I picked up The Year of Magical Thinking because in his answers to the 6 questions we always ask, Bill Tuomala said he would take Joan Didion out to Jax. Plus, I vaguely remembered hearing great, great things about this memoir Didion wrote following the death of her husband.
Didion’s husband, writer John Gregory Dunne died [...]
April, 2009
30
Apr 09
The year of magical thinking, not so magical
29
Apr 09
When the Tibbles are sick
“I cant watch TV,” Nolan said.
“Why not?”
“My bones aren’t strong enough.”
27
Apr 09
She totally ruined it for me
You must live in a box if you don’t know novelist J.G. Ballard died a little over a week ago. I never read anything by him and probably never will. This has nothing to do with his reputation as a writer, which from what I read is pretty good. It has a little bit to [...]
26
Apr 09
When we inevitably makeout
If you’ve ever spent any time with a girl between the ages of oh, 8 and 12, you know that one of their main reasons for existing is to apply lip gloss. They love lipgloss, it’s the G-rate cosmetic that all parents seem to deem okay. Girls will apply the lip gloss incessantly, the pinkier, [...]
22
Apr 09
The trouble with Beetles (and The Beatles)
At the age of four, Liam has decided he is not afraid of The Beatles’ Bear. The Beatles’ Bear had been living under my sink since that picture was taken in 2005. This morning when he arrived at Supergenius HQ, Liam announced he was no longer afraid of the bear and would very much like [...]
20
Apr 09
8.14 crushes a day for the past 23 years
I recently (about 16 minutes ago) claimed to have had 66,283 crushes in the past 23 years. One of my Facebook friends figured out I averaged 8.14 crushes a day. That sounded about right to me. I love quickly and ficklely. Here is a short list of thing I have crushed on thus far today:
Strawberry [...]
19
Apr 09
Fallen off the horse
Do you ever have those periods of time where you feel like the most boring person on the planet? I’ve gotten so boring I’m convinced that my brain is atrophying and now I brush my teeth with my left hand. I read somewhere that brushing your teeth with your opposite hand will help your brain [...]
16
Apr 09
Enough with Susan Boyle you awful, judgmental pricks
I’m sure by now you’ve seen the video of Susan Boyle singing some song from Les Miserables on Britain’s Got Talent. If you haven’t wait about 4 minutes someone will forward it to you, link to it, tweet about it, or post it on their Facebook profile. The video is unavoidable and every time I [...]
13
Apr 09
Positively raging Easter
I’m not sure how you spent your Easter Sunday, but I spent mine sitting on a couch with my nephew Max singing along loudly to The Hold Steady’s new live album, A Positive Rage. We did this mostly to annoy Sister #2 because she hadn’t yet received her copy. She deserved it since she banned [...]
12
Apr 09
Ramona really was a pest, on first literary love
Most bookish women I know lay alms at the altar of Judy Blume, with good reason. I too love Judy. I learned a lot from her, and as everyone knows I am more prone to quote Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing than any poem.
But Judy was not my first love. My first real book [...]
11
Apr 09
When Hank gets to the point he’s really cooking
Hank Meyerson is that friend who takes a really, really long time to tell a story. Sure once you reach the end where the awesome is you’ve kind of forgiven him for taking the slow, meandering route, but still . . .
In Scott Muskin’s novel The Annunciations of Hank Meyerson, Mama’s Boy and Scholar, [...]
9
Apr 09
Political differences as narrated by a Tibble
“That car is so cool,” Nolan said as we were venturing home from the SuperT. We had just pulled up behind a car with a bunch of bumper stickers.
“No it’s not,” I said.
“Why not?”
“He doesn’t like Obama.” The car was owned by a very red Republican and was the first time I’d ever noticed an [...]
8
Apr 09
Superman comics make me cry
Superman is the Rodney Dangerfield of superheroes. He gets no respect. People claim he’s boring because he has all the powers. It’s the one chink in his invincibility. But people are wrong, and All-Star Superman Volumes 1 & 2 proves that.
Writer Grant Morrison, artist Frank Quitely, and inker Jamie Grant have taken what we think [...]
6
Apr 09
Not so momentous
After something like wearing it for thirteen or fourteen years, I took my nosering out. I’m not exactly sure why, which is fitting because I’m not exactly sure why I got it pierced in the first place. I remember taking a shower one morning when I was twenty-three (or four) and deciding that day would [...]
