It's not even 10 a.m., and already my mind is a white hot roil of anger. This will be the third consecutive day. Outside, it sunny and 77˚F.

Yesterday, we began work on the Silk ms., using optical character recognition to scan the text of the 2007 revision (the so-called "third edition"), as there are no extant electronic files of that edition. ( Read more... )

Ugly day out there. Currently, it's 47˚F and feels like 44˚F. No sign of the sun.

Spooky's on her way to South County, to see her parents and a fat cat named Spider.

Something I just posted to Facebook:

There has never before in my life been a time when, as a Democrat, I've been afraid to criticize a Democratic candidate for fear of being ( Read more... )

Cloudy here, though they say a wind will come to blow these clouds out to sea. We dare to hope for 72˚F today; it's the best we'll get ( Read more... )

How do you break a fairy tale? You send Cinderella back to her cinders.

Or back to scrubbing toilets.

This is, near as I could tell, the message of the almost indescribably insipid Jupiter Ascending. I have been a steadfast admirer of the Wachowskis ever since Bound (1996). Though, I will admit that I skipped Speed Racer, because the very idea ( Read more... )

Somehow, I made it to this side of yesterday. The day is overcast, and it's currently 44˚F. At least it's warmer than yesterday.

At least.

For now, the anger has ebbed. I'm just tired and depressed and a little strung out.

Bill Schafer has given me permission to add two or three additional stories to Beneath an Oil-Dark Sea, and I know one will ( Read more... )

Wake the fuck up, Beast.

Sunny and warm outside. Shadowy and hot inside. One day I will no longer be a prisoner of this House in this city in this strange realm of this sunset country.

Yesterday, I played hooky, and we made the 2:30 p.m. matinée of Bong Joon-ho's Snowpiercer (2013; Seolgungnyeolcha), based on Jacques Lob's* graphic novel, Le ( Read more... )

Saw Pacific Rim today. Fucking brilliant. In every way, probably the most awe-inspiring thing I've seen since Avatar...okay, and Cloud Atlas. Wow.

Two things:

1) It just occurred to me, Black Helicopters - which I consider my best work since The Drowning Girl: A Memoir - breaks almost all the "rules" I have, in recent years, set for my self an as author. It has neither unity of time nor place, unfolding over three centuries, with scenes set in Dublin, London, Switzerland, coastal Maine, ( Read more... )

1) I have no Turkish publisher, and there are no plans for an authorized Turkish-language edition of The Drowning Girl: A Memoir. Though, on Friday, I did receive an email from someone purporting to be working with my nonexistent Turkish publisher, requesting an interview to help promote the edition, and, also, asking me for a more Turkish friendly ( Read more... )

Yesterday was the first day of The Vacation. Today, I hit the pause button. Tomorrow, I guess The Vacation will resume.

There's so much I've meant to put down here that I haven't. Such frenetic, fretful days. I've disliked them.

Spooky and I began reading Cloud Atlas last week, and it's wonderful. The film certainly did it service. The last time ( Read more... )