Monthly Archives: September 2008
Entering Low Posting Period
Posted on September 18, 2008 6 Comments
Starting tomorrow through probably the rest of September, we’ll be entering a low posting period here at Whatever. This is due to me traveling on business the next few days, and then teaching for a week at the Viable Paradise. So all the time that I’m usually spending staring dully into a computer screen I’m […]
Fiddling, Part II
Posted on September 17, 2008 24 Comments
Okay, after trying WP-Supercache and not actually having it appear to cache much of anything (and after studiously following installation directions, thanks), I’ve reinstalled WP-Cache and have set the cache to be twice as long as it was previously. Also, I have sacrificed a goat. And a Mountain Dew. Hopefully this will placate the server […]
To Staunch The Flood of E-Mail
Posted on September 17, 2008 34 Comments
Yes, I know about Sarah Palin’s private e-mail being hacked. You don’t have to send it to me anymore. Thanks, though. I also know about that e-mail from that lady from her hometown. God forbid there should ever be anything involving Sarah Palin and bacon, I might max out my GMail account in a single […]
The Last Colony, Now In Readable Electron Form
Posted on September 17, 2008 23 Comments
The Last Colony is now available in electronic form, both on the Kindle and apparently in other formats as well (here it is in the Sony eBook Store). So now all my books are available electronically one way or another. I wonder if I should, like, get an eBook reader now or something.
Oh My God! We’re Nationalizing Businesses!
Posted on September 17, 2008 95 Comments
Are we socialists yet? No, no. Relax. We couldn’t possibly be socialists. Socialists only nationalize successful businesses.
Whatever X, Day XVII
Posted on September 17, 2008 14 Comments
This one’s a two-parter, from February of 1999. FEBRUARY 3, 1999: The Day The Groundhog Died A friend forwarded me the following story, of which I will quote the opening graph: TORONTO (Reuters) — The untimely death of a groundhog named Wiarton Willy cast a cruel shadow over a traditional rite of Canadian winter Tuesday. […]
Fiddling
Posted on September 16, 2008 17 Comments
I’m doing some backend stuff to try to deal with some of the slowness I’ve been noticing on the site. This may result in some short-term wonkiness with the site. If that happens to you, don’t panic. It’s not you, it’s me.
Name Your Personal Fairy
Posted on September 16, 2008 144 Comments
Justine Larbalestier, my absolute favorite Australian, has a new book out today: How to Ditch Your Fairy. It’s a YA book with a really fun conceit, and that is that every person in the book has a fairy that has one trick that benefits its owner: Some fairies allow you to always have a good […]
Whatever X, Day XVI
Posted on September 16, 2008 27 Comments
I’m willing to bet that this following repeat, written in the wake of the death of noted film critic Pauline Kael in 2001, was the first and last time Kael and NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt were ever mentioned in the same piece of writing. SEPTEMBER 6, 2001: Fetishizing the Dead Let’s talk a second about […]
A Tribute to John Scalzi
Posted on September 16, 2008 7 Comments
No, not me. There was a John Scalzi back in the 1920s and 30s who was quite the sportsman, playing baseball, football and basketball, and who made it all the way into the pro leagues in the first of these, with the Boston Braves, although apparently an arm injury made his tenure very short. He […]
Zoe Sounds Good
Posted on September 15, 2008 21 Comments
I got my copy of the Zoe’s Tale audiobook today, and have been listening to certain parts of it that I was hoping the narrator wouldn’t mess up, and I’m really extraordinarily happy to say that, in fact, the narrator here has done a really fine job of it and nailed several of the critical […]
Twitchy, Twitchy
Posted on September 15, 2008 6 Comments
The site seems to be having hiccups today, so if you have some problems with accessing/commenting, it’s not you (or not just you). I’m looking into it.
Lie to Me
Posted on September 15, 2008 184 Comments
One of the more depressing articles of this political cycle popped up on Slate today, asking not why McCain’s campaign is outright lying about so many things in its political ads and messaging, but why Obama isn’t. Sure, it says, Obama’s stretching the truth here and there, but when someone notes facts, the Obama campaign […]
Whatever X, Day XV
Posted on September 15, 2008 22 Comments
Let’s just say that my daughter’s personal style became apparent pretty early on, as this next repeat, from when she was four, shows. APRIL 16, 2003: Scene From an Uno Game SCENE OPENS on John and Athena, playing a game of UNO. John (setting down a red four card): Four. Your turn, honey. Athena (sets […]
That Bastard Ike
Posted on September 14, 2008 52 Comments
Being that Bradford, Ohio is 1,250 Google Miles* from Galveston, Texas, you might have expected that by the time the remnants of Hurricane Ike managed to make their way here they might be nothing more than a stiff breeze and a spot of rain. But look what that bastard Ike did to one of the […]
The By Now Standard E-Mail Note
Posted on September 14, 2008 6 Comments
Which is: I’ve now caught up with my e-mail for the last couple of weeks. With the exception of Big Idea submissions, which I am still working on, if you sent me e-mail since the beginning of September and were hoping for a response but got none, go ahead and send another e-mail on the […]
Whatever X, Day XIV
Posted on September 14, 2008 12 Comments
This following reheat, from 2003, is interesting to me because in a very real sense, I don’t think this controversy would be a controversy anymore, simply because there are so many professional blogs now that no one any longer has a problem with the idea that they might be edited somewhere along the way. Which […]
On Ten Years of Writing Whatever
Posted on September 13, 2008 26 Comments
Well, first off, it doesn’t feel that long ago, but then, one of the things you learn as you get older is that very few things actually feel like “that long ago.” The past is always closer to the present than it’s assumed to be. Second, for something that was basically a way to goof […]
Indulge My Curiosity
Posted on September 13, 2008 512 Comments
The first day I wrote on Whatever, it got maybe 50 visitors, mostly old friends who I alerted by way of e-mail. Now it gets a few more visitors than that. My question for you: To the best of your recollection, when did you start reading Whatever? How did you find it? I’m just curious […]
Of Slightly Lesser Import
Posted on September 13, 2008 10 Comments
Today is also the second anniversary of the Bacon Cat incident. To mark the occasion, I arranged for a special reunion: Let’s just say it was not as harmonious a reunion as one might have hoped. Oh well. Maybe next year.
Whatever Everyone Else is Saying