Hugh Hollowell

A lot swimming around my head lately. I am busy as can be, yet not much seems to be happening. Things that should be being done are not, while I spend my time swamped by administrivia and paperwork.

There is so much I want to write about, but when the “work” is done, there is just not a lot of energy left over. I have a great blog post lined up right now, for instance, but it is complicated, so I am trying to pare it down, but finding the time and energy for that is more than I have available right now.

In any event, apparently blogging is contagious. Renee is now blogging; you can read all about our goings on at her new blog.

These two posts do a much better job than I ever could explaining the disconnect I feel, and why I will not be buying an iPhone.

This is one of the funniest things I have read in a while.

I love this quote:

“It set the crowd off lobbing beers,” Holland said. “They had beers in plastic cups. Those things can get some distance on them actually.”

We are, I think, spoiled.

I read an old business etiquette manual from the 1950’s the other day and it said I should return all phone calls within 48 hours. That would never fly today. Now, we want it now.

The proliferation of social networks do not make it any easier. Now instead on only one way to reach me, you can send me messages to over 10 different inboxes and messaging centers.

Here is a hint: If you email me and I do not respond to you in 12 hours or so, do NOT send me facebook messages, twitter messages, myspace messages and so on, telling me to check my inbox. If I am too busy to return your email, sending me more emails will not increase your chances. in fact, it MAY get you pushed to the bottom of the list.

Photo credit: afsilva

Yesterday I went to Edward McKay, a used bookshop here in town, and loaded up.

• Elizabeth George; A Traitor to Memory
• Elizabeth George; In Pursuit of the Proper Sinner

I love Elizabeth George for her detailed plots. Wonderful when I need to decompress and just read for fun.

• Karen Armstrong; The Battle for God

I loved her History of God and her two biographies on Mohamed. This one is a history of fundamentalism in the three monotheistic religions.

• Various; Practitioners

A collection of short essays by many voices in the so-called emerging church. I was most uncertain about this one, but it was recommended to me by several folks whose opinion I trust. It was also only $2, so I am not risking much.

• Jonathon Kozol; Ordinary Resurrections

I like Kozol and have, ever since I first read Rachel and her Children. Kozol interviews kids from the South Bronx.

• Richard Smoley; Inner Christianity

A guide to the Christian esoteric tradition. Not your father’s Christianity (unless your father was a monk).

• Pink Dandelion; An Introduction to Quakerism

I wonder if that is his real name…

• John Howard Yoder; The Politics of Jesus

Just started this one, but tons of people have recommended it to me. No separation of church and state to be found here.

While I do occasionally get sent books for review purposes, all of these are reading for pleasure. (I am such a nerd…)

but I won.

Read about my tangle with the State Police. By the way, you do know YOU are the one I am calling to bail me out, right?

Also, I posted some “First Day of Summer” pictures from Pullen Park on Flickr.

My new home on the internet is hughlh.com. You can read my blog, contact me or whatever. There is also a comprehensive list of the various social networking sites I am on, such as FaceBook, MySpace and so on.

Since I write for a number of blogs, you can read a collected feed of them all in one place at my ‘nerve center’.

If you make it over that way, make sure you stop in and say hi, would you?

As you no doubt know, my shop closed some time ago when I moved out of town. However, a friend of mine has decided to give my friends at Burke’s a run for their money and open a used bookstore in the heart of Midtown, Memphis.

Her name is Karin, and the name of the shop will be The English Major Bookstore. She is an awesome person, kind to dogs and knows a little about books, although she will no doubt get better at it over time. I know I did.

Anyway, if you are looking for used books in Midtown, Memphis, I urge you to check out her website to get the latest update about when she is opening.

A quick post today, as I am  still trying to recover from my moving across the country last month, sell some books and post on about 6 blogs, but this one was too good to pass up.

The unstoppable Joyce Godsey over at the bullpen shared some very cool conservation links on her blog yesterday. There are instructions for encapsulation enclosures,  false spines, full blown recasing and more. Highly recomended you check them out.

(Tell her Hugh said hi while you are over there!)

Life has a way of changing. It was John Lennon who said that life is what happens while we make other plans, and the older I get, the more I think John was right. As I look back across the winding road that has led me to this point, I see many places where had I done just one thing different, my entire life would have changed. Sometimes, I think life all comes down to a handful of choices we make.

About 2 and a half years ago, I took up blogging for the first time. I was about to do a major change in the way my store I owned at the time operated and I thought that a blog would be a way to keep customers updated on the progress.

A good friend was a problogger, so I had some exposure to the field, but to be honest, I did not have high expectations. I went over to blogger, put my fingers to the keys…and fell in love. I liked the cathartic experience of getting it out there, I liked the feedback from readers, I liked the community of people I met and got to talk to.

Fast forward a few years (and a few blogs, to be honest), and we come to spring of this year. I had some ideas for an edgy, in your face sort of business blog, one where we did not truck with bullsh*t, one where we spoke the truth. In this blog I envisioned, it would be no place for sissies. Here people would hear about how hard business is, what it takes to persevere and how to take control of their lives.

Dear reader, I want to apologize to you, for I have failed you. Let me explain.
Over the last 4 weeks, I have thought a lot. Some of you know, but I am going through huge life changes right now. I closed a business, moved across the country and am in the middle of starting another. My life is a bit nuts, to say the least.

I find that it is in these times that we look inside ourselves, that we become more introspective, that we take stock of how things are working out, that we look inside ourselves for insight, for answers. Well, I did, and when it came to this blog, I felt like I was coming up short.

Not counting this one, I have exactly 87 posts on this blog. There are only 25 that are worth anything, and less than 6 or 7 I am actually proud of. The rest is filler: blog memes, writing contests, admin stuff…filler. I have failed with the promise I made all of you when I started this blog, and for that, I am sorry. All of that is about to change.

What does the future hold? Well, I have some plans that will be unveiled next week, but for now, let me just say that big things are underway. For me, Very. Big. Things. Stay tuned and hold on.