Kurt R.A. Giambastiani's Blog, page 56

Two, Please

Embedded within this paragraph is an “error.” Can you find it? Is it glaringly obvious? I’m guessing that it isn’t. In fact, I’d bet that until I point it out to you, you won’t realize it’s there. Want a hint? It’s not grammatical. It’s not punctuation, either. It’s . . . Wait for it. Wait […]

Reverse Havdalah

The Monkey-Boy Day Job has been a tooth-grinder this week, and it’s made me think of the Jewish ritual of havdalah. First off, I’ve been “on call,” which means that my time is literally not my own. I must carry my mobilewith me at all times so I can respond to an Alert within 5 […]

Thanks, THanx

Ribbon vibrator. Platen roller. Type bar. Paper finger. Guide pointer. Know what I’m talking about? Smith-Corona. Remington. Underwood. Royal. With me now? I’m talking about typewriters. Manual typewriters. Old-fashioned, heavy, noisy, mechanical machines driven by the power of your fingers. Yes, those lovely old clackety-clack behemoths that used to be ubiquitous but now only exist […]

Bird Brains

Last week, I made the mistake of going to a bookstore. I avoid bookstores, as a rule. I always leave them with books. More books. Books I want to read. Books that sit on the shelf and taunt me. This last trip had an interesting twist: I left with all non-fiction. One of these non-fiction […]

Unique

I got very angry yesterday, after hearing the news of Robin Williams’ death, but I wasn’t angry with him. I was angry with two other people. The first person I was angry with was an acquaintance who berated Williams for his suicide, calling him selfish and weak. Thankfully, many came to Williams’ defense, chastising this […]

Sometimes I Know Too Much

I wish my brain had an OFF switch. There are times when it just gets in the way. I mean it’s thinking. All. The. Time. Thinking thinking thinking. Every damned minute it’s filled with thoughts, memories, comparisons, evaluations, judgments, decisions. And there are times when it’s a real pain in the ass. One situation in […]

Unexpected Interest

Sometimes, the word “interesting” isn’tenough. This weekend past, as well as being sad, stressful, productive, lazy, and maddening, was alsointeresting. It was the 31st anniversary of my wedding. It was the yahrzeit of the death of my wife’s mother. It was a weekend of plans, and of disrupted plans. It was a weekend with three […]

When Bad Isn’t

In the world of Hollywood movies, the nameIshtar is synonymous withflop. Ishtar, Elaine May’s 1987 version of a “Road to Morocco” type movie, stars Warren Beatty and Dustin Hoffman, and when it came out, it was an unmitigated flop, recouping only $14M of its $55M price tag. The press that preceded its release was so […]

Tango with the Tiger

Last weekend, the Seattle Times ran two opposing op-eds on the Amazon/Hachettecontretemps. Frank Schaeffer wrote in favor of Amazon, while Nina Laden countered in favor of Hachette, creating a “debate” of sorts. I put “debate”in quotes because, from a purely debating standpoint, it was no contest. Unfortunately, both pieces missed the main point. If you’re […]

I Don’t Want to Know

I know nothing about James Garner. And I want to keep it that way. When I was young, I had several TV Westerns from which to choose: Have Gun Will Travel, Branded, Bonanza, F Troop, The Rifleman, Rawhide, Gunsmoke, and Maverick, just to name a few. By far, Maverick was my favorite, and James Garner […]