Matthew Dicks's Blog, page 696

Spite and anger make it happen

In the past year, I've pondered launching a blog dedicated to the signs that restaurants use on their restroom doors and a blog dedicated to 101 uses for an odd decanter that I received during a Yankee swap. 

While I'd like to think that both will eventually happen, they have not yet materialized.

Perhaps this is because there is not not enough spite and anger behind these two ideas, which is more than I can say for the man who created a website dedicated to 101 uses of his ex-wife's...

A lack of support

On a recent trip to Florida, I was visiting with some of my wife's relatives.  Over lunch and dinner, they would inquire about my book, asking questions about plot and character, until finally Elysha's grandmother told one of these relatives to buy the book.  "Don't ask him what the book is about," she said, irritation in her voice.  "He's related to you.  Go buy his book!"

I appreciated her support, especially since I have a miserable time summarizing my books.  But as these people were...

Shivering or sweaty

Have you noticed that when dressed for formal occasions, women wear less clothing than at any other time in their life, despite the fact that they are always cold?

And that men wear more clothing than on any other occasion, yet we're always warm?

I think the Scots had it right.

Amusement rides a little too realistic

About 10 years ago, I went on vacation to Disney World. Prior to leaving, a surgeon examined my knee, which had spontaneously bled from time to time since my car accident in 1988. He determined that surgery was required, but in order to avoid missing the trip, he cauterized the wound so that it wouldn't bleed.

Rather than bleeding, a disgusting bubble of blood formed on my knee which I subsequently referred to as the alien. This turned out to be far worse that the small, occasionally...

Road kill punch

In my younger days, I dated a girl who attended North Adams State College, now known as Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts. In those days, the school was known for its parties, so I made many trips up north to visit her.

The most memorable party of the bunch was held at a frat house on a rainy Friday night. The frat boys had gone out days before the party and had scraped some road kill off the highway. They took this disgusting mess and froze it into the center of an enormous block of...

You can be yourself, but only if you wear a tie

Last night I was helping a kid put on his tie prior to a concert.

"But I don't want to wear a tie," he moaned as I slipped it over his head. 

"I know," I said, tightening it around his neck.  "I don't ever wear a tie, but I'm an adult.  I can make that choice."

And it's true.  With the exception of those times when I find myself as a member of my sister-in-law's bridal party or one is required (black tie affairs, etc.), I no longer wear ties.  I refuse to wear them.  I find the garment...

Betsy Claypool more interesting than Betsy Ross

Less than a week after I take a shot at Betsy Ross and her "sewing achievement" (angering more than I expected) comes BETSY ROSS AND THE MAKING OF AMERICA, which was reviewed in the Times Sunday Book Review. 

Serendipity.

The review opens with this paragraph:

Most historians dismiss the story about Betsy Ross making the first American flag. Yet despite a century of debunking, the legend ­endures. Across the country, schoolchildren still cut out five-pointed stars using the pattern that...

Some of us dont need anymore drama

From Derek Sivers blog:

Kurt Vonnegut reasoned that people crave drama in their lives, and thus through the books they read, because the typical story arc for a real life person is something like this:

Yeah, right.  I wish. 

This in no way reflects the trajectory of my life.

If youre reading this, you probably exist

I often profess a fondness for the belief that the world exists only for me, and that the existence of other human beings, as well as all other things, is predicated upon my ability to perceive them.

In short, when you leave a room, you no longer exist since I can no longer see you.

This theory, a variation on immaterialism or subjective realism, is not my own. Philosopher George Berkley developed the theory that became immortalized in the dictum, "Esse est percipi" (To be is to be...

Tick tock

This is the worst part of the writing process for me:

The waiting.

The manuscript is done, and it's in Taryn's hands.  I sit and wait, usually for about a week, hoping to hear that it's absolutely perfect. 

Expecting to hear that it's absolutely perfect.

That's a long week.  A frustrating week. A hair-pulling, gut-wrenching week, and sometimes, it's more than a week. 

Can you believe it?  More!

And even if the manuscript is perfect, then there's the submission process.  The...