tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38981522011-04-21T18:13:00.443-07:00Vanity of VanitiesVanity, vanity, all here is vanity.Stevennoreply@blogger.comBlogger1811100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-1087872439032106082004-06-21T19:46:00.000-07:002004-06-21T19:47:19.033-07:00I am abandoning Vanity of Vanities for the time being in favor of a new blog.Stevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-1085798385743361522004-05-28T19:33:00.000-07:002004-05-28T19:44:53.280-07:00Two fingers down there
For whatever reason, "turn and cough" is one of the funniest lyrics I think I've ever heard, in the song "Get In Line" by the Barenaked Ladies:
Everybody open your mouth,
Everybody just say "ahh"
(Ahh, ahh, ahh..)
Everything will be alright
this won't hurt at all.
Everybody get in line,
Everybody turn and cough,
Everything will be alright,
if you just lay off.
I would Stevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-1084848417686391232004-05-17T19:46:00.000-07:002004-05-17T19:46:57.686-07:00Where would you put it?
Suppose you were to receive this citation. Just how, pray tell, would you stow it?Stevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-1084762848875985892004-05-16T19:36:00.000-07:002004-05-16T20:21:31.666-07:00Why I love the Drudge Report
It has a reputation for being a darling of the right. I'm not personally of the right, or especially darling.
But still I love it.
Why? It's fast. It gets the story up before any reputable news source could verify that it's accurate, or even a story. In our modern self-help jargon, it Takes Risks! and Makes Mistakes!
Matt Drudge is, apparently, truly Stevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-1083895539371025212004-05-06T19:05:00.000-07:002004-05-06T19:12:36.340-07:00Upside
When you're used to 2 adults charging things, it's amazing how hard it is to get a charge card bill up to $2000. I spend and spend and still my bills are low.
Of course, when I say "spending" all it really includes (beyond gas and food) is a kitchen-stocking trip to Organized Living, a new pair of jeans (first in five years) and pajama pants (first since 8 years old) from the Gap, and aStevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-1083895380453210202004-05-06T19:03:00.000-07:002004-05-06T19:07:20.826-07:00Thought that came clearly today:
I need more Coltrane. Much more.Stevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-1083894630948864802004-05-06T18:50:00.000-07:002004-05-06T18:58:46.293-07:00Forefinger & middle finger thwarted by perpindicular vertical hand
Sure, Seymour Hersh's account of deliberate humiliation of Iraqi prisoners is getting all the attention in the May 10 New Yorker. But it was an item in the letters to the editor (which apparently did not make the on line edition) that caught my eye.
Following up on an article in the April 19/26 edition regarding efforts of the Stevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-1083719254666615462004-05-04T18:07:00.000-07:002004-05-04T18:11:52.280-07:00There's hope
I frequently consider canceling my local newspaper subscription. Coverage of national issues sucks. But then I open it this morning to this (mini registration may be required) and that quarterly bill for $11 seems worthwhile. If more people would just get out there and do things like this more often, maybe newspaper circulation could halt its downward spiral.Stevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-1081134830477225082004-04-04T20:13:00.000-07:002004-04-04T20:19:48.123-07:00Stardust
by Hoagy Carmichael
And now the purple dusk of twilight time
Steals across the meadows of my heart
High up in the sky the little stars climb
Always reminding me that we're apart
You wander down the lane and far away
Leaving me a song that will not die
Love is now the stardust
Of yesterday
The music
Of the years
Gone by
Sometimes i wonder why i spend
The lonely nights
Dreaming of a songStevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-1074653374768083882004-01-20T18:49:00.000-08:002004-01-20T18:55:13.140-08:00Playlist
Kenneth told what's on his portable MP3-player playlist. I don't have a portable yet but here's the latest playlist I threw together on my desktop Winamp player, which I listen to in shuffle mode.
Willie Nelson - Whiskey River
G Love & Special Sauce - Cold Beverage
Jerry Garcia Band - I'll Be With Thee (live bootleg)
Herbie Hancock - Rocket
Grateful Dead - Mighty Quinn (live bootleg)
Stevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-1074568734772130132004-01-19T19:18:00.000-08:002004-01-19T19:22:40.840-08:00Celebrity justice
I was making food in the kitchen today when, for some reason, the song "Off the Wall" by Michael Jackson came to mind. I had that album on vinyl, dating me back to what, 1980?
I'm sure this occurred to everybody else a long time ago, but in light of recent events, I got a chuckle out of remembering the lyrics to this song: "We're the party people, night and day / Living Stevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-1074305494234984472004-01-16T18:11:00.000-08:002004-01-16T18:13:27.763-08:00Catching Up
So here's what I've been up to:
--Entertaining about 400 different house guests in the past 3 weeks
--Enjoying "Welcome Interstate Managers" by Fountains of Wayne, The Thorns (eponymous), "Everything Must Go" by Steely Dan
--Not reading novels
--Contemplating writing a novel, the main character of which I liken to a Protestant Herzog in that he gets into a lot of weird situationsStevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-1071717757941596832003-12-17T19:22:00.000-08:002003-12-17T19:23:51.826-08:00Everybody's favorite
I've wanted the new Fountains of Wayne, and now it's on every top 5 list I see (particularly on the Onion AV club's year-end wrap-up). I guess I better buy it.Stevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-107171770161408542003-12-17T19:21:00.000-08:002003-12-17T19:22:55.500-08:00In lieu of normal blogging, I offer only this.Stevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-1071542902444166982003-12-15T18:48:00.000-08:002003-12-15T18:51:43.420-08:00So the regular posting thing has fallen by the wayside. I got a job and my wife is a borderline invalid. Hey, it happens.
