Monthly Archives: June 2008

People v. Bandersnatch

Political life has never been short on absurdity. It doesn’t usually get quite this explicit, though. The AP reports today that the DC Circuit Court’s recent ruling on Guantanamo quoted from Lewis Carroll (he of Alice in Wonderland), who knew a thing or … Continue reading

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When the Levee Breaks

A few days ago, the Pin Oak Levee, near Winfield, MO, broke. The cause this time? Not a hurricane, sabotage, or terrorism; it was muskrats. Yes, you read correctly; a combination of rising river water and restless rodents. Not for … Continue reading

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Writing on Writing: The Web And Writing

I read two articles this week that seemed to me almost a call-and-response. The first was a piece in Slate, Lazy Eyes: How we read online, by Michael Agger. The other is What The Internet is Doing To Our Brains: … Continue reading

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Pay No Attention to That Man Behind The Curtain!

Every once in a great while someone accidentally tells the truth in Washington, and that person’s compatriots/handlers then spend the next few news cycles feverishly trying to stuff the cat back in the bag. So it’s hard to feel bad … Continue reading

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It Was the ? of Times…

I read an article recently that puts a magnifying glass up to a small chunk of the zeitgeist, wondering aloud (or on paper, at least) whether we’re living in the worst of times. Granted, these are not the best of … Continue reading

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Inspiration Index 5: Rubber Ducks

Rubber ducks are a bit like Doritos. It seems you can’t have just one. I started with a single duck some years back, and what started off as something to keep in my bathroom became a minor obsession; that duck has … Continue reading

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Writing on Writing: Discipline

Discipline is never an end itself, only a means to an end. –Robert Fripp Last week’s assignment, for those of you scoring at home, was to write three paragraphs a day, every day. Like jogging, biking, or any other kind … Continue reading

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Don’t Drink and Read: Jeff Vrabel

Sometimes you just need a good laugh. Jeff Vrabel’s blog delivers pretty reliably, though it also contains some solid music writing. The columnist’s writing is a regular fixture, apparently, at the Island Packet/McClatchy-Tribune, and crops up with groundhog-like irregularity in … Continue reading

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Orange Julius, Anyone?

It’s one thing to have a craving for something you shouldn’t have. Bad enough, for instance, when you’re trying to lose a few pounds and a craving for fetuccine Carbonara hits.* But that’s nothing next to having a craving for … Continue reading

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Review: Steve’s Sizzling Steaks

One thing I’ve learned to appreciate is restaurants with small menus. Some restaurants will offer anything and everything short of grilled panda loin on ciabatta, but the quality tends to suffer when you try to be all things to all … Continue reading

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