Dispatches since 2005
The journal
Announcements, new editions, travel, diving, cooking and the working life of a novelist — 178 entries, all of them here in full.
May 12, 2014 · 89 words
Belated
So here we are at Rio Hondo, and the first thing that happens is that we get an extreme winter storm warning lasting from noon today till 6pm tomorrow. Guess I won’t be taking that afternoon hike. We are snug, however, and have lots of food. As long as the electric lines don’t blow down— […]
Read entry →May 9, 2014 · 911 words
Me and Salinger and Patterson an’ Them
So . . . what do I have in common with J.D. Salinger and James Patterson and Malcolm Gladwell and Stephen Colbert? (Besides a loyal following who view me as a god, I mean?) We— and a whole lot of other folks— are now caught in the middle in yet another battle between Amazon and […]
Read entry →May 9, 2014 · 54 words
Our World and Welcome To It
NASA has started streaming a live HD video feed from the ISS. I could watch this all damn day. (You might not see much if it’s pointed at the Earth’s night side, or if the feed is switching satellites. But just wait a few minutes, it’ll be back.) Live streaming video by Ustream
Read entry →May 8, 2014 · 243 words
Sales Pump
So my Voice of the Whirlwind 99-cent sale continues through Saturday. I’ve made enough sales that I’ve paid for the Bookbub advert and will have some profit left over, even though I’m only making 30-40 cents per copy (depending on the forum). My overall sales have increased slightly after each of these sales, though my
Read entry →May 6, 2014 · 596 words
Bankers Ride Free
Over the weekend the New York Times magazine published a lengthy article on why, when evidence showed Wall Street to be riding atop a sea of criminality, only one top banker went to jail after the financial crisis. And no, they conclude, it’s not the reason you think it is. Here’s your take-away: Many assume that the [
Read entry →May 1, 2014 · 132 words
Paradise Regained
I probably won’t be very visible here for the next few days, as I’ll be in San Antonio teaching at Paradise Lost, which— come to think of it— might well be the most exclusive writers’ workshop in the world. Why? Because it only accepts people who have already graduated from either Viable Paradise or Taos To
Read entry →April 29, 2014 · 1,278 words
Décadence
I’ve been splayed in front of the pay-per-view watching films about decadence, and the first thing I noticed was that European and American filmmakers handle these things in completely different ways. First up was The Wolf of Wall Street, Martin Scorsese’s biopic of financial sleazeball (“and motivational speaker”) Jor
Read entry →April 25, 2014 · 273 words
Hey! Want Some Guns and Dope?
Despite the best efforts of governments throughout the world, despite constant DDoS attacks and the FBI shutting down the Silk Road and busting the Dread Pirate Roberts, the dark web is still a major market for guns, drugs, stolen credit card numbers, and other contraband. But there are two problems with doing your dea
Read entry →April 24, 2014 · 708 words
Happy 450th, Mr Shakespeare
Today is the day we traditionally celebrate the birth of “Gulielmus filius Johannes Shakspere,” as he was referred to in his baptismal records. It may not be his actual birthday, but what the hell: Let’s celebrate anyway! There’s a kind of bad literary scholarship that we might refer to as “spot-the-influence,” in whic
Read entry →April 18, 2014 · 521 words
Dinosaurs
For the last couple days I’ve been watching a new water well being drilled on my property, so I’ve had to hang around and throw circuit breakers, and otherwise make sure the house didn’t burn down. The result is that my self-publishing efforts got a boost, mainly because there was nothing else to do but […]
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