please enjoy Steve Martin's rendition of Silver Bells, audio only, taken from an SNL rehearsal with Paul Simon. I think he manages to capture the true meaning of christmas.

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we left for the airport at 3pm on saturday, flying out of Ft. Walton Beach.  me, Clare, and my mom's boyfriend's 6 year-old granddaughter Randi, a wiggly, pig-tailed african-american busy-body, with tiny teeth and a laugh like a rusty door hinge.  adorable.  for limited amounts of time.  provided you have somewhere to escape to should you find ( Read more... )

NYTimes 100 notable books of 2008.  Tony Earley's in there, plus a whole bunch of books I never heard of.

Thanksgiving 2008

Destin, Florida

72 degrees

sunny

took a walk on the beach.  the ocean's as clear as tap water, shining like a windshield.

turkey's a-roastin.  beer is a-chillin.  and I am settled deep into this chair eating grapes, sipping water.

nice day indeed.

happy thanksgiving.

That was not meant to be a Rick Roll. 

It's been a while since I've seen this, but I find it hard to believe we ever lived in a world where this kind of behavior was considered acceptable.  Did we?  I mean, we all knew at the time that Vanilla Ice was ridiculous, but I don't recall feeling the same way about Rick Astley.  Should I have?

PS: the embed code has been disabled by request.   ( Read more... )

saw the new Bond last night, Quantum of Solace.  the movie, I've noticed, is getting a lot of bad press, but I quite enjoyed it.  that seemed awesome enough, I thought when it was over.  but the negative reviews, in New Yorker and from my old reliable Roger Ebert especially, bother me.  how did I enjoy this movie incorrectly?  I've been trying to ( Read more... )

hi.  how goest thou ( Read more... )

I think I like the new Coldplay album.  shit.  why won't god let me hate them like I want to? 

this may be superfluous information by now, but I'm bored and nearing the end of a long stream of student conferences and, frankly, my sense of total disorienting bewilderment about what happened in this country on Tuesday night has not even started to fade.  and this editorial from Nicholas Kristof just plain made me feel good.  I am still ( Read more... )