I’ve written a lot about my brother Tim. He and my brother Eric are the people to whom I’m closest in the world. Tim designed the covers of all three books in the Ghosts Trilogy. Each cover was one basically “one and we’re done.” We discussed ideas for Ghosts and Ballyhoo, but after that I…
Not your problem
March 16, 2014
I’m mentally ill. But it’s not your problem. Some of my mental illness is genetic. I have clinical depression on both sides of the family. One relative lived by herself for decades, filling each room of her house with junk until there were piles that reached the ceilings. She used a chamberpot and emptied it…
THIS son of a bitch doesn’t
March 15, 2014
Sergeant Major Daniel Joseph “Dan” Daly, United States Marine Corps, is said to have shouted, “Come on, you sons of bitches! Do you want to live forever?” at his men during the Battle of Bealleau Wood (June 1 to 26, 1918). Well, this son of a bitch doesn’t. I can’t think of anything worse. My…
They made movies about my life
March 12, 2014
Well, I don’t mean that someone actually based their movies on me. But there are several films that parallel my experiences so perfectly that it’s eerie. I’m sure you’ve had the same feeling. They made movies about my life, but they made them about yours too. Another caveat is that the two movies I’m going…
Put the pie back
March 11, 2014
When we’ve settled Mom and Dad’s estates and sold the three houses and their contents, Tim and I plan on moving to Austin, Texas. We’re a bit nervous about it. From 1972 to 1975, we lived in Tyler, Texas. It wasn’t very fun. We were aliens from Venezuela, and this was a different era. But…
Podsnappery
March 7, 2014
I like to research things, just for fun. A few days ago, I decided to look up Victorian American slang. No reason; it was just something I wanted to know about. I’m glad I took the time, because I learned an extremely useful word. Podsnappery: noun. Willful, complacent determination to ignore the objectionable or inconvenient, at…
Google is pretty scary
March 3, 2014
I opened a Google+ account to improve my search-engine optimization (SEO). It’s completely insane. Nothing makes sense. You put something in place, and then it changes. Why? No idea. After I made a Ghosts and Ballyhoo photo album, the order of the photos changed. Photo Number One became Number Nine, Number Seven became Number Eighteen,…
The cow must die
March 3, 2014
This is a sad video, but it isn’t graphic. And it makes a broader point, so please watch it. “Awww, ya dumb fucker.” No, the cow doesn’t deserve its fate, but the engineer did all he could. The cow had the entire world to stand in. For whatever reason it chose to position itself on…
How to piss me off
March 1, 2014
A few days ago a Scottish mental patient went off on me like nobody has in years. I don’t know the guy. He objected to this post; I can’t remember what he said exactly because the moderator of the site deleted all of his comments. Here’s the gist. “You’re a narcissistic, childish, aging failure and attention…