Velcrometer
Throwing stuff at the internet to see what sticks
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M. Giant's Velcrometer Throwing stuff at the internet to see what sticks |
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Wednesday, July 30, 2008 Day Tripper (Part One) 5:04 a.m. Monday My alarm goes off, before either the sun or the morning DJs have started their shifts. It would have been five, but the buttons on my clock radio stick. After kissing a sleeping son and a half-sleeping wife goodbye, I'm groomed and out the door a half hour later. This already represents several departures from routine; working from home, I still leave the house, but I don't groom. 6:04 a.m. Having just arrived at the gate area, I'm still busy getting everything metallic back where it's supposed to be when an announcement calls me back to the security checkpoint. On my way, I realize I forgot to pick up my driver's license. I congratulate myself on having the wisdom and foresight to have forgotten something with my name on it. I tell the TSA agent who hands it back to me, "You guys are good." Not even a smile. Like they hear that every day. 9:04 a.m. Traveling with little kids is tough. I know how hard it is to keep them from talking too loud and kicking the seat in front of them. But the way the little girl behind me keeps snaking her hand between the bulkhead and the back of my seat to touch my shirt is a little weird. 9:50 a.m. Lake Mead, Hoover Dam, and Las Vegas are visible out my window. Or something that looks just like them is. We're too high for me to see individual structures or even Celine Dion. 9:01 a.m. (Pacific Time) When Trash and I flew into LAX four years ago, we stood on the curb waiting for the Brand-Nifto rental car company shuttle to show up for what seemed like forever, watching multiple shuttles from every other rental car company in the world go by. This time I used a rental company you've heard of, but I still have to stand there forever watching multiple shuttles from every other car rental company in the world go by. Including Brand-Nifto. 9:11 a.m. I call Tara to see if she can meet for brunch. However, it doesn't work out, as I am in Los Angeles and she is in New York. Did I mention I woke up at 5:04 a.m.? Central? 9:40 a.m. Since I'm not getting a hotel room on this trip, I informed Trash that I would be spending that money on a fancy rental car instead. She informed me that I would not. And then I got a convertible for four dollars more than a "compact" would have been, so I think we both won. Especially me, since I didn't have to spend the night in a four-dollar hotel room. 10:15 a.m. At the Barnes & Noble at the Grove, my book is visible from the escalator to the second floor. I can't help noticing that the "TV/Film" section is a lot bigger here than at home. Go figure. I carry a couple of copies to a customer service guy and tell him, "I'm the author of this book." "No, I'm the author of this book!" he responds. Flummoxing. 12:45 a.m. My book is a little harder to find at the Borders on La Cienega, but at least it's positioned with the cover faced out, right between books on 24 and Battlestar Galactica. When I bring the copies to a customer service person, she has to get on her Secret Service earpiece to her manager for instructions on how to proceed.  2:30 p.m. I think I broke the convertible. I drove up to Griffith Park, partly to see if I could get a closer shot of the Hollywood sign than I had been able to while driving down Melrose:  Mission accomplished.  Shut up. My camera phone doesn't have a zoom, okay? I'm telling you, it seemed closer when I was up there. Anyway, I was going to stick my laptop bag in the truck so I didn't have to carry it into the observatory (which was closed anyway). A good plan, but the trunk already contained the roof. But when I found (which took a while) and pressed the button that looked like it was supposed to put the top up, nothing happened except that a message appeared on the radio dial saying "TOP NOT SECURE." And now I couldn't figure out how secure it. Was I supposed to pop the trunk before I hit the button? And why is the trunk not popping now? Because I broke the convertible, that's why. No manual in the glove compartment, either. Maybe it's in the trunk, but the trunk won't open. When I get my hands on the moron who thought I could be trusted with one of these… 3:30 p.m. In an underground parking ramp, I figure out that the convertible is not broken. I finally discovered that you have to hold down the button until the convertible's conversion is complete. The windows adjust themselves and metal panels appear and wave about and rearrange and in a slow little dance. It's like sitting inside a Transformer for 45 seconds, except that I am a more credible action hero than Shia LaBoef. I'm early for my meeting at E!, but I'm hoping that I'll be able use the extra time to find a restroom in the building where I can freshen up a bit and splash water on my empinkening forehead. After freshening and splashing, I'm still early. Maybe I didn't really need to check in for my 4:00 meeting at 3:45, but I'm from the Midwest. It's part of my shtick. Maybe I'll make up for it by being late with part two of this entry. posted by M. Giant 11:52 AM 5 comments 5 Comments:YEAH!
