tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-332183732012-02-01T04:52:01.321-06:00The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.comBlogger5221100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-21958847548387123802011-05-05T17:55:00.004-05:002011-05-05T18:35:13.210-05:00

Day Two: Your least favorite song.I'll admit it: I started on this thing without reading what the 30 different categories were. I'm starting to get the sense that they were written by someone in their formative years.When I was 19, I had occasion to interview the sing for the Judybats, a band I dearly adored. We were scheduled to speak by phone and I departed from my normal interviewing routine

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-31305130614541184572011-05-03T17:58:00.003-05:002011-05-03T18:26:40.609-05:00

Day One: Your Favorite SongA couple of friends on Facebook have been doing this (the Facebook page is here), and I figured I'd leap in as well, but do it over here where I can take a bit more time to discuss why a particular song made the cut or whatever. This way, I'll have a way to blog daily with a relatively easy meme.Already, though, I'm in trouble. Day one asks you to post your favorite

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-56530903350562327512010-08-31T11:45:00.003-05:002010-09-01T09:47:28.367-05:00

The last Tuesday in August finds me somewhat reflective, although not more so than normal in terms of visible light. It's 90° again. This has been a hot summer in Chicago, coming on the heels of no spring at all.Soon the weather will break, the chill will set in, and we can all get back to complaining about how cold it is. In the meantime, I'm mainly tired of sweating so much.*****I recently took

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-86041122937023541722010-04-05T12:39:00.001-05:002010-04-05T12:40:28.120-05:00

Spring barges in likea petulant pubescentwith a heart of gold

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-20246787271736448462010-02-01T20:36:00.003-06:002010-02-01T21:08:19.551-06:00

I'm back among the Workers these days, the curious folk who live in the building where I am sometimes called upon to build documents for money. I try not to show up too early, so that they will be up and breakfasted before my arrival.Many of the people I used to know among them are no longer there. This financial crisis thingie has hit and hit hard. There have been layoffs, and a few times those

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-48874016224816488642010-01-31T15:35:00.000-06:002010-01-31T15:36:39.607-06:00

They need to be shorter. I'll try harder with the next one.

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-42099106605845901112010-01-31T01:15:00.005-06:002010-01-31T14:51:45.262-06:00

The Magnificent Ambersons by Booth Tarkington. 1918, 520 pages.*****So last night I finished up The Magnificent Ambersons a little after one, and then spent about 90 minutes wringing out a rather wordy reaction to it, before recalling—with my cursor hovering over the "publish" button—that I am not a book critic.I think this little project of mine will go a lot more smoothly for both of us,

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-35921651262568504552010-01-30T00:18:00.006-06:002010-01-30T01:26:23.826-06:00

Hello, again, Blogreader.In the couple of years since I last kept this blog regularly, I have often thought about keeping it again. The various attempts are still preserved below, carcasses of decent intentions made laughable with the benefit of hindsight.What happened, primarily, was that I felt I had little to say, and I had begun to believe that the majority of my writing was below the

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-28679954598734235912009-12-11T14:51:00.004-06:002009-12-11T15:00:47.217-06:00

The charity marathon I did last weekend raised $600 for Heifer International, plus I think a couple of people donated directly to Heifer as well. Since my target was to raise $300, I'm calling this a success. It was also a lot more fun (most of the time) than staying at a computer for more than a solid day has any right to be.In all, I played some 476 songs in 26.2 hours.I donated the money this

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-78222759055518746322009-12-04T12:06:00.004-06:002009-12-04T12:25:42.176-06:00

Hello, Blogreader.Beginning today at 4:48 CST, I will be doing a charity fundraiser to benefit Heifer International. Basically, it consists of me streaming a 26.2-hour dj set over the internet.If you would like to tune in, you can click here. It works fine through iTunes. I think it also works through Windows Media.It'll be mainly indie music from this decade, but I'm likely to take plenty of

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-17263945687827686542009-08-07T00:08:00.003-05:002009-08-07T01:05:56.443-05:00

As part of my preparation for Lollapalooza, I looked into various ways I might be able to use my phone to communicate with the outside world. It turns out that I have two different ways to update my blog from my weird little mobile device, and three different ways to update via Twitter/Facebook statuses. That seems like at least two too many ways to stay "in touch" during a three-day music

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-30232011056524058012009-08-01T22:07:00.002-05:002009-08-01T22:19:55.202-05:00

