Watching TV with My Back to It
Since the election, the wall monitors at my local Anytime Fitness are set to Fox News. It’s like North Korea, where there’s just the one channel.
Paul’s Book Reviews
“like many families, everyone wandered around like children in a funhouse—they could hardly see one another around the corners, and what they could see was completely distorted.” – James Hannaham, “Delicious Foods” Delicious Foods James Hannaham Seems like everyone wants to talk about the most interesting character in the book: Scotty, the personified voice […]
Tuesday Bag o’ Expectations
If anyone deserved to moderate a Trump-Clinton debate, it would have been Megyn Kelly. That was never going to happen, but Hillary made sure Megyn was there in spirit when she brought up Donald’s history of saying horrible things about women, specifically mentioning the Hispanic Miss Universe winner Trump later called “Miss Piggy” and “Miss Housekeeping.” I can picture Megyn grinning from ear to ear over that.
Celebrity Gets Tongue-Bath, Big Surprise
I watched NBC’s Commander in Chief Forum last night. It was even worse than I expected: Matt Lauer treated Clinton like a hostile witness, Trump like a celebrity. I guess that’s what they mean when they say the media grades Trump on the curve: celebrities aren’t expected to know much, and it’s somehow unfair to call them out the same […]
Paul’s Book Reviews: Memoir, Essays, Fiction
“Rivers perhaps are the only physical features of the world that are at their best from the air. Mountain ranges, no longer seen in profile, dwarf to anthills; seas lose their horizons; lakes have no longer depth but look like bright pennies on the earth’s surface; forests become a thin impermanent film, a moss on […]
Saturday Bag o’ You-Know-What
This election. Someone observed it’s like unexpected guests drop by after work and you’re discussing dinner options. Some want to call for pizza, some want to kill and eat the others. Even if pizza wins, there’s a problem.
Hello Roadblock, My Old Friend
Donna asked today how The Book’s coming along. She prods me every couple of weeks, usually when I’m in the middle of a blog post. She thinks blogging is at worst a waste of time, at best a way to put off serious writing. I admit that when I started blogging I hoped my talent would […]
You Can’t Read That! Banned Book Review Lookback: A Wrinkle in Time
You Can’t Read That! is a periodic post featuring banned book reviews and news roundups. YCRT! News Roundup This is an interesting exchange: Elementary school librarian to author: It’s not that I don’t think heroin addiction is extremely important. Our community has faced its share of heartbreaking stories in regards to drug abuse but fourth […]