I find myself saying, fairly often, that God never promised us that people wouldn't die. It's true. I've always believed that, or at least as long as I've thought of such things.
A god who bestows favors must, necessarily, by implication be a god who also withholds Stevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-1068000253757403992003-11-04T18:44:00.000-08:002003-11-04T18:44:29.826-08:00Sorry for the extended absence. I got a new job, signed a contract on a house, and my wife was hospitalized for a brain tumor. (Following her 4th surgery for same.) On top of keeping up with a 4-year-old boy.
A day in the f'ing life.Stevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-1066313252032362352003-10-16T07:07:00.000-07:002003-10-16T18:56:13.616-07:00Last night's Cubs game inspired me to write poetry. (A first.) Not all involved baseball, but one did:
Chicago Cubs 2003
Symmetry, geometry,
baseball.
The orb lobs and bounces
from wood to ground to leather
to skin to air to leather.
"Yerrrrrout!"
Diamonds, squares, circles
Positions, plays
clockwork.
Psychology, war,
curves and fastballs--
slider misses,
out of the park.
A lazy fly
A Stevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-1066189486755933152003-10-14T20:44:00.000-07:002003-10-14T20:49:27.193-07:00Rush Limbaugh's a little tied up at the moment, but. . .
At last, the perfect publishing house for the long overdue unpublished novel by Ann Coulter.Stevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-1066101629234759022003-10-13T20:20:00.000-07:002003-10-13T20:25:23.330-07:00This is why crime so often doesn't pay
A guy in PA escapes from prison. He braves a daring exit from seven floors up, using a rope of dozens of bedsheets, then a mattress to traverse razor wire. One of his cohorts is hospitalized, but his implementation of this complex plan yields the ultimate reward: freedom.
Alas, he is caught by police.
Where?
Not in Mexico, not bartending in Vail, not Stevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-1066045113963739132003-10-13T04:38:00.000-07:002003-10-13T20:24:31.063-07:00Stoner songs
I heard a Jack Johnson song the other day, "The Horizon Has Been Defeated," that sounded totally like the musings of a college-age stoner in a dorm room:
future complications
in the strings between the cans
but no prints can come from fingers
if machines become our hands
and then our feet become the wheels
and then the wheels become the cars
and then the rigs begin to drill
until Stevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-1066044530746921652003-10-13T04:28:00.000-07:002003-10-13T04:28:50.503-07:00I can't wrap my mind around this one
Why is this so disturbing?
I don't know, but it is.Stevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-1065723836856928842003-10-09T11:23:00.000-07:002003-10-09T11:23:56.730-07:00God is so, like, idunno, wow!
I guess this is probably more effective than street-corner bullhorn evangelism. Still. . .
Maybe I can help. Here are some ideas for featurettes for this hot new mag:
--10 things to do with your hands instead of, you know. . .
--Hunky ancient Hebrews
--Phew! (How Noah got all those fuzzy animals on one boat)
--Feel free to eat animals (It's okay to have Stevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-1064609652278658372003-09-26T13:54:00.000-07:002003-09-26T13:54:11.720-07:00More hazing news
Within the past week or two, I've noted news in Pennsylvania about hazing at a high school football camp that seemed to involve sexual assaults. I recounted my own experience with Icy-Hot and Atomic Balm.
Today I saw another Icy Hot story, but it only involved the face.Stevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-1064609401885092192003-09-26T13:50:00.000-07:002003-09-26T13:50:01.376-07:00Segway news
There are several recurring topics on this blog, reflecting my peculiar interests, compulsions, and obsessions. The obvious ones are writing -- contemporary fiction, especially -- and the Grateful Dead. Others include my unabridged dictionary, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, and . . . drum roll . . . Segways.
Turns out there's a recall for every last one of them because -- as I Stevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-1064609070936705252003-09-26T13:44:00.000-07:002003-09-26T13:44:30.490-07:00I don't usually get too personal here, but my wife is scheduled for brain surgery next Wednesday, to be followed by hi-tech radiation and chemo. It's a weird time. I don't have a job, though I may get one as soon as next week. Our insurance doesn't cover us (we moved to a different region of the country recently), so there's a little stress about covering the surgery. My mother is coming on aStevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-1064537909354767462003-09-25T17:58:00.000-07:002003-09-25T18:01:16.980-07:00Hardest workin' man in show business
This site is a nice service, but the thing I notice is that Chekhov wrote over 50 short stories in each of two consecutive years, and people are still reading them over 100 years later. Not to mention another 100 or so stories written in the four or five years before and after 1886 and 1887.
