The Doubting Writer Blog
The Lure of the Shiny
The good news? This isn’t a post about politics, or Harvey Weinstein, or anything really unpleasant. The bad news? I don’t know. Maybe it’s not bad news at all. In fact, there really isn’t much news at all. Saturday was
And Here We Are Again
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. A man holds a position of great power and influence. He’s at the top of his field, the top of his company. He rubs shoulders with the rich and famous and influential.
Sorry to see you go, Tom
I don’t remember exactly when I first heard Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers. I do remember back in junior high school, having an acquaintance who was fast on the way to becoming one of my closest friends talking Petty up
The Reading List, 2017 (Part III)
Amazing that we’re into October already, isn’t it? Here’s the list of books read and completed between July and now–have you read any of them? The Good Life (2006), Jay McInerney. Unintentional re-read. I did not like it nearly as
Goldenrod and cross-promotion
I’m going soft today. I’m been working up to something bigger,something more outraged, as the result of yet another maddening meme I saw on Facebook this weekend, but I’m not quite ready to go there and I don’t want to
An Interview with Nick Wilford
Good morning, all. Today is an auspicious day. Not only is it my wedding anniversary (yay!), it’s also the launch day for Nick Wilford’s newest novel, Black & White. Nick has been a long-time friend of the blog, and his
Swapped!
Some time in the middle of last week, while tooling around the Internet, I came across an interesting tidbit. Lord of the Flies was getting a remake. William Golding’s classic 1954 novel about schoolboys marooned on a Pacific island had
Weekend Update: Summer’s (near) end edition
Well, we’ve hit the penultimate weekend of ‘official’ summer and already we’re seeing the signs of the winding down of the season: one of the big baseball camps in the area is already empty, already moving in the bulldozers and
Celestial Events and other things
Semi-random postings for this ecliptic day. * As you may or may not know, I write a monthly column for one of our local papers. This month’s column is on eclipses. Take a read! * That column is not exactly
Short thoughts on Charlottesville
I had two uncles who served in the Navy in World War II. Another flew a P-38 with the 8th Air Force out of southern Italy. Three of my friends had fathers who helped liberate Europe. Two of them swept
From the Department of “NOW I’ve Seen Everything”
Okay, first off, I’m going to admit that this is a blatant ‘filler post’ that has nothing to do with writing. The fact is, once again I was unprepared this morning, then got home late, had a late dinner, so
Writing and…Cold Cuts?
Last week, we picked up some cold cuts at the deli counter at the supermarket. Ham. Turkey breast. A little Swiss cheese. Tasty stuff. The ham was perfect, thin sheets you could almost see through. The turkey, the same, at
“The Doctor is a–“
In 1974, Mel Brooks released Blazing Saddles, which is at once a brilliant and intelligent satire of racism and a typical, infantile Brooks film. In the movie, the Attorney General of some unknown state tries to force the residents of
Put a Bow on it
Yesterday (Sunday, the 16th), at pretty much high noon, I pushed back from the computer, the final chords of the Grateful Dead’s spirited-but-sloppy “Scarlet Begonias” first set closer from July 16, 1976 still ringing in my ears, and said, “Finished.”
Thoughts on the MOOC (Part II)
Well, look at that, me delivering on a promised post! I even went to the extraordinary step of pre-writing a good portion of this post; still, it’s just past six a.m. on a Monday and my coffee’s not quite ready
The Reading List, 2017 (Part II)
Happy Independence Day (early) for my American readers! Happy Canada Day (late) for my Canadian readers! And happy [insert appropriate holiday here] for my [insert appropriate nationality, ethnicity, religion, etc. here] readers! Whew, I think I covered it. Last week,
Some Thoughts on the MOOC, Part I
Sounds like some sort of bizarre memoir, doesn’t it? A few weeks back, I believe I mentioned that I had signed up for a MOOC (i.e., Massive Open Online Course). The MOOC in this case was called The Power of
Mental Health Day
That’s what I’m on. I work a lot of weekends. Sometimes, the work is just for a few hours, such as when I lead a nature walk for my organization, or take a table full of displays and ‘stuff’ to
Monday Musing: No Real Theme Edition (and no political commentary!)
Random bits and pieces from over the last week, because I’ve been too lazy/busy to get an actual post! -Penguins won the Stanley Cup last night. This was a good game, an entertaining series, and a lot more fun to
Public Writing
When I was a kid, I loved to draw. I drew pictures every chance I got, and I was told by some tat I was pretty good at it, though in hindsight, I think I heard that mostly from my
Whatever it’s Called, it Worries Me
The world of the Grand Theft Auto series is populated with memorable…vehicles. Banshees and Bobcats, Sentinels and Schafters, Intruders and Inernus (Inferni?)–there are literally hundreds of cars, motorcycles, trucks, helicopters, boats and bicycles to steal in the course of the
Semi-coherent Thoughts on Reading and Time
For the better part of the last four days, I’ve been thinking about time, and books, and reading. Last Thursday over at Writer Unboxed, Ray Rhamey posted the first page New York Times bestseller The Handmaid’s Tale in his “Flog
Weekend Update: Old Friend Edition
Waking up once again exhausted and unprepared for Monday. It’s been that kind of a spring, and the weather hasn’t helped much, with a lot of rain and colder temperatures than normal. Our little corner of upstate is normally a
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