Wednesday Hangovers

• The NYT has just posted a piece by Paul Greenberg that will appear in next week's Book Review, and asks why not a bail out for writers: What would such a bailout consist of? In the 1930s, Franklin Delano Roosevelt started the Federal Writers’ Project, under which some 6,000 out-of-work writers were hired over a period of several years to write guidebooks, oral histories, ethnographies and the like, and in the process "describe America to Americans." Unfortunately this potentially interesting philosophical exercise quickly devolves into the standard bemoaning that there are too many writers, too many MFAs, etc. etc., and the answer is to reduce them. Riiiiiight.
• By the by, I recently accepted Brad Listi's kind invitation to post at The Nervous Breakdown, and I'll probably have my first post up there today or tomorrow.
• Eamonn McCabe's photographs of writers rooms are lovely. (Via Erin.)
• A piece on Thomas Merton on the 40th anniversary of his death.
• Dueling cheap drinks pieces from the NYT and the WaPo: champagne vs. wine. We'll stick with our latest frugal-ish addiction, the French table wine our local Wine + Market shop imports and has boxed. It's a riotous blend of grapes, and delicious.
• Fabulous writer and VCFA graduate Marianna Baer discusses sex scenes in YA novels over at agent Sara Crowe's blog. Check it out.
• Speaking of sex and YA, Judy Blume's in the house over at Seven Imps.
• Also, Colleen's been making great recommendations for the holidays for many days now.
• Andrew Wheeler is monitoring the progress of the Grim Reaper through publishing, so you don't have to.
• Christopher's put up some photos showing the recent revision of our front two rooms, complete with notations (I am not a trash bug!). No living room or guest room photos yet, but they're done too. I don't understand how he managed to take that picture of his feet. I didn't take it. Emma and Puck don't have thumbs. WAIT. Hemingway does. I'm frightened. Update: Now with 100 percent more annotated writer space.