When last we saw our erstwhile blogger, he was spewing forth yet another apology for not blogging more often. Even though he seemed to mean it, it was nonetheless a bit tedious. The only thing more tedious is the several half-hearted attempts he had made to keep the blog alive during his ridiculously lengthy absences. Such attempts typically began with some sort of announcement that he was back

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-7844902633259987832009-03-07T18:09:00.003-06:002009-03-07T18:19:48.881-06:00

Normally, if I am asked to liken myself to a Peanuts character—which is no longer as much of a rarity as it should be, in the age of memes—I'd have to say I'm Charlie himself. I'm a bit hapless at times, prone also to repeating mistakes and finding myself crushed all over again even though I should know better. Also, I am not a good baseball player.But thinking about this blog, I realize I have

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-61544350466790730662009-01-13T04:33:00.001-06:002009-01-13T04:33:00.333-06:00

We're a week away from getting our new President, the one we ordered back in November from the catalog. This will be the seventh peaceful transfer of power in my lifetime, as I was born in the vaporous remnants of the Nixon administration, around the time Butterfield admitted before Congress that tapes were made of conversations within the Oval Office.Good times.And if there is one thing our

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-65933177798439185032008-10-15T22:32:00.008-05:002008-10-15T23:20:13.188-05:00

Frog and Toad are friends (Blog and toad...?)What I was supposed to be shooting, when I was gazing moonily at the weeds from my previous post, were a small frog and a toad who I am told is his friend. Both had been constructed by my friend, who is designing the poster for a production of "A Year With Frog and Toad" in one of the suburbs with a grain in the name.When he first asked me to shoot

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-91824663472070534982008-10-13T22:51:00.004-05:002008-10-13T23:21:14.472-05:00

Yes, I am behind in my Phoctoberly duties. Apologies. Illness and other things wedged between me and you, Blogreader, but I am returned. And many Phoctober links adorn the bottom of this post. I hope it catches me up. At least it's all of those who came and said to link them, plus one I went and found, from the very talented Jefferson Davis.*****Weeds and soft housesSaturday, I drove out to the

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-43645093520743246142008-10-05T22:10:00.005-05:002008-10-05T22:40:30.744-05:00

Night, Part TwoThese were taken on Michigan Avenue or Wacker Drive on a clear night in January.Same again, in sepia...*****Other Phoctobering:All 2008 Phoctober posts from this site.Kyklops and a sleepy feline.Taffiny and bathing birds.Absolute Vanilla takes us to the seashore.It isn't too late to join the fun. Just do a photo post, mention Phoctober, and come and tell me about it in the comments.

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-52209656759675187752008-10-04T12:17:00.009-05:002008-10-04T12:57:52.129-05:00

Yes, I know it is the fourth. I got home last night and simply crashed out until this morning. I had nothing to drink or anything, and yet still have no clear recollection of returning home, or of going to bed. My work life is sort of complicated right now, apparently exhausting, and I suspect I've caught a minor bug during the annual "Let's everyone get sick because the weather is changing"

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-20454178051239976222008-10-02T23:54:00.001-05:002008-10-03T00:08:22.499-05:00

ChicagoA friend of mine went through and read a bunch of this blog once she learned I had one. Her main comment was "wow, you really love Chicago."I guess it's true. I pine for London, but Chicago does just fine for now. And it is a beautiful city, even if it is sometimes a flawed sort of beauty.*****Other Phoctobering:All 2008 Phoctober posts from this site.It isn't too late to join the fun.

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-85464126572984322002008-10-01T22:34:00.001-05:002008-10-01T22:36:56.023-05:00

BaseballI stepped outside of my normal routines last night, watching a sporting event in a local bar with some friends. It was the Chicago White Sox Baseball Club Team League Players versus the Bishops of Montreal or Minnesota or something. The two teams had identical records for the season, and the game's outcome would determine which team would advance to the playoffs and the which would begin

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-67336820581181222672008-09-29T11:08:00.003-05:002008-09-29T11:15:25.802-05:00

Internet is working again here on the moon, but my return was delayed again due to the recent loss of a friend and colleague. The funeral was sort of lovely (as much as such a thing can be), and I was glad to have a chance to meet his family and share stories of the man we all had in common, who shuffled off his coil at the still-tender age of 41.His name was Kyle. He was a private man, so I

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-73867579471547181462008-09-18T17:56:00.002-05:002008-09-18T17:58:52.675-05:00

Apologies, gentle Blogreader, for my lack of recent posts. I currently lack internet access at home, and the place I am working gets all frowny when we use the internet for non-work stuff. I expect to be back sometime this weekend.

