Archive for May 2010
Straight-talk
I’m not a Republican, and I’m not comfortable with everything Dale Peterson says, but damn if this isn’t the best campaign commercial I’ve ever seen.
Read MoreToo much television
There are more televisions in an average US household than there are people. By 2006, Nielsen Media Research estimated that the average US household had 2.73 televisions sets. Compare that with an estimated 2.55 people living in an average household in the US. We have two televisions in our home, and thanks to the addition…
Read MoreIf you can find ten minutes, you can find the time to write
I was listening to the Barnes and Noble Meet the Author’s podcast today. Authors from across the publishing landscape discuss their latest book and their life as an author. Specifically, they speak about the books that influenced them as children and how they began their writing careers. Again and again, I listened to authors talk…
Read MoreTwelve years perhaps?
I bought some triple-A batteries today with an expiration date of 2022. At some point, doesn’t an expiration date become moot?
Read More2010: Products I can’t live without
Inspired by a list created by Kevin Rose, which was inspired by Michael Arrington’s list, I thought it would be fun to track my favorite products over time. Here is my 2010 list of products I can’t live without: Gmail Google Docs Google Calendar Mint Google Chrome iPhone 3GS Facebook Carbonite Opera Mini Digg YouTube TweetDeck GroceryIQ Lose…
Read MoreGreat moments in academia #2
I had three great academic moments in college. Last week I wrote about the first. Today I write about the second. It was my second year at Trinity College and I was taking a class centering on literature by Toni Morrison and Nadine Gordimer. Over the course of the semester, I read every book that…
Read MoreSpite and anger make it happen
In the past year, I’ve pondered launching a blog dedicated to the signs that restaurants use on their restroom doors and a blog dedicated to 101 uses for an odd decanter that I received during a Yankee swap. While I’d like to think that both will eventually happen, they have not yet materialized. Perhaps this…
Read MoreA lack of support
On a recent trip to Florida, I was visiting with some of my wife’s relatives. Over lunch and dinner, they would inquire about my book, asking questions about plot and character, until finally Elysha’s grandmother told one of these relatives to buy the book. “Don’t ask him what the book is about,” she said, irritation…
Read MoreShivering or sweaty
Have you noticed that when dressed for formal occasions, women wear less clothing than at almost any other time in their lives, despite the fact that they are always cold? And that men wear more clothing than on any other occasion, even though most of us are always a little warm? It makes no sense.…
Read MoreAmusement rides a little too realistic
In 2001, I went on vacation to Disney World. Prior to leaving, a surgeon examined my knee, which spontaneously bled from time to time since my car accident in 1988. He determined that surgery was required, but in order to avoid missing the trip, he cauterized the wound so that it wouldn’t bleed. Rather than…
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