Author Archives: didofoot
[Flies out using jetpack.]
Maybe I’m wrong about this, but I bet Joyce couldn’t have written the way that he wrote if he’d had to constantly battle Microsoft Word’s idea of what constitutes a proper sentence. I have managed to make it stop red-lining the words it thinks I’ve misspelled. (You know, those esoteric things like proper names, or … Continue reading
Chat
me: hi! Gene: hello Gene: how are you? me: ok. I have a gummy foot. Gene: ?? me: I dunno, my toenail is kind of gummy me: not like I stepped in gum me: more like I am turning into gum Gene: hm me: maybe I shouldn’t hold my foot when I chat with you. … Continue reading
“The opposite of love was always disappearance.”
Gene left for Europe today, alas. Well…actually, it’s 9:30 in the morning as I type this and he is still here, packing. But in my heart I have already said goodbye; I’m unwilling to go through all that sad leave-taking again, so as far as I’m concerned, he’s already gone. This is creating small problems … Continue reading
The move
Gene spent a lot of last night moving the CementHorizon email over to Gmail. This is a good move for a lot of reasons, but I admit it caused some problems in our house this morning. Gene: So how are you doing with the email split? Me: Huh? Gene: Because your old email is at … Continue reading
“High in a tower she sits by the hour, maintaining her hair…”
I’m halfway through my National Novel Writing Month project and I am pretty miserable about it. Naturally, I share this with you. I read a lot of reconstituted fairy tales and thought it might be fun to do a re-telling of Rapunzel. 32 pages in, I’m realizing that the reason no one ever rewrites the … Continue reading
The Private Life of Helen of Troy and other stories
I just finished another John Erskine book. As always, wonderful. I found my first Erskine at last year’s library sale. The name caught my eye because of my best friend Anais Nin, who had her first big extramarital affair with Erskine. It was $1, so I figured the Nin connection was reason enough to buy … Continue reading
My Halloween tradition
America has its scary Halloween tradition of overeating and general gluttonizing. The Castro has its scary Halloween tradition of stabbies and shooties. And now I, too, have a scary Halloween tradition of being yelled at by a terrifying Weird Sister who is just as creepy but much less coherent than the witches of Macbeth. This … Continue reading
The Mediocre American Novel
National Novel Writing Month begins next week, and I have signed up. The challenge is to write a 50,000 word novel during the month of November, beginning at midnight on November 1 and ending by midnight on November 30. You don’t get anything, except 50,000 words you’ve written; there are almost no guidelines; and if … Continue reading
Bugville
The heat wave seems to be driving more bugs into the house, maybe because I’m leaving more windows open. Just this morning, for example, I noticed a spider crawling around on the floor near my workspace and neatly trapped it under a glass for Gene to deal with when he comes home from work. Next … Continue reading
Older, if no wiser
Even though I’m choosing to be 27 for one more year, rather than turning 28, there are some undeniable signs that I’m getting older. 1. I didn’t even consider eating my leftover birthday cake for breakfast, instead fixing myself some responsible peanut butter toast. 2. I got all het up over a perceived slight and … Continue reading