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-18297461255439443232008-09-15T10:39:00.002-05:002008-09-15T10:40:11.763-05:00

She has breadInstantly, at themere sight of the old woman five hundred pigeons

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-52039403882606542212008-09-09T07:52:00.000-05:002008-09-09T07:53:52.687-05:00

(if not the day)Rusty though I amI recollect the meter:five, seven, and five

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-58964782445630763292008-09-06T20:02:00.001-05:002008-09-06T23:15:49.616-05:00

Today was the corporate-sponsored Flugtag (Flying Day) and I trudged down to watch people fling their homemade flying machines into the lake. The basic premise is not much more complicated than that. People form a team with their friends, build a vehicle of some kind, throw it off a landing and watch it break nearly instantly and plunge into the chilly depths of Lake Michigan. Their device can

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-2563671477612730032008-09-03T21:05:00.006-05:002008-09-03T22:23:43.575-05:00

Taffiny tagged me in June with this meme. She expressed doubt that I would undertake it, but I always intended to. Better late than never, I suppose. It's 8 questions.1. What were you doing 10 years ago?Probably goofing off. It was the late summer of 1998. Our first album was still newish. I was freelancing at the place that would later make me a department head for the first time when I was 25.

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-79254263739939963702008-09-03T20:03:00.003-05:002008-09-03T20:14:59.302-05:00

Sometimes you get stuck on a bus for three months. Sometimes your blog just makes it seem like maybe that's what happened. It's a crazy world.I feel like I'm back. From where I'm not sure.Monday was Labor Day here in America. Congratulations to all the new mothers.September is here, and I hunger for autumn. I miss orange, and wearing a jacket, and not sweating myself to sleep.I feel like I'm back

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-47921045470197307842008-06-08T10:21:00.004-05:002008-06-08T10:59:09.902-05:00

Thursday morning on the bus, sans iPod, I found myself seated next to two men about my age, who were standing in the aisle and talking to one another in the privileged tones of the corporately secure. They began by assuring one another that the bus was not normally considered an appropriate mode of transport. Both used "fuck" as the most frequent condiment in their sentences, and one of them said

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-18142368547605279242008-06-05T10:29:00.006-05:002008-06-05T10:39:07.211-05:00

I'm not sure if it's actually fog, when the visible swarms of water molecules do not really reach the ground. It may be more accurate to call it haze or mist. But I'm not gonna go look it up.The last couple of days have brought it, though, whatever it is. The place I am working at the moment is on the 24th floor of a building right on the river, and all of the windows have grown completely opaque

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-6075427236065091392008-06-04T11:55:00.003-05:002008-06-04T12:12:01.425-05:00

First, go here if you'd like to read a Beatle conspiracy which ties into the last post, sort of. Sure makes the "Paul is Dead" lot seem almost reasonable.So where was I these last few months? Nowhere special, sadly. It'd be wonderful to report that I was absent from the blog because I was gallivanting on some grand adventure.Nope.I got pneumonia in February, and took a long time to recover. I

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-54464002681034715382008-06-02T13:02:00.005-05:002008-06-02T21:15:11.047-05:00

It was twenty years ago today that, twenty years ago that day, it was a year ago yesterday that Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band was released.Sure, that's a long walk for a premise, but I'm still a little mad at myself for not doing "It was 20 years ago today, 20 years ago today" a year ago yesterday.If Paul McCartney is to be believed, it was 20 years before that that Sgt. Pepper taught the

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-53548553134803910652008-02-09T08:00:00.000-06:002008-02-09T08:25:29.869-06:00

Minx is desperate for links (linx?). How else to explain her pouncing upon me within moments of my reopening the blog to tag me with a difficult writing meme. My blogbody was barely warm again. Oh, I link you, foul Minx, but I also have a surprise in store for you in the next couple of days. (chuckles to self) Get ready for some day-rueing, my friend.*****On with the meme...What is the last thing

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-6448520617890362052008-02-02T18:57:00.000-06:002008-02-02T19:38:05.533-06:00

Once again, woodland mammals had no effect whatsoever on the tilt of the Earth in relation to the Sun. Imagine me slackjawed in stunned disbelief.Winter continues. It always does.Snow fell here over the last few days and nights. I had heard the word "blizzard" bandied about a few times in the days and hours before the actual snow arrived, but it was merely a snowstorm. The difference between the

