If I end up founding my own university (“Cecil Vortex University” — or perhaps “the University of Cecil Vortex”) the CVU/UCV hymnal will include the following words: “roar” “kindled” “e’er” “hail” “gibbous” 0
Category: This; And also that
Seriously
“I’m not laughing at you. I’m laughing with me.” 0
Something that surprised me today
The downright deviant number of flip-flops we have in my house. We have, like, fourteen pairs of flip-flops in my house. And I don’t wear flip-flops. They flip too much. So that leaves three people in my house with fourteen…
Kurt Vonnegut
In seventh grade I read Cat’s Cradle, my first Vonnegut book. I remember standing in front of the class and giving a book report. I played a newsreporter delivering the play-by-play from the book’s closing scene (“a tragedy today, here…
Happy Dyngus Day! At last!
Dyngus Day is finally here! And you know what that means — beware kids sporting pussywillows and water guns. Especially if you live in Buffalo or South Bend. In an almost entirely unrelated development, So-Called Bill was angered by advertising…
Kids say the darndest things about modern art
I took my kids to SFMOMA today for the first time, and they each had a line I feel compelled to share. Sam (6), on Lesende by Gerhard Richter: “I’m just blinking ‘cuz I’m so amazed.” Susannah (9), on A…
Wouldja believe: Dyngus Day
I just learned something so wonderful, I felt compelled to use the world wide web to let people know about it. Were you aware that the Monday after Easter is a Polish holiday called “Dyngus Day”? It’s true! Dyngus Day!…
Dialogue, motivation, bumpers
Thought for the day: Trying to write dialogue without first getting a bead on your characters’ motivation is a little like trying to move a car by pulling on its bumper. Oh sure, you can do it. If you’re really…
Belated Reflections on the Animated Feature “Happy Feet”
Reflection number 1. It’s just a matter of time before “Happy Feet: The Musical” hits Broadway. So if, like me, your chest starts to constrict at the thought of 100 people tap dancing their hearts out while wearing penguin suits,…
By request: Carl Sandburg
(It’s not every day that someone asks you to write a short poem about Carl Sandburg.) Carl Sandburg was a dangerous man always creeping around on little cat feet infecting people with TB. 0