The Blogger Writes About Blogging and Books and Facts, It's Actually Kind of Interesting

I needed a photo so why not this one of Dua Lipa?

It’s been a week since my last post so I’m naturally feeling pressure to put something out today. If you think about it — and I don’t know why anyone would — it’s really rather silly. Not “really rather” silly so much as “just plain” silly. The fact of the matter is that virtually no one on this planet — and there are billions of us — reads this thing. I barely do and I’m the goddamned author. I’ve never made any effort to get readers. That’s not my thing. But anyway it’s odd that I feel this obligation to keep the damn blog going. It’s sixteen plus years old. This will be post number 1,593. Good lord that’s a lot of words. Many of them have been repeated such as “the.” I use “the” quite frequently. “And” is another one that I keep falling back on. On the other hand this is my first ever use of rhododendron on the blog. I didn’t even type it. I had to find the word on a search engine (guess which) then copy and paste it. I couldn’t be bothered learning how to spell it. Honestly am I ever going to use rhododendron again? Well maybe. But I wouldn’t bet on it. I don’t bet on anything anymore. I used to. It’s a good way to lose money. I’ve got enough to feel depressed about without adding, lost money because a three showed up instead of a king. Betting on the outcome of a sports event is nerve-wracking. So screw ever doing that again. One bet I cheerily made once was whether Jefferson City is the capital of Missouri (it is). I bet two co-workers lunch that it was. That’s what’s called a sure thing. If you wanna bet me on something that is an empirically verifiable fact that I happen to know, you’re on. 

Facts are different than they used to be. Before the internet there was one helluva lot of guesswork. What was that movie he was in a few years ago, the one about the space robot that befriends a flower? You and another person could go crazy trying to remember the name of that fucking movie. Not any more. Thank you IMDb, among other resources. No extended arguments or speculations about the number of kilometers in a mile. No wondering how long it would take to drive to Topeka. No trying to remember what year the Franco Prussian War started. (Hint: it was also called The War of 1870.) Facts are at your fingertips. Interestingly that doesn’t stop people from making up their own facts or ignoring real ones. There’s even this whiny fat felon running for president who ignores real facts and uses imaginary ones. People are dumb enough to buy what he’s selling. (I will not get started on politics, not today.)

I’m narrowing in on 500 words, is that going to be good enough to keep the wolves at bay? Seems kind of minimal especially on a morning when I’m on kind of a roll.

I roll on….

I’ve read some excellent books recently. Especially right now. I’m about 200 pages into Barbara Kingsolver’s Demon Copperhead (just out in paperback!). Absolutely brilliant and I do believed destined to be one of my all-time favorites. I also recently read James M. Cain’s Mildred Pierce. You’re probably familiar with the film from 1945 starring Joan Crawford as the titular character. Or the mini-series from a few years back with Kate Winslet in the lead. Probably both. I also greatly enjoyed a book called The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach. And I liked The Sweet Hereafter by Russell Banks. Love the film of the same name. In the non-fiction category I recommend Timothy Egan’s A Fever in the Heartland. It reads like a novel.

Our house is becoming overwhelmed by books. This despite the fact that I’m constantly getting rid of them. But I buy more than I trade in. I’m a proud bibliophile. I'm not altogether sure why I keep books around once I've read them. Other than the fact I might read them again. There aren't too many books I've read multiple times. There are so many others to explore. You travel all over the world in books. In time. In geography. Into different minds, different circumstances, different perspectives. There are some people who don't read books and I truly don't understand them.

I hate to end this here — you’ve been a terrific audience — but I have the first draft of a novel to work on and a trip to the gym to make and various errands and well, you know how it goes.

Cheers.