May 17, 2008
The author is a local chap---who shall remain nameless, because I don't want to hurt him or his prospects in any way, shape or form---a gentleman the husband knows, and, somehow, the offer of a free copy turned into a project of reading, rereading, scouring the book for mistakes and then producing a brief critique. He has been wondering why it isn't selling. I am sad to say that, after reading it, it's obvious as to why it hasn't become a bestseller. I didn't have too many nice things to say about the book, but fortunately, the author seemed grateful for my honesty---so much so that he would like me to publish my review on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. I'll admit, I was a bit surprised at that. If someone had handed me a review like I handed him, I would have been dismissive, crabby and wounded, before grudgingly agreeing, a few days later, that they may have a point. He was grace personified in his acceptance.
I had a few problems with the book, but my main problem was that it could have been tighter. Much tighter. An international thriller should not meander. It should be sharp and to the point, while keeping the reader on the edge of their seat. This book didn't, for the most part, manage that. In my estimation, there's probably a hundred pages and a subplot or two that could be lost, and it would help the book tremendously---and would make it an international best seller. I'm absolutely sure of it. It may have its problems, but it's better than some of the current bestsellers out there. Trust me on this one. A decent editor would have solved this problem the first time around to make it sell. They would have seen that the diamond needed some polishing, and would have cut what didn't need to be there. Unfortunately, he didn't have a decent editor. He didn't have an editor at all. He simply has a publisher, who does nothing for him, other than printing his book. He published through a local company which charges him a small fortune to put copies on bookstore shelves (and even on Amazon). He is responsible for promoting his book, and as he's retired from another career that is miles away from publishing, and is somewhat shy, I can understand why he has trouble with this.
This is one of those cases where it obviously does not pay to self-publish. And it would behoove people to realize precisely what they're getting if they choose to take this tack in publishing their book. I've never really wanted to do this, despite encouragement from the husband and others, simply because while I can sell a product, particularly if I have stake in it, but I need a framework to do so. Self-publishing does not provide said framework. Yes, you will retain the rights. Yes, you will make more money if the book takes off, but if you do not have any idea of what is required to get your book onto shelves and how to get them off shelves and into people's eager little hands, it probably won't happen in the first place. There are more self-published successes in recent years, thanks to the glories of the internet, but they're still far and few in between. Of course, if you choose to go the traditional route, this means you're taking a much rougher path to having a published work, but it might just be worth it in the long run. I'd bet a hundred bucks this guy's publisher didn't even instruct him on how to put together a media kit, like some self-publishing companies do, because, after all, the publisher is already making money on each copy. It may not be as much as they could make it they helped to promote the book, but then again, they don't incur those costs, either. Some profit is better than none, or a huge loss if the book fails to sell.
I feel extremely sorry for this gentleman, because the plot, in all actuality, is nothing different than what Robert Ludlum (or the shadow writers publishing under the good graces of the Ludlum Estate. You do know the guy is dead, right? The Cake Eater Mother absolutely refuses to believe me when I tell her this. Yes, Mom, he has been IN THE GROUND for about seven years and everything published since has been written by ghosters. Wikipedia may not be the most accurate source about some things, but they generally get the death dates right.) or Dan Brown might have produced. Seriously. He's got that much right, and the book definitely has potential. He just needs a massive edit to make it successful, and I don't know if, after all he's tried to do to promote this book in its current form and how much money he's invested to get it onto shelves, he'll want to take that path. Fortunately for him, he still owns the rights to the book. He can do with it as he will, so the option of an edit is available to him, if he chooses to partake of it. He could easily do this, call it a second edition, and shop it around to other, full-service publishers. Ironically, the fact that he's published, even if it is of the self-service variety, will help him find an agent and a publisher more quickly than if he hadn't self-published. I can only hope he realizes that this is his best option.
