I love video games, of course, but I suck at them. Guitar Hero is no exception — when I move from three buttons to four, it’s shameful. Nevertheless, anyone who has played for any length of time has some understanding as to how this happens. (Here’s the song.)

Howard and the VQR on the latest version of the Angry Letter, You Can’t Possibly Be Giving My Manuscript the Attention It Deserves in Such a Short Period of Time. Working on a literary magazine is like working in retail — everyone should have to do it at least once, so that in the future they might think twice. Of all the stuff I’ve sent out and gotten back, I’ve been tempted to write an Angry Letter exactly once…and I ended up, you guessed it, playing a video game instead.

Yes, I know, linking Gawker is worse than being a litblogger who admits to playing video games, occasionally watching Nickelodeon voluntarily, and having more than one hoodie combined. But this post touches on a lot of the questions/concerns/whatever that crossed my mind when I first saw the Juno trailer. You can read the script here, by the way.

Dave Housley on "CivilWarLand in Bad Decline." As it happens, I was at the inspiration for CivilWarLand over Thanksgiving. The gift shop was arming themselves for the Yuletide onslaught.

Have a writer on your Christmas list? Tayari’s shopping tips. I agree with her thoughts on pens, but there are two categories where I love outright giving: handmade, and floaty.

Yet again, Gordon over at After the MFA makes me nod vigorously. I get so depressed when I read academic writing, read fiction by the same author, and have a really hard time telling the difference between the two. It seems to happen less in the business/corporate sphere, but perhaps that’s just my perch of observation.

Edited to add…have your child’s artwork professionally critiqued! Be sure to look at the example. (And I can’t be that unwashed if I got the joke before reading the About page…)