Zombie vs. Shark vs. Anthony Ha

This is relevant if you're going to be at WisCon, the science fiction convention for cool kids, at 4pm today. Under the title "We Have Mixed Feelings About Margaret Atwood," I'll be reading with Meghan McCarron, Jen Volant, and Tiptree finalist Alice Sola Kim. I will be the least talented person on-stage, and hey, I'm okay with that.

And if you're not going to be at WisCon, you should still check out this truly awesome flier that Anthony Wu created for the event.

What I learned about Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, the inventor of Futurism, from the first chapter of Robert Hughes' The Shock of the New:

* He did not like pasta: "It is heavy, brutalizing and gross. ... It induces skepticism and pessimism. Spaghetti is no food for fighters."
* He called himself "the caffeine of Europe."

From a used copy of No Exit that I bought a week ago:

"I hope someone can still find a way to read and enjoy these books. The annotations written inside were based on the number necessary to get a grade rather than providing thoughtful commentary. While many of the books I annotated are among the best works of literature known to man, I will not be able to read them again using these copies because I associate them with a class I absolutely hated for a teacher who didn't teach. Best of luck and thank you for giving them a new and better life."

The book cost $7.80, but I got it more-or-less for free in trade.