As someone who's trying to eke out a short story every other monthStevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-1064363447578153562003-09-23T17:30:00.000-07:002003-09-23T17:33:30.230-07:00Heavy news
If you have a digital bathroom scale, and it's on a carpeted surface, spare yourself and read no further.
Apparently digital bathroom scales -- or at least mine -- are supposed to be used on hard floors.
Not carpet.
All these years, I think I weigh between 180 and 195. Then I accompany my wife to the doctor's office this week and use the scale in the hall: 203.
I go home and Stevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-1064360445041333002003-09-23T16:40:00.000-07:002003-09-23T16:40:44.833-07:00Headline from The Onion
The September 24 edition announces:
Black Eye For The White Guy Cable's Newest HitStevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-1064279809658108562003-09-22T18:16:00.000-07:002003-09-22T18:28:38.486-07:00Time for new projects
I've been putzing around on several short stories, and I feel the time is right for a new big project: Time to start a new novel.
(From my analog, unabridged, non-portable Webster's dictionary: "putz, n. Slang. 1. fool; jerk. 2. Vulgar. penis." From Yiddish, dating to 1900-05. Why is penis slang so common and (in my view) effective?
(Also "putsch, n. a plotted Stevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-1064156368083747372003-09-21T07:59:00.000-07:002003-09-21T07:59:27.446-07:00My star is dark
Ever get an idea about inventing some little thingamajiggy, get serious enough to think about how to build or market it, then forget about it for a few months, and find later that somebody else did it and made huge piles of money?
I had in mind as my first great novel a coming-of-age love story taking place among the caravan of Deadheads in the 1980s. It would have been full ofStevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-1064156011826316572003-09-21T07:53:00.000-07:002003-09-21T07:53:31.280-07:00Brake petal
A week or two ago, I suggested that The Crimson Petal and the White held promise. It was a nineteenth-century tale of manners, fluids, smells, and prostitution in London's pre-sewer streets.
It wasn't a bad book. If you're into nineteenth century urban affairs, or prostitution, or want to read one author's attempt at explicit sex, it's worth a go. But it's eight hundred pages Stevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-1063395101873261992003-09-12T12:31:00.000-07:002003-09-12T12:34:16.710-07:00Football freakin'
This seems a little disturbing, but I wouldn't doubt that it happened.
I played exactly one year of football, as an eighth grader on the freshman team at my fundamentalist high school. Among the freshmen, "initiation" involved getting the eighth graders to strip from the waist down and bend over. Then a therapeutic balm (there were two brands -- Icy Hot and Atomic Balm) was Stevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-1063376800785109782003-09-12T07:26:00.000-07:002003-09-12T07:30:01.530-07:00You say cicayda, I say cicahda
This week's New Yorker includes a nice little piece on the sounds of the various insects of New York -- sounds scarcely noticed until the blackout. (Sorry, the story is not apparently on line.) Crickets, cicadas, katydids -- you name it.
The title is "Rare and Different Tune."
For non-Deadheads, presumably a large majority, here's where that title comes from: Stevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-1063314849221603332003-09-11T14:14:00.000-07:002003-09-11T14:21:06.570-07:00Made for Fast Times but 20 years too late
First: I have no post regarding the fact that this is September 11. I find myself with nothing to say about it. I'm sympathetic to the victims, but I find our current war on terrorism oddly unrelated. Iraq is our "central front" in the war against terror? Excuse me, but terrorism in Iraq wasn't even a problem before we invaded the country.
Anyway.
Stevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-1063069789800795362003-09-08T18:09:00.000-07:002003-09-08T18:12:50.670-07:00Purple -- er, crimson petal
I'm reading The Crimson Petal and the White by Michael Faber. I'm about 130 pages into this 800-page behemoth. Usually I avoid anything over 300, but it's good enough to keep reading so far.
It's set in the early stages of the machine age in London, and whenever lower-caste characters show up, there's lots of filth and squalor. More surprising is there's a lot of Stevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-1062788947650632862003-09-05T12:09:00.001-07:002003-09-05T12:21:00.273-07:00Creeeeepy
I'm not especially apocalyptic, but if there's anything that makes me fear the end of days, it's not the turn of the millenium, or the creation of an Israeli state, or planes flying into buildings: It's the notion that the Cubs and the White Sox could make it to the playoffs in the same year.
Just to be safe, let's root for the Cubbies and whoever's playing the Sox.Stevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-1062722758886875332003-09-04T17:45:00.000-07:002003-09-04T17:53:48.926-07:00It's enough to make you want to listen to opera
I got Bel Canto by Ann Patchett from the library two days ago.
I finished it this afternoon.
I haven't had one of those "can't put it down" experiences with a book in a long, long time. (Last one for me: Everything Is Illuminated.) This is one of the finest books I have read. I can't recommend it highly enough.
