JD Salinger

When I wrote on my Facebook status 'RIP JD Salinger' - one of my friends wrote:

"He was a fucking crackpot anyway."

Does that mean we shouldn't mourn him?

Salinger is odd. So are his stories. They're supposed to make you feel uneasy. And that's why I like his writing. People always sneer when people expound (expund?) on Holden Caulfield, and tch'ed when Jake Gyllenhaal's character in "The Good Girl" called himself Holden. He's living his DREAM - the dream of being a slightly unhinged literary metaphor.

"You just like it cos everyone else does."

Well compadres, there's a reason a lot of people like one same thing, because it's kind of top notch. Although if I liked something just because everyone else did, I'd be a fan of Morrissey and taking horse tranquiliser. Just saying.

I'm not sure what I'm talking about. It is 4.32am. I fell asleep during CSI: LV - because I hadn't seen Grissom doing some dissection to The Who in AGEEES, and also my TV in my room only has 5 channels. Anyway I failed and fell asleep, woke up at 12.30am and couldn't sleep. Then I received an email from a guy whose tenacity has to be admired. The amount of times I've told him I've had a boyfriend (ok once) - I'll rephrase.

I am obviously not interested, and yet he continues to... hound, would be too strong. It's too pitiful for that. Dogged determination. Does he not know any other girls?

Word of note - Wikipedia quotes are not the way to get into a girl's pants. Just saying.

Anyway - point to this post is - I want to read JD Salinger's short stories in the New Yorker, and I'm pissed I can't because I don't have a subscription.

Good night.

US Firms

Now a US firm has come up with an ingenious solution to this very real problem – a new item of punctuation.

The SarcMark, as it has been named, is designed to be used in the same way as an exclamation or question mark.

Anyone concerned that the irony of their email or text message might not be appreciated by its recipient can use the symbol to close their sentence, thereby avoiding awkward misunderstandings.

The symbol – a dot inside a single spiral line – can be installed onto any PC running Windows 7, XP or Vista, as well as Macs and Blackberry mobile devices.

It can then be used in Word documents, instant messenger conversations, Outlook email and other programmes, just by pressing Ctrl and the full stop button.

The Michigan company behind the SarcMark have applied for a patent to protection their invention.

They have even published a sample list of sentences that would benefit from a SarcMark, including the words of British woman who was awarded only half of her National Lottery jackpot by a court after the winning ticket fell from her pocket and was claimed by someone else.

It appears that the irony of her statement – "It's jolly decent of them to let me have a half share of my win" – was lost on some readers.

Paul Sak of the firm said that the new punctuation mark was not a gimmick and had serious potential applications, such as allowing deaf people to pick up sarcasm in subtitles.

The symbol currently costs $1.99 to download – a price that many may think deserves a SarcMark of its own.

TWO WORDS: DUMB AMERICANS.

via: Telegraph

Mock Celebs

I work at Wallpaper and the other day they had their design awards. There were a lot of mock slebs asking me if I knew who they were.

No.

I did meet Jessica Brinton however, and she was lovely. I read her column every week, and I was excited to meet her. Not some guy who dyes his hair grey to be hip.

Half Polskis

Not all that bad, I've found.