Okay, now I mean the Four Bleats thing. Nothing today. Squat! Well, this.
First of all, the Bleat banner: can't find the original, and I just had it. It's an ad hailing spring with the timeless symbols of rebirth, mixed drinks emerging from the earth. Four Roses - which I knew at first as “Four Noses” from an old Warner Brothers cartoon - disappeared for a while, and now it’s back. The bottom-end version is so-so. The middle version is nice, but I prefer others. The top end version costs more than I want to spend. If I’m going to spend that much on hooch, it’ll be this. It’s what Satan uses to convert angels to join the other side. Actually, no; he uses Macallan. But the Pappy’s is what he uses to keep them around.
Since I can't provide the original, how about this:
The tagline: MAN, THAT'S WHISKEY. The man? Patrick Ellam, who had made his fame with a book called “Sopranino,” about a boat of the same name. The text says he was a parachutist who helped the French Resistance during the war.
Anyway:
1. I have to finish the novel in the next two days. Period. End of the subject. That’s what I’m doing today. Friday I have to do a video interview with a lawyer about a local trial, which is not exactly what you might think my job entails, is it? But it is. Then I have to bang out a column, and get back to the novel so I can spike the ball at midnight and shout -30-! To mix football and newspapers. But speaking of novels:
This is a podcast I did today with Andrew Klavan and C. J. Box; it’s about novels, and writing, and the like. Drew’s the only guy I know who had a Clint Eastwood movie made from one of his books (notice how I turned his accomplishment into something about me? Writers! The ego, it is a monster). I was late to discovering Box’ work, but I look forward to loading up the Kindle with his series the next time I head out on the road. Because that’s what travel is all about, for me. Reading.
I had a grand time. Thanks to Ricochet for the embed. (No, it’s not political.) (It could have been, but anything could be, and I just don’t like it when everything has to be.) It has no title, and you have to admit that "Scribblings" does sound like the name of a restaurant in a medium-priced hotel.
2. I could have written something earlier, but I had to go to Target for some extra-potent ant killer - they’re everywhere. Never occurs to me to say “THEM,” though; as much as I love that movie, it seems an odd thing for a traumatized little girl to say when she comes out of her ant-induced catatonia. You’d think “ANTS” would be the first thing she’d say.
Of all the remakes, why aren’t we getting giant insect movies? Isn’t it time for that to come around again? Or do we just believe that giant insects could be easily dispatched with modern munitions? It would still be fun: a small town in the southwest, up against enormous ants, with only shotguns and propane tanks. Woody Harrelson stars, of course.
Also had to buy a leash for the dog; old one broke. I got him that ramp, as I may have mentioned, so he can go down the back stairs without jarring his legs. My wife said “now that he has the ramp, he’s going to die. THERE I SAID IT.” She just wanted to say it so it won’t happen. Well, he hates the ramp. It falls squarely under the NEW TRICK category, and he says to heck with that. I bought the leash for small dogs - he weights 47 pounds, the leash is for dogs under 28 lbs - but I did so knowing he doesn’t strain against it. Won’t snap. We took a long plodding walk tonight - he was in one of his stop-and-smell-every-damned-rose moods. Like an old man in a library who’s forgotten what he read. Everything seems interesting. Dick and Jane? What are these delightful children up to now?
3. New Wards; the pictures speak more than the text. Ten pages of that. Hope it wasn’t a bad Bleat week for everyone; I’ve been busy and scattered, but it’s due to the novel. Also the fact that I’m grinding my teeth for some reason, and it’s given me a gawdawful molar ache. Usually a sign that something’s bothering me. Like pain from grinding my teeth.
Now the comments will be all about that. Sigh. Well, have fun; have a grand weekend, and I’ll see you around!
