Blake Pitcher

I teach communication, media and design at a community college. And proud of it! Also known to write the occasional book.

[Blake Pitcher @blake_p]

As someone who worked at a newspaper long ago, appearing in one (for good reasons) is a thrill.

https://t.co/kUVgPxYrSi

[Blake Pitcher @blake_p]

https://t.co/EGARMnTarD

[Blake Pitcher @blake_p]

The idea for this novel came to me 28 years ago. After working on it for the last seven years, it's time to publish it and move on. To let go.

[Blake Pitcher @blake_p]

My co-worker's art show at MVCA in Little Falls looks amazing.

[Blake Pitcher @blake_p]

"..high-quality products and services. Comforted by the sanctuary of filtered order in a world of sensory overload, we might unintentionally narrow our horizons, depriving ourselves of opportunities. Cherished values like community, free speech, and privacy could be diminished."

[Blake Pitcher @blake_p]

The Control Revolution by Andrew Shapiro (1999). Read this in grad school, and must admit I was naive. I described the chapter on 'Narrowing Our  Horizons" as  "unlikely." Boy, was I wrong!

Had been thinking about this book recently, and a revisit finds it startling prescient.

[Blake Pitcher @blake_p]

"...individual control can be pushed too far.  Enthralled with the idea of taking power from politicians, media giants, and price-inflating middlemen, we may lose sight of the benefits of representative democracy and the need for intermediaries who bring us reliable news and...

[Blake Pitcher @blake_p]

Not where I would suggest someone to begin with Vance, but after struggling to get into Araminta Station the series started to loosen up for me.  Where else can one find the dense lyrical prose and description, humorous cynicism, and world building better than a Vance book?

[Blake Pitcher @blake_p]

Just delivered. After working through the essential Jack Vance (Dying Earth, Cugel, Demon Princes, Lyonesse, et al.) I have arrived at Throy, the final book in the Cadwal trilogy.

[Blake Pitcher @blake_p]

Oliver Twist.  My most recent Charles Dickens read. This 1898 edition isn't in perfect shape, but for twenty cents from the Cazenovia Library book sale, it's difficult to beat the hours of entertainment it provided.

[Blake Pitcher @blake_p]

The language is thick at first, but the effort fades away as it envelops you with depth and detail.  The faint must, delicate vellum, and beautiful illustrations all add the experience. I love finding things in used books, like this Christmas note about Barb having scarlet fever.

[Blake Pitcher @blake_p]

Also putting off my next summer trip to Maine.

[Blake Pitcher @blake_p]

Burn by Peter Heller is what I would call literary apocalypse fiction. This book was a recent gift, and as a signed first edition from @islandbooksobx, may be the fanciest book I own. Simultaneously a likely/not likely story that's really about the people inhabiting it.

[Blake Pitcher @blake_p]

Excerpt from Snow Crash (1992) by Stephenson. My shabby highlight job. Heck, you could probably just highlight the whole book. There's a lot of good words.

[Blake Pitcher @blake_p]

Incidentally, I learned what 'grokking' was, perhaps in some kind of symmetry to reading Snow Crash. Also, I might be the man from Mars.

[Blake Pitcher @blake_p]

A senior audit student recommended Stranger in a Strange Land (1961) to me. He was a fantastic participant in a small, strange photo class. We were talking about science fiction and I asked him if he had any suggestions. This edition from the library has beautiful typography.