La Vela Poster

The Merchant of Venice Poster

Titus Andronicus Poster

The Tempest Poster

Hamlet Poster

The first thing to go is the theme, which has served me well for a number of years. The theme may come back, but only if I code it myself this time (I hired someone to do so last time, off my design). However, I really want to start off as simply as possible, so I’ll be dressing the site with Manifest, which is also the theme for The New Sleekness (so if I hit on anything nifty I can port it over to TNS right quickly), and very simple for me to build on.

I’ve never been religious, and am an avowed atheist, as you know, but since I’ve been exposed to rasta (admittedly later in life, after high school), I’ve known mostly nothing but the same kind of attitude you describe: discipline, commitment, the monk-like approach, as you say. So much so that, years ago, when I resolved to embark upon a major life-change, I decided to lock up in order to signify it.

I approached one of my closer rasta friends, to inquire about how to go about it, half-expecting an indignant “how dare you”, and a swift dismissal. I should have known better. We sat down, we reasoned, and he said “Dreads are about constance, commitment, strength of spirit; it takes patience and mindfulness to lock up, especially for a man without natty hair, like you. I’d be grateful if you let me help you lock up. If you let me help you on your journey.” And so he did.

For the years I was locked up, my dreads were a constant reminder to keep going, to stay the course, to not get discouraged when something didn’t quite go the way I wanted it to. It was also a wonderful exercise in patience, as my friend had said—watching them grow from short, skinny baby dreads into full, thick natty locks was a very gratifying experience.

One day, years later, after I was at the place where I had wanted to be, I decided that it was time for another change. I had just embarked upon yet another phase in my life (the one I’m on now, actually), and I felt that I needed to lose baggage, etc. I cut off mine dread.

I don’t regret having done it, but I still do miss them so.

And I do. One day I may put myself back on that path and lock up again. But for now, I’m raspacoco.

Bring it, bitches.

Well, three words, then.

The line between newspapers, magazines, and books is about to become blurred.

Publishers will need to envision multimedia content from the beginning.

Consumer expectations are going to skyrocket.

The cost of producing digital books will get more expensive.

Digital content creation and distribution will become our primary focus.

People will be reading more than ever.

It’s really a shame that none of the big six publishers seem to have this kind of clear-eyed, forward-looking leadership, and are more interested in whining and moaning about how their business model is under attack (um, yeah, it’s under attack because it’s not sustainable. It actually never was. Now get over it and find a new one).