3-day weekend alert

We have this fine thing called a union contract that obliges some of us to stay home on Presidents Day, so blogging will be limited today. I do have one thing to pass along, though: Tim Porter sent some fresh…

For all you Scrabblehounds

Side Salad shares this wonderful link, which converts words to Scrabble scores: Pholph’s Scrabble GeneratorMy Scrabble? Score is: 30.What is your score? Get it here. Who’d a thunk chaff was such a great Scrabble word?

Banned For Life in new home

I decided to create a new Banned For Life blog for all future examples of cringeworthy news media cliches. It’s here. Mostly finished but some fine-tuning remains. Banned For Life is my one lasting online legacy … it’s been around…

You may be hearing about this guy

Four years ago I interviewed a 17-year-old hormonal Alaskan guy named Marty Beckerman, who at that tender age imagined himself the next Dave Barry. Now he’s 21, he’s got a new book out and reviewers are calling him a rough…

On writers being editors

Book editor and freelance writer Jen Weiss passes some tips along. Once you’ve finished writing, try putting it away for a while. A day, a week?however long it’ll take you to nearly forget about it. Most writers I know agree…

Getting the “real” story

CJR’s Campaign Desk, on the facts of President Bush’s National Guard service: Here’s the real story. In May of 1972, Bush moved from Texas to Alabama to work as campaign manager for Republican Winton “Red” Blount’s senate campaign. He requested…