By 18 years later, and I still can't shake the midwestern-bred part of me that is perpetually punctual. Even if I try to be L.A. late, I am still the first one at every event.
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Empinkening. Now THERE'S a word that bears repeating. I'm going to use that today. Somehow.
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Gimme Part II! The suspense is killing me!
By Yeah, empinkening.... I like it, and I plan, like Pearl, to somehow, somewhere, find a use for it...(hopefully during a winning bout of Crazy Scrabble) but something about it made me question myself, so I looked at dictionary.com (yes, I looked, I confess, don't judge me) and BBZZZZZTT, sorry, try again. That'll teach me to trust.
By Sunday, July 27, 2008 What's on a Name? The things I do for my boy. Yesterday, just as an example, I took him to Blockbuster and rented the Wall-E videogame and then played it while he watched, just for his entertainment. Sometimes being a parent is nothing but sacrifice. * * * Here's how desperate I am for a topic right now: last week, Pamie posted this photo that had Trash and me reminiscing about how people used to screw up our names back in the nineties when we had phone jobs. I was occasionally "Jess" or "Jack" or "Jim," although you'd be surprised how many times I was giving bad news and became "Buddy." Trash was sometimes "Lola" or "Lulu" or a diminutive version of her name that she hates, and on at least one occasion, the first thing out of the other person's mouth was, "I don't want to talk to you, I want to talk to a man" (this was in the financial industry, mind you, and nothing health-related, and, I hasten to clarify, the 1990s). Naturally she reached through the phone and pulled his goolies right through the handset. But our friend Kirk had us both beat. You won't be surprised to hear that his name was often mistaken for "Kurt" or "Curt" (generally the latter when he had to correct people on his name). Once or twice someone thought they were talking to "Turk," as though they'd dialed up a 1970s urban gang movie instead of a mortgage company. But my favorite had to be when someone called and asked for "Cork." Do you know anyone named "Cork?" Do you know anyone who knows anyone named "Cork?" And if so, what were their parents trying to pull, if you'll pardon the expression? Trash and I wondered how a person could even thing that was someone's name. Maybe they thought that "Cork" had been a "Corky" throughout childhood but eventually dropped the "y" to convey more maturity, Because that would totally work, right? It worked so well for Ricky Schroeder that eventually he reverted back to the "y." So here's a shout-out to my old homie Cork, and thanks to the lovely Camle for the topic idea. I promise to have more to say next time, one way or another. posted by M. Giant 7:39 PM 15 comments 15 Comments:I'm a nurse at a hospice facility and I often give tours and talk to people on the phone. More than once, people have remembered the tour I gave them as being from "Jamie" or "Annie," but my absolute favorite was when a patients' son said that he had talked to a "hot nurse named Candy."
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I don't know any Corks, but I do konw a Court (first name). Not sure what that is about.
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When I worked customer service at Blue Cross MN, my "this is Jeni" intro would, 50% of the time, be followed with someone saying "Hi, Debby". I guess I have poor enunciation!
By There is a series of books by a Minnesota author "William Kent Kruuger" his main character is, if I recall correctly, Corcoran O'Connor, but goes by Cork O'Connor.
