About The Changes You Might Have Noticed -- Right Up There Above in the Banner Section, See?

Wellity, this has been a long time coming. At last, a change of aesthetic, of which there had previously been none, and which will now offer something of a distinctly unique flavor to my blathering, literary or otherwise. I'm glad to be so identity-ful now, and for that I have one man to thank! Who is it, you ask? It's Matt Heindel, a denizen of just outside of Madison, Wisconsin. It's he who is the artist behind the new banner, depicting a portly Bob Einstein wondering about the many books he has read and will read.

So now I'm forever in Matt's debt. Think Morgan Freeman in "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves." Matt is now Kevin Costner as Robin Hood in that particular movie. This allusion makes perfect sense and I do not regret using it. Some of Matt's work can be viewed at Headlock Manufactory, which is also worth a gander if I do say so myself.

Russell Crowe had nothing to do with any of this, and who cares about him.

Briefly Noted:

The New Yorker bites back, calmly and eruditely, regarding their "Best 20 Under 40" fiction writers selected. I'm such an easy sell that I finally caved and bought Gary Shteyngart's "Absurdistan." And what's more, I'll mos def be looking to find books by the other authors chosen, too. Chris Adrian, Yiyun Li, Wells Tower, ZZ Packer -- you just better be ready for me. Hell, I'll go so far as to say I'll probably finally, if reluctantly, read a Jonathan Safran Foer novel. How's that, huh?