Pluggity pluggity plug

Just a few Good Things (sorry, had a rare moment of channeling Martha Stewart there) from around Ye Olde Intarweb that I'd like to pass along.

1. Charlie's newest chapbook is now available -- order it from New Michigan Press or see his blog to get one directly from him. I'm intrigued by the concept of this one; it should be interesting reading.


2. Got my subscription copy of the spankin'-new journal Knockout the other day. I haven't had a chance to dig into it properly yet, but I skimmed through it and there is some really good stuff in there. Also, I think this journal has the highest percentage of "people I know" (if you count both people I've met in real life and people I "know" via Ye Olde Blogosphere) of any journal I have ever seen. Which doesn't mean anything particularly, but it's fun. Anyway, if you're looking for a new journal to check out, this looks to be a promising one. Plus, they are making a point of donating some of their proceeds to help fight genocide in Sudan, which is cool as heck.


3. Speaking of donations, have you checked out Free Rice? If you're a word nerd like I am, you may find yourself getting seriously addicted to this one. It's a vocabulary quiz and a donation against hunger! For every word you get right, they donate 10 grains of rice. The vocabulary words start out pretty easy and get very, ah, interesting as you go on. They tell you your vocabulary level as you go along; the highest you can get is a 50. I've actually hit 50 a couple of times and stayed there for a word or two before missing one and dropping back down -- I can usually sustain a level of around 47 with some consistency. My favorite word so far: cacography. (It means "bad handwriting" and I totally got it right by seeing it as a blend of "cacophony" and "calligraphy" because I rock.)

If you're celebrating Thanksgiving this week, I hope you have a good one. If you're traveling, safe travels to you! Enjoy your turkey, or your tofurkey, or your frozen pizza, or whatever you may be enjoying. Do it because I said so, dammit.