Matthew Dicks's Blog, page 726

Hoping for disaster. Again.

I plan on watching Oprah with my wife this evening, a talk-show that I never normally watch.  Elysha recorded Oprah's interview with Sarah Palin, and I've been waiting to hear her speak about her new book, GOING ROGUE.

Just writing the title of the book makes me laugh.    

Admittedly, my desire to watch Sarah Palin speak in any capacity is akin to my desire to watch a NASCAR race:

I'm just waiting and hoping for the next spectacular crash and burn.

I can't help it. I want another Katie...

Happy to be alive

Yesterday I was interviewed by a reporter about SOMETHING MISSING and my life in general.  She was surprised to hear about the many things that I manage to squeeze into the day, and when she asked how I managed to do this, I told her that I sleep less than most and attempt to live my life like it is my very last day on Earth.

Considering my experience with near-death experiences, this is not an unreasonable position for me to assume.  As cliché as it may sound, I think I come damn close to...

Uniformity be damned!

I find the degree to which authors differ in their approaches to writing utterly amazing. 

Alexander Alter of the Wall Street Journal has collected remarks from a variety of leading authors pertaining to the way in which they approach the process of writing, and they could not be more diverse from one another. 

For example:

"Orhan Pamuk writes by hand, in graph-paper notebooks, filling a page with prose and leaving the adjacent page blank for revisions, which he inserts with...

Because you CAN have too many

Unfriend is the OED's Word of the Year for 2009.

I like this a lot. Nothing warm and fuzzy this year.

Sneak attack averted

As you may know, I am allergic to bees. 

Dangerously allergic. 

As such, I often view bees, wasps and hornets as my own personal enemies. 

And I often think that they feel the same about me.  

Yesterday the leaves fell off the small tree just a few feet from my front stoop.  Nestled inside the tree, under the cover of the leaves all summer long, was this:

Sneaky little buggers… setting up shop right outside my house. 

Better luck next year, suckers! 

Out of the mouths of babes (Psalm 8: 1-2)

The Catholic Archdiocese of Washington said Wednesday that it will be unable to continue the social service programs it runs for the District if the city doesn't change a proposed same-sex marriage law, a threat that could affect tens of thousands of people the church helps with adoption, homelessness and health care.

Does this strike anyone else as a little tone deaf and not entirely in the spirit of goodness and angels and Christmas miracles and all of that?

The Church's complaint...

Perhaps they are not quite dead just yet

Cormac McCarthy was recently quoted as saying:

"…the indulgent, 800-page books that were written a hundred years ago are just not going to be written anymore and people need to get used to that. If you think you're going to write something like "The Brothers Karamazov" or "Moby-Dick," go ahead. Nobody will read it. I don't care how good it is, or how smart the readers are. Their intentions, their brains are different."

Might be a bit of bad timing on his part, considering Stephen King's...

To each his own. Right? I hope?

Next Friday my wife and I will be watching the time-shifted finale of Project Runway with our friend, Kim, and her daughter.

Yes, it's true.  Despite my loathing for the fashion industry, I find Project Runway to be fascinating.  The creativity required from the designers and the time limits imposed  upon them appeal to me a great deal, even if the final product is a gown or a pair of pants.

Meanwhile, Kim's husband and their son will be at home, watching the latest episode of Cartoon...

To each his own. Right?

Next Friday my wife and I will be watching the time-shifted finale of Project Runway with our friend, Kim, and her daughter.

Yes, it's true.  Despite my loathing for the fashion industry, I find Project Runway to be fascinating.  The creativity required from the designers and the time limits imposed  upon them appeal to me a great deal, even if the final product is a gown or a pair of pants.

Meanwhile, Kim's husband and their son will be at home, watching the latest episode of Cartoon...

Dedication decision

Though I still adore the idea of dedicating UNEXPECTEDLY, MILO to myself, I have decided to abide by my wife's wishes and do something different, though I reserve the right to dedicate a book to myself at some point in the future.  It's rare that my wife doesn't support one of my choices, as crazy as many seem to be, so when she advises me against a course of action, I try to listen. 

If she doesn't like it, it must be bad. 

The reaction to the idea of a self-dedication was mixed. ...