The premise is that a jungle Stevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-1062721704080434642003-09-04T17:28:00.000-07:002003-09-04T17:28:24.030-07:00Macho Men
Most Tuesday nights I try to check out Queer Eye. The show's logo is a circle with a boxey "QE" atop.
Most mornings I do the elliptical machine watching SportsCenter on ESPN. The logo is a circle with a boxey "SC" atop.
The logos are remarkably similar. I don't know what it means.Stevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-1062609133318030032003-09-03T10:12:00.000-07:002003-09-03T10:12:19.696-07:00The Dead Circus by John Kaye
I've fallen out of the habit of taking notes on whatever I'm reading. I'll begin anew by explaining why I couldn't finish The Dead Circus, a novel.
Pros:
--Great subject matter. Through the main character, a Los Angeles native bereaved by the death of a loved one and obsessed with the "alleged" suicide of rocker Bobby Fuller, we get to explore the Manson family, Stevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-1061941253012289442003-08-26T16:40:00.000-07:002003-08-26T16:41:14.853-07:00And not even as pretty as a golden cow
The "What Do You Think?" feature in tomorrow's Onion asks, What do you think about the court order to remove the Ten Commandments monument from the Alabama courthouse?
There are some good responses, but my favorite is Opal Birch, Loan Counselor (the older white lady):
I support its removal. A monument to the Ten Commandments is a graven image, and Stevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-1061416824245438612003-08-20T15:00:00.000-07:002003-08-20T15:24:19.933-07:00Queer eye for male apologists
The commentary page of today's Wall Street Journal featured an odd piece by Lionel Tiger (can this be a real name?), professor of anthropology at Rutgers, linking Queer Eye for the Straight Guy to male demonization. (Sorry, the WSJ link is for on-line subscribers only.)
According to Prof. Tiger, the show isn't about gay people at all, but rather it has "everythingStevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-1060995613479633752003-08-15T18:00:00.000-07:002003-08-15T18:00:09.356-07:00Baby, I got you on my mind
Happy 11th anniversary to me and my wife.Stevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-1060995500606554592003-08-15T17:58:00.000-07:002003-08-15T18:01:51.246-07:00Anti-technology kindness
I love the stories about how people in NYC and elsewhere have taken to the public parks to escape the heat and darkness of their powerless apartment buildings. I love the idea that if we were unplugged, we would all chill out, slow down, help out, and basically be cool to each other. Which reminds me of the L.L. Cool J. "unplugged" sessions on MTV, which were Stevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-1060729153690443622003-08-12T15:59:00.000-07:002003-08-12T16:05:41.136-07:00Badder than first glance
I find myself embarrassed that I like Sheryl Crow in the same way one might be embarrassed about, say, a minivan. I borrowed The Globe Sessions from the library, and I found myself cranking it up while I drove around, yet turning it down at stop lights, lest my choice of tunes be overheard by other drivers.
Her work doesn't tread any new ground. She's unabashed in Stevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-1060361382332222062003-08-08T09:49:00.000-07:002003-08-08T09:49:42.333-07:00Literary testosterone magnet?
This piece confirms on a broader scale what I've noticed about myself -- that men readers tend to prefer works by men writers. Women, apparently, will read a good book by anybody.
The article is written by a woman and tends to explain the tendency by noting men's tolerance for entire books about gadgets or sports, or consisting of nothing but lists. It suggests Stevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-1060197631402246292003-08-06T12:20:00.000-07:002003-08-06T12:20:31.366-07:00Carson, watch your back
Carson had better watch his step. I'm sure fans of the Clef-Tones were boiling during last night's Queer Eye.
The subject of last night's episode was a backup singer for this 50s doo-wop group. The principals -- four elderly black men in glitzy, sequiny, tuxedo-style blue dinner jackets -- stood out front and sang, Temptations-style. Three normally-dressed guys, Stevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-1060188629159349662003-08-06T09:50:00.000-07:002003-08-06T09:50:29.150-07:00The beginning of something bigger, I hope
So, the Episcopalians did the right thing. I'll be curious to see how the chips fall. I especially look forward to seeing how other churches deal with it.Stevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-1060101679299268792003-08-05T09:41:00.000-07:002003-08-06T09:48:10.270-07:00The case for gay marriage
Just yesterday, I promised to blog on why I think the church (which I refer to in lower case, as if it is one body, because I believe the church ought to be "catholic"; see yesterday's blog) should embrace gay people fully, without reservation.
Then this morning, a timely piece reprinted from the Miami Herald ran in my local paper. (In Alabama, of all places.)
This Stevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-1060034049299789132003-08-04T14:54:00.000-07:002003-08-04T14:56:08.326-07:00Holy catholic church
There's a line from the Apostles Creed: "I believe in the holy catholic church." With a little "c," meaning "universal."
I've always taken this seriously. Fissures within my own church (Presbyterian (PCUSA)) distress me. I'm watching the Episcopalian thing with unease, because I know a similar rift could occur in my church.
