Last night between making Ethan Canin nervous and telling him not to make a shitty Web site, we talked a bit about blogging and I Will Dare.
“How long have you been writing it?” he asked.
“It will be eight years tomorrow,” I said.
He leaned back in his chair and squinted at me, making my knees [...]

1. Ethan Canin told me I was making him nervous. I wasn’t even doing anything creepy. All I did was introduce myself and told him that the e-mail he sent me about my post on America, America made my summer. “Now I’m nervous,” he said. He was so nervous, in fact, that he misspelled a [...]

If y’all aren’t busy, you should go listen to Ethan Canin read at Magers & Quinn tonight. It’s not often that we get to be in the presence of greatness.

My favorite part is when Liam turns to tell me that Prince plays the guitar.

Spoon: Rocks Off (Rolling Stones | You Ain’t No Picasso
(tags: spoon music rollingstones hellyes)

I have all five kids here today. It’s only 8:30 and I’m already ready for a nap. They are destroying my house and in the process making houses for their pet rocks. Nolan will only let us listen to Guided by Voices. It’s too hot to go the park so I feel a little trapped. [...]

Minnesota women hit hard by slowing economy and subprime crisis – Minnesota Independent: News. Politics. Media.
yet another reason why being a single woman is hard as hell
(tags: minnpost women realestate economickickintheteeth)

Book review: So young and full of promise
The strib is not as big of fan of America America as I was
(tags: books ethancanin strib)

Jaycie made pet rocks for everyone. Mine is Spike, the orange rock on the right with the blue leash. She came with a nifty birth certificate listing her likes and dislikes. I loved her immediately and planned to spend a lot of quality time with her.
However a nefarious rocknapper had other plans for Spike.

Max rocknapped [...]

twitter updates i’d have composed between 1990-1994 if only the technology existed | blah blah blah-ler
(tags: blahblahblahler hilarious mnblogs)

The house is lit only by the Sex in the City rerun on TV and Jed’s screen. I am sitting here in pink-striped underpants and a black t-shirt, alone. The fan is blowing on my legs and I can smell the bonfire burning at the neighbor’s place. This is heaven.

Dysfunctional family drama. Never have I been so thankful that my sisters and I diffuse our tense squabbles with passive-aggressive sarcasm. I like that much better than whispered snark.
Potato salad. I love potato salad like Peter Hatcher loves fruit punch. Much like Peter in Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, I am pretty sure that [...]

Catching up on more episodes of Dawson’s Creek than I am comfortable admitting to you.
Finding the perfect calendar for the new Web site.
Picnic-style family get-togethers located north of 394. Three weeks of extended family in a row is more than enough for everyone.
Passive-aggressive blogging in all its forms. My new policy is not to respond [...]

Last night I had a creative breakthrough on a Web site I’ve been working on and pondering for, oh, I don’t know eleventy billion months. This is the kind of project that I’ve told only a very few people about and each one has responded with much enthusiasm. I’m excited about it, though heaven knows [...]

Here’s the thing with Thursdays, I often think they are Fridays. This is why my garbage bin is currently heaped to overflowing and the recycle bin runneth over. This is why I am sitting in my pajamas at nearly 1 p.m. This is why I often never really know what day it is. It’s because [...]