In the ink well

Dog Ear

September 1, 2022

The Freaks (DOG EAR)

his is a little secret I’m mentioned a couple of times on this site; I’ve been funning around writing erotica elsewhere for years. While you are all looking at me funny and squirming, I’ll also mentioned that I was quite good. On the base I post on, I’ve got over a thousand watchers and a half-million views. People think I’m pretty good at it. Beside the free stuff there, I also was contacted a few years back by a publisher and created three collections for them (for which I was paid (but not a lot – it’s a tough racket)). […]
August 25, 2022

Recommendation (DOG EAR)

have a peach of a physical therapist. In the weeks following my surgery, she’d been the one outlining my exercise program, making me stretch and flex and hurt and get better. A lot of my recovery, I owe to her. She’s from Brazil and we’ve chatted about life there, life here, all that. One cool down following a rough session, we got to talking about books (I always bring a new one every week for the waiting room). Anyway, she told me she loved a Brazilian author named Paulo Coelho, who I’ve never heard of. She told me she’s read […]
August 18, 2022

Retraction on AnyImage (DOG EAR)

ell, this is embarrassing. Last week I gushed about AnyImage, which was software you could use to embed your website with an image neatly into Facebook (which has become a Metapain). Sure, it worked great the first few times I used it. Liked it enough that I used it to post a DOG EAR piece promoting it. However, the day I went to post up that praise, the site asked for me to register (because I’d used it two or three times and they wanted me to sign up). Look, I prefer it free and clear, but if I need […]
August 11, 2022

Pretty Pictures (DOG EAR)

here was a time when I easily posted these pieces to Facebook. I’d simply copy the link and the picture-letter (in this case, the “T” to the left) would pop into the link, nice and professional. People could tell this was one of my pieces by that distinctive monk-work. Then Facebook started to fuss with me. Sometimes it would work. Sometimes it wouldn’t. When it didn’t, it would use the site’s general front-page graphic (which says “Manuscript” but, because of compression, would read “Anus”). Can you get more negative-media than that? Oh, I could click and coax and repost, and […]
August 4, 2022

Intruder Alert (DOG EAR)

eird little thing happened recently. Years ago this site was developed under Joomla. It was fine for a while but then I added feedback, so users could converse on my wise postings. That turned out to be a terrible idea. Most people would chat on FaceBook (where I place the link to the blogs). And worse, I started getting bot postings, where I’d be flooded with 30+ postings a day. And these weren’t real posts – they were limp responses about “I love your blog” or “I’m following you now” (no mention of the subject at all, of course) as […]
July 28, 2022

Feedback (DOG EAR)

‘m not a big fan of feedback. Feedback lead to the first iteration of this site (Joomla) having to be abandoned (because of weaknesses over time in the app used to allowed it). Now that I’m on WordPress, I’ve disabled it (but I’m still getting it – not sure how they are getting in on one book review). Let’s face it; all content providers see their feedback area as being a coffee shop with polite conversations about the raised topics. And instead, they become roadhouses of belligerence and idiocy. I don’t even engage in these sorts of discussions on Facebook […]
July 21, 2022

Droning on (DOG EAR)

inda an observation on media thing today. During my surgery recovery, I’ve taken to playing with my new drone (well, disclosure, my second new drone. The first wild-blue-yondered on me). Anyway, its a Snaptain SP350, and no, no camera. It’s more of a tiny RC plane you can fly around your back yard (except, unlike a plane, you can hover and do all sorts of wacky things with it). If you are looking for a good drone for under $40, this one is your best choice. Flies out of the box. But it’s made me more aware of drones. Sure, […]
July 14, 2022

Media chicken soup (DOG EAR)

any of you know that I went through some complex and very invasive surgery over the last week. I’m now at home, getting settled in the new way of things. My belly has six itching incisions and there are all sorts of new changes in my life. While I can limp through my walks, fly my drone in the back and read, sometimes I just don’t want to do anything. And that’s precisely what TV is good for. Yes, it’s numbed the minds of generations of Americans until they’ve lost the ability of critical thought. But it is great to […]
June 23, 2022

Celeb (Dog Ear)

got a chance to be famous the other week. I was with the wife at Juniors, our official dining room, when a curious (and ego-boosting) thing happened. Okay, needed backstory: I’ve given Early ReTyrement to our two waiters. One of them saw us always reading at the table and asked for any toss-out books we might have (he wanted to get into reading). Of course, I probably poisoned the well by giving him my self-published novel. And then the other waiter said she wanted one too. It’s okay, I’ve got a box full of these literary loves). So I’ve pretty […]
June 16, 2022

Cartoon Characters (DOG EAR)

aw an interesting thing on a walk – I was trudging up 17-92 (a four-lane arterial street with businesses down both sides). Over this all towers a billboard and on this billboard as an ad for emergency room availability. Personally, having had to rely on their emergency room service, I’m mixed on their claims. But it wasn’t the claims that caught my eye – it was the image. A nurse, arms crossed, looking all competent and in charge. Now look, I’m enough of a realist to know that nurses you see in advertisements are likely from central casting. And I […]