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-25754649619340095292008-01-26T03:25:00.000-06:002008-01-26T03:44:01.820-06:00

Scholars, of course, tend to disagree on many things. That's why I can pluralize "scholar" and not confuse you, good reader. If they all agreed on everything, there would really only be a need for one. This bickering among experts is their bread and butter.So it is a little surprising to find that all the experts are in complete agreement as to what constitutes a perfect meal: Kraft® Macaroni and

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-51703381011118740552007-12-26T16:51:00.000-06:002007-12-26T17:08:38.533-06:00

I was driving east, back into the city from spending time with my mother on Christmas, when I saw it, low on the horizon. It bobbed out from behind a building and disappeared before my brain could verify it, fat and orange.Soon it appeared again, and stayed longer. It was what it seemed: a low, large, colored moon. Flushed, sullen, uncommunicative.Like me, I thought. Low and uncommunicative.Even

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-48482033296473187452007-12-05T19:35:00.000-06:002007-12-05T19:40:27.688-06:00

Some holiday fun from last year, while I try to figure out how to write blog posts again...Dear Mr. Marks,Let's assume for a moment that I grant your initial premise, and that I admit that I know (or know of, as you seem to mean) Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen, as well as Comet and Cupid and Donner and Blitzen.If I can then truthfully answer "no" to the question you pose, is it logical

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-6145826592230102322007-12-05T17:21:00.000-06:002007-12-05T17:49:48.508-06:00

I did not mean to be gone so long. I did not mean to be gone at all, in fact. And now enough time has passed that I feel ridiculously self-conscious putting up a post. Best just to get one up so that the bubble is burst.I was uncommunicative to the extreme for a little bit there, and then, when I had intended to start posting again—perhaps a fun "Ask the Moon" about what to do when a blogger

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-5174811679101072472007-11-12T16:33:00.000-06:002007-11-12T16:28:12.651-06:00

Tech week and opening weekend are finally past. I got home last night and promptly fell asleep for many hours. I've been sleeping poorly lately, and I think I really needed a good chunk of slumbery bliss to clear out my head.The end result is that I woke up in a pretty good mood today. I feel like I'm actually just myself for the first time in days. All the stress and doubt, even from the things

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-54817569786185113592007-11-10T23:57:00.000-06:002007-11-11T00:24:50.072-06:00

Yeah, yeah. I promised a post Thursday night. And here it is just moments before the stroke of Sunday. In my defense, I should point out that I claimed to be able to solve your problems, not my own. And with a show opening, and some other factors, I just couldn't post until now.I'll tell you about opening night in another post.*****Inx Minner from Cornville England writes:Dear Mr Moon,I have

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-74258262758913186862007-11-08T15:27:00.000-06:002007-11-08T15:27:24.461-06:00

Not a lot to report today. Busy, busy.I'm in the process of reading what I have on paper so far for the novel, seeing what I have done, what is still to be written, where what I have down is no longer what it is supposed to be. A little disheartening that things that are no longer in keeping with my current thoughts include the very beginning, but it was a much better read than I would have

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-64605510006289333232007-11-07T19:35:00.000-06:002007-11-07T19:35:46.355-06:00

The keyword for today is "doubt." So many things are in flux. The play, my writing, even my financial security is a bit up in the air at the moment.I went with it for a while. Sometimes important things become clear in moments like these, when all the surfaces in my life seem to be made of sand.And a tiny revelation did come, concerning my NaNo project. I was describing the book to a friend the

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-56774399234816936822007-11-06T15:40:00.000-06:002007-11-06T15:43:52.536-06:00

Pundy from, uh...here writes: Dear Mr Moon TopplesI am so relieved to have stumbled upon your blogsite because I am at my wit's end with a problem that up to now I have been too embarrassed to talk about. Your confidential advice service is my last hope.Here's my problem which - brace yourself - I'm sure you will agree would bring a tear to the hardest heart. If hearts could cry, that is. You

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-88452169315695412732007-11-05T12:59:00.000-06:002007-11-05T13:14:47.668-06:00

Sage words from a frienddispelling my mundane mistslike a morning fog

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-88221571683675243292007-11-04T22:51:00.000-06:002007-11-04T23:56:56.900-06:00

So they don't have the handy-dandy status bars this year, at least not that I've seen. If you click on the link in the sidebar, though, it'll tell you that I have a paltry 1300 words completed after four days of NaNo.Sadly, even this is an overstatement. They are once again the wrong set of words. My guess is that I'll start getting words on paper for real on probably the sixth, which is more or

