Dispatches since 2005
The journal
Announcements, new editions, travel, diving, cooking and the working life of a novelist — 3,176 entries, all of them here in full.
November 21, 2007 · 270 words
Ojo Caliente
I’ve been watching a forest fire all day. The Ojo Peak fire has been roaring away on the southern end of the Manzano chain, producing huge clouds of white smoke. The fire is on the peak of the mountain and it’s very difficult for firefighters to get to.But more astonishing is the fact we’re having […]
Read entry →November 19, 2007 · 460 words
. . . And Speaking of Cab Calloway
Listening to Cab Calloway’s daughter a few nights ago— look here for details— brought to mind the night, some time back, when we went to Pat and Scott’s place and took in the classic all-black 1943 film Stormy Weather. The film was a sort of who’s who of black talent for the period. Fats Waller […]
Read entry →November 19, 2007 · 140 words
Land of Hope and . . . What’s the Other Thing?
Last night, listening to NPR’s news quiz, “Wait Wait Don’t Tell me,” I learned that Britain’s new PM, Gordon Brown, has suggested that the country needs a new slogan to set it on its feet and send it hurtling into the 21st Century.The old slogan is “Land of Hope and Glory,” which is, as Peter […]
Read entry →November 19, 2007 · 319 words
Dynasty
This weekend we sojourned once again to Socorro, the Athens of the Southwest, to check out Chris Calloway. This isn’t the football player, or the wrestler, but the niece of pioneering band leader Blanche Calloway, the daughter of Cab Calloway, and the god-daughter of Lena Horne. “Chris,” by the way, is short for “Chris
Read entry →November 16, 2007 · 99 words
Surfer Dude Susses Reality
Two brain-warping stories from the World o’ Science. (Try to hear a theremin playing for the rest of this post.)First, folks at the British Interplanetary Society are spending the weekend talking seriously about warp drive, based on the theories of Miguel Alcubierre.Second, in a story with a headline that ought to have
Read entry →November 15, 2007 · 451 words
Off the Grid
I used to hang out with a shockingly talented group of people. (Not that I don’t now, of course.)But over the years people move or fade away or just lose touch. In the old days that would pretty much be that, but nowadays there’s Google to help you keep up with the old gang.Every so […]
Read entry →November 15, 2007 · 86 words
Blogger Still Wonky
Blogger is still wonky. It insists my email address doesn’t exist, when it’s the same email address I’ve been using for years, and the same email address I’ve used for login since this blog started.Oddly enough, when I went to the Help Group page and was asked to log in there, it accepted my email, […]
Read entry →November 15, 2007 · 347 words
The Surgeon’s Tale
My Taos Toolbox student, Cat Rambo, has a book! Check it out. Just in time for the holidays, the perfect gift for lovers of dark fantasy… THE SURGEON’S TALEAnd Other Stories By Cat Rambo & Jeff VanderMeerOrder at http://www.kittywumpus.net/orders The Surgeon’s Tale & Other Stories is the first book by exciting ne
Read entry →November 13, 2007 · 65 words
And Speaking of Veterans
Okay, so here’s another hazard the military doesn’t talk about.Suicide.“At least 120 Americans who served in the U.S. military killed themselves per week in 2005, CBS News learned in a five-month investigation into veteran suicides. That’s 6,256 veteran suicides in one year, in 45 states.”6256. In one year. That’s more
Read entry →November 11, 2007 · 168 words
Veterans’ Day
So here we are on a holiday that celebrates the sacrifices and triumphs of our nation’s veterans. All honor to them.Alas, recently declassified information now reveals that both our government and our private sector has once again failed returning veterans. The health care scandal was bad enough, as was the various adm
Read entry →November 11, 2007 · 170 words
Ear Bugs
I am always surrounded by music, this despite the fact that I rarely seem to get around to turning on the radio or playing a CD. There is a radio station in my head, though like a Top 40 station it just plays the same songs over and over. Today I made a point of […]
Read entry →November 11, 2007 · 52 words
Omniscient Narrator Surprised
“PROVIDENCE, RI—The third-person limited omniscient voice, a narrative mode used to convey a story through the thoughts and senses of a literary character, was reportedly “caught totally off guard” after the main character was unexpectedly killed in the last chapter of the new novel Bertram’s Way. . . “The rest here.
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