So, I offer this up as a cautionary tale: if you are a burgeoning writer and think self-publishing is the way to go, be aware of the pitfalls. If you have some grounding in the book business, have a load of cash to get your books on the shelves, and know how to promote your book to recoup the cash outlay, go for it. But if you're simply tired of sending out queries and sample chapters to agents and publishers and the rejection letters they send out in return, and want to bypass all the bluster, just be aware of what you're getting yourself into. Patience can and does pay off, and it probably pays off more handsomely.
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March 27, 2006
I was actually going to start my hiatus next week, but you'll have noticed the dearth of posting lately, it's probably just as well that I do this now.
Now, now, don't be despondent, my devoted Cake Eater readers. Think of all the crap posts I'm sparing you in the meantime.
There are two things that have led to this decision. First, I am just not interested in blogging right now. I'm tired of this vain little world the blogosphere has become. I'm sick of the preening, the posturing, of the bottle of success only opening and filling the glass of the best link whores. I'm sick of it. I know it shouldn't bother me; I've tried not to let it bother me, but you can only churn out content for so long without any payoff.
Second, I have other things I want to expend my energy on. Yes, that means another manuscript. After the last one spontaneously combusted, leaving only a smoldering pile of shit in its place, it's taken a bit to work myself up to it, but I'm readying myself for another go-round on the Novel Carousel (TM). Now this is the same carousel where---ahem--- if you suck, you're forcibly ejected! I haven't the time or energy to expend on blogging if I want to---ahem---actually write something that will sell. I'm tired of writing novels that don't make me any money, because, my devoted Cake Eater Readers, I want to be sitting on a beach sometime soon, being fed bon-bon's by Javier the thong-wearing, well-greased, cabana boy---and that's not going to happen unless I've got lots of coin.
So, I bid you au revoir, my devoted Cake Eater readers. I will be back.
Sometime.
Probably in the summer.
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March 07, 2006
You do? Ok, good, because I've got a surprise for you, my devoted and Big-XII-Conference-Basketball-loving Cake Eater readers. Rabid commenter and occasional guest blogger, Russ from Winterset, is heading down to Dallas tomorrow to drunk blog the Big Twelve men's (and women's, too, I suppose.) tournament. While he's on official duty for Cyclone Nation, he's agreed to throw up a few posts from the tournament here at the Cake Eater Chronicles, which means he is the---ahem---OFFICIAL CAKE EATER COLLEGE BASKETBALL CORRESPONDENT.
Because we really needed a college basketball correspondent.
{Insert much blatant winking here}
Tune in this evening for what promises to be the first of many entertaining and beer soaked tournament posts.
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March 06, 2006
On Friday, I had the opportunity to chat with this lady, and this lady, and this lady and this dude, who it appears was the only XY chromosome carrier in residence at Casa Feisty this weekend. They weren't too deep in the margarita pool when they chatted with me, but I could tell things would be going downhill shortly. I'm glad everyone had a fantastic time and I wish we could have been there. Sigh. But I'm glad I got to participate, even if it was in such a limited way.
On Saturday night, Tracy and his lovely wife, Julie, hosted the inaugural MOB Wine Tasting at their gorgeous home and the husband and I were in attendance, along with Bogus Doug---the happiest of the happy drunks---and his wife, Ellen; The Millers; David Strom and Margaret Martin; and Jim, who also writes for the Anti-Strib and his wife Joey.
We were tasting pinot noirs, which I will freely admit I have little to no experience with, but fortunately for me, I wasn't the sole taster. We were all required to bring a bottle of pinot, our hosts brown bagged them and then we completed a blind tasting of eight wines. The winner was a 2002 Vampire Pinot Noir that was quite tasty. Afterwards, we smoked cigars, (yes, kimosabe, I'm included in that "we") drank cocktails, and chatted for what turned out was a good long time---the husband and I were surprised to see it was just shy of eleven when we left, and we'd all arrived (quite punctually, actually) at six-thirty.