By My pre-married last name was Wright. Imagine my delight when I looked at a CVS receipt made out to "Sharon Weight." I may be a plus-sized gal, but I really didn't need that little commentary on my appearance from the place where I was purchasing my toe fungus cream!
By Cork?! Oh dear. My poor Kirkie just can't win.
By I worked at a company with a senior manager named Vish - more than once we got resumes sent to the office attention "Mr Fish (Lastname)" - we figure they must have called reception and misheard our lovely but somewhat accented office manager.
By I went to have blood taken at a lab, and told the woman my last name (because that's what she asked for) and ahe looked at me as thought I had two heads. She asked me to repeat myself. I said "Herbert" she laughed and said, "I thought you said 'Pervert"'. TO make matters worse, another patient in the waiting room agreed with her.
By My husband is "Shelby" and for us we use it as a sure fire way to know when a telemarketer is calling. It also helps when I have to do some of his banking or address changes :) I can quite easily pass for a "Shelby".
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I'm right there with you...people mis-hear my name all the time. And it's Jordan...not exactly a mouthful. I get Gordon, George and sometimes Braden (WTF?).
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The company I used to work for had a man in IT named Anal...pronounced ah-nawl. I had to give the phone to someone else when calling his office because I am essentially still 13 years old and couldn't ask for him without losing my sh**. To make matters worse ( could it get any worse? OH YES IT CAN ) his last name was Ram.
By I was always a bit humbled when people would call me Mr. Messiah.
By When I was working as a temp I had coworkers getting my name wrong all the time. Mostly they called me 'Michael' or 'Andrew', but one of my supervisors couldn't stop calling me 'Brian', and there was one day in which I was addressed variously as 'William', 'Harry' and 'Frank'.
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When I named my son, I thought for a long time about it. Knowing how cruel children can be, I put a lot of thought into it and named him "Dylan" (this was well before 90210). Thought I'd done a good job on the name -- no way anyone could ruin this one! Until the day on the playground when I heard an 8-year-old yell out "Hey, Dildo!" Hmmm. Sorry about that, Son. Totally missed that one. Luckily, The Boy has always been big, strong -- and funny. The nickname didn't stick.
By My first name is Anna and my middle initial is M, so I am regularly identified on official documents such as airline baggage tags as Annam. Pretty...
By Thursday, July 24, 2008 Book Stalking I finally saw my book on the shelf at a Barnes & Noble where I wasn't speaking. It was last weekend, when Trash and I were taking M. Edium to Nickelodeon Universe at the Mall of America. (That wasn't the nightmare I expected it to be. Although there's a little celebrity greeting area where kids can meet the "stars" of various Nickelodeon shows. We happened to be passing by during an appearance by "Dora the Explorer," actually an intern in a full-body costume. Let me tell you, there's nothing creepier than the spectacle of a furry, six-foot-tall six-year-old, silently alternating between turning around so little visitors can kiss Backpack and Map and tugging down the hem of her too-small pink t-shirt to try and discreetly hide the strip of brownish pelt peeking over her orange shorts. All three of us were completely transfixed, although for different reasons.) Anyway, later we went over to the Barnes & Noble, where I wandered hopefully among the front tables for a couple of minutes until Trash told me, "Just ask someone." So I did, not saying who I was. The guy behind the counter looked it up and found it, and either their computers pull up an image of the cover or his memory did, because he knew it had a picture of a potato on a couch. The potato book. He led me over to where he'd shelved it, in Film/TV/Radio. It had the cover facing out instead of the spine. I know you're supposed to have this huge frisson when you first see your book in a bookstore, but I started the first draft like a year and a half ago. It kind of spoils the surprise. So I told the guy I was the author, and offered to sign their stock -- all five copies. He was happy to let me do so, and dug out a Sharpie and a roll of those stickers that say "Autographed Copy." You know what he didn't do? Ask me for any ID. I must have looked unkempt enough to be a real author. I was thinking about that later on, and how easy it would be to sign other people's books if you wanted. But then I remembered Sean Connery's line to Kevin Costner in The Untouchables: "Who'd claim to be that that wasn't?" I mentioned this to Trash. "Sean Connery died horribly in that movie, didn't he?" I think she was just bitter that I'd ruined her freshly-made plans to go back and sign a bunch of books by her current favorite author, what's-her-name. By the way, it looks like I'm going to be on local TV again in the next couple of weeks. I'll let you know when I have the details. Also, I'm thinking about having a book signing or two when I'm in L.A. next Monday. There won't be a reading, or a Q&A, or even a specific time. In fact I think it'll be more like the scene I just described above. posted by M. Giant 2:30 PM 4 comments 4 Comments:
No, no, no... NOT Los Angeles, you mean "Upstate New York" don't you?
