Matthew Dicks's Blog, page 668

Strangest question this year

Strangest question asked of me while on tour this year:

How have your ex-girlfriends played a role in the writing of your fiction?

When I asked the woman if something in my books caused her to wonder about this, she said, "No.  You just seem like the kind of guy who would have a lot of ex-girlfriends."

I'm not sure what this meant, but I was afraid to ask. 

Though the question was a little baffling and certainly odd, I welcome these sorts of questions because they give me an opportunity...

Disoriented but on time

Why is it that my body can wake me up every morning around 4:45 without an alarm but I have to look at my phone in order to determine what day of the week it is?

Ladies. Please. My daughters future is at stake.

"A 2007 study by the Workplace Bullying Institute found that 37 percent of the US workforce reported being bullied at work.  Among those who mistreat their co-workers, women were more likely to target other women (71 percent), compared men who bully other men (44 percent.)"

"It's a dirty little secret among women that we don't support one another," said Susan Shapiro Barash, who teaches gender studies at Marymount Manhattan College and is author of TRIPPING THE PROM QUEEN: THE TRUTH ABOUT...

Roses are red. Not green.

For all the talk about the importance of local foods and the impact that shipping food from around the world has on the environment, isn't it time to take a long, hard look at the flower industry?

In many cases, flowers are shipped to destinations around the world in refrigeration, and for no other purpose than decoration.  While I am admittedly cutting down my consumption of lemons and limes because of the energy required bringing them to me, at least they are providing the vitamins...

Are wives really this rotten?

On Slate's recent Dear Prudence video podcasts, Emily Yoffe, who plays the role as Prudence, was giving advice to a pregnant woman who was suffering from nausea while at work.  Yoffe said:

Oh yes, I remember in my third month my husband was heating up Chinese food for dinner. I made him eat it on the porch.

I hate this. Hate it. Hate it. Hate it.

Do you know what I'm talking about?  Note how Yoffe said that she "made her husband eat on the porch."

Made him?

Why do so many women insist...

Unnecessary pages be gone!

When I was a kid, I used to tear out the pages of books as I finished reading each page.

Read the page, look at the picture, and then tear that sucker out. 

I distinctly remember the cover of Syd Hoff's I Can Read book WALPOLE floating around our house, the pages long since destroyed. There were others, many others, floating around my bedroom and playroom, waiting to be tossed, but that cardboard cover seemed to last longer than the rest, page-less and pointless.  

Must have been nice...

Not nice. And not Jewish.

I just finished Jennifer Weiner's book FLY AWAY HOME, which details the story of the wife of a philandering Senator and the impact that an affair like this can have on a family.  Weiner says that the story was inspired by Elliot Spitzer's resignation following revelations that he was employing a prostitute.

At the time of Spitzer's resignation, Bill Maher pointed out on his HBO show Real Time that both Spitzer and the prostitute who he hired are Jewish.

To paraphrase Maher, at least...

Questionable quid pro quo, at least at first

Elysha and I spent Sunday at the Patriots game, a glorious 38-24 defeat over the Cincinnati Bengals that featured a kickoff return for a touchdown and an interception returned for a touchdown.

A great way to start the season.

While tailgating, we were approached by a large man with a container full of strawberries soaking in grape-flavored stoli.  He shared a strawberry with my buddy, Shep and his father and his cousin-in-law, but he demanded a kiss from my wife before he would agree to...

A little baby becomes a little kid

I write a daily blog directed to my daughter that I began on the day we learned that Elysha was pregnant.  The address is greetingslittleone.com. 

Recently, I wrote a post that garnered some attention from readers, and a few emailed me and suggested that I post it here as well, since this is where most of my readers and followers typically land. 

Here it is":

_______________________________________

I still think of you as my little baby, little one.

But sometimes I look at you, like...

Embodiment of their teacher

As my school year begins, so does the process of preparing for my twelfth year of Shakespeare. The preparation for the yearly production is remarkably hard work for myself and the students, and for much of the process, I hate myself for even attempting such a difficult endeavor.  But when my students perform the play for the parents, and children are speaking, shouting, emoting the words of Shakespeare, I am reminded about how much I love the end result and the learning that has taken place...