It was a lot of fun, although, in one memorable exchange, I was accused by my otherwise-gracious host of snubbing the Anti-Strib because it's not on the blogroll. Hmmph. If I was snubbing you, Tracy, you'd know. Trust me on this one. But because you throw a good party, I made the HERCULEAN effort and added you on there---and because you let me raid your gin stash, well, here you go....
anti-strib anti-strib anti-strib anti-strib
anti-strib anti-strib anti-strib anti-strib
anti-strib anti-strib anti-strib anti-strib
anti-strib anti-strib anti-strib anti-strib
Tee hee.
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March 03, 2006
- I need to extend a large "thank you" to my assorted guest bloggers who filled in for me while I was gone. You people are fabulous.
I also need to explain why I did not buy cheap Mexican trinkets that I promised my guest bloggers. Because I think some of you are counting on them. And I'm sorry to say that I wanted to buy you stuff but, damn, I just didn't have the time. We really were in Mexico for only a half-hour, and by the end of that half-hour my anal-retentive, obsessive-compulsive (there ain't no "borderline" about it) father-in-law was vibrating so badly at the thought of walking around further in dirty downtown Nogales, replete with beggars and salesmen saying, "I need your dollars!", one would have thought he was a Magic Fingers bed and someone had inserted a roll of quarters into the coin box. He couldn't handle it, and we couldn't handle him, so we left without the requisite schlock.
Sorry about that, but hell, you didn't really want a tile frog or something like that, did you?
- The Oscars are this Sunday and, yes, I will be liveblogging them. Coverage will start with the preshows at 5p.m. CST. As per usual, I'll keep updating with snark galore if you'll keep refreshing.
And there was something else, but I've completely forgotten what it was. Oh, well. You'll just have to live without whatever bit of information I was going to jot down, aren't you? Somehow, I think you'll manage.
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February 22, 2006
At the crack of my ass dawn tomorrow morning, we shall board a plane for exotic and glamorous...Cincinatti.
Which is exciting, no?
Yeah, I know. Don't let your enthusiasm burst a button on your trousers or anything.
Have no fear, my devoted Cake Eater readers, that's not our final destination. We shall then catch a connection to warm and sunny Phoenix, Arizona, where we will stay for as long as it takes me to satisfy my In-N-Out jones. Then we shall get on the freeway and head south. WAY south. Past Tucson. To border country, where the in-laws just moved.
At that point the plan is that the husband and I are going to soak up as much sun and eighty-degree temperatures as we possibly can while we hang out with his family. If any satellites are downed from orbit whilst we're on vacation, it'll be my fault. Because I have some white, white legs going on currently. I apologize in advance for reflecting light back into space and damaging sensitive electronic equipment. Really, I don't know what I was thinking.
Anyway... I'm sure you, my devoted Cake Eater readers are wondering what's in store for you during my vacation. You see, I could leave you high and dry for five days, but I decided I wouldn't do that to you because you are, indeed, my devoted Cake Eater readers. I didn't want you all reverting to the Asian lesbian pr0n that you surfed before you found me. So, I recruited guest bloggers. Lots and lots of guest bloggers.
Aren't I thoughtful?
Yes, I know. You can thank me later when you read the dramatic stylings of Chrissy from JustDotChristina; the wicked humor of Agent Bedhead; the laid back ponderings of Bogus Doug; and, of course, the general wackiness of my dear pals Robbo and Steve, the Llamabutchers.
You, my devoted Cake Eater readers, also need to extend a warm welcome to a n00b who's making his HMTL debut: rabid commenter, Russ from Winterset, who will, in a few short weeks, be traveling to Dallas for the Big Twelve Tourney in his capacity as the Cake Eater Basketball Correspondent. Give him a warm welcome and a really hard time, because undoubtedly the power of the post will go to his head.
