Literary algorithms and other musings

So there is this website out there called I Write Like which theoretically examines the text that you submit to it and tells you which writer you most resemble via statistical analysis. Besides kicking myself for not coming up with this idea first I decided that I had to submit one of my blog posts to the site and find out whose style mine most resembles. Turns out it is that of famed British writer P. G. Wodehouse. That surprises me a little but not by much. I consider my writing style to be more in the vein of Douglas Adams and Kurt Vonnegut but given they are both descendents of the P. G. Wodehouse brand I figure that the analysis isn’t half bad. Hell, it probably gives my writing more credit than it is worth.

(Then again, it also judged a Kim Kardashian tweet to be written in the style of James Joyce so obviously the algorithm still needs a little tweaking.)

So they finally put Lindsay Lohan in jail for what appears to be all of two weeks. You do have to love Hollywood justice where a 90 day sentence can turn into 12 due to the fact that even prisoners don’t want to deal with Lindsay Lohan. At least I’ve been making decent money on my sales of “Leave Lindsay A-Lohan!!!” t-shirts and coffee mugs. (Get yours today! Supplies are limited! At some point this pop culture reference will be moot!) Hopefully, this will give us a few weeks of rest from this story, followed by the usual rehab stint, and then the VH1 comeback special. All pretty typical really.

By the way, while watching television over the weekend I came across an interview with Bret Michaels and I have to say something that I never thought that I would say in a million years: I really like Bret Michaels. The guy was funny, smart, totally down to earth and seemed to be a guy you would really like to hang out with. That is not what I expected from the former lead singer of Poison who put together a reality show that existed mainly so he could hook up with former strippers. But he seemed like a totally cool guy who was reevaluating his life after nearly dying a few times this year. Have to admit I gained a lot of respect for him.

One last thing before I call it a night. Remember that 41 years ago tonight on a soundstage in Arizona we faked walking on the moon. It is either the greatest accomplishment in human history or could have used better special effects. Either way I still hold out hope that sometime in my lifetime I will get to look up at the moon and no that someone is up there. I just thought that it would have happened by now.

Your five random CDs for the week (better late than never):

1) Tori Amos “Sweet Old England”
2) Jon Dee Graham “It’s Not As Bad As It Looks”
3) Sarah McLachlan “Fumbling Towards Ecstasy”
4) The Juliana Hatfield Three “Become What You Are”
5) Various Artists “Les Miserables”