Regarding swine flu

I picked a really good week to start liking the library again.
I have a client for whom I do some proofreading work.  Most of the time I’ll work from the comfort of my office at home, but this week I decided the library seemed like a nice place to hunker down.  Especially because it was [...]

Location affects how you write

When I’m sitting in the lobby of the Radisson, I write like a middle manager who’s preparing a welcome letter for the guest room directories: stiff, laborious, unlike how I speak.
When I’m sitting in a press box, I write like a 13 year-old boy who can’t wait to tell his dad about the game he [...]

Can’t watch the game? Steal it on the interwebs!

I watched the final 10 minutes of Game 7 between the Hurricanes and Devils last night on a pirated internet feed that Mike, my roommate and, at times, especially when he cooks, domestic partner, dug up.
We resorted to this after Versus, the NHL’s flagship television network in the U.S., teased us with two minutes of [...]

Go West: Where the predictions blew

Men predict outcomes of sporting events so they can feed the parts of their brains that tell them they could, if they really wanted to — if a team owner arrived on their front lawn via private helicopter and at once! summoned their fantasy-sports-sharpened expertise — draft players, make trades, negotiate contracts and consult with [...]

Sports television

A few weeks ago I wrote about how watching The Masters makes you feel like you’ve been accosted by a door-to-door vacuum cleaner salesman on angel dust.
Similarly, Jeff Pearlman sums up sports on television with this take on Mel Kiper, Todd McShay and the NFL Draft:
Hence, this bit of advice, to both men: Get a [...]

Journeys, destinations and having enough balls to stay the course

I don’t do normal.
Well, normal in the sense that a person moves away to college, joins a fraternity, gets a degree in business or some other field they aren’t particularly passionate about, finds an entry level job in a fluorescent-lit office, pays student loans, gets married at 25, has kids by 27, and looks forward [...]

Hail to the victors

I’m in Ann Arbor and have tentative plans for an afternoon cocktail today with John U. Bacon.
(My friend Laurie Ruettimann over at PunkRockHR, who once threw a bacon-themed party that included bacon fudge and bacon martinis, would be in hog heaven.)
John is a freelance writer, author, public speaker, host of a radio segment on NPR, [...]

More romance writing

Ever since I wrote this, Diane from the WRKR Morning Show has been on me for more candle-lit, satin-sheeted prose.
Does the following count?
Text message exchange the other night with my Facebook wife, Kelly
Me: Did I mention I can cook?
Kelly: Did I mention I can do the splits?

My favorite time of year

Midway through the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, we know this:
* The Montreal Canadiens, much like “The Osbournes” television show, are a) dysfunctional; and b) history after the Boston Bruins bounced them last night.  Habs GM Bob Gainey had a handful of unrestricted free agents without contract negotiations for next season in his [...]

The C-Factor

In the last 10 years, Western Michigan University’s hockey program has:

Never finished above fifth-place
Never made it to the semifinals of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association tournament
Never played in the NCAA tournament
Charged too much for ticket prices
Driven attendance and interest into the ground
Not effectively marketed the team (although a slick ad campaign does little if the [...]