I will have the laptop with me, but I don't expect too much time for posting, as I will be making a concentrated effort to down satellites with my lack of pigmentation. I might pop in. I might not. You'll just have to wait and see what happens.
Have a good week, kids, and I'll see you next Thursday if not sooner.
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February 18, 2006
If the blogosphere is, as so many say, just a million monkeys typing, well, what is it when reporters for many mainstream media publications manage to pump out the same damn article over and over again?
Just wondering.
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February 17, 2006
Now, I know more than 100K people have been to the Cake Eater Chronicles because the server stats tell me so. (For every hit the sitemeter registers, the server stats tell me there are two that it doesn't catch. You can do the math.) But, the sitemeter, for a very long time, was all I had. And even though I have fancy stats, technorati and the ecosystem, it's sometimes the only way I know who's coming here and why---and it never ceases being fun seeing what some of you freaks typed into Google that brought you here. It's also nice seeing regular readers in the logs, because, well, it means you keep coming back for more.
Anyway, since it's 12:30 and I want to go to bed, I'll stop rambling about stats and say "thank you" to my devoted Cake Eater Readers, who will turn that thing over because you are, in fact, devoted.
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December 23, 2005
I shall leave you, my devoted Cake Eater Readers, with my smiling seven-year-old face to warm your heart with holiday cheer.
Yes, that's me. I already know I look like a boy, so you needn't tell me.
Anyway...we're on the road today, and I have a feeling the next couple of days will be inordinately busy so blogging will be light, if not non-existent, and I wanted to catch you, my devoted Cake Eater Readers, while you're still stuck at the office, but before you get drunk. I know you're just waiting to be let loose on that vat of spiked eggnog that's sitting out by reception for the office Holiday party. I realize the siren song of the nog is tough to resist, so I will keep the holiday greetings short and sweet.
Ahem.
A very Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, Cheery Saturnalia, Wonderful Winter Solstice, Krazy Kwanzaa, etc., to you, my devoted Cake Eater readers.
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December 19, 2005
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December 07, 2005
I am most certainly not "well-to-do." Crikeys. If I qualified for membership in the Cake Eater club, I would not have done what I did yesterday, which was to scrub the walls in my home office with Clorox Clean-Up. Why, you ask, did I scrub the walls with a bleachy cleaner? Well, I quit smoking a few months back (Do "well-to-do" people smoke nowadays? Nope. Because, supposedly, with more wealth comes the intelligence to know when you're killing yourself in the name of stress relief. They only fire up when they're stinking drunk and because, Gawd, they need something to make themselves feel alive, and smoking reminds them of when they were particularly naughty in college tha one time...) and it's been slowly dawning on me how yellow my supposedly white walls were.
If I were "well-to-do," rather than slapping on a pair of rubber gloves and hoisting a bottle of Clorox Clean-up, I would have simply wired the house with explosives and blown it up whilst watching from the other side of the street, swaddled in mink, an ice cold martini in my hand raised in honor of that master manipulator of nitroglycerin, Alfred Nobel.
But we is po', so I scrubbed the walls myself. That disqualifies me from Cake Eater Membership. I looked it up to be sure, too.
Oh, and while I'm at the correction business, Lileks lives in Minneapolis, not Edina.
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November 24, 2005
WE TRIED COUNTING BACKWARDS, WE TRIED COUNTING SHEEP.
THE LEFTOVERS BECKONED - THE DARK MEAT AND WHITE
BUT WE FOUGHT TEMPTATION WITH ALL OF OUR MIGHT
TOSSING AND TURNING WITH ANTICIPATION
THE THOUGHT OF A SNACK BECAME INFATUATION.
SO, WE RACED TO THE KITCHEN, FLUNG OPEN THE DOOR
AND GAZED AT THE FRIDGE, FULL OF GOODIES GALORE.
WE GOBBLED UP TURKEY AND BUTTERED POTATOES,
PICKLES AND CARROTS, BEANS AND TOMATOES.
