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Showing posts from May, 2010

Green is dumb

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I'll let you figure it out.

I don't understand how your brain works a.k.a Lost Ending Sucked.

I would like to say that anyone who was satisfied with the ending of Lost is an idiot, but I will not. See, I find that my opinion is not absolute. I walked out of “Dumb and Dumber.” It is one of two movies that I have walked out of in all my long life. At that time, I thought anyone who liked that movie must be an idiot. Then I had a very intelligent, kind, good man tell me it was one of his favorite movies. So, rather than say you are an idiot for being satisfied with the ending of Lost I will just say “I do not understand how your brain works." They all die in the end? Uh, any good writer knows you can’t end a story that way. “And then they all died!” Immediately your reader is going to feel cheated. You also can’t introduce a whole bunch of plot threads, call them “mysteries” and then not solve them and expect people not to care. Except – people don’t seem to care, which baffles the hell out of me. (Stole the following list from a person on The Ferret’s website who posted as

Here's an idea

Why doesn't Galactus just get the Infinity Gauntlet and the Cosmic Cube? If I was Galactus, that's what I would do.

The Horrors of National Health Care.

Wendy called our health care provider today to get something checked out. They asked her if 9:00 a.m. TOMORROW was too early for her, or would she like something later in the day? The Horror! The Horror! She has to wait a whole fifteen hours for an appointment! You know what's horrible? The misinformation spread by "news" organizations about health care in the rest of the civilized world. Just so you know, this isn't a lone incident - it is always like this when we need help here. Which has been about 5 times now. I don't mean to offend any of my readers, but this is the reality of what health care is like in Europe. It is nothing like what is being portrayed in some media. It is excellent.

Machinegun Fire

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I have hot friends, si, no? The weeks are just packed. We cannot believe how short time is before we travel back to Vermont. Thank God. (This is actually a wonderful pattern we have. We are both so excited to go to our hometown, and by the end of our stay there, we will be so excited to go back to Madrid.) Every single day I think “I cannot believe how hard I am working.” We hosted a party last week for the Madrid holiday honoring their patron saint “San Isidro” and this weekend is Wendy’s bachelorette party. I have to mention (because this is my blog and I get to spew my random thoughts whenever I wish) that the world is conspiring against us. Wendy and I have never been in a better place. We have never been more in love or happier with ourselves, our bodies, our relationship, our life, than right now. Wendy has lost almost TWENTY POUNDS. I have not lost any weight, but I fit into my skinniest jeans and my shoulders are broader than they were in college. The worker at the gym, who I t

Two pictures from San Sebastian

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This was posted on a bar in San Sebastian. Do I need to explain this? Look at that second beer. WTF? I have always thought it would be clever to travel to exotic places and take pictures outside McDonalds and the Disney store. Look! See! I'm in one of the most beautiful places on Earth and I'm taking pictures at McDonalds! Isn't that funny? Actually, having posted it once, I can see that it is not funny, just lame. Never again.
For those not on Facebook: http://www.metacafe.com/watch/sy-65167935001/julieta_venegas_bien_o_mal_official_music_video/ At the 1:10 mark of this video you will think "Did she just...?" And yes, yes she did. And others do too. Especially the two girls on the blanket. at 1:35. So bizarre, so bizarre. Beautiful voice, good song, nice video, just strange. I’ve always wanted to show people where I live. Luckily, someone has done it for me. This video highlights not only where we live, but where we eat and the neighborhoods we visit. With about two minutes of changes this would have been a video I made to show you our neighborhood. http://vodpod.com/watch/3559750-48-hours-madrid 45 seconds – Wendy’s favorite breakfast when we’re traveling. 1:04 – Puerta del Sol is a five minute walk from our apartment. We do most of our shopping at El Corte Ingles there. 1:41 – Wendy and I go jogging through here and I advertised my books to tourists in front of the palace. Also 5 minutes from whe

There's a reason I've always hated Ewoks.

The last update ended with me telling you I was going out to pimp my book. I showered and put on some strong sun block since the weather in Madrid is clear, sunny, and hot. I took my huge ass sign and some book sample chapters up to the plaza in front of the palace and stood there, holding my sign and a chapter in my hand, ready to offer it to anyone who showed the slightest interest. Ninety minutes later the only people who talked to me were two attractive policewomen who grilled me on what I was doing. I explained it was a chapter of my new book that I was trying to promote and that it was free. “So, you’re not selling anything?” “No, totalmente gratis.” “And what is this and, this?” “That’s my email address and my website.” “Okay, thank you, good luck.” “Buen dia.” “Igualmente.” (There are two words for “free” in Spanish. One means unoccupied or with no restrictions, the other means there is no cost for it. If someone asks if they can take a chair from your table and you are not usi