Timothy Spall's character, Thomas Tipp, in the movie "Vanilla Sky" shouts at David Aames (Tom Cruise) that "people will read again" in response to Aames's visibly failing publishing empire. I like to use that quote a lot, because I feel the same way. I'm optimistic in that way.

I think that one of the things I enjoyed most as a child was listening to my parents read me stories. Every now and then I'll read a story aloud to my wife, or my writers group will read aloud some of their workshop items that they've written only moments before. It's a wonderful experience to hear a writer's words voiced, because it gives it new character. But I digress.

Children today seem to be less and less interested in picking up a book and reading it than they are in picking up a new video game and becoming entranced in it. (No, this isn't a rant against the video game industry). What I find unsettling is the trend towards that even in the parents of these children. This post is for the children.

I promised to write this up a while ago, and it's been a bit getting around to it. Elizabeth Flanagan (who I met through StoryWrite; a site similar to Writing.com) is the organizer of Raeni Day Story Station. From the website:

Inside, you'll find a wonderful assortment of original works created by our family that we hope you will enjoy and share with others.

It's a wonderful little site that has all sorts of potential for parents and children. I love sites like this that promote not only reading for children but writing, as well. Kids love to create things because it's in our nature to create things. What better way for some kids to do that than to fashion their own stories and then see them in print. It's great.

Another wonderful site that is doing really great things for kids is NaNoWriMo Young Writers Program. While I can gripe and moan all I want for being beaten soundly last year by NaNo, I can't say enough about how great they are when it comes to promoting reading and writing in kids. It's a wonderful tool for teachers, and it's a great motivator.

I've been working lately to try and establish a writers workshop here in the city that's geared towards kids (and is free). Redbird Studio just branched off and founded Red Oak Young Writers, which focuses on writers from ages 8 and up. These are wonderful groups, and I hope to provide a similar service in the vein of The Milwaukee Writers Workshop for those in high school. Writing is a key skill to have in this world, and I think a lot of students are finding it more and more difficult as they get into college to produce quality nonfiction works in the form of essays, articles, and research material, which is essential in college and beyond. Those kinds of skills are things that I hope to work with, as well as providing a creative outlet.

So that's that. It's all for the kids, really.

I live in Wisconsin, and it snows sometimes, and it gets cold. It's something we live with here in in the Near Arctic (not really, but we complain enough like it it). Over the past few weeks since Christmas we've had a fair amount of snow and a few days of extreme cold. The local news has seen it fit to describe it in other words, though, and it begins to rub a very small hole into the base of my skull that gives me a headache.

We've been plunged into the deep freeze, dumped on, sent into the double-digits below zero, and forced to brave a harsh winter. Why not just say "it's cold; keep your extremities covered"?

John McIntyre is a master of pointing out terribly-used cliche, and I believe he would cringe at some of the usages in our local media coverage (especially on the radio).

I just wanted to post a quick rant. Sometimes it gets to me too much to deal with.