Friday Fun: The 5 Rules of Book Reviews
Authors and publishers, in my opinion, spend way too much time sucking up to literary critics, which is why I decided to become a book reviewer.
Of course, no critic actually deserves the respect he gets (myself included), not for his opinion in any case. And I dare say, publishers wouldn’t give critics the time of [...]
Friday Fun: Links across the Web
Today, I had planned to publish a piece making fun of book reviewers and literary critics. Because in my opinion, publishers spend way too much time sucking up to them, which is why I decided to become a book reviewer. Unfortunately, I was unable to make fun of them without sounding bitter at them, which [...]
Friday Fun: SUCCESS! And More of It!
(Adapted from “The Fallacy of Success” by G.K. Chesterton.)
One of the most pressing issues of the members of today’s generation is what they should do with their lives. In generations of old, social and family pressures kept people in line. You took up the same occupation as your father before you, or else you’d become [...]
Jojo’s Sunning Himself under the Waterfall
Just a quick video post today… This was too cute.
We have a fresh-water turtle, a red-eared slider, which we’ve raised from a tiny baby. Back then, he lived in a small tank, about the size of a fishbowl. Now, he’s outgrowing his grown-up-sized tank, and we’re thinking he may need an even bigger one.
As he [...]
Friday Fun: Revising Your Novel
As a writer, I often get asked, how do you revise a novel? Actually, I don’t get asked that. Someone does often ask me what word he wanted to use, as though I as a writer should have a command of words. (I don’t. But that’s a different post.) Of course, if I knew what [...]
You Too Could Save $00** Using a Service You Already Have!
We got a wonderfully funny letter from Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Massachusetts today, partially reproduced here (click to enlarge):
The letter goes on to explain that certain of our prescriptions, we could get them home delivered for $00 less than what we pay to pick them up! How cool is that! The flip-side lists the prescriptions, [...]
Friday Fun: Driving in Boston 2
(This is part 2 of a roast of the Boston driver. Click here for part 1.)
The situation is exacerbated at rotaries. For those of you who may not be familiar with the Boston rotary, it is a complex, multilateral intersecting way, with no stop signs, at which everyone goes at the same time, and the [...]
Friday Fun: Driving in Boston
Nothing requires so keen a notice, so focused a concentration, so large and intimidating a vehicle, as does driving in Boston.
When we first moved to Boston from western Pennsylvania, we were both intrigued and horrified to see public roadways under construction, with potholes dug the size of the Great Lakes and manhole covers raised as [...]
Friday Fun: What’s in a Cat?
Proof that God has a sense of humor is that he created cats.
We share our apartment with a sleek, black cat, whom we call “Tessie,” a high-strung Burmese (or something thereabouts). I call her my Spooky Cat, because she has always been terrified of any living creature, and a few dead ones.
When we went to [...]
Friday Fun: A Well-Run Household
Today, I have a guest post from humorist Kevin Cummings, who graciously is allowing me to poke, stab, put him under a microscope, and otherwise enhance his discomfort in an upcoming interview at bethestory.com, all to promote his new book, Happily Domesticated.
(So you can see what he gets out of it. The pleasure I get [...]