By Ack, didn't proofread, left off a ) there. Please mentally insert it after "Built-in fanbase!" when you read the above. Thanks.
By Hey, do you want me to go into the B&N up here in Anchorage and sign some for you? :) I'm guessing you won't get up this way anytime soon. Heh!
By I sent you my book to sign, but without an explanatory note. Hopefully, you'll remember who I am and what you're supposed to do, and not wonder who was so displeased with your book that they sent it back for a personal refund.
By Monday, July 21, 2008 Hey, check me out in the Minneapolis StarTribune! See the TV screen in the background? When the photographer came over to the house to shoot me in my study, she also took a bunch of shots with me pretending to recap Burn Notice, which means I came thisclose to having my picture in the paper with Bruce Campbell. Oh, well. Next time. posted by M. Giant 7:43 PM 5 comments 5 Comments:Hey, I have the same guitar - that's the sea-foam green Strat with the pre-yellowed knobs, right?
By It's a Strat all right, but it's sage and I'm afraid any pre-yellowing has only just begun. Thanks for posting; I'm a big fan.
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Nice!
By I'm confused - I see no guitar in the picture in the article.
By How can you not enjoy an article in which the interviewee has to explain that he's not a werewolf?
By Sunday, July 20, 2008 On The Air I was pretty nervous on Friday morning when I drove to the local NBC affiliate for my live TV appearance to plug the book. Trash and I had discussed possibly bringing M. Edium to the studio with us, but in the end we decided it would be best if they watched from somewhere else. We figured that having him along might introduce an unwelcome element of chaos into a professional setting where people are doing serious things. And then I got there and discovered I was sharing the tiny green room (actually green!) with a singing cowboy, four children ages two, and a guy dressed like Teddy Roosevelt. M. Edium would have thought it was just a pretty crowded playdate with walking visual aids. Although I can't imagine he would have cared for it when the other four kids went out to go on camera and he'd have had to stay behind. When you do press for a book, you don't seriously expect anybody to have read the book. You certainly don't expect everybody to have read the book. And the last thing you expect is for everybody to have read the whole book. But so far, that's what has happened. When they led me out to the morning show set and plunked me down in that chair across from Rob Hudson, he started going through all his favorite chapters with me, and even claimed he and his wife had been stealing his copy from each other. He either knew what he was talking about, is an excellent skimmer, or is a spectacular bullshitter. Part of a host's job is putting the guests at ease, and he certainly did his best at that, considering what a stress-monkey I was at the time. By the way, they put those chairs reallyclosetogether. That's one thing I didn't learn from watching TV but should have: it doesn't look like it onscreen, but the guest's feet and the host's nearly overlap. I'm not a close-talker under the best of circumstances, but it was weird enough knowing my unmade-up mug was being broadcast in HD to God knew how many dozens of households without also sitting that close to someone I'd just met. I was quite conscious of having forgotten to floss. But I guess it's time to stop stalling and just give you the link to the video. I also have the show saved on my DVR, but I haven't worked up the nerve to watch myself yet. Do me a favor: you watch it, and give me your honest opinion. But only if you honestly think I was awesome. Here's the clip. Immediately afterward, Trash and M. Edium called from her stepmother's house to tell me, "Great job!" And then in the parking lot I scraped the side of my car on a light pole, so that was outstanding. posted by M. Giant 7:54 PM 7 comments 7 Comments:
"it was weird enough knowing my unmade-up mug was being broadcast in HD to God knew how many dozens of households..."
