere...
Per an earlier Formspring post (avert your eyes, Justine Bateman), I mentioned [what I think is] the importance of acquiring skills outside of your primary areas of interest/career focus and it occurred to me that I mostly do that incrementally. Couple that with the fact that a lot of what I do work-wise isn’t so new to me at this point and that my learning curve seems to have flattened off...
I’m hiring (editors and writers): http://bit.ly/7hI4A4
Reader Engagement, Cont'd.: Gawker Stalker Edition
At this point, I’ve published, launched or founded several sites in wildly different categories. And every time I start one from scratch, the two hardest things to accomplish are getting a critical mass of organic traffic and getting readers engaged and actively participating in the site and the comments.
One of the smartest things Nick Denton did when he launched Gizmodo was putting a...
I hate to break it to you guys, but you know...
tanya77:
winstonwolfe:
Julia Allison
It also makes you look like you’re afraid to post whatever your “answer” is in a simple essay format or text-with-accompanying-picture. These Q+A posts tell me that you really want us to know your answer and the reason you’re posting it in this Q+A format is to show that “you had to” because “someone wanted to know this about me”. It’s you saying “Hey,...
formspring.me
ninety9:
whatevs:
spiers:
whatevs:
How did so many writers that you respect fall for such a brazenly idiotic marketing meme?
Man, your guess is as good as mine.
I’m not assuming I’m in your “writers you respect” category, but here’s an answer:
because it’s lazy, easy blogging. Instead of trying to guess what might be of interest to your readers, you just ask them what they want to...
formspring.me
whatevs:
How did so many writers that you respect fall for such a brazenly idiotic marketing meme?
Man, your guess is as good as mine.
I’m not assuming I’m in your “writers you respect” category, but here’s an answer:
because it’s lazy, easy blogging. Instead of trying to guess what might be of interest to your readers, you just ask them what they want to...
"The ads only appear when the pages are printed,... →
evangotlib:
ericmortensen:
tanya77:
spytap:
ryanbrown:
Of course, this arrangement could only work if visitors are actually printing pages at a worthwhile rate. Not to worry, said Chuck Corday, Hearst Digital Media’s SVP and GM: “Printing from our magazines’ Web properties is a behavior that already has scale.”
“You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it...
1 tag
formspring.me
If you were graduating from college this year, what would you pursue professionally?
I don’t have a problem with specialization and I think it’s necessary in certain industries, but one thing that has really helped me professionally is having a diverse set of skills. I didn’t intentionally plan to develop them, but they’ve come in handy when different parts of the job...
1 tag
formspring.me
When someone asks a given person (not necessarily you), “What do you do?” and the response is, “I’m a writer,” the follow-up question is invariably, “What do you write?”
What medium is most impressive to a given questioner? (Non-snarky answer, please.)
My answer is usually “all sorts of things” because it’s the truth....
1 tag
formspring.me
Why did you once use a picture of Hilaire Belloc as your avatar?
Hilaire Belloc was nasty Catholic reactionary whose political writing I don’t care for. But I love his “Cautionary Tales for Children” wherein the children in question commit minor offenses and then die gruesome deaths. (See “George, Who Played With a Dangerous Toy and Suffered a Catastrophe of Considerable...
formspring.me
fimoculous:
Last year, what magazines did you subscribe to? What magazine subscriptions did you drop? And this year, what subscriptions are you considering picking up? Also, thoughts on THE WEEK?
I added Newsweek, because they became a client. I dropped The Atlantic, because I stopped caring. So now my list is: Newsweek Spin Sunday New York Times Monocle The Believer Metropolis Rolling...
I'm hiring! Again!
One of my larger clients is launching a new lifestyle site and relaunching three others and I need new staffers for all of them. (We’re basically tearing them down and starting over—redesigning them, restructuring editorially and adding lots of new original content.)
Here are the positions available:
Editor-in Chief, women’s lifestyle and fashion site. (Full time.) The site...
