A Luddite Writes. And Reads.

On Saturday I said goodbye to my 30s.  I had a great day.  Chelsea lost, and Arsenal won.  I had a nap in the afternoon.  In the evening my parents cooked the most delicious dinner I can remember.  Really, it doesn’t get much better than that. I received some great presents, too.  Some very fancy cufflinks, my favorite candy from …

Unfair Competition

Excitement is building at our house.  My parents are arriving on Saturday for a two and a half week visit.  It’s been over a year since they were last here and we can’t wait to see them again. My sister Bridget lives with her family in Moraga, a town across the Bay from San Francisco, and what tends to happen …

Worst Movie Trailer Ever?

This may be the funniest and most preposterous movie trailer I’ve seen.  Ever. What’s so promising about it is that it seems to be taking itself so seriously.  Not a shred of irony that I could detect. Best line: “Because your child is the only hope humanity has of surviving.” Watch out, David Mamet. I may even go and see …

Cold.

Temperatures in mid-Missouri over the past few days have been low.  When you take the wind-chill into account, we’re talking 20 degrees below – and I’m talking Fahrenheit.  Nippy.  There’s lots of lovely snow on the ground and the children spend lots of time looking mournfully out of the window and wondering when they’ll be allowed out to play in …

Oh, to be eight again.

My children are congenitally unable to sit straight in a chair.  They drape themselves in complex and anatomically improbable configurations over and across the furniture’s arms and back.  They make creative use of cushions and pillows.  You know how it is.  Anything to avoid just sitting there. Well, here’s something new.  Hallam loves to read, but of course reading tends …

Global Warming

Apologies for the radio silence, or whatever the webby equivalent is.  I’ve been busy with the rewrite of the book, which can get a little all-consuming at times.  And of course, there’s been the small matter of Christmas.  We are still struggling with the fresh waves of plastic crap that have come into the house.  But happy kids. Anyway.  After …

Best Christmas Present Ever.

The above item is a blank journal that was given to me yesterday by my friends Chris and Jennifer.  Not much more to be said, really.  I think the point is pithily made.  I especially like it that the balloon is black. The irony is that I still do use notebooks all the time for collecting thoughts on books, and …

In Praise of Pork

Far too much talk of turkeys, lately, so here’s an apt little homage to my favorite food.  Not, I should add, that I’ve been suffering from any noticeable swine deficit over Thanksgiving. We’ve just come back from a brief but fabulous trip to D.C. to visit some wonderful friends who broke our hearts this summer when they moved away from …

College Sports – a Bemused Foreigner Writes

A couple of years ago, for a funny five minutes – actually it was about a week – the Missouri Tigers, the University of Missouri football team, was ranked the number one college football team in the nation. It had been nearly fifty years since it had last happened.  People wandered about with slightly dazed, disbelieving expressions on their faces. …