Ken Wheaton's Blog, page 13

On Charlie Hebdo and the Media

In the midst of an interesting New York Observer interview, legendary cartoonist Robert Crumb says this about American journalism:

You don���t have journalists over there anymore, what they have is public relations people. That���s what they have over in America now. Two-hundred and fifty thousand people in public relations. And a dwindling number of actual reporters and journalists.

Which is somewhat true! An over-exaggeration maybe, but true. (CONTENT! CONTENT! CONTENT!)

Immediately after that...

2014 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

The Louvre Museum has 8.5 million visitors per year. This blog was viewed about 120,000 times in 2014. If it were an exhibit at the Louvre Museum, it would take about 5 days for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

How Marathon-Running Is Like Novel Writing

Novelist (and New York Giants fan) Richard Fulco, author of There Is No End to This Slope, took some time out of writing and raising twins, to interview me about Sweet as Cane, Salty as Tears for Fiction Writers Review.

We talked about writing (duh), what being a “real” New Yorker means, the murder of the Tooth Fairy, and running. Among other things I said that somehow came out managing to sound smart:

“Marathons are a huge project, but you tackle it one mile at a time. That actually helped me...

A Few Nights at The Four Seasons in Bora Bora

Beautiful Bora Bora

Back in grad school, my friend Jason — who has a talent for pinpointing insecurities and emotions you didn’t even know you had — once asked me, “Do you ever have this feeling that they’re going to catch on to you? That they’re going to realize you’ve been faking it all along?”

I didn’t think I’d had that feeling before, but once he said it, I recognized it immediately. (Which is why Jason’s a good writer and possibly a hypnotist.)

I was reminded of that feeling once or twice...

Did I Mention That I Ran the NYC Marathon?

At around Mile 7. Was not feeling like this at around mile 18.

Sunday was my third NYC Marathon. Did you know this? I don’t know if I told you guys.

My favorite tweet of the day (directed at me): “A guy already finished and Snaps is still taking selfies.” (I’m Snaps.)

Long story short, I wanted to beat my Philly Marathon PR of 3:59. That didn’t happen. Not even close. Especially in the last 10 miles.

But 4:21 was good enough for 22,588th place. So there!

Bling

It could have been the 20-30 mph NNW...

Going to the Chapel

How’s that for a finish line?

On November 2, I’m running the New York City Marathon. On November 11, I’m getting married.

I’d tell you to save the date, but you’re not invited. Don’t feel bad, though, no one is. Cara and I decided to skip the stress and hype and expense of the modern American wedding celebration and opt for a small private ceremony and honeymoon all in one. So we’re going to Bora Bora. And Moorea. And Tikehau.

It may be my imagination, but I swear when I tell some people that we...

Just Like My Mother Used to Make

Overheard in the deli this morning — uninterrupted and spoken with an almost stereotypical New York accent:

“How much is your large coffee? … You know what? Fuck it. Give me large coffee. I can’t make up my mind today. Been hit in the head too many fucking times. … I gotta tell you, you guys have a nice set up. The food? The pancakes? Holy shit. Your pancakes got bananas in them. Just like my mother used to make. … Whoever you got cooking for you is fucking amazing.”

Can We Make Her Younger?

Mama (l.) and Aunt Delores outside the old house in Grand Prairie in 2011

When I set out to write a novel from the point of view of a 50-year-old woman, I expected a little bit of trouble. Not so much with the writing, mind you. I’ve written from the point of view of a woman numerous times. And when I finished writing “Sweet as Cane, Salty as Tears,” I was pleased with the results, in particular the main character Katie-Lee Fontenot (when I wasn’t hating myself and the book and writing in gene...

Waltzing Through Louisiana

Last week, I was down in Louisiana for a couple of readings/signings for my latest novel, Sweet as Cane, Salty as Tears. Firstly, I want to offer my condolences to those people who didn’t show up. Because surely your failure to show up was due to a death in the family. I’m quite positive that after I traveled across the entire country and after you promised to show up and yet you didn’t, it wasn’t because you simply were tired or forgot (especially after my 1,653 reminders) or didn’t feel lik...

Gothamist: There Is a New Subset of Peoples Restaurant in New York

Hey yall, we’re a subset of peoples now!

According to Gothamist: “A new East Village eatery opening tonight wants to introduce the unique flavors of Acadian culture, a subset of Louisiana peoples with roots in French Canada.”

Awful lot of words to avoid saying, you know, Cajun. This is what happens when restaurant marketing people attack. I guess they have to change it up.

After all, pretty much every other attempt at Cajun in New York has failed — because they don’t do it right. And if you don’...