As I understand it, the main controversy is Stevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-1059181323784292802003-07-25T18:02:00.000-07:002003-07-25T18:05:02.910-07:00Walkin' after midnight
There are a few lines near the end of "Sugar Magnolia" by the Grateful Dead that capture a big part of my senior year in college: "Sometimes when the cuckoo's crying / When the moon is halfway down / Sometimes when the night is dyin' / I take me out and I wander around."
I dated my wife long distance that year -- she in D.C., I in Memphis. Most of my friends had settledStevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-1059065249992764142003-07-24T09:47:00.000-07:002003-07-24T09:47:29.840-07:00Brush with greatness, or fame at least
I ran across this examination of the interviewer of the celebrity. Sure, any writer wants to publish, but what if your writing means you get to talk to someone famous? Will the famous person be your friend?
The writer, Sarah Hepola, a staff writer for The Austin Chronicle, has a nice string of columns which I believe I'm going to try to read.Stevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-1059011752759381872003-07-23T18:55:00.000-07:002003-07-23T18:57:11.250-07:00Scratch head, then unshaven chin, then 'nads
This gauche, brutish, unsophisticated heterosexual has enjoyed his glimpses, between canyons of empty PBR cans, from the reclined position of his stained and tattered La-Z-Boy, across a reservoir of Dorito crumbs atop his dingy wife-beater undershirt, all three episodes of "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" .
Okay, stop there.
I was going to make Stevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-1058891102027809822003-07-22T09:25:00.000-07:002003-07-22T09:25:01.963-07:00Less lofty thoughts
In an effort to increase the regularity of my "thought" updates to the right, I'm going lowbrow. Let's face it, I listen to popular songs a lot more than I read Aristotle and Shakespeare. If something great comes up in my reading, I'll quote it, but otherwise I'm going to do song lyrics for a while.Stevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-1058891021767550332003-07-22T09:23:00.000-07:002003-07-22T09:29:17.250-07:00This straight guy needs some work
I need a makeover by these guys. Don't miss it tonight at 9:00 on Bravo, for those of us with basic cable in the central time zone.Stevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-1058136868143600402003-07-13T15:54:00.000-07:002003-07-13T15:56:25.096-07:00Feeling the earth move
There's an old Gatlin Brothers song that refers to Hemingway's oft-quoted remark about the earth moving. I can't for the life of me remember the title, all I remember is Larry Gatlin in his breathless way singing:
"Mr. Hemingway said in his book, For Whom the Bell Tolls, you're lucky if you feel the earth move three times in your life / Well I never felt the earth move. Stevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-1057282127744278622003-07-03T18:28:00.000-07:002003-07-03T18:50:44.323-07:00Gotta make a splash
"No one knew what to call him, which suited him perfectly well, because he liked to kill babies, and it was better not to have a name attached to such acts."
This is the first sentence in the most recent issue of One Story, a little literary magazine that includes in every issue -- yep -- a single short story. This piece is "Child Assassin" by Alan DeNiro.
This tells me Stevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-958104722003-06-18T18:13:00.000-07:002003-06-18T18:13:23.676-07:00Segway down
I always suspected that the Segway was unstable. I just didn't expect the President of the United States of America to prove it for me.
(I saved a four-photo sequence of Bush's Segway spill when it appeared briefly on the Drudge Report. Somebody tell me how to upload it and I'll hotlink it, or e-mail me and I'll send you a copy. It's definitely worth seeing.)Stevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-953778342003-06-06T10:18:00.000-07:002003-06-06T10:18:50.000-07:00Wish list
I've posted my Amazon.com wish list over to the right side there. I don't mean to be crass or greedy. I really don't expect people to send me things. But since I don't have much biographical information posted on the Internet, I thought it might be of interest. I think you can learn a lot from somebody by their musical tastes.
One thing needs explaining. I listed a bunch of Stevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-953499262003-06-05T18:01:00.000-07:002003-06-05T18:02:46.000-07:00Thomas the evil tank engine
My last blog, so old now, promised an analysis of Thomas the Tank Engine. I had grand ideas of a well-structured essay to demonstrate how reactionary Thomas was, compared to the progressive idealism of Dr. Seuss.
The idea became overwhelming. I did nothing.
Now, I have a few little blog ideas, and this Thomas thing is blocking me. I'm backblogged.
So, without Stevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-948044002003-05-23T15:01:00.000-07:002003-05-23T15:04:15.000-07:00Dr. Seuss: More influential than Dr. Spock?
Much is made of how much influence Dr. Spock had on the rearing of baby boomers and subsequent generations. But I think another famous doctor had more: Dr. Seuss.
Think about some of the values that Seuss's children's books deal with:
--Cat in the Hat: This book promotes a sense of self-responsibility. The children, left to their own devices Stevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-947666392003-05-22T19:41:00.000-07:002003-05-22T19:41:06.623-07:00Wordsmith-in-Chief
So the President is willing to support a tax package of "only" $350 billion.
Whew!
Never mind that a growing deficit and debt actually strain, not help, the economy, by leading the federal government to soak up investment (in U.S. bonds, the government's means of borrowing) that otherwise would go to the private sector, thereby restricting future growth.