WE FELT OURSELVES SWELLING SO PLUMP AND SO ROUND,
'TIL ALL OF A SUDDEN, WE ROSE OFF THE GROUND.
WE CRASHED THROUGH THE CEILING, UP INTO THE SKY
WITH A MOUTHFUL OF PUDDING, A HANDFUL OF PIE.
BUT, WE MANAGED TO YELL AS WE SOARED PAST THE TREES....
HAPPY EATING TO ALL - PASS THE CRANBERRIES, PLEASE.
MAY YOUR STUFFING BE TASTY, MAY YOUR TURKEY BE PLUMP.
MAY YOUR POTATOES 'N GRAVY HAVE NARY A LUMP,
MAY YOUR YAMS BE DELICIOUS MAY YOUR PIES TAKE THE PRIZE,
MAY YOUR THANKSGIVING DINNER STAY OFF OF YOUR THIGHS.
Happy Thanksgiving, my devoted Cake Eater Readers.
{Hat Tip: The Cake Eater Dad via Email}
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November 22, 2005
If you can do so, please help.
A related aside that should not be seen as a commentary on MDE's plight: this is the worst-case scenario that results from blogging anonymously. Most people blog anonymously and have no troubles with it. Some do, however---obviously. I can understand why people blog anonymously. However, it seems to me that if you choose to do so, you are simply putting a target on your back. By choosing to hide your identity, you are making it known to the world that you have something to lose by identifying yourself. Hence, the minute someone disagrees with you, and they want to get mean about it, they'll try to out you. And don't kid yourselves: no one is anonymous on the internet. Whois is just one click away and that's the beginning of the search.
In my humble opinion, it's easier to be yourself. When you have nothing to hide, you've got nothing to lose.
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How freakin' unprofessional is this? How amateurish of them, particularly after they admit to having met with a branding company. Not to mention the fact that they have VC and, as the husband put it, for them to have wound up in this spot, at least three people---including lawyers that the VC pays for---weren't doing their jobs.
This is embarrassing to watch. My face is turning red on their behalf.
{Hat tip: God}
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November 18, 2005
Ignore it at your peril.
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November 15, 2005
{hat tip: the llamas}
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October 28, 2005
Please go and read the whole thing. It's so worth your time if for no other reason than choice quotes like this:
{...}"A blogger can go out and make any statement about anybody, and you can't control it. That's a difficult thing,"says Steven Down, general manager of bike lock maker Kryptonite, owned by Ingersoll-Rand and based in Canton,Mass. {...}
Oh, God Forbid that should ever come to pass! People making statements! It's just as if dogs and cats were getting it on in the backyard! Break out the smelling salts, Mildred, I'm feeling a wee bit faint!
It's hard to tell if this article is actually for real. I have to assume it is, but sheesh. It makes you wonder, doesn't it?
Seriously, though, the hyperventilating, Chicken Little tone of this article is absolutely ridiculous. While I don't doubt that some blogs are strictly attack blogs, that the medium is manipulated by evil-doers and pr hacks alike, and that there are people for whom the words "slander" and "lying" have no meaning, the author, Daniel Lyons, refuses to mention anything good that has come from blogs. There is not one example of something good coming out of blogs that he chooses to list. Blogs are all evil, all the time. I can't even begin to list the ways this shows this man has no idea what he's dealing with. For example:
{...}Even some bloggers see the harm they can pose. "Some people in the blogosphere are too smug about free speech. They'll say it's okay if people get slandered or if people make up fake stuff because in the end the truth wins out," says John Hinderaker, a lawyer in Minneapolis, Minn. who helps run a right-wing blog, Power Line, which hounded CNN's Jordan and CBS anchor Dan Rather. "But I don't think that excuses it."When Hinderaker published an item saying left-wing bloggers should stop assaulting a White House reporter alleged to have worked as a gay prostitute, his blog brethren went on the assault, publishing his phone number at work and prompting a deluge of harassing phone calls and e-mails. "My secretary was crying" because callers kept swearing at her, he says. "Then we started getting calls at the house. My wife wanted to hire a bodyguard." {...}
Yeah, Powerline simply "hounded" Dan Rather. There was no benefit in keeping a network news anchor honest during a highly contested and partisan presidential election? Mmmhmmm. Sounds exactly like one of Lyons' complaints about blogs. But it would seem as if none of this is relevant to Lyons: he's only interested in WHEN BLOGGERS ATTACK BLOGGERS! Like it was a horror movie from the 1950's or a Dateline special report with Maria Shriver circa 1996. If you were to only listen to Lyons take on the matter, why, that horrible Hinderaker got what he deserved!
