The Bad Attitude Guide to Good Citizenship is DONE! Well, except for the afterword, which I’m going to redo and turn in next week. Other than that — it’s done and submitted to Paladin Press. Just looked to see when the first email arrived from Donna at Paladin proposing the project.A month ago today. From zero to completed manuscript (about 2/5 new material, 3/5 compiled columns — but even those had to be edited and updated, so still quite a project) in exactly one month. Whew! (Ulp. I also just realized, in re-reading Donna’s first message, that I didn’t really…
Author: Claire
Fueled by coffee (which I rarely drink, being a tea wuss), I just spent the evening not working on the Paladin book and am now about to get back to those almost-final polishings. Meantime I enjoyed an excellent noir thriller which is as much a meditation on love, loss, regret, memory, and obsession as it is a murder mystery. The Secret in Their Eyes. It won this year’s Best Foreign-Language Picture Oscar — one of the few times I think I might agree with the Academy voters on a foreign film (they usually vote too politically correct or two just-plain-sappy…
The Paladin book is going into final edit before going off to the publisher and a S.W.A.T. magazine deadline looms this week. So the brain is a bit crowded right now (and that’s without … well, other stuff going on that involves three driven-to-distraction dogs and an overwhelmed but surprisingly calm guest kitty; more on that later). But, with a little help from my friends, here’s a bit of blogitude: Via Sam (thank you): What happens when an American traveler calmly refuses to answer questions upon his reentry into the “homeland.” Bold blogger, that guy. Larken Rose, who last time…
Today is International Talk Like a Pirate Day. Friday was Constitution Day. But I didn’t blog about it. Given the current state of things, it’s clear which day is the more important one.
Paul Bonneau tells philosophical libertarians they should “Become Dangerous.” Jim Bovard sez it’s time to get rid of the phony-baloney federal privacy board. I don’t have any advice for anybody, but I do have a question. I’ve found that, when it’s the right time for me to do something (make a decision, write an article, or whatever), suddenly that thing will come easy. In fact, a decision I’ve struggled with or an article I’ve been banging my head on or avoiding will abruptly just fling itself into my face, ready-made. But — even in small things — if the time…
I’m tired. I’m very, very, very, very tired. It’s been one month and two days since I set out to move cross-country, close on a house I’d never seen, and fix up said house while writing/assembling a book for Paladin Press with a deadline of just over one month. And suddenly, I’m beat. Not sure why it’s hitting now. Things are going great, actually. The book — The Bad Attitude Guide to Good Citizenship — is right on schedule. I’ll be sending the manuscript to Paladin by the end of this month and they say (wonder of wonders) they’ll have…
Last week in the comments section, CS posted a good bit on community and the need for it in our uncertain future. He asked me for a response & I’ve been thinking on it. In fact, I think the subject is going to become the topic of a future article or articles. Meantime, I’ve touched on it in past blog posts and articles, including this one, which first appeared in the print edition of BHM. Just one additional observation at the moment. Obviously, community-building is hard for individualists (herding cats and all that). Well, really it’s hard for anybody. The…
According to a Rasmussen poll: “62% of Likely U.S. Voters believe that no matter how bad things are, Congress can always make them worse.” OMG, ain’t that the truth? And ain’t that an example of uncommon sense from the v*ters? And in the weird news of the day … faux “FBI agents” take the law into their own hands. And get arrested. Nice try, boys & girl. Nice try.
Well, okay. A good word for one cop, anyhow. In one specific circumstance. One of the little towns near here recently had a holiday weekend “do,” that included a kiddie carnival, a parade, a barbecue, and suchlike — along with a series of prominent locals volunteering for their turn in a dunk tank. You know the thing I mean: throw a ball, hit a target, and into a cold tank of water falls the mayor or the town’s richest citizen. Well, my friend Leslie, who found me my house, has a son who’s a cop in that town. (Yes, I…
This is what it looks like when absurd taxes, hyper-regulation, and high (yet not hyper) inflation make it impossible for ordinary people to trust their country’s money and institutions.