What I really like Stevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-947660372003-05-22T19:26:00.000-07:002003-05-22T19:26:24.680-07:00Here's to not-so-late-night TV
After a thirteen-year hiatus, I have hereby returned to the central time zone. Letterman and SNL are now within my sorry, old-man bedtime. I may never see them, though, now that I have a new digital cable hookup with scores of music channels and channels like Discovery Channel - Wings and HGTV. I still couldn't spring for the premium channels, though, despite myStevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-947148212003-05-21T19:02:00.000-07:002003-05-21T19:12:06.000-07:00Gays in the church
I wrote a big long comment in response to a blog of Kenneth. I'm copying the comment and using it as the basis for today's blog.
Kenneth asked a newly installed Presbyterian (PCUSA) minister in his town about the church's approach to gay people, and the response was that the minister didn't want to deal with any "trouble" at the moment. Being gay, Kenneth rightly Stevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-941999372003-05-12T06:02:00.000-07:002003-05-12T06:02:06.910-07:00Appeasement?
Remember how war-mongers were comparing anti-war advocates to Chamberlain? Saddam may have attempted to rival Hitler (or, perhaps the better comparison is Stalin) with his atrocities, but the analogy falls apart when one considers the strategic significance of the two countries. I think it was pretty certain before, but afterwards, it's clear: Iraq 2003 was no Germany 1939.Stevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-941054962003-05-10T07:53:00.000-07:002003-05-10T08:48:49.000-07:00Hi Bob!
Not the drinking game, but a shout-out to Bob and Martin as well, whom I've linked in my blog-box to the right. I've lurked on their sites for some time now. I'll enjoy checking on you with fewer clicks!Stevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-940758072003-05-09T14:57:00.000-07:002003-05-10T06:41:10.000-07:00Watch for new links
I've been a frequent lurker and sometime poster of comments on a few blogs, but have never figured out how to put links on this page. I'm learning, so hopefully I'll have some good links up soon.Stevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-940754242003-05-09T14:48:00.000-07:002003-05-09T14:49:41.000-07:00Runner's high
I never thought I'd be one to attest to it, but I have experienced runner's high and it's real. I'm under the influence of one right now, in fact, having just run about 4 miles.
It's not like a substance-induced euphoria. (Not that I would know anything about that.) It's just a very good mood that follows for an hour or two after a run.
This is one of those mythic things, the Stevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-940745742003-05-09T14:30:00.000-07:002003-05-09T14:31:12.000-07:00OMG OMG OMGGGGG!!!!!
I clicked at random on one of the recently updated blogs that appears on the left-hand side of Blogger.com and found this. I find myself wondering if I could communicate with someone who speaks this dialect.Stevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-940242982003-05-08T18:23:00.000-07:002003-05-08T18:28:46.000-07:00Sick of people being sick of political correctness
There's a John Cougar Mellencamp song in which he states: "We're sick and tired of being politically correct." It's not a new song or anything, but if I hear somebody say something along these lines one more time, I think I'll hurl.
People generally should respect other people and their feelings. Is there any issue of political correctness Stevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-940233042003-05-08T18:00:00.000-07:002003-05-08T18:25:55.000-07:00Gotta keep running with this T/F thing
Yesterday I theorized that Republicans and Democrats can be divided along the lines of Thinkers / Feelers, as that distinction is made for purposes of the Myers-Briggs personality test.
In the off chance that I haven't stuck my foot completely in my mouth yet, I'd like to follow through.
So I suggest the distinction: T-R (n.b.: also stands for TheodoreStevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-939595782003-05-07T17:45:00.000-07:002003-05-07T17:53:03.000-07:00Thinking and feeling about politics
I have a new theory on how to distinguish the political parties in a big-picture sense. The GOP is essentially a "thinking" party, and the Democratic Party is essentially a "feeling" party. Now don't get me wrong: I don't imply that Republicans don't feel, or Democrats don't think. I mean it in the sense of the thinking/feeling distinction made for purposesStevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-939586812003-05-07T17:26:00.000-07:002003-05-07T17:26:50.923-07:00I'm back!
So, where were we?
