To give my life shape and structure so it's not just a stream of recollections running together -- and to feel better about myself -- here's a quick list of things that I got done in 2011.  And because I was so busy I never got around to it, I'm also including the things I accomplished in 2010.

I'll be using my "Things I accomplished in 2009" blog ( Read more... )

The mass was all about love, God's love for us, our love for God, and our love for one another, starting with our love for a specific person, and then spreading out through the whole world, like in Redbeard, and how the two families were one big family now.  Then we ate and drank and danced together, and for a few hours it seemed as simple as that ( Read more... )

Both "Contempt" and "300-Year-Storm" (previously titled "Flood") need revisions.  Even though "Contempt" is the more meaningful story, "300-Year-Storm" is a fantasy, and I've already sold one fantasy, and two more sales makes me eligible for membership in the SFWA.  I should keep going in the direction where I've already had success, however minor ( Read more... )

How to tell if you're American.

How to tell if you're Texan.

...I often do it in the middle of the day so that I can leave a message and not have to talk directly to people.  If I ever get a hold of a student's parent (usually the mom), she usually sounds like I just woke her up from a long sofa-nap with a damp towel draped over her forehead.  I feel bad.

Last night I dreamed Galveston County and part of the Gulf broke off and floated into space.  Because of some Dr. Who / Dark City style energy bubble, we still had about a day's worth of gravity and oxygen.  The edges started to go first.  Airplanes lost control.  It was terrifying to watch the Gulf of Mexico drain off into outer space.  The blue ( Read more... )

MOM (upon learning Colin Farrell plays John Smith in "The New World"):  The real John Smith was nothing like that!  (Lists Captain Smith's many accomplishments.)

DAD:  Yeah, but the real John Smith couldn't move an eyebrow the way Colin Farrell can.

To give my life shape and structure so it's not so much a stream of recollections running together -- and to feel better about myself -- here's a quick list of things that I got done in 2009:

( Read more... )

Auditioned for a rock band today. I mean a real rock band, not the video game.  Via Craigslist and email got in touch with them and heard the music off their MySpace.  They rock harder than I typically do but, hey, pitches are pitches.  Via email learned that they play in "Drop C" (high-to-low:  D-A-F-C-G-C) and that all their guitar and bass ( Read more... )

MY MOM:  (Complains about how expensive everything is.)

ME:  So is there a particular age at which everyone just stops understanding inflation?

MY DAD:  It's about 50.