Quick Doctor Trip

My trip to the doctor was so fast. I got called back before my appointment time and, whoosh, got through everything. Anyway, except for all the things that are ongoingly wrong with me, I’m in great shape. So, that’s good. I got my flu shot, too, so hopefully, I will be well all winter.

It’s the New Style

Oh, I meant to tell you guys that I saw the damnedest thing the week before last. Twice, I was sitting at a red light behind someone and they just… went. The light was red. It was still red when I rolled up to the intersection and it didn’t seem like the cross lights had [...]

Argh! I am So Done with You, Cold!

I am at the tail end, where it’s just snot and mild discomfort, but it’s so annoying. I have to go to the doctor today anyway, and they’re all like “You have to fast.” Oh, great. I will be so loopy it won’t even be funny by the time I get over there. But these [...]

Chapter 1 Draft 1 is Done

It clocks in at almost 9,000 words. It centers around a wrestling match and it gets a little strange towards the end. I’m going to have to write some more before I know if it’s an indication that the book is about to go a little strange or what. I’m getting ready to start the [...]

A Brief Bit of Clarification

I’m not taking Woods’s place. I don’t want to take Woods’ place and I can’t take Woods’ place. My role has always been armchair analyst and that’s not going to change. If it seems like I’ve stepped up over at Pith, that’s only temporary until they figure out what they’re doing, because I’m a sentimental [...]

In Which I Save University Press Publishing and Thus the World!

I have a feeling I may have already blogged about my plan for saving the University Press, but I’m in no mood to go look for it. In short, these are the issues facing University Presses–their main customer, libraries, would prefer to not pay for books or, barring that, to pay much less for books [...]

I Think I Have the Second-Best Mashed Potatoes in Nashville

Sure, I, like the Farmhouse at Fontanel and Star Cafe, cannot compete with Southern Bred, but Southern Bred did not leave a small mashed potato patty in my fridge for me to eat just now. Yum. The secret? A shit-ton of real butter. It’s okay. It’s just once a year (unless I do it again [...]

Because What Says ‘Christmas’ Better than a Blow-Up Penguin?

For reasons I don’t entirely understand, my Dad decided to decorate my house for Christmas–with lights and a blow-up penguin that rises out of an igloo, which is on some kind of timer so that it inflates and lights up at night, but which is so poorly lit it must appear to my neighbors like [...]

Still Sick

The main drawback to being sick? Apparently my parents decorated the front of my house complete with some kind of inflatable penguin. Um… I’m almost glad I can’t get off the couch to verify.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We’re about an hour and a half away from dinner. Everything is done or just needs to be put in the oven, except the potatoes. My brother and I are sick and the Butcher claims he’s not sick but he’s acting like it. But… Because everyone is feeling crappy, which in our family means that [...]

Mysterious Old Jefferson

The Butcher and I went out to look for Old Jefferson, now that we know where it was, and let me tell you, it’s kind of weird. The whole area is marked like every three feet “No tresspassing,” “Do not enter.” and there’s really nothing to enter. You’d have to do it on foot if [...]

Mt. Olive, Clarksville

Mrs. Wigglebottom and I went to Mt. Olive Cemetery in Clarksville. Mrs. Wigglebottom had to stay in the car because the neighbors’ Doberman was out and unhappy about our arrival.  It was beautiful and they’re doing great work to preserve it. It’s weird, though–the trees. Right? You know those folks were buried in pine boxes. [...]

Advice, Gardeners of Tennessee?

So, as long-time readers know, I have been kind of mulling over this whole “heirloom apple” thing. I love the idea of giving space to old strains of apples to help preserve them. And we have the space. The Butcher and I talked about this some at lunch and he’s thinking they’d be an interesting [...]

New Book Things

So, I was telling the Butcher about my new book, which is about a minister’s daughter who turns into a flock of birds. And I was explaining to him about how I want to end it–with the flock of birds pooping on a Methodist congregation. Now, I have mentioned that I’m considering ending the book [...]

Grief is a Funny Thing

I was sweeping my bedroom when I found an enormous, I’m talking embarrassingly large, wad of cat hair under the bed. And I was sweeping it into the dust pan, getting ready to dump it into the garbage, when I realized–this is the last of Stella. The last of her I will ever touch. And [...]

Parks

Things I Think When Walking Into Jersey Mike’s

So, when I’m walking into Jersey Mike’s in my Tiny Cat Pants t-shirt and my overalls, having not showered since some time yesterday and a man in his business clothes I don’t know says “I like your blog,” my very first thought is “Oh my god, I hope he can’t smell me,” and my second [...]

Why I’m Not Worried About the Butcher Taking Over the World Any Time Soon

Last night he gave me a list of things that have to be done today: 1. Grocery shopping 2. House cleaning, including massive bathroom scrubbing 3. Garage cleaning And so I dutifully rolled out of bed and got up and started my day at a normal time. Guess who is still in there snoring away? [...]

My Dog Turns Back to Smile at Me

This morning, we went to Bells Bend Park and walked down to the river. We walked through a baby forest, trees just pushing above the scrub that has accumulated in the six months since the trees have been planted. The river was moving today and the last of the frogs were croaking in the low [...]

Palin and HarperCollins v. Gawker

I don’t like Sarah Palin. I come from small towns and I recognize her as the kind of person whose radar you’d just want to stay off of. That being said, it seems like there’s this effort to… I don’t know… we need a word for this… but cause a kind of wave of sentiment [...]

Henry Granju Case Update

It’s taken a turn for the macabre and, I must say, it screams cover-up to me. When you’ve made a point of telling a newspaper’s readership all about the state of a kid’s brain, it raises an eyebrow that said brain comes up missing, you know?

But What If I Were a Know-It-All Witch? Hmm.

Mary came over to my house a while ago for what I thought was the second time, but turns out it was the first. That’s one thing I like about this house–it always feels to me like people have already been here. Anyway, I was showing her around and she asked, “Are you a witch?” [...]

I Was Going to Do Something With My Day

But I revised my to-do list down to: 1. Send unsolicited weird text about booger-eating to the Professor 2. Wash bedding 3. Read book 4. Have fire I just feel bad for the dog, who I’m sure was hoping for a trip to the park. Here’s a cool post about writing from Susie Bright.

Live-blogging a Mystery

So, here’s the deal. It’s not a very exciting deal, but it is amusing to me. Last night the Butcher comes in and says “Oh, the light is off.” Now, I didn’t think anything of it. Who even knows what fucking light is off, right? He’s in the kitchen. I’m half asleep in the living [...]

My Lump is Just a Lump!

I just got back from the endocrinologist. I made him feel my lump and he said it felt like just a lump to him, a… something. Nothing to worry about. So, whew. My rash has, of course, become less itchy on the ride home.