Yesterday I was ecstatic. And busy. My tivo can only record two networks at once, so it was tricky to bop between three networks as the two big Senate votes went down on burying the despicable Don't Ask, Don't Tell.

I wanted to watch the full vote on CSPAN-2, catch the mainstream… Read full post »

Congratulations, John Devine. Congratulations on completing the New York City Marathon. And thank you for being hero today.

I was worn out this morning and ready for a day of rest. I settled in to watch the climax of the NYC marathon on the TV, even though the finish line was one… Read full post »

I was shaken up when I watched the footage of kids fleeing Deer Creek Middle School near Columbine Tuesday, after an adult opened fire. God. It was just like watching the kids at Columbine again.

Obviously, I'm not the only one to feel that way, and there are… Read full post »

Something unusual happened in Alabama Friday afternoon. A woman committed mass murder.

That's the opening of a piece I wrote late last night for The Daily Beast. It's their lead story right now.

I am really tired now, because I spent a good chunk of the night writing it. I heard… Read full post »

I'm halfway through the episode, tempting to call it even more boring than expected, but that would be hyperbole. It's pretty much as boring as my low expectations, and a little more annoying.

(This morning's post on why the season was doomed here.)

The one surprise was watching Dimples drone… Read full post »

I love Survivor from the start. But after seven seasons, just as it was wearing thin, producer Mark Burnett made his first huge blunder: Survivor All Stars. 

Awful. It was quickly apparent how surprisingly uninteresting the contestants were. They appear so interesting on the show, because the s… Read full post »

Authors have been getting screwed on ebook royalties, and it's likely to get much worse. Publishers fear they are going to get screwed by Amazon once it has a choke hold. 

Finally, they are both pushing back. A flurry of activity in the last week:

The Authors Guild released a statement… Read full post »

I'm not quite sure what to make of this. Amazon compared what it called three best books of 2009 lists, which it called "the annual triumvirate of US top 100s": the New York Times Book Review's, Pulishers Weekly's and theirs.  

So far, so interesting. Eleven books made all three list… Read full post »

Nov. 16, 2009, the day I really arrived:

 
Hahaha. I started getting facebooks and emails late yesterday afternoon. I was giddy all night. It actually tickled me even more than making the Pub Weekly and Amazon best of 2009 lists.

This was a dream I didn't know I had.… Read full post »

So she's not dumb.

Sarah Palin deserved all the heckling she got, in my opinion. She made an ass of herself. She seemed to revel in ignorance, and glorify it. But she turns out to be intelligent after all.

I'm watching her right now on Oprah. I'm halfway… Read full post »

The announcement came suddenly, apparently. From Washington City Paper's site this afternoon:

 Just hours ago, the staff of the Blade learned that its parent company, Window Media, had filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, that the Blade was closed effective immediately, and that the paper&rsq… Read full post »

I got really choked up watching that speech. Obama hit just the right notes, and carried himself just right: serious and a little subdued, yet resilient and strong.

I broke my rule against watching profiles of the victims, because that can send me spiraling down to the dark place,… Read full post »

It started yesterday. Walmart.com announced it would sell the top ten pre-release books for $10 each, plus free shipping--meaning they would lose more than $5 per book.

Amazon matched it and the downward bidding continued.

Today it's down to $9 per book from each, and same-day shipping from Amazon.

T… Read full post »

The list is out. Congratulations to all the finalists.

I have special admiration for the nonfiction finalists, having gone through that little adventure (of creating one):

• David M. Carroll, Following the Water: A Hydromancer's Notebook(Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
• Sean B. Carroll, Remarkable Cre
… Read full post »

It has been a really sad, heavy 24 hours--reading Sue Klebold's painful essay about Dylan's role in Columbine, reflecting on it, and talking about it--so I thought I'd lighten the mood a bit with an odd moment I just had.

It is of no consequence whatsoever, but I had a… Read full post »

The issue of O Magazine is not supposed to be out until Tuesday, but NBC found a copy on sale in LA. They faxed me a copy this evening just before taping an interview for tomorrow's Today Show.

I had to read it fast, but it stopped me cold several times.… Read full post »

Sarah Palin wrote her 400-page book in four months. (Or she got a head start before she announced her resignation. Maybe she was lying and did quit early for the big-book paycheck. 

Pub date has been moved up to Nov. 17.

Yow. I wonder if it will read like… Read full post »

10:33 pm.

"Live" should maybe be in quotes. I'm watching on my tivo, just home from the gym. But so what. Who watches anything while it plays now? This ain't no freaking primary election returns.

I'm posting DOWN the thread, not most recent on top, BTW. (It's too jumpy to read… Read full post »

Sony announced the 7-inch touch-screen Daily Edition today.  PC World said, "In portrait mode, about 30 to 35 lines of text will visible, making the experience very similar to that of a printed paperback book."

An ebook the size of a paperback, with the screen content of a paperback--and hopeful… Read full post »

I just saw the subject line in my inbox: Introducing the next iPhone.

Dammit! I knew I should have waited.

I thought about it for a few seconds. No I shouldn't. What I should have done is bought the old model even sooner.

I resisted buying the iphone until I… Read full post »

Gay activists have learned a few things over the years. A big one, which took awhile, seems obvious in retrospect: when someone helps us, thank them!

We do quite a bit demanding, cajoling, and what sounds to some like complaining. We have to. As long as we're treated second-class, we can't… Read full post »

I'm watching Jon Stewart interview PJ O'Rourke on The Daily Show, and unexpectedly smiling throughout. (I find PJ mildly amusing at times, but he's gotten really tedious over the years, so I wasn't expecting much.)

My first big grin came when they lamented how you used to be able to open… Read full post »