I have a new article up in Mental Floss: 10 Strange Facts About Hot Air Balloons. Did you know that Abraham Lincoln formed a Balloon Corps during the Civil War? And that the first passengers in a hot air balloon…
I have a short story up on Monkeybicycle called “Undertaker.” It’s about a girl, a ghost, and a sinister prairie dog. That’s right. Sinister prairie dog. How can you resist? Click here to read Undertaker.
Last week I went to Michigan for work. We left the day after Gideon’s first birthday. The day before his birthday, he took his first step. The day after, he went in an airplane for the first time. Go-getter! Gideon…
But sooner or later he’ll want to put up a porch swing and play banjo on it.
Hurrah! I have a second article up in Mental Floss. This one is about forensic facial reconstruction, when they scan the skeletal remains of a famous historical person and make a 3D model of his or her face. For example,…
I am a fan of Mental Floss, so I’m thrilled that they are running an article I wrote … about stilts! In France in the 19th century, an entire town lived on stilts. Stilt jousting is a real thing—an entire…
One often hears of writers that rise and swell with their subject, though it may seem but an ordinary one. How, then, with me, writing of this Leviathan? Unconsciously my chirography expands into placard capitals. Give me a condor’s quill!…
Every year at this time, I get obsessed with gardening. I have a wonderful God-like moment in early spring where I feel like my yard is under control and I know what I’m doing, but experience had taught me that…
In the 1980s, Bruce Willis put out a couple of albums, which included this cover of Respect Yourself by the Staple Singers. Perhaps it was inspiration for Madonna’s “Express Yourself” two years later? Anyway, here’s the video of Bruce Willis…
From Margaret Atwood’s interview in The Paris Review: INTERVIEWER Has motherhood made you feel differently about yourself? ATWOOD There was a period in my early career that was determined by the images of women writers I was exposed to—women writers…