HOME / ABOUT / ARCHIVE / READING LIST / WEBLOG-ISH THING / LENDING LIBRARY /



8.29.2001


Two unrelated things:

1. I saw a bumper sticker today which read, "You say tomato, I say fuck you."

2. Who knew that we'd spend so much of our lives talking about our cell phones?
..:.:5:21 PM:.:..


8.28.2001


I was in New York recently. I'm thinking of changing the name of this site to "Driving-Through-the-Bronx Kid". What do you think? Catchy, no?

In that spirit, here's a view of the traffic on the Triboro Bridge. I feel a duty to give you news that you can use, so: If you're considering driving on the BQE on the afternoon of August 18th, 2001, you should be aware that there is traffic.

I will try not to abuse the English language any more today. Next week: the future perfect tense!
..:.:11:41 PM:.:..


8.23.2001


I've gone to a lot of weddings this year (five down, two to go) and I've come to the conclusion that there are three rules that should be followed in order to create the perfect wedding:
  • The wedding and reception should be at the same place
  • The bar should be open before the wedding -- ideally, people should have drinks in their hands during the ceremony
  • The ceremony should last no longer than 12 minutes
Oddly, the brides and grooms at the various weddings I've been to have gotten angry with me for suggesting that they're doing it all wrong. Some people just can't handle constructive criticism.
..:.:11:38 PM:.:..

8.21.2001


My favorite Tom Lehrer patter:
Speaking of love, one problem that recurs more and more frequently these days, in books and plays and movies, is the inability of people to communicate with the people they love; Husbands and wives who can't communicate, children who can't communicate with their parents, and so on. And the characters in these books and plays and so on (and in real life, I might add) spend hours bemoaning the fact that they can't communicate. I feel that if a person can't communicate, the very least he can do is to Shut Up!
From That Was the Year That Was.
..:.:1:42 PM:.:..

8.20.2001


Further proof that Max Weinberg and Melissa Joan Hart are, in fact, different people:

An interview with Max Weinberg:

Interviewer: You look GREAT every night on the show - do you pick your own clothes?

Max Weinberg: Thank you. Yes, I do pick my own clothes.

Transcript of a radio interview with Melissa Joan Hart:
Interviewer: Do you chose your clothes [on Sabrina]?

Melissa Joan Hart: No, actually, they have a wardrobe person that goes out and gets the clothes, and then, you know they put 'em together in strange ways, and you know, if I don't really think that someone... our age would be wearing that, I would, you know, tell them, and give some input on it and whatever, but um,... I know a lot comes from like vintage stores, and like all over. You've just gotta look, you know, sometimes, in uh, in lots of different stores...I mean...anywhere. You don't just have to go to the most popular stores or whatever.

So, we're agreed that this idea was flawed in both concept and execution? Good, let's move on.
..:.:9:04 AM:.:..

8.15.2001


I'm going away to NYC for the weekend. OK, this is a lie. I am going away to NYC for Thursday, Friday, part of Saturday maybe. Who knows, really? I live my life carefree. I make no plans. The spirit moves me and I but follow. I skip through life with no worries. Plus, my friend hasn't called me back so I don't know if I have a place to stay on Friday night.

A couple of people in the last couple of weeks have suggested that I make a bookmark to hand out along with the books I loan. I think this is a capital idea but I have limited artistic skills. So, I would like to announce:

The First Annual MarkAnd.com Bookmark Creation Contest

Rules: Bookmarks must be no larger than 8" x 2" and must be perfectly rectangular. Bookmarks can be sent either electronically to me (ask me if you have questions about file formats) or through the mail to: 361 Broadway, #2, Somerville, MA 02145. All entries must be received by September 5th. I don't want to hamper creativity, so do whatever you want. Do not feel like you need to include the site name on your bookmark -- this is not a branding campaign!

Prizes: First prize: $150 and the fame commensurate with having your bookmark chosen (1 first prize); Second prize: $50 (2 second prizes). Plus, I'll send you a bunch of the three bookmarks I have printed.

This is not a joke.
..:.:11:31 PM:.:..


8.13.2001


Last Wednesday, a friend and I were driving around in New Hampshire (we went up there on the off chance that it would be cooler than Boston -- it was not) and came across a bunch of signs for a Shaker village in Canterbury. It seemed more exciting than the other stuff in the area (read: miniature golf courses) so we spent a large part of the afternoon learning about those wacky Shakers.

The oddest part of the experience was the tour. I don't know (or, rather, I didn't know) much about the Shakers. The sum of my knowledge was something like this: Shakers didn't have sex and they made furniture. The tour showed to me that my Shaker knowledge was in no way unusual. This meant that almost all of the questions on the tour (a tour that had a number of young children) had to do with Shaker sexual mores. Definitely a strange experience.

I am now, however, a font of Shaker information. Feel free to quiz me.
..:.:11:28 PM:.:..


8.10.2001


I've added a bunch of new books to the lending library (list of just the new books). Let me know if you'd like to borrow any of them.
..:.:4:28 PM:.:..

8.9.2001


So, you're hanging out with a couple of friends -- maybe you're driving in a car or walking down a busy street or in a supermarket getting chips for a party -- and at exactly the same time, two of you will start singing or humming the same part of a song you heard together in your recent past (maybe it was before you turned the radio off to talk or it came from the stereo system of an open-air restaurant you passed three blocks ago or maybe you heard it in the car in the supermarket parking lot).

Does this happen to you? Because it happens to me all the time.

I like when it happens. It's an indication that perhaps we share more in common with each other than we sometimes imagine, and how, I ask you, can that be bad?
..:.:10:58 PM:.:..


8.6.2001


A 2001 interview with Richard Russo:
My books are elegiac in the sense that they're odes to a nation that even I sometimes think may not exist anymore except in my memory and my imagination. I find that by ignoring a lot of American culture you can write more interesting stories. Unfortunately, if you were writing about America as it is, you'd be writing about a lot of people sitting in front of television sets. My best sense is to ignore much of what is going on in the culture at large and to focus on some of the things that are still of interest to me.
A 1997 interview with Richard Russo:
A lot of my characters in all of my books have a self- destructive urge. They'll do precisely the thing that they know is wrong, take a perverse delight in doing the wrong thing. The weird sort of freedom that allows you to turn to your department's one poet, who you know is insecure about her work, and ask, "Do we have a poet in this department?" even though you know it'll get your nose ripped off. Men like Hank and Sully love to stir things up, even if they're the ones who are going to pay the price, because paying that price validates their view of the world, the view that compels them to do those things.
..:.:10:12 PM:.:..

8.3.2001


The mighty Anaheim Angels swept my precious Red Sox in a three game series ending yesterday night. In an effort to extract some sort of psychological revenge, I offer this portrait in three parts of Angels first baseman Scott Spiezio failing to catch a throw from the second baseman. I call it "Doink!!!"

Take that, Anaheim!
..:.:9:48 AM:.:..


8.1.2001


On Monday, a friend and I were having drinks at Rialto (a restaurant in Harvard Square) when we saw, in the span of a half-hour, Robert Pinsky and Julia Child. I didn't want to disturb them (and I'm scared of making an ass of myself), so I didn't talk to either of them.

If I had gone up to them and said "hello", followed directly by what my friend said upon seeing them, the conversations would have gone something like this:

Me: Hello.
Robert Pinsky: Hello.
Me: You have a large head.

Me: Hello.
Julia Child: Hello.
Me: You have a really large head.
..:.:1:55 PM:.:..



mark@markand.com
aim: mdanderson45