By You did well,no noticeable sweating, a nice plug for TWOP and avoided answering a personal question. I would give you an A for a first time interviewee!
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Truly one of the better blog-writer interviews I've seen! Many writers look so dang uncomfortable onscreen and get cut off every time they try to say something. You sounded articulate, and looked genial (and handsome) the whole way through.
By What Leah said. It was great!
By Part of a host's job is putting the guests at ease, and he certainly did his best at that, considering what a stress-monkey I was at the time
By I used to work in local TV (NOT in front of the camera) and the on-air guys started panicking when we learned we were going HD. They all learned to apply a light powder foundation that didn't scream "I'M WEARING MAKE-UP" on-camera or off. They really did look much better with it. Something to consider next time you are on TV (and with such a great book I know this won't be your last TV appearance!)
By No lie, you were good. It could have been just a series of softball questions and wacky pithy remarks, but your actual personality emerged, and your smarts came across as well. Very solid.
By Thursday, July 17, 2008 Author Event Anyone in the Twin Cities viewing area, I'm on TV tomorrow morning (Friday, that is) to plug my book. Checkout the local morning show Showcase Minnesota at 10:00 a.m. on channel 11. See on the website where it says "Television Without Pity author?" That would be me. Speaking of the book, why didn't any of you guys tell me you weren't finding the book at Barnes & Noble? Apparently there was an ordering snafu, but they've arrived now. I'm looking forward to stalking it in the stores, which is something I learned about from reading Pamie. What you do is find some copies, bring them to the desk, and offer to sign them. Then when you do, they can put an "Autographed Copy" sticker on the cover. And as the Penguin publicist later told me, after I've signed them, the store can't return them to the publisher. Speaking of signing, the thing went pretty well last week. I was pretty nervous leading up to it, especially since I realized that not only was this the first reading/signing I'd ever had, it was the first one I'd even been to. Unless you count the time I saw David Sedaris read to a packed 2,000-seat theater, which I was pretty sure was going to be a bit different. But as it turned out, I couldn't have asked for a bigger or more supportive audience. We got started a little late, due to major road construction in the area holding people up, but eventually everyone got there. Almost literally everyone; they ran out of chairs. I saw this as a good sign. Besides, I didn't get to sit during the reading, so I don't see why everyone else should. The other nice thing was that there were enough people we knew there that Trash and I didn't have to worry about watching M. Edium the whole time. Between his birth parents, Deniece's parents, and mine, and a kid whose parents went to high school with me (see, I knew going to my reunion would be worth it), it didn't take much beyond a constant stream of Wall-E books to prevent him from getting up to no good more than a few times. Beforehand, he was pretty excited about helping me read and telling some stories of his own, but he kind of forgot. Next time. The reading itself went okay, although I didn't realize until later that the microphone wasn't working and a lot of people couldn't hear me so well. I had more fun doing the Q&A with the audience. Then there was the signing, which I tried to think of as like a mortgage closing but with less than five hundred signatures. Plus I got to talk to people and write little messages (at least when I could come up with one while aware of the other people waiting in line) and instead of going home with big stacks of paperwork I got to go home with the posters they used to advertise the event in the store. It's not like the store had any use for them any more. So overall, I think it was a success. I'd recommend it, especially if you can get an awesome audience like mine. posted by M. Giant 8:35 PM 2 comments 2 Comments:
I'm only part way through the book but I'm really enjoying it!!
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"Beforehand, he was pretty excited about helping me read and telling some stories of his own..."
