I recently discovered that some smarty-pants put a reply comment on a book review that I posted at Amazon. Actually, he wasn’t so much a smarty-pants as a stuck-up out-of-state relative of the person who wrote the book I reviewed. Had to be a relative because no one but a relative or a grad student would have bought Ella Marie Rast’s “The Whole Dam Story: The Drowning and Rising of a River City in the West.”
Archive for the ‘Commentary’ Category
The Soul of Sarcasm
Friday, July 16th, 2010How to Ruin a Persuasive Argument
Thursday, July 15th, 2010I ran across someone’s supposedly persuasive list of 11 reasons not to consume dairy products. You’ll find the link below, if you want to check it out yourself, but, forgive me if wax sarcastic first.
Misinterpreting the 21st Century
Wednesday, July 14th, 2010I’m afraid my readership isn’t going to be broad enough to solve this problem, but I’m still going to try. People… spread the word. It’s the 21st century. It really is. But lately when I’ve gone out in public I’ve encountered compelling evidence to suggest that not everyone’s taken a close look at their calendar.
If you were a Podcaster….
Wednesday, June 30th, 2010I’m not laboring under the delusion that the people who produce podcasts are reading my blog… but if they were, if they ever had occassion to stop by, I have some advice for them. (Just in case. It’s not, mathematically speaking, impossible that a podcaster could happen upon this blog….) Here goes:
It’s a Big Enough Umbrella… but…
Monday, May 10th, 2010I looked forward to seeing Sting for a long, long time before I finally got the chance to attend a concert. I managed to catch a show during his 2005 Broken Music tour (the tour shared the name of his autobiography, which, I’ll add, made for pretty good reading). I still have the t-shirt, and remember the concert as one of the very best I’ve ever been to. He’s on tour this summer - https://tickets.sting.com/ - and I had designs on going… but here unfolds a tale, simple, subtle… and steeped in disillusionment.
Another Key for my Collection
Wednesday, April 14th, 2010Yes, today’s title was lifted from a Police song (‘Man in a Suitcase’ for anyone who didn’t recognize it) and, yes, I know hotels hardly issue real keys anymore. (The opening lyric was too long to use as a title: I’d invite you back to my place, but it’s only mine because it holds my suitcase.) I, who so recently groused about not getting to go on a vacation, just returned from one. And while I could wax eloquent about coastal cities and America’s favorite passtime, I find myself instead reflecting on the more mundane side of travel: hotels.
Kinship & Isolation
Tuesday, April 6th, 2010Unless we’re speaking in the broadest possible terms, I’m usually in the minority – at least, in my present surroundings and in today’s polarized social/political climate. My opinions are generally so poorly recieved that I’m obliged to keep them to myself. (In broad terms, such as “I’m against violent crime” or “I’m in favor of keeping the orphanage open” I find plenty of common ground with other people, but on most other issues I stand rather alone and - except on the rare occassion I feel like starting a fight – I stand rather silent.) I’m not saying everyone should agree all the time, or that I have anything against where I’ve chosen to live, I’m just saying sometimes it’s lonesome. (But there’s a lot more to it than that.)
Dog days, and Summer
Friday, April 2nd, 2010It’s been the worst March weather I’ve ever seen in April, and after dredging the winter wool coat back out of the closet, I started daydreaming about summer. And then I wished I hadn’t.
to…. Professionalism!
Sunday, July 25th, 2010The graduate-school laurels I’ve been resting on have finally lost their novelty. (Although, I actually wrote that sentence and then remembered I’d just finished a six-month research gig.) Well, the comfort of those laurels diminished even faster. I’ve launched a fresh batch of research and, at long last, have started scouting around for an academic publisher. What has that got to do with the price of rice on this website?….
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Tags: poisoned babies, publication, volunteers
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