Today I start a new column with the above title, which I hope will become a weekly feature. I’ll be bringing you information that is quirky, artsy, writerly or just plain newsy. I invite you to leave a comment and add any news of your own that you think may be of value to anyone, not just writers.

I heard this one on a Christian radio station:
Car dealer in Palm Beach, Florida to build a 341 foot high flagpole to honor 911 victims and responders. The flagpole is going to be huge, as you would imagine, to withstand hurricane-force winds and, if approved by the city, will cost only $800.000. Can’t wait to see it.

Potty Mouth Doll

Saw this on the evening news. A mom bought this doll for her daughter and is very upset over its use of what sounds like profanity. Mom says she wants the doll removed from the shelves. Toys R Us says the words aren’t cuss words and they refuse to remove the doll.

Compromised Passwords

If you are on LinkedIn your password may be one of the 6. 5 million stolen and posted on a hacker site. LinkedIn says, “To the best of our knowledge, no email logins associated with the passwords have been published, nor have we received any verified reports of unauthorized access to any member’s account as a result of this event.” However, some passwords were decoded and LinkedIn has locked those accounts and notified the account holders. Are we safe yet? You may read the post here: http://blog.linkedin.com/2012/06/07/taking-steps-to-protect-our-members/

BEA 2012 attendance up

Attendance at the Book Expo America is said to be up 5% to 14,057 for retailers, librarians and booksellers and 1% overall to 22,365. But that’s not all that’s up, according to Forbes. E-book publishers were also exhibiting alongside print and other traditional publishers. Names like OverDrive, Copia and Chafie Press were present. To learn more about these companies, read the post here: http://www.forbes.com/sites/johnfarrell/2012/06/06/e-book-publishers-take-to-the-cloud-at-book-expo-2012/

World’s tallest man

This from the Huff post: 8 foot 3 inches Sultan Kosen of Turkey has stopped growing at the age of twenty-nine. Kosen, who suffers from acromegaly, has had to use crutches to walk, but four years ago he began a treatment at the University of Virginia which has caused him to stop growing. Kosen has held the Guinness World Record title since 2010 and actually grew a couple inches since then.

Anything quirky or interesting going on in your neck of the woods? Why not leave a comment and let me know? I may feature it next week.