Dan Chaon wants to be an assassin.

Nick Antosca’s favorite sentence is from Salter.

Julianna Baggott calls writing “the daily practice of empathy.”

Bethanne Patrick explains how literature reminds us of our common humanity.

Michelle Haimoff says “the point of writing is to make the controversial beautiful.”

We also have an essay contrasting the adolescence of a first-world teenage boy with that of an embattled youth in Rwanda: “I Was 16.”

I recently posted about the 10 Best Books I Didn’t Read in 2011 and weighed in on the Amazon vs. Indie throwdown.

And I updated the submissions guidelines for writers.

Now I just need to redesign the whole site, finish the WordPress development, and everything will be dandy.

The following links provide helpful information on getting a start in HTML5 web development, from the history of HTML, to the basics of setting up a HTML5 site, to more advanced resources for the rapid deployment of websites that make full use of the possibilities of the language.

1. Mozilla Developer Network: HTML5 – MDN’s tutorials and other useful information on developing websites in HTML5

2. Dive Into HTML5 – Very helpful e-book by Mark Pilgrim providing an overview of HTML5′s history and features

3. HTML5 Doctor – Website publishing “articles relating to HTML5, its semantics, and how to use it right now.”

4. Coding A HTML 5 Layout From Scratch – 2009 article from Smashing Magazine

5. HTML5 Boilerplate – “a rock-solid default template for HTML5″

6. Modernizr – “an open-source JavaScript library that helps you build the next generation of HTML5 and CSS3-powered websites.”

7. HTML5 Enabling Script – JavaScript to force Internet Explorer to render new HTML5 elements

1. I want to update this blog more often.

2. I developed ill will toward the old design.

3. I want to learn how to expand and optimize the theme most popular among WordPress bloggers.

4. It looks better.

So far, my favorite places in the city include Malaprop’s Bookstore, French Broad Chocolate Lounge, and the Battery Park Book Exchange.

I am renting a house, in the south part of town, from a young lady who owns four cats but as far as I can ascertain is not crazy.

Also, photographer Ned Castle has been featured in the press for the second phase of his Highlow Project, including this interview with Vermont Public Radio’s Jane Lindholm.

The task of rebuilding Identity Theory from the ground up is daunting because there are so many old stories — ten years’ worth — that are difficult to transfer to a more high-powered content management system, not to mention that the site contains a handful of multi-author blogs, substantial “orphaned” content, and dozens of photo galleries. (I also worry about losing the search placement we’ve built up through eleven years of backlinks, though I have some faith in 301s.)

This large-scale content transfer and redevelopment is such a complicated undertaking for a relatively minor literary journal — thousands of dollars of development work for a payoff that is at best questionable — that I’ve put it off for years, settling for minor patches to a sinking ship on the theory that people ultimately only care about the content (which is true, I hope).

I don’t believe, however, that you can produce a quality magazine-style website unless you can manage the content at least as well as a random blogger can manage a Blogspot blog. Since Identity Theory launched 11 years ago — before you could build a powerful online magazine in WordPress, Drupal and the like — it has paradoxically lagged behind the more recently launched journals in interactivity and ease of use.

With that in mind, here are some online magazines/literary blogs that have actualized many of the ideas I have wanted to put into place on Identity Theory over the years — and with very nice designs to go with them.

The Awl – Their motto: “Be Less Stupid.” I couldn’t “Be More Impressed.”

HTMLGIANT – I like the informality, visual feel and constant literary dialogue.

The Nervous Breakdown - Haven’t spent much time on this site yet, but when I found it I was like, “Hey that’s exactly what I envisioned years ago doing with Identity Theory if I ever had the time.”

Similarly, The Rumpus - Always has good stuff. Every day. Stephen Elliott has done a great job putting together a literary website that takes advantage of all the latest web technology.

Feel free to point me to other magazine websites using the latest publishing technology that will make me jealous. It motivates me to see what the new kids are doing, and I am excited about building Identity Theory into a fully functional site that could be even half as useful/informative/awesome as the sites listed above.

This is a real thing that somebody made for a contest. A September 11th…cow. I encountered it at Young’s Jersey Dairy in Yellow Springs during my last trip to Ohio in 2004.

The memorable piece of fine art came up in conversation again today not because of Osama bin Laden’s recent death but because I announced on Facebook my plans for a Memorial Day visit to Ohio.

Somehow I doubt the cow will still be there, but I hope he feels redeemed by the developments in Pakistan.