Monthly Archives: June 2003
Technical Post
Posted on June 30, 2003 18 Comments
I’m trying out the Firebird browser from Mozilla, and let me just say: Wheee! I particularly like the tab option that lets you open up all the bookmarks in a folder simultaneously. It makes for much more efficient blog and online journal reading. I hear good things about the Safari browser too, but I don’t […]
Pretty Picture Overload
Posted on June 30, 2003 11 Comments
Today I will (in no particular order) take Athena to preschool, have a conference call, write up a fact sheet and presentation on an actually pretty interesting bond fund, bang out material for The Book of the Dumb, do invoices, sand down some details in Android’s Dream and kiss my wife. Also, today is the […]
A Free Tip
Posted on June 30, 2003 3 Comments
Don’t eat Honey Mustard Pretzel Nuggets just before going to bed. Tasty through they may be, they don’t go away. Even with repeated brushing. And when you wake up in the morning — well. You don’t want to go there. That’s my tip for you today.
Represented
Posted on June 27, 2003 3 Comments
Well, that’s taken care of: I am now represented in fiction by the Ethan Ellenberg Agency of New York, or will be as soon as I officially sign the contracts which they are sending along. I continue to be represented in non-fiction by the Robert Shepard Agency of San Francisco, and I live in Ohio, […]
Making Bets
Posted on June 27, 2003 29 Comments
So, how long until gay marriage in the US? A year ago, I wouldn’t have even tried to give you an estimate. But today, with a 6-3 Supreme Court ruling kicking the government out of bedrooms and our neighbors to the north letting boys marry boys and girls marry girls, I’m feeling saucy. So I […]
Sodomy For Everyone!
Posted on June 26, 2003 7 Comments
I’m sorry, I really have nothing to add on the matter of the Supreme Court ruling. I just wanted to say, “Sodomy For Everyone!” Because now we can all sodomize any consenting adult we choose in the privacy of our own home. And while mutually consenting sodomy is not what one traditionally thinks of as […]
Support Lileks
Posted on June 26, 2003 15 Comments
Just a quick note: Readers of James Lileks’ Bleat know by now that his wife just got canned from her job, and today’s Bleat shows the typical uncertainty one goes through when one’s household income takes a big hit. Glenn over at Instapundit has suggested everyone hit James’ tip jar; I second that emotion. Back […]
What I’m Writing When You’re Not Looking
Posted on June 26, 2003 13 Comments
My mind is a complete and total blank at the moment, and later, I’m off to have my teeth cleaned. So in lieu of writing something new here, allow me to provide you a glimpse of what I’m writing when I’m not here — this chunk of text from my in-progress novel, which for the […]
Not Too Bright
Posted on June 25, 2003 31 Comments
Some people are wanting to euphemistize (and no, I’m not sure that’s a real word) atheists and agnostics with the word “bright.” So instead of saying “I’m an atheist” or “I’m an agnostic,” like you do today, you’d say “I’m bright,” and everyone would know that you have what these people would term a “naturalistic […]
Day Off
Posted on June 24, 2003 3 Comments
I’m taking the day off. Why? Cause I feel like it! Yeah, that’s right — I have no compelling reason not to write here today except that I don’t wanna. I think I’m gonna play video games instead. Mmmm… pixellated violence. You all have a swellacious day, and I’ll see you tomorrow.
Reader Request Wrapup
Posted on June 23, 2003 4 Comments
Thanks everybody for sending in the reader request questions. I had a lot of fun catering to your whims, and I think it’s something we should do again real soon. In fact, I urge you all to remember there’s no need to stand on ceremony — anytime you want to send me a topic just […]
Book of the Dumb Headlines
Posted on June 20, 2003 7 Comments
I spent most of the day writing articles for The Book of the Dumb, and while I can’t share those with you right at the moment, I thought you might enjoy the headlines to some of the articles. Puzzle at their context-free non-sequitur-ositiy! Contemplate what they might be about! Pre-order the book! (Actually, you can). […]
Reader Request #8: Writing
Posted on June 20, 2003 19 Comments
Bill Peschel wants to know about my writing. He asks: OK, a chance to annoy a writer. How about this: where do you get your ideas? Just kidding. Really. But I am curious about a few writing-related subjects. 1. What kind of freelance work do you do. I’m not so much interested in the record […]
Whoo Hoo!
Posted on June 19, 2003 4 Comments
The first review I’ve seen of The Rough Guide to the Universe, and it couldn’t get much better: “It’s difficult to avoid the cliché, ‘If you could only buy one book… ‘ when this book is the topic of conversation. Anybody with even a smidge of interest in astronomy should have this book on hand, […]
Reader Request #7: Ohio
Posted on June 19, 2003 11 Comments
Paula wants to know what I think of Ohio. She writes: “Although some readers requested specific details relating to Ohio, I’d be interested in a general description of life in the Buckeye State. As a New Yorker, I’ve always had a romantic view of the place, and I’d like to compare the dream with the […]
Reader Request #6: Immigration
Posted on June 18, 2003 19 Comments
Hey, everyone. Sorry about the late update today; I knocked out a tooth yesterday and it’s kind of messed with my schedule. Before you ask: I’m fine. It’s fixed. And you wouldn’t know the bottom half of my top left incisor was fake unless I just told you, which I just did. Now then. S […]
Reader Request #5: Jealousy
Posted on June 17, 2003 6 Comments
Question from Matthew Rider, and a nicely provocative one, as today just coincidentally happens to be Krissy’s and my 8th anniversary: “Jealousy, and I guess as a part of that your relationship with your wife. You’ve recently mentioned ex-girlfriends a couple times and on indiecrit have mentioned that if you weren’t already with your wife […]
Reader Request #4: Testing Preschoolers
Posted on June 17, 2003 2 Comments
Reader Alina asks my opinion on a wacky thing they’re doing out there in New York City: Testing kids to get them accepted to elite preschools. She writes, in part: “Basically, in New York City, three and four year olds take the ERB’s or, as I call them, Baby SAT’s, which you then submit to […]
Reader Request #3: TV
Posted on June 17, 2003 14 Comments
Okay, here’s one from Wendell, who wants to know about my television habits. He writes: You’ve written little about the beloved Idiot Box (TV) in your years on the Whatever (I Googled to make sure there wasn’t something I’d missed that you’d already done), awarding “The Simpsons” the title of Best TV Show of the […]
Reader Request #2: Life Online
Posted on June 16, 2003 11 Comments
Reader Request Topic #2 comes from Rick McGinnis — who, incidentally, is a brand-new father to a brilliant baby girl, so give up the love for the man — who asks: Life online. I have my own thoughts, based on a website nearing its fifth anniversary. (Fifth? Sixth? I can’t remember just now – my […]
Whatever Everyone Else is Saying