Poor Dog!

I came home to find the dog sitting in the middle of the driveway, smiling happily at me, “Oh, you’re home, too!” she seemed to be saying. And I said, “What’s wrong with your eye, silly dog?” But she was busy saying “You’re home, you’re home! Let’s go inside!” And so I tried to look [...]

The End of the Sexy Zombie Story

It’s kind of sad. Not in a “someone dies” way, but just in a “but if you had a completely different life, you’d have a completely different life” way. I now have to go through and rework the beginning to give some foreshadowing. But I like it. It is cheesy and cliched. But for my [...]

Psalm 62

Growing up, Psalm 62 was my favorite. We, as a family, trotted out the 23rd on every occasion, much like we will break into “Amazing Grace” at any moment–a wedding, a funeral, Dairy Queen, whathaveyou. And I like the 23rd just fine. It has, of course, a certain poetry to it. But I liked the [...]

Hoverers, Let’s Strike a Deal

Raise the toilet seat. And I will not hunt you down and wipe my piss-drenched ass on you. Seriously, every time I go to the bathroom at Noshville, I end up sitting in someone’s piss. And I realize those are shitty stalls and it’s hard to line up over the toilet correctly. Shoot, that’s the [...]

Did You Know the Second Episode of True Blood is On Demand Right Now?!

I have two non-spoilery thoughts. 1. I am a slow and fat middle-aged woman. If I could turn into a panther, I believe I could easily, even as a slow and fat, middle-aged panther eat my neighbors’ goats and pigs (sorry Tucker). The analogous panther to me could still hunt. So, I am just not [...]

Historians! Help Streamline My Trip to Michigan

Oh, man, so I found this old map of Pontiac and I found Luke Phillips’s farm on it (warning PDF). So, since I’m going over there to try to look at his grave, I though, well, shoot, shouldn’t I try to scoot by the old farmstead? Like you do? But how do I find the [...]

In Which I Admit My Stupid Plan

With the blockbuster that was Easter and then the less-stressful, but still not-good-place inducing fun of Father’s Day, I’m going to Michigan in a week. To see my family. I feel anxious about it and then I feel terribly guilty that I feel anxious about it. Which, you know, fun. But I am hoping to [...]

Ooo, Stormy

We had this wildly scary storm last night. Not in a “Oh my god, I need to kick the dog out of the closet so I fit in there” way, but in a “an anthropomorphized version of the storm is going to kill you in your bed” way. Which, I realize, from the outside probably [...]

With What Gaze Do We Look at Captain Morgan?

I probably should wait to post about this until I have my thoughts organized, but I saw a shorter version, one stripped (so to speak) of any hint of girls on the ship, on TV and have just watched this one a number of times in a row and my mind is blown. I feel [...]

My Big Friend Made Small

I just got off the phone with a friend of mine who is going through a rough patch. I guess I hadn’t realized exactly how rough it’d been going for how long, but this friend is the kind of person who has big passions and throws him/herself into them with such gusto that, even if [...]

Livestreaming!

I’m about halfway through it and it is lovely. Sorry no time for something more substantial, though those of you who didn’t tell me about Charlie Bob’s are in trouble.

A Geneological Breakthrough

So, it turns out that there were two Simmons families living in Novi township. One, the family of Abigail Simmons, widow of Gamaliel Simmons is from Massachusetts (some indication it was what is now Bristol) with a generation’s stopover in upper New York. The other, the family of Amy Beal Simmons, widow of Samuel Simmons, [...]

Oh True Blood, I’m Glad You’re Back

Is it possible that they’ve managed to fix many of the weaknesses from last season? Tara might be interesting! Jessica and Hoyt seem to be having actual grown-up relationship problems? Bill has something beside whining to do?  The witches aren’t as annoying as I feared? Someone finally got rid of Jason? I admit, I squealed [...]

Gary Moore, Get a Grip on Your District!

Every once in a while, I wonder, is Tony’s Foodland really so much better than the Bordeaux Kroger for when you just need like three things? I thought that today, especially, as I drove by the Kroger four times and still went up to Joelton to Tony’s to grab my Diet Dr Pepper. But the [...]

Oh Lovely Morning

I am still soaked to the bone after running over to the neighbors’ in the middle of that downpour–thunder cracking so close overhead it sounded like I was about to be squashed by it. And who should get out of the house, right then, but Mrs. Wigglebottom, determined to go with me, wherever I was [...]

PALIMPSEST by Catherynne Valente

I’m glad I read Deathless first, because I thought it was so amazing and yet, people, if I had read it after Palmipsest I would have been sorely disappointed. Palimpsest must be the kind of book that, if you write it, you’re afraid you’re never going to write anything as good as ever again. It’s [...]

Get Them to the Church on Time!

Man, I’m getting a little misty looking at all of the pictures celebrating gay marriage in New York. What a beautiful thing, for people who love each other to have marriage open to them. I’ve been trying to guess which southern states will be the first to fall (unless we get some kind of federal [...]

The Lingering Smell of Lavender

Let’s face it. Lavender smells soapy. Whether this is because so many people put lavender in soap or people put lavender in soap because it smelled like it belonged there, I leave for science to figure out. But I cut some lavender this morning so I could dry it for the Professor, who claims she’s [...]

That Poor Author

You know, I like a good Amazon kerflufle as much as the next person, but when I read stuff like this… I mean, don’t get me wrong. I hear where that independent bookseller is coming from and I can appreciate him not wanting to give that kind of financial information or support to Amazon. But [...]

My Reading at the JCC

Just popping in to say it was excellent. Everyone was so nice and liked the stories. They had great questions, too. I wanted to read to them all afternoon, shoot, all weekend. But here’s the thing I love about Nashville. I was reading for old Jewish people and I am neither. Still, when I walked [...]

God Damn It, Adam Ross!

This made me love you a little bit: Its working title is The Tiger’s Wife’s Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Freedom. It’s a love story about wizards set in a war-torn Eastern European city beset by vampires and zombies. It takes place in the near future. The main character won’t go the f*%k to sleep but when he [...]

When Your Story of How the World Works Runs Up Against How the World Works

I’m running short on time this morning, but I wanted to say that the thing that struck me about this is how familiar it seems–from the whole “he got me drunk” to the “he cheated on me” to the “we were going to get married.” I know it’s kind of bullshit of me, but I [...]

Reading

Tomorrow at lunch I’m reading at the JCC from A City of Ghosts. I’ll admit, I’m a little nervous reading ghost stories to people who don’t believe in ghosts, but I think it will be fun anyway. I’m for sure going to read “The Nashville Tunnels” and “All the Same Old Haunts” but I’m not [...]

Just Can’t Shake this Funk

I have nothing witty to say. Just that I’m ready for this gray cloud to pass.

Those Darlins–Screws Get Loose

It took me eight million years to get around to buying this album, but I finally did and so far I’m in the solid “wow” camp. If I sound hesitant, it’s only because I looooooooooved their first album when it came out, but then realized there were only three or four songs on it I [...]