Which segues nicely into a sidebar from the article: Lyons goes so far as to publish a DIY "How to Fight Back" manual. You know, what you should do in the event of a blogger leveling a smear campaign against you or your corporation. His suggestions include:
MONITOR THE BLOGOSPHERE. Put your own people on this or hire a watchdog (Cymfony, Intelliseek or Biz360, among others). Spot blog smears early, before they can spread, and stamp them out by publishing the truth.START YOUR OWN BLOG. Hire a blogger to do a company blog or encourage your employees to write their own, adding your voice to the mix.{...}
But wait, it gets better.
ATTACK THE HOST. Find some copyrighted text that a blogger has lifted from your Web site and threaten to sue his Internet service provider under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. That may prompt the ISP to shut him down. Or threaten to drag the host into a defamation suit against the blogger. The host isn't liable but may skip the hassle and cut off the blogger's access anyway. Also:Subpoena the host company, demanding the blogger's name or Internet address. {...}
It's laughable how out of touch Forbes is on this. Crikeys. People pay good money to this magazine to find out what's going on in business and this is the product they provide? Sheesh. I'm glad we don't pay for our Forbes subscription; it's a gift from the father-in-law. Because after this I'm not really sure that I would take anything they wrote seriously.
{Hat Tip: Mike at Tech Dirt}
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October 04, 2005
Ninth Circle of Hell, MN – The Krinkie for Congress Campaign released its third quarter fundraising numbers today showing its direct marketing campaign hit up at least 1000 individuals who had neither Caller ID or sufficient enough wit to say, "Hola? No habla Ingles," when they answered the phone. The campaign also reported that they had "bou-cou bucks" stashed in a grocery bag in the campaign office. They will use this cash to buy their way into the House of Representatives so they "can smush the little people." Any remaining funds have been earmarked to pay for a truckload of ice cream sandwiches to be delivered to the campaign office on election night, as a "thank you for all your hard work, now eat yourselves into Type II Diabetes because you're not going to Dee Cee" present. The campaign organization and fundraising successes are clear signs of the snail's pace momentum of the campaign as the Republican Party’s most unknown candidate in the race, but hey, when you're running against Michele Bachmann, well, you know, you don't really have to do much to get your name in the paper, ya dig? You'll always get a mention as her primary opponent, if nothing else, because that chick gets press ya dig? Hence, really there's no need for us to be calling attention to ourselves and our fundraising habits in this shameless way, but hey, we're actually shameless so why the heck shouldn't we?
“Whether it is the level of support the campaign has received among Phil’s fellow Republican activists, or the successes this campaign has had attracting financial support, it demonstrates he’s the most unknown, candidate,” said campaign Finance Director Linda Runbeck, who is also the head of our Lackey Department and an email spammer of some note. “To be able to garner this level of support in just seven short months is a testament to the level of cluelessness that our supporters have demonstrated on the whole. More importantly, it is a testament to their confidence that Phil will bring our shared vision of serious pork for the I-94 corridor in Maple Grove, a serious intent for keeping those darned Mexicans in Mexico, and making sure plenty of time is wasted on fruitless amendments to the Constitution defining marriage as "a union between a man and a woman." Because, like the Barenaked Ladies, "we're all about values."