By Tuesday, July 15, 2008 Spoiled Rotten People don't like to see kids being spoiled. They probably don't like it the other way around, either. I remember when M. Edium was still M. Tiny, a helpless baby who nonetheless possessed a fearsome power: the ability to spew noise and bodily fluids in volumes that were absolutely alarming. Now that he's older, he doesn't do that any more. He spews Wall·E spoilers instead. He doesn't do it to me, because he knows perfectly well that I've already seen it. I was with him, after all. But he loves going on at length about this bit or that, whether it came from the Wall·E movie, the Wall·E website, any of his Wall·E storybooks, or the Wall·E videogame demo I downloaded for him. I'm starting to realize I may be somewhat complicit in this situation. But never mind that. Here's what I heard him say to one of his teachers when I went to pick him up this evening, more or less: Everything you see and hear if you click here, click on "videos," and scroll down to "Space Walk." That's a paraphrase, of course. The teacher says he's been talking about it a lot at school, which I can believe. He tends to be a serial monomaniac; fascinated with one thing to the exclusion of all else, until something else takes its place. And he likes to share with people -- kids at school, kids at the park, people in line with us at the store, whomever may be calling on the phone. I've been recommending people see the movie anyway, but now I've got another reason: see it before M. Edium gives away the ending. Maybe I should have taken him to The Happening instead and saved some people a lot of time. posted by M. Giant 8:28 PM 4 comments 4 Comments:
Ah yes, the walking spoiler. We had one of those, too, except she tended to spoil things more along the lines of "Daddy's birthday present" than a movie ending. (Poor kid's a bit deprived and has only seen 3 movies in the theater in her five years...) Kinda like M.Edium with the Father's Day presents, eh?
By Hey, just discovered that you are again recapping Big Brother over at Television Without Pity. I'm so glad, as you are the one that makes that show worth watching. I was thinking that everyone bailed from TWP. Hoping you have lot's of sales with your 1st. book. Same with the 2nd. AND the 3rd.
By I've never forgiven my nephew (now 7 1/2) for spoiling Lilo & Stich for me. And it wasn't pretty -- he basically announced EVERY SINGLE PLOT POINT before it happened (Stich comes in now. That guy does this. Now they are going to run away, etc.). Considering that he was in fact only three, I didn't disembowel him, but it did cross my mind. And I make sure to see all kid-related things before watching them with the younger set (so I can ruin it for them! MWAH HA HA!).
By I remember seeing "The Incredibles", and in the first few minutes of the movie a little kid behind me (on his fifth viewing, no doubt) reeled off a complete plot summary along with all of the superpowers of all of the cast.
By Sunday, July 13, 2008 Camping Photoblog I'm going to tell you all about the reading in a couple of days (and properly thank everyone who came), but for now I'm resorting to the lazy blogger's refuge: photos. Plus you don't have to read as much, so everybody wins. Remember me mentioning that we went camping over Fourth of July weekend? Here's the view from just a few steps from our campsite at sunset:    Check out the glass-smooth surface of that lake. Pretty, right? It sure is. Except guess what a glass-smooth lake means. That's right, no wind. And no wind, at least this summer, means teeming hordes of bugs. Which would probably explain why all three of us came home with malaria, Lyme disease, and amebic dysentery. Still: pretty!  Trash is in charge of the kitchen.  And I'm in charge of erecting the shelter. That's a 13 x 13, three-room tent there, and if interruptions are kept to a minimum I can usually have it completely ready in twenty minutes. In the real world it's more like an hour and a half.  I don't know why I agreed to run down the path for the camera with a pajama-clad M. Edium. But I can assure you that despite appearances, this is not the only t-shirt I own.  Bringing a little one along on a camping trip is always a little unpredictable, but I think M. Edium was pleased with how well Turtle did.  M. Edium's s'more. Turns out he prefers the individual ingredients, and he prefers them uncooked. Hence the conspicuous absence of M. Edium in this shot.  It's hard to get M. Edium to bed before dark, which comes pretty late up here this time of year, which would explain why Trash looks so tired in this shot. Too bad you can't see her t-shirt. It says "TRASH." Off the rack. We're going again later this week, because I think we can all use the additional time off. And it'll be nice to take a break from work, as well. posted by M. Giant 8:57 AM 3 comments 3 Comments:Ah, I love camping! Hopefully we'll be able to camp together - if not this year, then next year when we move back.