I'm excited to see my videotaped copy of the C-Span discussion of a new biography of Shelby Foote by a guy named Stuart Chapman, who happens to be a good buddy of mine.Stevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-932063192003-04-24T16:20:00.000-07:002003-04-24T16:20:11.330-07:00What I heard
I'm a little embarrassed that I reviewed What I Loved (on this blog, on April 15) at face value, without knowing about all the gossip of how the book is a little too autobiographical.Stevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-931937812003-04-24T12:14:00.000-07:002003-04-24T12:31:37.000-07:00Driving advice
Soon, I will depart a certain large eastern city for the sunnier skies and friendlier temperaments of the Deep South. (What constitutes "friendliness" may be a matter of debate, but I mean it in the sense of random person-on-the-street: do people smile? do they blare their car horns at you? do they make some effort at civility with strangers?) I would like to send a letter toStevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-931928302003-04-24T11:55:00.000-07:002003-04-24T11:57:03.000-07:00No book reviews yet
I've promised to review every book I read. The problem is that I don't finish books if I don't like them. Whenever I get around to posting a full review, it will be skewed toward the generous, which doesn't seem very critic-like. In an effort to prove that I'm not just a softy who likes everything I read, here are very concise reasons for not finishing the following books:Stevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-931923332003-04-24T11:46:00.000-07:002003-04-24T11:46:16.116-07:00As far as I know, this is not a feature from The Onion
How can something be boring, fascinating, and banal, all at the same time? See here.Stevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-928567732003-04-18T13:58:00.000-07:002003-04-18T16:24:59.000-07:00Heaven revisited
On April 1 I mentioned a Lenten discussion at my church of The Lovely Bones. The discussion focused on our image of heaven -- that of renowned theologians through the ages, as well as ours today. My blog tut-tutted the whole topic on the theory that focusing on self-salvation rather misses the point. I'm not prepared to take that back -- not completely.
The following week, Stevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-928391022003-04-18T07:51:00.000-07:002003-04-18T07:53:50.000-07:00Viewing for very young Republicans
My son has been watching the old animated Disney version of Robin Hood. It has a very strong anti-taxation theme, something any good little Republican should love. Although there is a lot of hostility toward the rich, which could be confusing.Stevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-928023712003-04-17T15:01:00.000-07:002003-04-17T16:20:24.000-07:00You had to be there
Why does the New Yorker present its nonfiction in this intimate, first-person perspective? I'm not a long-time reader, so for all I know, the main answer is that it's how it was done in 1925 and ever since. (Can anybody confirm that?)
I have no background in essay-writing or journalism, but I seem to remember being drilled in high school to write in a third-person style, Stevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-927889222003-04-17T10:30:00.000-07:002003-04-17T10:30:27.123-07:00Seen today
A vanity tag on a Rolls-Royce that read: "OTHR CAR"Stevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-926550622003-04-15T08:33:00.000-07:002003-04-15T08:37:06.000-07:00How to pronounce the hippest discount store?
So, if we hate the French, I think we should stop saying "Target" with the French accent.
Suggested new pronunciation: tar-GAY-tow, in honor of Spanish President Aznar, more colorfully depicted (for you Spanish-speaking types) here. Stevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-926504192003-04-15T07:14:00.000-07:002003-04-15T08:22:00.000-07:00What I loved
I've decided to blog on any book that interests me enough to read to the end. I think of it as the first draft of a book review that might actually make sense if I took the time to flesh it out.
The latest: What I Loved, a novel by Siri Hustvedt.
A Columbia art history professor, the narrator, meets and befriends an artist, Bill Wechsler, in the Bowery section of New York in theStevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-924334672003-04-11T08:46:00.000-07:002003-04-11T09:24:32.000-07:00Glad for success, but no apology either
I did not favor going into the war. That raises the question of how to approach the war's end. If it continues to go as well as the past couple of days, do you admit that you were wrong in opposing it?
No. It wasn't wrong to oppose the war. I'm probably not as strident in my opposition as this guy, but if I could turn back the clock, knowing what I Stevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-923596852003-04-10T07:01:00.000-07:002003-04-10T07:09:39.000-07:00The Jetsons would have been much fatter.
Today the Wall Street Journal has a review of the new Segway. (Try this link. I don't know how long it will last. WSJ subscribers can find the story here.) Every story on this device is unanimous in concluding that it doesn't tip over. I'll believe it when I see it.
Assuming it maintains verticality, the device may have some real benefits, Stevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-923270422003-04-09T18:04:00.000-07:002003-04-09T18:07:53.000-07:00Upper crust, in story
What is it about the upper echelons of society that makes for great short stories?
I just picked up Manhattan Monologues by Louis Auchincloss and I'm loving it. Its characters: Upper East side blue bloods in the first half of the twentieth century. I'm only past the first story so far. It concerns a squeamish man who figuratively wrings his hands because he doesn't Stevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-922568192003-04-08T18:00:00.000-07:002003-04-08T18:09:55.000-07:00Dive from Clausen's pier
I finally read Ann Packer's first novel. My excuse is that I read almost exclusively from the library, and it took this long before I could get it there. (I don't like to put a hold on books. I like the sense of randomness that comes from picking up whatever's there. So I'll never read Bel Canto because it's still so hot. There are plenty of other fish in the sea.)
Stevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-919163332003-04-03T06:56:00.000-08:002003-04-03T06:56:47.576-08:00That word again
According to this review of the new Dave Eggers magazine, The Believer, one of the purposes of the magazine is to provide a forum for reviewing books without all the "snarkiness." For more on that word, find the March 25 blog on this site.
I'm in no position to evaluate whether The Believer is snarky, as I really don't see myself paying $8 for a magazine.Stevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-918711142003-04-02T14:24:00.000-08:002003-04-02T14:24:29.496-08:00Why not throw him in a trough and see if he drowns?
