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Unknown but brilliant

I found this post-it note on my desk today.  I have no idea which student wrote it, but he or she is clearly brilliant.

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Shortcomings and Flaws: 2016

Years ago a reader accused me of being materialistic after I wrote about my lack of a favorite number, specifically criticizing me for saying that when it comes to my salary, my favorite number is the largest number possible. After refuting the charges of materialism, I acknowledged that I had plenty of other shortcomings and…

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I broke into the Brooklyn Navy Yard and committed a crime (I think)

I went to Brooklyn at the end of August to record a podcast at Slate.  Slate moved its offices from a fairly convenient location in Manhattan to a terribly inconvenient location in Brooklyn that I had been to only once before. So I plugged “Slate Magazine” into the Waze app on my phone and was…

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The bravest

One of the most quoted lines from Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend is this: “You have to be the bravest person in the world to go out every day, being yourself when no one likes who you are.”  I’m so glad that so many readers have become attached to this sentences, because it is one…

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Book Club Adventures on Planes and Trains and Automobiles (sort of)

Since I published my first novel in 2009, I have attended well over 100 book club meetings both in person and over Skype with people from all over the world who have read my books. While I love speaking in book stores and libraries whenever given the opportunity, it’s always a special honor to be…

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I think my wife is hitting on me.

Elysha’s no dummy. If she’s trying to woo me, she knows exactly how to do it. Nothing is sexier than finding Organizing magazine on the kitchen counter. I left her a note.

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I know way too much about boll weevils

My daughter, Clara, age seven, at 6:40 AM: “Dad, I want to know what a boll weevil is. It’s a beetle. I know that, but I want to know more. I want to know if it’s an invasive species, because I’m guessing that farmers do not like the boll weevil, and I want to know…

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Preschool is destined to disappoint my son.

Charlie made his first preschool visit yesterday. As we ate breakfast, he asked me to come to school with him When I told him I had to go to work, he said, “I’m so sorry that you have to work, and I’m so sad you can’t come. I want you to come. I will miss…

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“Baked in a buttery, flaky crust”

While recording a commercial for chicken pot pie at Dysart’s Restaurant, this man ran into an especially tricky line of dialogue. This made me laugh so hard. Hopefully you enjoy a similar chuckle.   

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