Monthly Archives: February 2009
Dickens or disease?
Some plants that sound like diseases or Dickensian characters: Farkleberry (Dickens) Pussytoes (disease) Bloodroot (Dickens) Toothwort (disease) Dodder (Dickens) Dutchman’s-breeches (disease) Nipplewort (Dickens) Sneezeweed (disease) Seabious (Dickens) Sulphur tuft (disease) Bearberry (Dickens) Black meddick (disease) Rosy Pussytoes.
Equation
Champagne + fairy tales + fitting into a princess dress I thought I had outgrown = gleeful spinning. More Finer Things Club.
Traveler returns
When I first saw Truly Madly Deeply, I thought Anthony Minghella (one of my favorite directors, now dead, along with my favorite singer and one of my favorite authors, you have to wonder why I bother having favorites at all anymore) was trying to say that the dead return to life all the time. It’s … Continue reading
Valentine: A Retrospective
We all agree: boys have a hard time figuring out what to get their girlfriends for Valentine’s Day. And girlfriends everywhere are baffled by this. Guys, it’s so easy. If it’s pretty, soft, fragrant, tasty, expensive, sexy or shiny, it’s good. If it’s something you would get your dad, it’s bad. Girls, it’s so easy. … Continue reading
Like a simile
The champagne experiment was a success. Get your inner critic a little drunk and he rolls over like a big dumb dog. I’ve recently realized that “like a big dumb dog” is my favorite simile. I use it all the time. When abroad: “You can tell Californians from other Americans. A Californian is like a … Continue reading
Why not me
You spend seven days working on your paying jobs and when you return to the book your inner critic has used seven days to rejuvenate and is up and running like a Yamaha. How to shut him up? Might a mimosa help? Many great authors were drunks why not me. Sorry Gene I drank the … Continue reading
13
It is Friday the 13th. Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day. I foresee a lot of last-minute plans having unlucky results.
Ice Beetles
For unimportant reasons, I spent a little time considering ice beetles today. Now, on the one hand, nobody cares about ice beetles. On the other hand, I do think that any uninteresting thing sounds much more interesting if you add a climatic phenomenon to it. Consider: Hurricane lamps Lava lamps Snow shoes Storm drains Sun … Continue reading
Adam has a conversation with a stranger in Vegas
“Okay, we’ve been watching you, and I had to come over and ask: one guy and seven girls. How are you doing that? I mean, I’m here with my bachelor party. What is this?” “My bachelor party.” “…” [To his friends] “You guys suck.”
Vegas
In Vegas, beauty equals currency. Beautiful women jump to the front of the lines. Men buy them drinks. They don’t pay the cover charge. As an ordinary woman, you start to think in terms of big changes to be made, weight to lose and hair products to buy. You too want to be first in … Continue reading