I forgot another doctor’s appointment, but my ear, nose, and throat (ENT) specialist is very understanding. He knows that Meniere’s disease makes you senile when you’re under stress, so at my rescheduled session this morning, he told me a funeral story to make me feel less foolish. Before I get to that, he also revealed…
The joys of having a nonfunctional brain
February 22, 2014
The last coherent thing my father said to me was, “It’s hell when your brain doesn’t work.” Since I’d been knocked for a loop by the knowledge that we’d come to the end of the road, and now he’d have to go into hospice, I spoke without thinking. “Well, think of it as a vacation,”…
A letter to Mom and Dad, Part One
January 16, 2014
Dear Mom and Dad: Today I got some really good news, which I’ll keep to myself for now. In case you hadn’t heard, I signed up with a fake publicity firm that stole almost $40,000 from me. The guy who runs the company has no background in the publishing industry. What happened was that Tim…
A letter to Mom and Dad, Part Two
January 16, 2014
My letter to Mom and Dad continues. 28. On April 14, Mom, you came home. You refused to eat or exercise, even though you’d been told over and over that you needed to do so in order to be a good candidate for chemotherapy. We fought about it, and you accused us of criticizing you….
Seeing only what you want
January 14, 2014
A little followup on the reason why my publicists thought they could scam me without repercussions. It’s a classic case of seeing only what you want. The answer came to me when I reviewed e-mails that an interviewer sent. Writing about the book, your publicist refers to your humility… To me, you come off as…