1 tag
formspring.me
Why can’t bloggers finish their books?
Because they’re too busy answering random questions on formspring. (Or they do finish, get edits back and send revisions, which is where I am at the moment. Also, I write fiction veeeeeery slowly.)
Ask me anything
1 tag
formspring.me
Do you get some kind of cash bonus from Alex Balk’s hepatologist every time you mention how often you and your boyfriend make out?
No. Watching Balk squirm uncomfortably is a reward in itself.
Ask me anything
1 tag
formspring.me
I am uncertain whether to name my cat “Mr Entertainment”, “I Need Some Damned Closure” , “A Third Option” or a fourth option. Thoughts?
I sometimes refer to my dog by names other than Lola. “Poopy,” “$500 Vet Bill” and “Stop It!” come to mind. I’d suggest “Allergen” or “Cat” in favor of the...
1 tag
formspring.me
How can I get in Young Manhattanite?
Well, if you’re attractive and female and want to date Krucoff, I think that would give you an inside edge. But I’m not part of YM and am not therefore not privy to the Secret Handshake or the initiation rituals. Maybe they should start a formspring.me/youngmanhattanite
Ask me anything
1 tag
formspring.me
C’mon, don’t you think it’s moderately funny that your boyfriend used to say mean (yes, mean) things about you on the internet?
Oooh! Insidery! Look, if you don’t want people to say mean things about you on the Internet, you should probably stay off the Internet. Personally, it doesn’t bother me when strangers say negative things. Strangers don’t know you and...
1 tag
formspring.me
What do you think epistemological idealists, such as Kant, would say about being “mean” on the Internet?
Kant would probably argue that negativity—which is often falsely construed as meanness—is fine as long as it is used in the service of truth, the advancement of which could be considered a categorical imperative.
Meanness, however, implies malice, and...
1 tag
formspring.me
Not to beat the Duke thing to death, but who do you think is the Duke of blogging now?
Probably—and somewhat horrifyingly—this woman: http://melissacmorris.blogspot.com/ For a variety of reasons.
Ask me anything
1 tag
formspring.me
What’s with all these people writing for free at HuffPo or Mediaite…specifically people who hope to be paid to write regularly?
I can only speak for myself, but when reviewing someone’s clips, if they had regular contributions at either site…at best, I would immediately skip right past them. At worst, I might catch their name before skipping right past, only to...
1 tag
formspring.me
Can you give a sample entry from your dream journal?
Sure.
1:02 AM: Zzzzzzzzzzzz
3:47 AM: Zzzzzzzz *snore* zzzzzzzzzzzz
4:36 AM: Sitting naked in a Japanese class I don’t remember signing up for.
6:43 AM: ZZzzzz Zzzz ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzz
8:21 AM: Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Ask me anything
1 tag
formspring.me
Why does Bess Levin not get more recognition? Minus the piece she was just featured in for the NYO. I never hear her name mention, when talking about these Gen Y bloggers, yet she probably has a more loyal following. Explain por favor.
I do not know. This is one of the great mysteries of the blogosphere, right up there with how Andrew Sullivan can have sex for 12 straight hours without...
1 tag
formspring.me
Thoughts on Duke?
I enjoyed Duke, but I wouldn’t re-live it. (I feel the same way about high school.) It was the only school to which I applied. I got in early decision and they gave me a generous university grant and financial aid package, which I appreciate. My ‘rents didn’t go to college and were ambivalent about my brothers and I going (still are, mostly...
1 tag
formspring.me
maybe you just didnt get to it…but you didn get to so many others. If you skipped it, i was serious. What kind of pants are those? Meaning, what brand? They are cute
Pants? What pants? I don’t wear pants!
Ask me anything
1 tag
formspring.me
I admire both you and Rachel Sklar. Why can’t you two seem to get along? Why the animosity?