I just read that Senator Bunning of Kentucky has recommended a trial against Peter Arnett as a traitor for his comments to the Iraqi state-owned media. This is a good example of the virtue of stopping any time you're about to do something out of anger and counting to ten.
First. Is Peter Arnett even an American? He has a British accent, Stevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-917938672003-04-01T13:07:00.000-08:002003-04-01T13:19:40.000-08:00Heaven: Forget about it
I’ve been attending a Lenten discussion at my church of The Lovely Bones (which is still selling like hotcakes -- Jeez!) and our conception of heaven. So far, the discussion has tended to concentrate on how we and various theologians envision heaven.
I have attended mostly because I’m starving for any discussion of new fiction. I know hardly anybody other than myself Stevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-917845492003-04-01T10:15:00.000-08:002003-04-01T10:15:11.013-08:00Uh, thanks, I guess
So Al Gore defends the Dixie Chicks, who have suffered following the lead singer's confession of shame toward our President. (Hey, she was in Europe at the time. Who knew they'd hear about it over the ocean?)
Given the country music demographic, certain liberal enclaves notwithstanding, I can't help but question whether Al Gore's support is going to help much with the Stevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-915635762003-03-28T12:02:00.000-08:002003-03-28T12:02:15.890-08:00There goes the palindrome
Heard a moment ago: "Madam, I'm Saddam."Stevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-915514792003-03-28T07:53:00.000-08:002003-03-28T07:54:55.000-08:00Breathe easy, true patriots!
This just in: French's mustard has nothing at all to do with the French. Whew! I thought I was going to have to give it up.Stevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-915493262003-03-28T07:14:00.000-08:002003-03-28T07:22:14.000-08:00Rock on with the Amish
In part because of my brother's recent fascination with things Amish and Mormon, last night I rented "The Devil's Playground." The title comes from the Amish view of "the world," meaning everything other than primitive Amish communities. The documentary centers around "rumspringa" (which means "running around"), the time in every Amish's life when he or she is free to Stevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-914487132003-03-26T17:40:00.000-08:002003-03-26T17:40:18.780-08:00Patriotism = conformity
Everybody knows if you can't support the war, you're unpatriotic. Get with the program, or move to Canada!
Now, the important question. When faced with a traitorous dissident, one who dares voice concern or objection about the war, what's more patriotic: to attempt to run them over with your truck, or just argue with them on their own doorstep?
If, however, for Stevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-912934842003-03-24T10:52:00.000-08:002003-03-24T10:54:03.000-08:00Movie-speak
Just yesterday, as we drove by a large cemetery in a residential area with astronomic property values, I tried to quote Rodney Dangerfield along the lines of the following, in a line from Caddyshack: "Golf courses! Biggest waste of real estate ever, except for cemeteries. Nothing but dead people!"
My wife commented on the fact that I frequently quote from movies. (I don't do it Stevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-909230812003-03-18T06:19:00.000-08:002003-03-18T06:21:03.000-08:00Preemption as a new doctrine? Hardly.
Much is made of the "new" doctrine of preemption. Its current iteration has roots in the thinking of Paul Wolfowitz and others who, as relatively junior staff members under President Bush #41 during the Persian Gulf War of 1991, wanted to continue toward Baghdad and destroy the Saddam Hussein regime, despite that not being an articulated element of the Stevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-908875942003-03-17T16:30:00.000-08:002003-03-17T16:30:25.530-08:00Marriage as an answer?
A new study is reported to show a relatively weak link of "overall life satisfaction" to marriage. There's a bounce right after marriage, the proverbial honeymoon, after which people basically go back to being as optimistic or pessimistic as they were before.
This is another of those studies that "proves" what you already know. When did getting married ever solve Stevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-902100542003-03-05T17:55:00.000-08:002003-03-05T17:55:37.106-08:00Traffik
We've been preparing for a 10-day trip for the past few days, and my mind has been occupied with noncreative tedium. Sorry for the absence. I doubt I'll blog again until the 17th or so.
Here's my super-rushed thoughts for the night:
--I saw some of the pro-peace protesters today. They begged me to honk my horn in solidarity, and I did.
--Last weekend we rented Traffik, the British Stevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-899246012003-02-28T14:21:00.000-08:002003-02-28T14:24:01.000-08:00Oprah's books are back
I was excited to hear that Oprah planned to reboot her idle Book of the Month club. I'm serious about that. There's no question that her book club expanded the audience for well-written fiction. I'm not saying every one of her choices was exactly my cup of tea -- she tended to lean heavily toward "empowered woman" themes, not that there's anything wrong with that -- butStevennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3898152.post-898083062003-02-26T17:30:00.000-08:002003-02-26T17:35:06.000-08:00Footloose, revisited
Once, a long, long, time ago, I attended a high school where dancing was prohibited. Seems it was run by the Church of Christ, a bunch of fundamentalists who make Southern Baptists look like Unitarian Universalists. Anyway, there was a little movie that came out before I graduated, starring Kevin Bacon as a school-age outsider, a new kid, who instigated the local kids to Stevennoreply@blogger.com