I Would Like to Punch My Bookshelves

I tried to strike a deal with the dog that she would just bite whosoever looks at the bookshelves too closely once they’re in the house but she’s all “Biting? But you can’t get belly rubs from people you bite!” Which just goes to show Mrs. Wigglebottom’s sore lack of knowledge of fetish communities. I [...]

Vegetable Oil

So, tonight, as I was stuck to a carton of Chinese food, I thought, this is a reason why I am not married. But when the Butcher said “Vegetable oil will unstick you,” and it did, I thought, how is this man not married? How many things do you know that can unstick you once [...]

Crowdsourcing the Ghost Stories

So, if I break the stories up into two months–April and October–do I still number the stories one through sixty one? Or do I number them like calendar dates–two sets of one through thirty/one?

I Would Go Here on Vacation

As I was staining my shelves yesterday, out in the beautiful weather, with a hummingbird flitting over to see what I was up to and butterflies all thick in the yard, dashing from flox to coneflower and back, I had this thought–that, if I didn’t live here, I would want to vacation here. Not just [...]

Tarot Card Reading

A tiny group came over to have their Tarot cards read on Saturday and Megan took these amazing photos of the evening. I’ve always wanted to live in a spooky house and I will be damned if she did not make that evening look spooky and cool. I could not be more tickled.

Two Reviews

1. Mr. Peanut by Adam Ross. I thought it was very well written, but I hated it. Sometimes things just strike me as implausible when I’m reading and I can’t get past it to enjoy the book. Like A Map of the World revolves around the conceit that a Midwestern woman with small children and [...]

4th of July Celebrations

I like Tennessee, just in general, but I respect that other people don’t. Except for today. Today I feel sorry for all y’all who are not here right now. Sure, lots of towns, including Nashville, have big fireworks displays. But I just came in from standing out in my front yard watching one neighbor four [...]

Why The Professor is One of My Favorite People

So, the Professor made an experimental cake for this party that she’s going to, one that contained balsamic strawberry puree. Oh, I know, already, you’re like, “Damn, how did that turn out? Did it taste good?” Mere seconds ago, she called me because she dropped the cake. In her gravel driveway. As you can imagine, [...]

Some Can Get Their Pictures Made; Some Can’t

I hope y’all find the last bunch of pictures, as I try to get a photo of the new kitty, as funny as I do.

I Stink

Yesterday, the dog and I went to the park. Then we went to scout a location for a photo I’d like to be on the cover of the book. Then I forget what we did. Something. Then I went to Lowe’s and got stuff to finish my bookshelves. And then the Butcher set one of [...]

High Water

You can still, after all this rain, see the floodline at Shelby Bottoms.

Get It Together, Dad!

So, my dad’s doctor thinks it might not be Bell’s Palsy but might, instead, be brought on by Lyme Disease. Well, so, that sucks.

The Tiny Cat is Trying to Do Me in

Ever since she’s retired from the CIA, the tiny cat has taken to being weird towards us. Yes, she’s retired from professional spying, but she still continues bizarro behaviors clearly designed to break me and make me confess. Sadly, I’m not sure what she wants to hear. At this point, I would tell her anything, [...]

The Old Harding Pike Horseman

“The Old Harding Pike Horseman” is the name of a story that I wrote so dull that I’m afraid if I include it in the October ghost stories, it will cause a collective nap to break out throughout the blogosphere. And I am loosely organizing the stories into two months, as I told you, with [...]

More Thoughts on the TNDP

Listen, I’m pissed because the stakes are so high. Anyone who’s paying attention to how the Democrats are engaging with the world has got to find it strange. Anyone who needs the Democrats to step up to the plate has got to be pissed. I’m sure it would be just great if all the people [...]

Brief Note to TNDP

When you go to a blog, especially when you comment, we can see where you’re commenting from. So, using a made-up name is a bit like sticking your head in the sand and assuming people can’t see you. If you don’t want people to know that you’re commenting on a site from the TNDP, I [...]

More Notes on Writing a Press Release for the TNDP

Your press release should be written so that a harried editor can, if need be, drop the thing, unchanged into his or her paper. It therefore must not only fill the basic who, what, when, where, why, and how, it must answer a basic question “why do my readers give a shit?” If your press [...]

An Interesting Thing to Note about the whole Islamic Center Story

So, Republicans wrote this bill specifically designed to protect Christians and it turns out to also allow Muslims to put a mosque right where they want in Murfreesboro, which is causing the Republicans all kinds of consternation. State Sen. Bill Ketron, R-Murfreesboro, said the Tennessee law had overwhelming bipartisan support. “It’s a pro-Christian bill,” Ketron [...]