Lessons in Dark Etiquette

On Writing

I don’t like to write, but I take great pleasure in having written-in having finally made an arrangement that has a certain inevitability, like the solution to a mathematical problem. – William Zinsser in Writing to Learn Tweet this!

A Benefit of Not Being Popular in High School

There is a new widget on the blog, a current reading one. For those who noticed I’ve already moved one current reading book to the finished pile, Stop Acting Rich by Dr. Thomas Stanley. Dr. Stanley is also the author of The Millionaire Next Door and its two sequels. Stop Acting Rich [...]

Fear is the Life Killer…

One of the ways you can identify someone who has read

Once More into the Breach…

Back in 1984 I engaged in the ritual many American high school students do, applying for college. I applied to four private universities and one public one. I got into two private and one public. I went to my fifth choice (one of the private schools) mainly because of money. You might be [...]

Modern Tribalism After All These Years

Two years before I was born the US Congress passed the Civil Rights act of 1964. An aggressive move to end what was, in the states of the old Confederacy, an American Apartheid, it represents the high point of American unity. Ever since we’ve been engaged in an ugly divorce from each other: [...]

A Pair of “Sisters” Who Are Living It

Until January of this year I did local, volunteer radio. This was my second stint doing radio. The original Dark Etiquette ran over the summer of 2002 and was the period where Miss Gothic Manners went from a funny nickname to alter ego. In fact, this blog is as much hers as [...]

The Personals Ads

In the tradition of asking for what you want my first itty bitty personal ad. Please forgive I’m not good at asking for things or even knowing what it is I want. The Stuff: The ability to just accpet my writing sucks long enough to actually write. What it is: I want to write and I want [...]

A Quest for Comments, March 2010

When you think gourmet pizza, what do you think about (pizzas, not restaurants)? I’m on the quest for the perfect pie and looking for ideas to try. Tweet this!

Dreaming of Caramel

Last Saturday I bought a Suzanne Vega album. Purchasing Close-Up Vol 1, Love Songs should be unremarkable. I enjoy Suzanne Vega’s work and buy her albums as they came out. My favorite has long been Nine Objects of Desire for both the songs included and for the level of production which hits [...]

The Path to Becoming

The first entry, beyond a playlist, I wrote for Dark Etiquette was about writing a list of your non-negotiables. One of mine is “I am a writer”. When I first wrote that it was just an aspiration. It is closer to reality every day. I have my two blogs. What is prompting [...]