Ad Hudler's Blog, page 40

An opportunity to help a writer

This is your chance to be published and live forever in the Library of Congress ... of, if you wish, you can do it anonymously.

I need two things:
1. I need to hear from people who haven't seen me in the past five years, in other words, people who would be describing an Ad Hudler from about 2002 or before. (Even high school) Don't disqualify yourself if you've talked or facebooked to me a few times since then.

2. I also need to hear from folks who have met me only in the past three or so years.

i...

Georgia-bound!

I drove TEN hours today to ATL, Georgia for the Decatur Reading Festival, which, in just four years time, has grown into the largest independent book festival in the country. I'm speaking on a panel with other writers who have used the parenting shtick in their work, as I have. That's a long way to drive, especially when you're in a truck that only has am/fm radio. My right index finger is still twitching from having pressed the "scan" button on the radio oh, I don't know, sixteen thousand ti...

Fashion police: 1 ... Ad: 0

Okay, so now I've heard similar comments from THREE people about V-neck shirts: Evidently, if a man wears one he is considered to be gay.

Who makes this stuff up?

And I looked so good in those shirts.

Golden Palace Dragon China

Have you ever noticed how Chinese restaurants (the ones tucked into every strip mall in America) always seem to have similar names? It's as if there's a list of allowed words that can be used in any combination, and they cannot stray from this list:

China
Dragon
Palace
Peking
Garden
Express
Golden
Buffet
Shanghai
Lucky
Jade
Panda


And they ALL have the same menu. I swear they're printed by the same printer in some alley in New Jersey or some place: tri-folded, a few all-color pictures of entrees, with a "Chef

How much can a grown man cry?

Well, let me tell you this: A WHOLE LOT! Yesterday Carol and I dropped our daughter off at college in Ohio. I actually sobbed when hugging her goodbye, and I cried off and on all the way to Pittsburgh, where we decided to spend a fun weekend to keep our minds off of our daughter so we wouldn't cry.

I'm over it now ... I really am.

Really.

So over it.

Sniff.

Don't forget the toothpaste!

...as I did recently on a trip to Colorado. This was the complimentary packet of toothpaste from the front desk. [image error]

Honestly, it was like using mint-flavored KY jelly ... the exact same substance as our slick little friend. So identical was the texture that I had to read the fine print and make sure it didn't say something like, "Also can be used as a sexual lubricant."

My attempts to control Feral Neighbors

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Yep, this is the new fence I was writing about. Put it up last week to help control the feral children and feral adults that have moved into my neighborhood and decided that my back yard is THEIR PLAYGROUND. The chunk that goes over the seawall is called a water wing. It's there, of course, because unless you have this people simply walk around the fence, onto the seawall, and into your yard. You won't believe this, but it took only two days before someone tried to bend and break it off. Here's

Look what we made!

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Daughter Haley wanted a ribbon board for college. I had no idea what one was, but with help from the WWW and Debbie at Joanne's Fabrics we put this together. Most favorite part: Using the staple gun. Least favorite: sewing on 28 buttons. Haley and I took turns doing the later. Looks like something you'd read about in my novel, "Househusband," doesn't it?A question for my readers to ponder: Do you think protagonist Linc Menner would have made such a thing in "Man of the House," the sequel? Why or

Why I'll wait on the Kindle

Amazon's new e-reader thingy caught my eye right away, but I'm glad I waited. I've met too many Kindle users who have a subtle smugness about them ... They're like Prius owners: "I'm special, I'm cool, I'm saving trees, I'm so hip. Let me tell you about my Kindle and why it's so COOL."

I've always rebelled against the popular. The worst thing a sales clerk can say to me is "And this is our most popular item!"

It pushes me toward the door ... and, because I have not succumbed to the pull of a popul

Unfortunate Timing

My wife left for work the other day but instantly came back inside from the carport: "Can you come out here, Ad? ... LOOK at this!"

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"Why isn't that mouse moving?" she asked.
I replied, "It's not a mouse, sweety, and you've run over his tail. Poor little guy's stuck."
And stuck he was. He had decided to cross the driveway at exactly the same time that Carol rolled into the driveway 36 hours earlier! I hate rats, but I honestly felt sorry for the little guy. Lord knows the extreme vulnerability he'd