Please Switch Off Your Book
I wrote in this post about my mixed feelings about the Barnes & Noble Nook – which I eventually returned. I know that the emergence of this new format is more or less inevitable over time, and while I was in New York I went into an Apple store and played with an iPad, which was irritatingly impressive – but …
Uh-Oh
My son has discovered this blog. Not only that, he has started commenting on it. So far he has been suitably encouraging, but how long, I wonder, will it last? How many embarrassing photographs of him can I post before resentment eclipses filial pride? I am now going through everything I’ve written, trying to remember how child-friendly it all is. …
Delusions of Grandeur?
This from a few days ago. Thinking up a new game, here’s Catherine to her brother: “Hallam, you be Zachias, and I’ll be the Lord.”
New York Trip
As I mentioned here, I was in Manhattan very briefly last week for the launch party of my friend Nancy Woodruff’s excellent new novel, My Wife’s Affair. I flew from St. Louis into La Guardia and hopped on to a bus to Grand Central Station. Less than twenty hours later, I was back on the bus, heading back out to …
How to Make Books More Interesting
In a previous post I shared with you evidence of my son’s extraordinary ability to read books in the most uncomfortable positions imaginable. Well, he’s at it again. Triumphantly, in this latest version he has succeeded in doing away with the need for a chair completely. So proud.
Miles Davis Reappears as Baked Snack Shock
Incredibly important and exciting news. My friend, colleague, and fellow blogger, Mrs. McPea, recently found this oddly familiar-looking thing in her bag of Cheetos: That, ladies and gentlemen, is Miles Davis. Oh yes it is. Look at the cover of one of his most celebrated albums, Sketches of Spain: See?? Miles died in 1991. What we have here is nothing …
Big Dates
Monday, April 19th, marked the seventh anniversary of my family’s permanent arrival in the United States. That I should only have realized this half way through the morning tells you something about how things have changed over those years. In earlier times the occasion was marked by hanging dark shrouds in the windows and playing Elgar at top volume on …
Road Trip
I’m off to New York on Tuesday morning for a book-related jaunt. When I was living in London I was part of a writers’ group. We all got together once a month to read and critique each other’s work. I found the process really helpful – after you have been laboring over a book for ages you begin to suffer …
Kite Flying on Easter Sunday
Today I went up to the barn for something – can’t remember what – and found an old kite that we’d forgotten about. The rest of the afternoon was spent running around in the wind. Not sure I can think of anything more perfect. Happy Easter, everyone.