Please contact our campaign office if you'd like to interview our candidate or, better yet, his staffers. We can make our candidate (or ourselves) available for any sort of PR grubbing event you have in mind. We're not picky. Really, we're not.
*take the jump more...
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September 06, 2005
Ahem.
I had a social life this weekend!
I know. Pretty unusual, eh? Tell me about it. But it was nice to actually have not one, but two parties to go to before it starts getting cold and no one leaves their house again until next summer. (Yes. That really is the way things work here in the frozen tundra. Unless you're into ice fishing or somesuch winter sporty crap. Then you probably get out and about regularly. But those of us who despise winter, well...to put it bluntly,we're fucked, thank you ever so bloody much.) On Labor Day, we had an alley barbeque with the neighbors and that was nice, but it was really nothing to write home about. But Sunday night, well, last night was the MOB (Minnesota Organization of Blogs) Bash, which was held at the Town Hall Brewery near the U in downtown Minneapolis. Feeling festive, I threw on some nice strappy black high heels and, with the husband in tow, scooted off to meet some more bloggers!
I'm REALLY bad with faces and names, so I was pretty happy when I recognized Noodles from the last MOB event and he and his lovely wife, Susie, allowed me to latch onto them while I got my bearings. I chatted briefly with Ringer and met Andy from Residual Forces, yet another member of the Kennedy v. The Machine Gang of Four. Another KvM crew member, and a blogger whom I read regularly, Doug from Bogus Gold appeared and it was really nice to finally get to know him. Doug also squired me around and introduced me to many people, for which I'm grateful, because if he hadn't kept asking me "Do you want to meet some more people?" I probably would have sat at our table all night long, waiting for people to come to me. Which wasn't really going to happen as I am not the Queen of the MOB. Nevertheless a few people did come to our table and included in their number was Sandy from M.A.W.B Squad, who is one super duper cool chick, Ben from Hammerswing75 who was smoking clove cigarettes (mmmm) Steve from Giggle Pundit, the Night Writer, and the social butterfly of the evening: Mr. Mitch Berg, who was the host with the most, flitting from table to table, catching what I'm sure was the best of all the conversations taking place.
When we actually got up and started meandering, we were introduced to Dan, the Northern Alliance Wannabe; I had a brief chat with David Strom, who was happy to open up his portable humidor and let me take a peek inside. I was also happy to meet the Nihilist in Golf Pants, who did not have a copy of Sartre's Being and Nothingness sticking out of his plaid pants pocket because---ahem---wasn't wearing golf pants. Now, forcibly DRAG your minds out of the gutter and realize that the reason he wasn't wearing golf pants was because he was sporting an attractive socks and loafer look with a pair of shorts (which were not plaid), hence I believe he left the Sartre at home as it wasn't "summery" enough. I also briefly met Learned Foot and Pinkmonkeybird---who was sporting a hat with his URL on it, which, through the haze of chardonnay, made it really easy to figure out who he was. Thanks, Dude!
Unfortunately, for all the people I did get to meet and chat with, I did not have the chance to chat with any of the Fraters or {insert drumroll here} Lileks, who I am still scared of meeting because I know I will suffer from the worst case of verbal incontinence ever recorded if that meeting should ever occur.
I'm sure I've forgotten someone in this long listing, so if I have it's my fault, not yours and you can verbally abuse me in the comments.
I did have a nice time and I'm definitely thinking I'll have to shoot down to Keegan's one Thursday night in the not so distant future to hang out again with these guys. I heard a rumor of trivia; I shall have to investigate to see if it's true.
Posted by: Kathy at
01:33 AM
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August 01, 2005
wOOt!
And one of these days my archives from the old trailer park Blogspot home will magically appear on the sidebar so that I don't have to fend off claims of "bullshit!"
Posted by: Kathy at
09:48 AM
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