Lies have cost me almost everything, as I document in Ghosts and Ballyhoo. Why do people lie to create outrages that don’t exist? Let’s say you passionately believe that the world is getting worse. What happens when it’s all based on lies? My next novel is about titanic, unfathomable lies. I need help in grasping…
The truth will set you free, but—
May 19, 2014
Like almost everything, there’s a caveat. The truth will set you free, but only if you can take it. I don’t begrudge anyone their desire to spare themselves terrible knowledge. We’re under no obligation to know the truth. That’s different from lying. Here’s how I look at it: The truth is behind a closed door….
Your fate is to have free will
May 17, 2014
Today I found an artifact that had gone missing. I’d heard about it for years, but I’d never laid eyes on it. Now I’ve examined and touched it. Part of me had wondered if it really existed. Does it prove anything? Yes. It proves that our fate is to have free will. I broach the…
A note for those who lead double lives
May 14, 2014
My next novel is about double lives. One double life in particular. As I’ve said before, I made it all up. Not a single aspect of it is true. Being a novel, it’s entirely fictional. Recently someone wrote the following about my novel Chasing the Last Whale. For anyone interested…I’m half-way through Chasing the Last…
Junk science to make you hate yourself
May 9, 2014
Mother Jones is out with an article titled “The Science of Your Racist Brain,” by Indre Viskontas (not Indrid Cold) and Chris Mooney. It’s absolutely hilarious. More junk science to make you hate yourself for being irredeemably evil. The article initially differentiates between “explicit racists” like Donald Sterling and “implicit racists”—all white people. According to…
Thinking is hard
May 6, 2014
If there’s anyone who understands how tough life can be, it’s this guy. The one writing this post. I perfectly understand your desire to maintain an even strain. Thinking is hard. It forces you to make decisions that you feel will violate your personal codes of conduct. Well, there’s your problem. Adopting rigid, arbitrary standards…
On being a solo flier
May 4, 2014
Today I thought I’d write a post on being a solo flier, Tim’s term for what he and I are. I wasn’t sure if I’d write it or what I’d say. Then I saw this video from Saturday Night Live. Like so many of SNL’s routines, it goes on too long, but the message is…
Would you want to know?
May 2, 2014
I grappled with this question a long time ago: If people in your life had terrible secrets, would you want to know? For me it depends on the secrets. I can overlook some things, while others are deal breakers. The first time the question really came up was when I met the Cardinal Ghost. Within…
The sword is mightier than the mouth
April 27, 2014
Yesterday a writer got angry at me for pointing out that her Facebook post opposing the canonizing of the late Pope John Paul II was a waste of time. And I was right. The canonizing went ahead. The writer said that her task is to speak out against the Catholic church because of the ongoing…