Square Pegs

First, we have to admit something: we’ve never (knowingly) heard a Britney Spears song. Such is the glory of a sheltered life. Oh sure, we’ve heard the Fountains of Wayne cover of something called “Baby One More Time” (probably that’s not the title, but we can’t be bothered to do fact-checking). And, frankly, the ins and outs of Britney’s life don’t register much. All of that being said, we know more about this chick’s existence than we should have to. Her every move is documented like there’s an expectation that she’s gonna say something profound, and the press had better […]

According to our sources, it’s a long weekend. According to our eyes, the unprecedented rain in Southern California continues. According to our daffodils, this insane weather is wreaking havoc on their annual schedule, and we are supposed to do something about it. Accordingly, we declare today to be an off-topic day. Hmm, that probably implies that we normally have a topic. Nevermind. We’ll work out logistics later. In the meantime, we are going to throw out some stuff that caught our fleeting attention for reasons we cannot explain. It’s entirely possible there may be some merit to something we post

We can’t speak for all our readers, but when we go purse shopping, we evaluate based on the following criteria: wallet fits (big wallet, but that depends on mood and season), cell phone has a convenient slot (we have an unfortunate history with cars catching on fire), notebook space (this varies, depending on our mood), space for sundries, and room for at least one book. One never knows when one might have a few seconds to read. Now, perhaps we’re a bit cynical or perhaps because we have a mother who reads the small print just fine or because we’re

Think for a moment about how your read magazines. Hmm, okay, don’t bother as what we’re about to say probably has nothing to do with that. Except for the part where we suspect major personality traits are revealed by how one approaches reading magazines. Like, for instance, ours says that we are easy-going, happy, and ready to face life as we encounter it. Also that we have multiple personalities and should probably cut down on carbs. The husband, before hitting the table of contents, purges his magazines of every single blow-in…those little cards designed to irritate you into subscribing. We,

I reacted the way I suppose many writers did when they first saw a Gould proof – with disbelief and dismissal. But a writer soon learns to welcome anyone who can offer real insight into the nature of prose, and that Miss Gould could certainly do. I learned from her neatly inscribed comments that even though I was writing correctly – no syntactical flat tires, no grammatical fender-benders – I was often not really listening to what I was saying. That may seem impossible to a reader who isn’t a writer. But Miss Gould’s great gift wasn’t taking writers seriously.

It is probably not a secret that we rank procrastination right up there with all of our other fine traits. There is something special about leaving tasks until the last possible moment — nothing beats an adrenaline rush. Nothing legal, that is. Or so we’ve heard. But even the fine art of procrastination has its dark side. You know that novel you’ve been meaning to start? The one you’ve been plotting in your head for years? Now would be a good time. No, we don’t know anything about your life, but we do know that things change rapidly. It’s okay

Never let it be said that when Susan G says jump, we fail to ask “how high?” Oh, wait, we’ve never asked such a question. Lazy, you know. Please pay attention because we’re going to admit a dirty little secret: we think Mrs. Giggles rocks. For the uninitiated, Mrs. Giggles lives in Singapore and writes about romance novels and the romance community. She’s one of the few reviewers out there who doesn’t try to sugarcoat her opinions. She makes grown women cry, in a manner of speaking. We recently wrote (over at Romancing the Blog) that the genre needs stronger,

We have no idea why we’re feeling so cynical today — try as we might, our new positive mental attitude doesn’t seem to be working. We recite our mantra and practice visualizing thigns working out exactly the way we hope, and, well, maybe we need to get a different mantra. Either that or stay off the freeway. Or maybe have more coffee. Yes, that always seems to make the morning brighter. A much as we appreciate the work of all the Bronte’s, we must agree that Pride and Prejudice trumps Jane Eyre. The latter is too Victorian for our taste

If we could have one wish fulfilled this Valentine’s Day (this is the holiday where wishes are granted, right?), it would be that people of all ideologies could read/hear people of other ideologies and absorb their thoughts without attack. That is to say, if you encounter a viewpoint that differs from yours, examine it for merits. The one thing we know for sure is that no two people see things the same way. Your truth differs from ours. Judge the story, painting, poem, movie, song, whatever as a whole. Maybe it won’t change your viewpoint — in fact, if you’re

Somehow, we didn’t get the memo that we’re supposed to get all worked up over Valentine’s Day (though we were excited that our horoscope hinted that we’d be showered with gifts all day long. That, we can get behind). The rest of the world, however, seems to be all Valentine’s all the time. Okay, maybe that’s an exaggeration, but you know what we mean. And, sure, we’re going to take advantage of the hard work of others to fill our posts today. It will give us time to ponder the fact that there isn’t a holiday dedicated to the inherently