Saying that I really, really loved Lydia Millet’s My Happy Life makes me feel a little bit creepy. There isn’t much happy in the life of our unnamed narrator who talks about her life while being locked up in an asylum that has apparently been abandoned. Unnamed Narrator has not had it easy. She was [...]
Here’s a little tip for all you parents and babysitters out there. If a five year old has a cold and is kind of cranky inventing and then performing a song and dance that includes the lyrics, “I’m Dr. Crankenstein yes, I am. Cranky, cranky, cranky is the only way to be. Crabby, crabby, crabby [...]
“The deaths of others carry us off bit by bit, until there will be nothing left; and this too will be, in a way, a mercy.” -John Updike. The Vodo posted that quote on Facebook today. It’s pretty awesome and I wish I had found it first. Damn. It also makes me wish that I [...]
I have a story that features Bruce Springsteen as a character. The story has been kinda bugging me lately, which means that it’s time to re-write it. That’s how I know when it’s time, the characters or the plot or something in the story start to worry the edges of mind. The story was inspired [...]
Whenever I have the kind of weekend that I’ve just had I sit in my La-Z-Grrl on Sunday night, sigh, and think, “and the tree was happy.” I don’t particularly like The Giving Tree because it’s sexist, but I do so love the line. I often think of myself as a tree. Which always seems [...]
There was a point in Y the Last Man: Whys and Wherefores where I knew what was going to happen and much like Grover in the The Monster at the End of this Book, I just decided I wasn’t going to turn the page. If I didn’t turn the page the bad thing that I [...]
As someone who spends most of her time reading (and writing) literary fiction, I have a hard time writing about graphic novels. I am unsure of what metrics to use to measure their success or failure, and spend a lot of time trying to determine what those might. Just when I get myself worked up [...]
We have reached the point in the winter where I don’t want to deal with anyone. Going to work is just about all the socializing I can handle. After work all I want to do is come home, slide into something flannel, and read a book. Occasionally, I will shake things up by playing WordTwist [...]
One of my goals at work is to comment more on blogs. It’s tough. I am not a commenter. I try, and often fail miserably. I get so far as to actually typing in the entire comment and then at the last minute I delete it all and move on. I will agonize over the [...]
“ On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn-out dogmas that for far too long have strangled our politics. We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come [...]
Sometimes I like to test to see if I’ve developed telekinesis yet (because it’s only a matter of time) by chanting Pixies, Pixies, Pixies in my head while pressing shuffle on Evangeline (my iPod). Usually, I give the shuffle at least 15 or 20 chances in case my powers come in weak. So far no [...]
My weekend was consumed by three things: redesigning MN Reads, Rock & Roll Bookclub, and reading. It was all the things I love most in the world combined into one weekend, well except for the monkey sex with Matt Dillon. But you can’t always get every single thing you want, right? The great thing about [...]
It was the spring of 1994. I’m pretty sure it was Jan Larson’s Magazine class (I can’t remember if it was editing or writing or just magazines in general). It might have been advanced reporting. There were a dozen or so of us seated around a large wooden table and Ms. Larson was trying to [...]
I blog a lot. I read blogs all day. I’ve been blogging a long, long time (8.5 years). My actual job title? Blogger. I know that of which I speak. So take this advice to heart. Here are my tips on how to succeed at blogging without really trying: First of all you have to [...]
“Here, eat this marshmallow.” He plucked a tiny one from his s’more granola bar. “No, s’mores are grody,” I said. “S’mores are not grody.” “Yes they are.” “THEY ARE NOT GRODY!” “Yes.” “Hey,” he said, pointing to the screensaver on my work computer. “What does that say?” “S’mores are grody.” Sometimes it pays to be [...]
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