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A bushel of book recommendations

Whenever I speak at an author event, I make a point of recommending books to the audience. The following are the books that I am recommending on my current book tour: I loved this book, and I think it is excellent for adults as well kids. It would be a challenging book for even my…

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My childhood went by undocumented

Whenever I see photographs like these, I am struck by the fact that I don’t have a single photograph of me and my father together. I know that taking photos before the age of digital photography was not as easy as it is today, and it’s true that my parents were divorced when when I…

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A peek into the inbox of an author

One of the goals of my future podcast, at least until my theoretical listeners redefine my goal through their input, will be to offer unpublished writers, readers, and even fellow authors a glimpse into the daily life of an author. It’s the kind of thing I would like to hear: Successful authors talking about their…

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Safety warnings ignored at risk to Lamby

Apparently my daughter has chosen to ignore the recent Bumbo seat safety recall. I found this in the living room today: How do I tell her that the sunglasses won’t make a damn bit of difference if Lamby falls out of that seat?

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Impromptu driving range

For someone who loves golf and entrepreneurism as much as me, I thought this was impressive: While waiting in line for a Moth StorySLAM last week in SoHo, I watched a man set up a driving range in an alley between two building. Using real golf clubs and crushed milk cartons, he charged people for…

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The lowest forms of human communication

The following are the four lowest forms of human communication, in no specific order. I’m willing to consider additions to the list, so please feel free to offer me your thoughts. 1.  The demanded apology 2.  The absence of a thank you note complaint 3.  The “I’m angry at you and will therefore write an…

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First haircut accomplished.

After allowing our daughter’s hair to grow past her waist, my wife and I decided that it was time for my daughter’s first haircut. We expected it to go poorly. Our daughter is a slow-to-warm-up child who does not embrace change and tends to avoid new experiences whenever possible. The idea that a stranger would…

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This is not supposed to be a complicated game.

My daughter doesn’t understand tag. She thinks that the person who is “It” is the one who is supposed to be chased. She points her finger at me, shouts, “You’re it!” and then waits for me to run away so she can chase me. I have tried and tried to convince her that it’s the…

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Alex Pareene’s takedown of Andy Borowitz’s humor in Salon is a joke.

Alex Pareene wrote a take down of humorist Andy Borowitz that I found so infantile that I felt obliged to write a take down of his take down here, even if it means garnering Pareene more attention than he deserves. Based upon his opening paragraph, I knew that I would despise this piece: Andy Borowitz…

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