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A conversation that must somehow find its way into my fiction.
Tonight, three weeks into AWANA, I asked first-grader J.T. his full name.
"That's it," he said. "J.T."
"But don't the J and the T stand for something?"
"No. They're just my name."
"Okay," I said. "So when your mom is really mad at you, there's never another name she calls you?"
The look he gave me doubted my intelligence. "No. Except sometimes ( Read more... ) -
Proof that I still watch movies.
The Bad-- I finally read a professional review of The Bourne Ultimatum that agrees with mine: in summary, it's overrated. First, for the record: I love the first two movies. (This reviewer did, too.) Have seen them multiple times. The first film was brilliant and original, and the amnesia factor created instant sympathy with the protagonist. ( Read more... ) -
So far ...
. . . two Monster.com employers have contacted me. The positions? Personal Finance Advisor (Build your own business! Work from home! Make clients of your family and friends!) and ESL Teacher (Travel to China or Taiwan and teach English! Yay you ( Read more... ) -
It's not a song till it tears you apart.
First, you realize the previous incarnation of your novel may not be scrap, after all.
Then, you realize if it is salvageable, the events need an overhaul even though the point of view and style are finally decent.
After that, you realize you want it to be salvageable, and not purely for indolent reasons--you actually like some of that stuff.
Finally ( Read more... ) -
Everywhere, evidence.
"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." (Hebrews 11:1)
The other day, I began to break this verse down in my head. It's a rather commonly quoted verse, but the words themselves sort of wove around my brain. Faith is the evidence of things unseen. It's not as if I'd never thought about this before, but ( Read more... ) -
Cultural comments, with a touch of egocentrism.
What would it be like to know the entire country knows your characters? And a good portion of the country loves them? And that because of your very own creations, UPS probably frowned on anybody taking today off?
Every time one of these overrated books is released, I do feel slightly left out of The Loop. Perhaps I ought to read Book Three. ( Read more... ) -
I'm. A. Homeowner.
More accurately, I am a mortgage owner ( Read more... ) -
What gets left behind.
The first day I walked into my future new-home, a watermelon magnet stuck to the vent in the otherwise barren master bedroom. Odd. I left it there.
When painting, I discovered (now I can't recall where) another magnet: round, yellow, featuring a cannon and a Civil War private's hat. I put it with the watermelon.
One day, my sole task turned out to ( Read more... ) -
Gifts that keep on giving.
I've recently received some notable ones.
The first is actually an old gift, and Heather wasn't aware at the time she was giving me anything (in fact, she thought I was doing her the favor, but it turned out vice versa). Many moons ago, I let her borrow my iPod when hers broke, so she would not have to suffer through music withdrawal till she was ( Read more... ) -
The Joshman Rants About His Place of Employment (Part 5,861)
"They're putting one up a mile and a half from ours, and then another one a mile and a half from that one ... Walmarts are like wasp nests. Even if you knock them down over and over, they just keep reappearing. 'Wait! How'd that get so huge? How did I not see it before?'"