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Nice pictures! Yeah, you have to love that glassy water fo picture taking because other than that- it just leads to trouble. Heh!
By I heard the Best Western doesn't have mosquitos. Or ticks.
By Thursday, July 10, 2008 New interview is up in the City Pages. Reading tonight! Trying not to freak out! posted by M. Giant 12:28 PM 4 comments 4 Comments:
Don't be scared. You're just reading, right? Ad libbing is the hard part. (Sorry, I'm a lawyer. Ad libs are my stock in trade.) I read your book, then went back and started reading it again in case I accidentally missed anything. Love your writing; please write lots more.
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Heh, you did great:D
By Not only is your book great, but I'm so happy to see that you're recapping Burn Notice for TWoP! I'm missing your Office recaps this summer; good to know I can read you recapping one of my favorite summer shows.
By Another random TWoP fan here to congratulate you on your wonderful book. Hope there's more in the future!
By Tuesday, July 08, 2008 Plugging Away I have to say, I've been pleasantly surprised by the amount of local press I'm ending up doing for this book. It's more than I expected. Of course, a year ago I expected roughly zero, but even so the schedule has turned out to be many times that amount. Last week I talked to someone from the City Pages and someone from the St. Paul Pioneer Press, or the S. T. Triple-P as I like to annoy people by calling it. Today it was the StarTribune (though not Lileks, whose geographic stomping grounds overlap mine so closely I'm surprised one of us hasn't actually stomped the other yet). It's almost like a press junket, except I don't have to leave the house. At least not until next week, when I go on TV. More on that in a few days. But anyway, here's the S.T. Triple-P piece. I'm working on resolving myself to the fact that my favorite shows, Buffy and Battlestar Galactica and Doctor Who, are going to make me come off like a giant SF geek in interviews. I'm just going to have to remember to counteract it once in a while with references to more macho fare like 24 and Dirtiest, Deadliest, Ice Road Wilderness or whatever. I just went to Walgreen's to pick up a couple copies of the dead-tree edition and the cashier said, "Someone you know must be in here." I copped to it, of course. I don't know if I succeeded in selling her a book, but I gave it a shot. Every little bit helps. And of course, don't forget the book signing, coming up this Thursday at the Har Mar Barnes & Noble. Feel free to come up and say hi. I'll be the guy trying to think of macho TV shows I like. posted by M. Giant 6:47 PM 8 comments 8 Comments:I just ordered my copy today! I'm looking forward to reading it.
By Help! The link to the S.T. Triple P piece doesn't work, and I don't think it is just because my Firefox has been evil lately........
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Try this link:
By Link's fixed. Thanks, Heather!
By Just got the book and I love it. Not to be all fan-guy, but you are a very funny man, sir.
By I think you mean resigning yourself, not resolving yourself. Regardless, love your blog!
By Have recently taken to reading your blog. Who knew Minneapolis was such a funny place? Love your stuff. Understand you'll be at the Barnes and Noble at Har Mar tonight. I'll be there!
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Thought of M.Edium when I saw this yesterday on space.com. Figured he would enjoy it; I did!
