Blizzard-y weather out, so I’m working at home today. That’s my excuse for posting a bunch of doggie pix.
Trying to stay warm, I guess.
Otis also writes sad poetry.
Their favorite yoga position is, of course, downward-facing dog.
What It Is: 2/8/10
What I’m reading: Alec: The Years Have Pants
What I’m listening to: Silence
What I’m watching: THE SAINTS WINNING THE MOTHERFUCKING SUPERBOWL!
What I’m drinking: Rogue Spirits Spruce Gin (meh) & Q-Tonic and THE SAINTS WON THE MOTHERFUCKING SUPERBOWL!
What Rufus & Otis are up to: Sword-fighting while they pee and THE SAINTS WON THE MOTHERFUCKING SUPERBOWL!
Where I’m going: NYC for a healthcare investment conference on Tuesday, but I wish I was in New Orleans because THE SAINTS WON THE MOTHERFUCKING SUPERBOWL!
What I’m happy about: Um . . . THE SAINTS WON THE MOTHERFUCKING SUPERBOWL!
What I’m sad about: Peyton Manning’s offseason depression because THE SAINTS WON THE MOTHERFUCKING SUPERBOWL!
What I’m worried about: That one of the omens of Armageddon occurred when THE SAINTS WON THE MOTHERFUCKING SUPERBOWL!
What I’m pondering: WHODAT?
Lucky Seven
On this day seven years ago, I was
- single,
- living in an apartment that was getting overrun by books,
- in the midst of losing 30-odd lbs. on an Atkins regime,
- a week or so from receiving the typescript of a 9/11 novel by Paul West
,
- working on the 30th issue of my magazine,
- planning a trip to New Zealand,
- finishing Arthur Phillips’ Prague
, and
- reading Gould’s Book of Fish
, Rembrandt’s Eyes
, and Minotaur: Sir Arthur Evans and the Archeology of the Minoan Myth
.
Now I’m
- married,
- living in my ancestral home, with lots of room for books,
- keeping my weight around 40 lbs. below its peak,
- retired as a book publisher,
- working on the 100th issue of my magazine,
- not planning any major trips,
- starting Eddie Campbell’s Alec: The Years Have Pants
- glad that I finished reading Gould’s Book of Fish, even though the other two books fell by the wayside.
And seven years ago today, I started this blog.
The world and I have gone through plenty of changes since that day. I’m happy that I’ve had Virtual Memories to help me try to chronicle it. To paraphrase Tony Kornheiser, I’ll try to do better next time.
Bonus: And we’re celebrating by having some glass guys remove the big smoked-mirror wall in our living room (installed by my dad, c.1989). Good thing they didn’t break any of those panels, or it’d be seven years of bad blogging ahead!
Unrequired Reading: Feb. 5, 2010
Wowzers! Unrequired Reading for all! Enjoy! Just click “more”!
Continue reading “Unrequired Reading: Feb. 5, 2010”
I don’t actually feel like this…
…but this image was too funny (to me) not to post:
courtesy of this article by Steven Heller at the NYTimes.
What It Is: 2/1/10
What I’m reading: Finished Cloud Atlas
What I’m listening to: This Is How It Feels
What I’m watching: Monsters, Inc., The Philadelphia Story, and Thief. Also, I watched the first two episodes of Season 1 of The Sopranos. I’ve only watched the first season and the final episode (c.2001), so I recently bought the whole shebang
What I’m drinking: D.H. Krahn and Q-Tonic.
What Rufus & Otis are up to: Not a lot, thanks to the single-degree temps we’ve had the past few days.
Where I’m going: NYC on Tuesday, to interview a guy from the majorest of major pharmas. It’s a 9 a.m. interview, so I’ve gotta head in early in hopes of not getting stuck in traffic.
What I’m happy about: My favorite books of the decade post (still in the works) won’t have to be revised post-Cloud Atlas. Also, I think I came up with a great opening paragraph for a short story.
What I’m sad about: I didn’t do much work on that post in the last week.
What I’m worried about: I’ll never write the rest of that short story.
What I’m pondering: Whether to trade in my 2003 Honda Element and buy a 2010 Subaru Outback. The Element’s at 114,000 miles and I’ve had it for 6 years. It’s still running fine, but I’d rather get something new (and capable of hauling two greyhounds in comfort) while I’m in a relative position of strength; that is, I’d rather not have to get a new car because the old one’s failing regularly, if that makes sense.
Unrequired Reading: Jan. 29, 2010
Yeahyeah: first post in a while. I’m still struggling with my thoughts, writing, etc. I got re-walloped a few days ago by the news that a pal of mine from St. John’s dropped dead of an aneurysm at 36 last week (she was an undergrad when I was there as an, um, overgrad.) I have ups and downs, but I’m trying to get back to the regular posts — Unrequired Reading and What It Is — and hope to get around to some other stuff.
So just click “more” already!
Continue reading “Unrequired Reading: Jan. 29, 2010”
Enjoy the Silence
I was 16 and my high school english teacher, Rocco Gratale, was assigning term papers for the spring. I read over the list of novels that we could select for our subjects, and tried to go off the reservation. At the end of class, I asked him, “Do you mind if I do The Razor’s Edge, by Somerset Maugham?” My mom had that book on our shelf for years, and I thought this would be a good opportunity to read it.
My teacher said, “No, Gil. I think you want to do your term paper on The Catcher In The Rye.”
I’d never heard of it. I was all about the science fiction and the comic books back then. We were on pretty good terms, so I told him, “Geez, I’d sure like to do that Maugham book, Roc.”
“No, Gil. I think you want to do your term paper on The Catcher In The Rye.”
“Yes, Rocco. I’d . . . like to do my term paper on The Catcher In The Rye?”
I shudder to think of what aspects of my personality led him to “suggest” that book.
Now go read Ron Rosenbaum’s wonderful 1997 essay about Salinger. I never did get around to The Razor’s Edge, but I did see the movie a few years later.
What It Is: 1/25/10
What I’m happy about: That I have such wonderful friends and family. Too many of you wrote me in the past few days for me to write you back individually. I’d end up copying-and-pasting passages into my replies and that would be kinda cheap. So just know that I’m thankful to have so much love and support in my life. I think I busted some floodgates last week, but I don’t really know what the days and weeks ahead hold. I’ll try not to get too navel-gazing with my posts, but I hope you’ll stick with me for the ride.
Also, THE SAINTS WON THE NFC CHAMPIONSHIP! WHO DAT GOIN’ TO THE SUPERBOWL?
Unrequired Reading: Jan. 22, 2010
No Unrequired Reading for you this week! That’s due less to my malaise, and more to my laptop being in the shop. It suffered the hinge-break that first-generation MacBook Air models are prone to (“so take / this broken hinge . . .”). Apple is replacing the monitor and hinge gratis, but the laptop has all my RSS feeds and saves, which is how I compile Unrequired Reading each week.
So you’re outta luck! Why not just check out my blogroll over by clicking on that Sites To See link instead?