In the ink well

Dog Ear

April 18, 2019

A new beginning (DOG EAR)

ou might have noticed (please, someone notice) that my site has been pretty quiet as of late. The reason for this was my www-based ancient Joomla webpage had been hacked (again). It first came to my attention when the astronomy site booted off one of my blogs, claiming I had malware. But then my wife chirped up, saying she’d seen it too. Maybe you did – the whole survey results thing you’d first click through via my links? Once I mentioned this, everyone I knew said, “Yes, I thought that was something you did.” Please, I’d rather mug you with […]
March 21, 2019

Dog Ear (DOG EAR)

s there an echo in here? No, actually, this blog is about… dog earring. Just noticed it today – I’m reading an adventure yard from Douglas Preston, Tyrannosaur Canyon. The thing is, if you open the cover, you’ll see the Maya Books and Music pencil notification in the front – yeah, I bought it used, $3.50. I love Maya’s, a groovy little bookshop in Sanford, and will generally pick up a couple of covers just to help support them. So this thing is a foster book. Tonight, I was sitting on the back porch with a glass of wine, getting […]
March 21, 2019

Markdown (DOG EAR)

Priced to move! Was $2.99, now 99 cents! Bargain prices! These sound like things Mason Trellis might say in moving Egyptian Grain in Early ReTyrement. Well, in this case, life imitates art. I’ve been thinking that a couple of bucks was probably too much for my eBook, especially two years (has it been this long?) since it was posted up on Kindle and Nook. I’ve heard of people who give their books away for free (to get following) or jack their prices around (to get ranking). I don’t know how to do this – I’m a writer (meaning I think […]
March 6, 2019

The Most Dangerous Mind (DOG EAR)

n amazing thing in the elevator yesterday. It was a long day at work, very frustrating. I was an hour late getting out, it was raining and I still needed to go all the way across town for a train ops session that would last until 11pm. Long day. While on the elevator, two guys from the middle floors of the building got on, one an office worker, the other a maintenance guy (complete with a ladder over his shoulder). And they were continuing their conversation from their lobby. The salaryman: “Yeah, I loved it. As a hunter, it really […]
February 28, 2019

A little help from my friends (DOG EAR)

ometimes (particularly when traveling) I end up with a couple of reviews in the can, waiting for Sunday Review posting. That’s a good feeling. But sometimes, I end up with a “slow” book. Right now I’m reading a religious book about God and such. It’s a sell, that’s one thing. But it’s also one where I need to pay attention to the points. Outside of fiction (where I go into my groove and read for pleasure), non-fiction (please, no debating this classification) is pretty slow. I’m not reading about Sam Spade breaking heads quick and getting even quicker answers. I’m […]
February 20, 2019

Thin Skinned (DOG EAR)

kay, so I’m literally not sure what I can say about this. I mentioned that I dropped out of Powers of the Earth because of the pro-libertarian/anti-everyone-else take. I didn’t particularly enjoy being a straw-man in this tale. And then there is Without Warning,  an Audio Book I’m listening to right now. In general, it’s a bit Anti-Muslim (literally a “you’ll miss us when we’re gone” kinda book, to be reviewed soon). The only reason I’m sticking with it is that I really do want to know why American was vaporized. Yes, so I’ve been getting battered around the head […]
February 7, 2019

Libertarian Grind (DOG EAR)

just started a new SciFi series a friend of mine sent me for Christmas. When I pursued the back cover, I noted all the libertarian praise. Guns and dogs and freedom comments. A fatigue fell over me. I’ve read a couple of libertarian books before and, without exception, they are always the same. A buff, handsome entrepreneur, heavy with bitter backstories and loaded for bear, decides to make a stand against a mass of people so liberally unlikable that it brings tears to your eyes. If you’ve ever enjoyed socialist privilege, even to the point of checking out a library […]
January 30, 2019

Must see (DOG EAR)

ack in my younger years, some forty years past, I would attempt to get people to see favorite movies. I’d loan them my VHS tapes. I’d offer to sit with them in the theater. I’d nag and beg and plead. I’d even bribe. I remember coming home to tell my brother all about the Anime Star Blazers we’d been following religiously in college. Or Run Lola Run. Or just about any great flick or series or episode. And you know what – 99% of the time, nobody would spare the time. Apparently the greatest gift, that of time, was not […]
January 24, 2019

Cold Feet (DOG EAR)

nteresting thing happened the other night. I’ve invited my fireball niece (who has done everything from traveling across Ireland with us to riding a critical mass on a Blompton) to do a guest review. She’s settling into her world o’ work and has a little more time, now that her school/party days are sadly fading behind her. Since she’s reading more, I hoped to get some of her book reviews up (less work for me, right?). She agreed. So, the night in question, she IMed me to tell me she was going to write a review. I thought about it […]
January 17, 2019

After Hours (DOG EAR)

saw this great Martin Scorsese flick back when it came out in 1985. Funny story – my best friend’s mom and her daughter went to the art-flic house to see it and were totally confused. Why was this male dating-from-hell movie funny? The next night they took us to see it. We laughed uproariously all the way through it. They looked at us like it was some sort of elaborate joke. If you are a man, see it and think of your own dating disasters. If you are a woman, ask your man to explain it. Or stick with Outlander. […]