By Saturday, July 05, 2008 Blown, Again Since M. Edium's first Fourth of July, I've had to revise my expectations downward. He lasted about one detonation into last year's fireworks display before wanting to go home. This year, we wouldn't even be able to go home; we'd be hours from Minneapolis, camping in western Minnesota. Trash and I spent some time in the days leading up to the trip trying to research fireworks shows in the area, which was trickier than it sounds because there don't seem to be that many. The closest one we could seem to confirm was in Spicer, about a half hour away from where we are going to be camping. Which is weird, because in our part of the state, the only way to take a half hour between fireworks and home is getting stuck in traffic at the end of them. But M. Edium had been talking about going to see fireworks this year, and we were maybe willing to give it a try. But then we heard from someone else about how crowded that Spicer display is every year, and we decided that maybe we'd just go back to our campsite and bust out the little kiddie-pack of fireworks Trash had gotten at the drugstore. We'd already been into the sparklers, but M. Edium seemed amenable to trying out one of those little bottle-shaped thingies you set on the ground and then watch as it goes crazy in a few different ways. So we did that. But M. Edium went a lot crazier. "No! No! That freaks me out!" he wailed, leaping into his mother's arms and begging her to run away from the popping, smoking sparking, whistling portal we'd somehow opened into a demon dimension. It was just too much for him. Still not ready for the pyro, it seems. Did I mention that this was at about four o'clock in the afternoon? So that was the end of the fireworks for this Fourth. Well, no, that's not true. There were quite a few more sparklers after that. He's completely fearless when it comes to those.  Photo credit: Tara, May 2008 posted by M. Giant 9:09 PM 1 comments 1 Comments:
My 4 year old has always had an issue with loud sounds, so fireworks have been pretty much a no-go. Luckily we live in a neighborhood that's large enough to do its own fireworks show, AND they set them off close enough to our house that we can watch them from the house. This saves us from putting too much effort into getting somewhere for a show only to find out it's traumatic. We tried checking them out from the front yard this year, but -- TOO LOUD!! I WANT TO GO INSIDE!
By Tuesday, July 01, 2008 Drop Date Yesterday the FedEx guy dropped this off:  When M. Edium got home from school, he saw the box and asked me, "Why do we have so many potato books?" That's what he calls it, is the Potato Book. Barnes & Noble sales associates, take note. I explained that the publisher sends authors extra copies of their books so they can give them to people they love and care about, and then I presented him with his very own copy, because of course I love him and care about him and wanted us both to always remember this special moment. He flipped through it, looking for pictures, and then handed it back, saying, "I don't know how to read, Dad." That's what family's all about. They help you make it, and then keep you humble when you do. So, yeah, the physical artifact is in stores now, so you don't need to pre-order any more. I might visit some and sign them later this week. Feel free to do the same, but don't let anyone catch you. Also, check out the nice plug at Television Without Pity. Totally unbiased, of course. posted by M. Giant 9:37 AM 12 comments 12 Comments:I got my copy in the mail yesterday - so excited to read it by the lake this weekend!
By Doing my best to contribute to M. Edium's college fund -- I just ordered my copy and look forward to reading it.
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There's probably no shot of a book tour stop in western NY, now is there?
By I just found out that they delivered my copies to my old address. So presumably, they are going to be enjoyed by the junk guys who scavenge our street. Jerky stupid Post Office.
By I got my copy yesterday! I'm only about 100 pages in so far; but I love it. You write really well (which, obviously, I already knew since I've read Velcrometer and TWoP for so long!).
By I jsut ordered my copy from Amazon.ca, so it should be sent to me by July 8th, hope you get a lot of Canadian sales! Look forward to reading it!
By I got through half of it last night and I've been sneaking reads of it at my desk all morning--it's awesome. Congratulations!
By Yippee! My potato book just came today! I'm hiding it from myself so I don't start reading it when I should be reading Velcr- I mean, working.
By I love it! I am about 2/3rds the way through it, and it's very funny. I wish you were doing a reading in Ohio because I would request the part about SATC because we say the same thing around here. ***Spoiler alert*** No way would those people be friends.
By We got our "official" copy today! W00t!
By Got mine over in England - excellent read!
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You know, the one I bought at Borders is ALSO awesome. This is uncanny.
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