Friday, October 1, 2010

Celebrity Sighting

Overheard at a restaurant in Hollywood:

Man #1:   That's Steve Earle!

Man #2:  I don't know. I don't think so.

Man #1:  Oh, no, that totally is.  That's absolutely Steve Earle.

Friday, September 24, 2010

Self

"Your self is not about you"


Lewis Hyde, commenting on the lesson of Bob Dylan's statement that listening obsessively to Woody Guthrie records when a teenager made him feel like himself for the first time (or words to that effect).

Monday, August 16, 2010

On reading Updike's "Couples"

Updike is vaunted as a realist par excellence, a careful chronicler of our suburban mores, but what I found in these pages seemed pretty fantastical to me. Certainly it bore no resemblance to the suburbia I knew. His characters talked about Bertrand Russell, bristled at undercooked lamb, and screwed each other senseless at every possible interval. It called my own world into question.

Dan Piepenbring, at The Paris Review website:  http://blog.theparisreview.org/2010/08/10/couples/

Sunday, August 15, 2010

"I'll fix your head" -- Gene Tierney

"I suggest you use an ax" -- Dana Andrews

in "Where The Sidewalks Ends"

Friday, August 13, 2010

Customer Service

Exchange at the concession stand:


Customer: And two Cokes.

Worker: You want a Pepsi?

Customer: Yes.

Worker: Sorry, we don't sell Pepsi, only Coke.

Friday, August 6, 2010

Dream about a bee

In my bedroom with the door slightly ajar, was disconcerted when Kristen Wiig of Saturday Night Live fame was walking back and forth by the bedroom door, and then walked in, as I had no clothes on. 

[It surprises me to learn that Kristen Wiig is apparently a woman of my dreams, as previously I had thought her primary distinction that she was perhaps the only person you could taunt by saying "Two i's; two i's."]

She climbed on top of naked me, and we started a passionate openmouthed kiss.  Then I heard a faint buzzing, and I realized that a bee was flying around in our open mouths.  She realized it too, shortly thereafter, and we stopped kissing and let the bee fly out.   Without saying anything to each other we both seemed to realize that was the end of anything sexual between us.  I apologized for the state of the apartment and started picking up clothes.  She was impressed, though, by my ability to toss clothes in the hamper without missing.

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Job

NEWS FLASH: Help Wanted

Part-time Salesperson, 20-25 hours per week

Rachelle is going to grad school! So we are looking for additional part-time sales help, seeking someone with a rough (or better) knowledge of mysteries, eager to learn more and to share that enthusiasm with customers, and a flexible, can-do attitude. Ideally, your hours would be 9:30am - 2:00 pm Monday through Thursday. We offer a unique opportunity to meet authors, and to be surrounded by books and people who love books, in a vibrant section of Westwood Village. Please contact Bobby McCue or Linda Brown at orders@mystery-bookstore.com.
See More

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Overheard

"There was a woman at Western Mutual that Tony thought was hot. With reason. She was Venezuelan."

Friday, July 16, 2010

Hindsight

Lonnie Franklin Jr. would share violent fantasies about prostitutes and say they deserved to die, according to neighbors. "I should have made a better choice," says a longtime friend.

http://scpr.org/news/2010/07/15/friends-say-accused-grim-sleeper-dropped-hints


from: http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2010/07/grim_sleeper_suspect_drop.php

Sunday, July 4, 2010

Because It Is Never Too Late To Be Cautious

-- Blomkvist opened her robe and put a hand on her breast, caressing it cautiously.


from The Girl Who Played With Fire