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Ling and I Have Two Things in Common

11:59 pm on November 24 2008, 0 Comments
By Allen
Filed in: NaBloPoMo 2008, Personal, Writing

My friend and colleague, Ling Liu, and I have two things in common today.

  1. NaBloPoMo is turning out to be a strain — we’re both running out of stuff to write.  Ling’s threatening to inventory her make-up drawer.  I’m recapping her blog.
  2. We hate waiting for authors to write the next book in the series.  I’ve got two examples.
  William W. Freehling. The Road to Disunion, Volume I: Secessionists at Bay, 1776-1854 was published in 1990. I bought it a year or two later, and waited for Volume II. And waited. And waited. I even considered writing Professor Freehling to see what the hold-up was. Volume II: Secessionists Triumphant: 1854-1861 was published in April 2007, 16 years later.
Robert A. Caro. The Years of Lyndon Johnson. 

Volume Published Caro’s Age
1. The Path to Power 1982 47
2. Means of Ascent 1990 55
3. Master of the Senate 2002 67

I’m starting to worry about whether Caro’s going to live long enough to finish the fourth book.
 

This Is Harder Than I Thought

11:57 am on November 17 2008, 0 Comments
By Allen
Filed in: NaBloPoMo 2008, Personal, Writing

Well, I guess I understand why I have had some really big gaps in my blog’s history… it’s a lot harder to come up with something to write each day.  I’m a guy with an opinion on just about anything you might mention, but I sit down in front of my computer to write, and I’ve got nothing.

Part of the problem is that I have lots of other stuff I feel like I should be doing.  Aside from just work, today we had a board meeting for our Homeowners Association (I’m on the board, so I have to go), plus I ran to the store for Amy, we had dinner, I did dishes afterward, and… okay, yes, I played some Grand Theft Auto IV on my Xbox 360. (Obviously, this is what I should skip in order to get some blogging done.)

 

Did I Blow NaBloPoMo? And Other Random Notes

9:53 pm on November 9 2008, 1 Comment
By Allen
Filed in: NaBloPoMo 2008, Politics, Writing
  • Last night’s entry is timestamped at 12:17 am today, instead of 11:17 pm last night, so I guess I didn’t have an entry yesterday.  That kind of sucks.  Still, I’m trying to build up this habit of posting every day, and since I wrote it before I went to bed last night, I’m going to count it and continue.
  • I’ve been thinking about Social Security since… oh, must be since I was about 13. Ultimately, I believe that there will have to be a generation of Americans who are the last generation to receive Social Security.  The generation after them will be the last ones to pay into the program, but will never actually receive benefits.  It’s the sacrifice they will have to make so that their children and grandchildren won’t have to pay into the program.
  • American education completely fails to prepare children to survive economically in the world.  Or at least my education did.  We never discussed entrepreneurship, proper uses for credit, how the economy works, etc.
  • The Next Right is an interesting web site dedicated to reinventing conservatism after the drubbing it’s been taking in the last two elections.  Yesterday, they posted a list of Senate seats that will be up for election next time out.  Check it out.
 
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