Dispatches since 2005
The journal
Announcements, new editions, travel, diving, cooking and the working life of a novelist — 3,175 entries, all of them here in full.
December 8, 2008 · 70 words
Show Your Spirit!
I’m pleased to report that This Is Not a Game will be the March Hardcover Pick for Spirit Magazine, the official magazine of Southwest Airlines. Bored passengers throughout the nation will listlessly browse through the review as a desperate alternative to listening to the screeching infant in the seat behind.Now if onl
Read entry →December 6, 2008 · 120 words
Return of the Calendar
We’ve done it again. Created a calendar, featuring photos from our 2009 trips. Which were all in the Rocky Mountain areas, so there are many pictures of pointy things. The calendar is 13.5″ x 19″, printed on glossy stock, and includes astronomical data as well as holidays for the U.S., Mexico, and Canada. (
Read entry →December 6, 2008 · 333 words
Note to Detroit . . .
What with the Detroit Three lobbying Congress for a bailout and promising all sorts of new, fuel efficient cars for as long as they continue to need tax dollars— hey, promises have no fuel consumption at all!— anyway, in order to avoid repeating the errors of the past, perhaps the Big Three ought to check [
Read entry →December 5, 2008 · 125 words
From Gonzolabs . . .
The winners have been announced in the recent competition from the American Association for the Advancement of Science— the “Dance Your Ph.D.” Competition, in which doctoral dissertations are illuminated by dance routines. There’s stiff competition here, but I have to say that my favorite was one of the runners-u
Read entry →December 5, 2008 · 82 words
What We Miss By Not Having an Established Church
Our Founding Paternalists bounced the established church back in 1776. Turns out that, as we didn’t keep the C of E on the government payroll, we not only failed to have the necessary background to fully appreciate Trollope’s Barchester novels, but we also missed some amusing radio ads.Something called the Churches Adv
Read entry →December 4, 2008 · 183 words
Useless Day
I can generally count on having one Useless Day each week. This week it was yesterday, Tuesday.On Useless Day I can’t seem to get anything accomplished. I try to work, but nothing happens, or at any rate nothing good. My brain doesn’t seem to function very well. When I try to accomplish anything outside work, […
Read entry →December 2, 2008 · 1,382 words
Reviews Too Late: Mad Men
I recently finished watching the first season of Mad Men, courtesy of Netflix. The series poses an interesting fictional problem: is it possible to tell a gripping story when everyone in your narrative is a total rat-bastard?In this particular case, the answer would seem to be No. I don’t insist on sympathetic characte
Read entry →November 27, 2008 · 223 words
Death By Stuffing
“Well,” I can hear you saying, “we may eat too much turkey over the holiday weekend, but at least turkey is low in calories and cholesterol!”Pah! Not if you have Thanksgiving at our house! Not if you are served Uncle Walter’s Bacon and Sausage Stuffing!*Start by cutting up a POUND OF BACON into strips. Cook […]
Read entry →November 27, 2008 · 155 words
An Embarassment of Riches
Okay, so I may have titled this “An Embarrassment of Riches,” but I’d like to state right off the bat that I’m not embarrassed at all! Orbit has offered on two new books! One will be a sequel to This Is Not a Game, and the other, while possibly not a direct sequel, will be […]
Read entry →November 22, 2008 · 392 words
Return to Wall Street
Michael Lewis, author of Liar’s Poker, returns to Wall Street for a thoughtful look at the meltdown. ““You have to understand,” Eisman says in his defense, “I did subprime first. I lived with the worst first. These guys lied to infinity. What I learned from that experience was that Wall Street didn’t give a shit [&hell
Read entry →