I don’t hate Rachel; we just have very different values and are incompatible as a result. And as I get older, people’s values become more important to me than any other commonality.
Ask me anything
1 tag
formspring.me
Why have mice and dogs not teamed up? If this does eventually happen, what will it mean for the blogging community?
What makes you think that mice and dogs are not teaming up as we speak? I for one anticipate this happening in the near future and have already registered FuckYeahMiceAndDogs in preparation for the emergence of the great Mice/Dogs Internet alliance. Long mice and...
1 tag
formspring.me
Will Nick sell Gawker in this decade?
Nick will only sell Gawker if he gets genuinely bored with it or thinks of a sexier business to pursue that’s going to demand all of his time. He’s doesn’t need the money and Gawker doesn’t have outside investors, so there are no fiscal pressures for an exit.
Ask me anything
1 tag
formspring.me
What’s the deal with Michael Orell and Ryan Brown?
Orell and Brown are horrible, devious men who seek to destroy the world through aggressive propagation of online display advertising and integrated sponsorship packages. If the Orells and Browns of the world had their way, poor helpless brands would be forced to pony up extra money for ad campaigns that include (shudder!) sponsored content...
1 tag
formspring.me
What’s the deal with Rex Sorgatz?
Why don’t you ask him?
http://www.formspring.me/rexsorgatz
Ask me anything
1 tag
formspring.me
What’s the deal with Whit Stillman?
Whit’s the writer and director responsible for Barcelona, Metropolitan and The Last Days of Disco. I met him several years ago because he’s written for Page Six, where I freelanced for a while. He’s currently seeking funding for a film about Jamaica at the turn of the century. I’ve tried to help, but I don’t really know...
1 tag
formspring.me
What’s the deal with Kurt Anderson?
Kurt Andersen is a New York-based writer, radio host and editor whose last name is frequently misspelled. He’s also a nice midwestern guy who’s been very helpful and encouraging to me over the years, and I consider him a mentor. He also co-founded the late, lamented, and brilliant SPY magazine, which means that he is,...
1 tag
formspring.me
Why don’t you and Denton sit down and tag all those old posts from 2003 with your bylines to dispel the confusion of who wrote what once and for all?
I wish they would. But I don’t own Gawker, so it’s not up to me. It should be easy enough to do technically, since Nick and I had separate logins and some of the posts in the archives were imported from his...
1 tag
formspring.me
Why am I such an idiot? I fucked everything up last night and ended up walking twenty miles home—in the snow and without my glasses, ie blind. I can’t even enjoy watching Sunny in Philadelphia because I’m so blind. =/ And I lost her.
According to my limited data set, it’s a statistical fact that nothing good ever happens on New Year’s Eve. If we were all thinking...
1 tag
formspring.me
who has the worst op-ed page, NY Times or WaPo, and why?
Which dwarf is taller? Hmmm… I think the Times wins by a hair because they’re topically more diverse. WaPo tends to be more beltway-centric for obvious reasons, which makes it less interesting to me. I don’t think there’s any material difference in the overall quality of the writing, though.
...
1 tag
formspring.me
favorite position?
40.732053, -74.003037
Ask me anything
1 tag
formspring.me
Shouldn’t you be working on your syllabus?
Oh hai, @boyfriend! (Um, yes?)
Ask me anything
1 tag
formspring.me
How do you explain Ian Spiegelman?
Ian is my favorite Bull in a China Shop. He’s passionate about everything, which is both an admirable quality and one that gets him in trouble sometimes. If he likes you, he’s a fiercely loyal friend, and if he doesn’t, well, uh-oh. Best of all, he’s never boring.
Ask me anything
1 tag
formspring.me
Hey, I know two of these really talented writer guys who I used to work with, but we all got laid off at the same time so we’re all available. I want to start a website where they write short editorials all day, get into scrums with former Gawker commenters, and invite our talented writer buddies to submit guest essays from time to time. The whole thing could be driven by a basic...