Archive for 2009
Holiday treat
Praise from Jim Higgins of the Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel, who includes Something Missing in his Ten Books You Will Just Simply Enjoy.
Read MoreBad book covers
Joe Queenan recently wrote an essay in the Sunday Book Review about how bad book covers can influence his reading choices. I feel his pain. Bad book covers have kept me from reading some books for years. The best example of a bad book cover (and a bad title) preventing me from reading the book…
Read MoreChallenging literary analysis
Tonight, I was reading Eric Carle’s The Very Lonely Firefly to my daughter. Though I like the book a lot, I apparently never fully understood the story. As the firefly makes its way around town, people pop their heads out of windows and doors, wondering about the origins of all the apparent noise going on…
Read MoreA likely excuse
Honesty gets you nowhere
I must have been living in a cave four years ago when Ayelet Waldman published this piece in which she says she loves her husband more than her children. In talking about it now with friends, it seems everyone was aware of it then. Except me. Of course, in reading about the history of the…
Read MoreBest response ever
New name. New design. Same writer.
In case you haven’t noticed, the masthead of this blog changed today. The original masthead, designed by my wife, reflected the blog’s previous URL. That address, matthewdicks.com, is now the location of my new author’s website. This new masthead, also designed by my wife, reflects my new name for the blog, Grin and Bare It.…
Read MoreJudging people based upon viewing choices
It might not be nice, but I often judge people by the television shows they watch while exercising at the gym. Each machine has its own TV, and I find people’s programming choices utterly fascinating. Not only are these people watching these programs, but they are also willing to let everyone in the gym know…
Read MoreRock opera update
Last night, my friend Andy and I had our first reading (and listening) of the rock opera we have been working on for several months. A group of friends gathered around my dining room table, gobbled pizza, drank beer, and read the parts assigned to them for the evening. It was a lot of fun.…
Read MoreHanderpants!
Katherine from Bunch of Grapes Bookstore recently made me aware of the fabulousness of Handerpants. I know. Handerpants are nothing new. I have a friend who wears a version of handerpants regularly (much to the amusement of her husband), but I always admire a company that can take a simple, well-worn idea and repackages it…
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