Oh, what a busy day. I’m leaving on a long trip in the morning. I’ve got lots on the plate. I’ve got to visit some loved ones this afternoon because it got postponed Sunday, which is why I was cutting the grass yesterday. I’ve filed my monthly sales tax, balanced my accounts, paid pills, caught …
Category: Life
In Search of Some Subjects
Some days are diamonds. Some days are stone. Most, though, fall somewhere in between. Yesterday, for instance. Mostly I watched the NASCAR race from Talladega, Alabama, and that was functional because it diverted my attention from an excruciating Boston Red Sox loss. I was happy that the Chicago Blackhawks won. I’m really enjoying a book …
What We Have in Common
Last night I watched an HBO documentary on the life of former Texas governor Ann Richards. Then I opened a book of Eudora Welty short stories and read “Why I Live at the P.O.”, which I’ve loved since I first read it at age fifteen or so. This morning I watched another HBO special, Billy …
Slapping the Dash*
*Don’t worry. The title just sounds dirty. You may cautiously proceed. I’m drained. I’ve been writing all day. The 24th chapter of my fourth novel – there’s a third that’s mostly completed but sitting aside for now – went down today, though I tinkered with it all weekend. The whole story is entertaining, or, …
Where’d It Go?
I was up this morning at a little past seven. I fixed breakfast. I washed dishes. I paid bills. I talked with my mother for about an hour when she came over. I wrote a while. About an hour ago, I lunched on peanut-butter crackers, mixed nuts and Diet Coke. I played my guitar for …
I Automatically Avoid the Automatic
Eighty percent of the phone calls I receive on my “land line,” as opposed to my “outer-space line,” are for no good reason. Here’s a general rule of thumb: If I need something, I must deal with a recording: If you have a billing inquiry, press 1. If you have a service issue, press …
Life by the Numbers
I’m 56. What does the number mean to me? It was the number associated with the race-car driver Jim Hurtubise, who, in addition to his occasional brilliance, was the Don Quixote of the Indianapolis 500 because, for a number of years, “Herk” tried to qualify a front-engined roadster after low-slung, rear-engined designs had come to …
No One Learns from the Learned
When did we stop believing people who know a lot? It’s everywhere. People are not dissuaded in the least to learn that 97 percent of scientists believe climate change is a major crisis. Person at the grocery store (or on Facebook): “They don’t know what they’re talking about.” Me: “How much do you know about …
Literary Chili
Sometimes, here amid life in paradise, the sparks just don’t fly. I’ve been buying time all day, and it’s just about to exceed my credit line. Yeah, that one, too, but what I’ve been doing today is little things to bide my time until that great, daily burst of creative force arrives, shaking the dishes …
Peering Past the Humdrum
I didn’t plan to be up this morning writing a blog. A car wouldn’t start across the field, so I got up at 5:30 to give my sister a ride to work. When I got back home, I realized trying to go back to sleep was futile, so I went the other way and put …
