Keeping things brief
not boxers.
Greetings finders of single socks in strange locations!
SHORTS (because it’s summer weather):
The most ridiculous thing plugged into my house is an electric toothbrush that beeps loudly, twice, every time we turn the bathroom light on. Why? Why the noise? It is a toothbrush.
I had cause to call the IRS this week. A ten minute maze of “press one to…press two to…” led to the right department and government office. I was on hold with music for about two more minutes at this extension before a voice came on and told me that due to unusually high call volume, they were hanging up on me.
There was a ticker tape parade on Broadway for essential workers on July 7 and I posted photos on Twitter. Someone messaged me to ask me not to celebrate this waste of city funds, time, and clean up, citing litter and traffic. I need to repeat what I told that person: ticker tape parades are not to entertain you. They are an opportunity for the general public to honor and thank the person/s featured in the parade. Which in this case, remember? Essential workers at the (hopefully) end of a pandemic. Yeah, I applauded. Nearly everyone on a float or walking in the parade had pure gratitude in their eyes—like they couldn’t believe they were there. (After what they have seen, they probably earned that disbelief)
WHAT I DID THIS WEEK:
People are talking about my review of a light installation in Lower Manhattan. You can weigh in with your opinions after reading the new piece on Medium.
The anthology “Stand Out: The Best of the Red Penguin Collection, Vol 2” just came out (editor JK Larkin) and it was a joy to see my name on the cover of the author copy that was just sent to me. The book is available on Amazon, free with Kindle unlimited.
COMING UP:
If you are any kind of a nerd (or anyone in your house watched Original Star Trek or Land of the Lost) you might be interested in watching me moderate a really terrific panel this coming Saturday July 17 online at 8pm (eastern). I’m really excited to host my friend (and fantastic sci-fi writer) Daniel Keys Moran and his friend (and sci-fi legend) David Gerrold (he invented Tribbles and Sleestaks) and bestseller Malena Crawford who took her urban fantasy novel and turned it into a popular author brand! The show is through Pen Parentis so we will be talking about kids, lives, balance, work, community, etc, but tickets are donation based and open to anyone. You can chat the authors! The theme is “series: interrupted” and I’ll be asking these three writers what it was like to stop a popular series for personal reasons — I honestly can’t wait. You can get tickets here.
Also, if you live in California and/or are traveling through Big Sur on July 18, stop by this book reading and signing at the fantastic Henry Miller Library for the dark anthology, Delirium Corridor (editor, Max Talley) — if you can’t make it, you can still buy the anthology online and read my very creepy (and possibly favorite) story “Left Brain.” There’s a paperback and the ebook is included in Kindle Unlimited.
PARTING THOUGHT:
My son just stopped his Counterstrike game to engage the other players in a chess match online. These guys are *just* as loud killing pawns and knights and rooks as they were killing terrorists, and yet I am infinitely happier hearing him shriek “dog, you can FORK his Knight and Bishop! FORK HIM! Fork him!”