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-39400910811042846142007-11-03T23:53:00.000-05:002007-11-03T23:59:51.314-05:00

Not a lot of time for a big, cool blog post today. In fact, I still haven't even made it home from hanging out with my friend Rich. Instead I'm scratching away at a keyboard in his wife's office, listening to an aquarium that sounds an awful lot like a man urinating. Those suffering from Phoctober withdrawal will be happy to learn that I took quite a few pictures today, and should post some of my

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-90261063428588789682007-11-02T17:45:00.000-05:002007-11-02T17:43:21.747-05:00

Hello, Blogreader! You're looking well.I have decided that writing a novel, acting in a play, looking for work and doing a blog post every day throughout November is not enough for me. I have decided to use the power of the internet to launch an exciting new career:Mr. Moon Topples, advice columnist. Or Agony Aunt for the limier of my readers. Well, Agony Uncle, really. Why don't we just all

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-86644419156287237282007-11-01T14:05:00.000-05:002007-11-01T16:59:45.021-05:00

Well, it's all over, our happy time of Phoctobering. Should I still have a blog next October, I expect we can do this again. Looking back at the month, I see that I personally posted more than one hundred images, and provided almost 150 links to other sites' Phoctober entries.It was a reasonably global event, as well. We had entries from five different continents (damn you, Antarctica and South

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-62722530264888873382007-10-31T19:03:00.000-05:002007-10-31T19:02:31.160-05:00

Ah, the final day of Phoctobery fun. I'll be honest, there were times this month where I thought that I had bitten off too much, but the participation of others helped me to continue. Now, I suppose, I have much the same problem with NaNoWriMo and NaBloPoMo. I'll be counting on you, Blogreader, to help me through.I expect I'll do a "Phoctober the Epilogueth" tomorrow, or maybe "Phoctober the

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-8409510317764279042007-10-30T23:57:00.000-05:002007-10-30T23:58:17.225-05:00

The Riverwalk in downtown Naperville makes the cut for the penultimate Phoctober post. I have my issues with the suburbs, but they really do this sort of thing quite well out there.*****Other Phoctobering:All Phoctober posts from this site.Verilion catches up on her window shopping.Absolute Vanilla is bubbly when she's in the bottle.Taffiny and the deer that crossed the road.Kyklops has a little

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-73331995681511433082007-10-29T23:59:00.000-05:002007-11-07T03:07:07.141-06:00

It's kind of hard to get a post in by midnight when I don't get home from rehearsal until 11:52 pm. So, I have to cheat the time stamp for the second day in a row. Still, after this post, I have only two Phoctober installments to complete, and then the pressure to post by a certain time will subside. Or it would, if I hadn't signed up for NaBloPoMo as well. Phoctober posts take me a lot longer

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-2755663904122612272007-10-28T23:59:00.000-05:002007-10-29T01:27:56.261-05:00

A bit late getting this in. Had to cheat the time stamp. Apologies.I attended a small gathering out at my friend Ian's place Saturday night. You may recall Ian's backyard from this post, in which I announced the whole Phoctober concept in the first place.Campfire, cocoa (regular or spicy, each homemade), cider, s'mores: there was a general sugar overload among all the participants. It was a

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-36035283497277064582007-10-27T23:51:00.000-05:002007-10-28T00:32:26.148-05:00

Some pretty mistakes today. When I caught sight of these trees displaying so much vibrant color against the brown building with the golden windows, I actually gasped. I couldn't get the final shots anywhere near the beauty of the original. So while these are nice enough, I look at them and know I really missed something here.A good day, a bad day, a long day, Blogreader. The good outweighed the

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-77202225644453522712007-10-26T19:40:00.000-05:002007-10-26T19:32:18.019-05:00

Not a lot to say today. I've mostly been sequestered with my scripts trying to get off book on everything for tomorrow's rehearsal. I am at liberty to disclose that I might cheerfully murder someone for a huge slice of sweet potato pie right now. And a nice cup of coffee. And the complete mastery of all the characters I have to portray in the show. While I am at it, I might continue to wish for

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-65473851331073802942007-10-25T18:07:00.000-05:002007-10-25T19:42:38.028-05:00

Only one for you today. Is one not enough? Greedy Blogreader!Still mostly mired in the play: the learning of lines, running of scenes, the design of the printed materials. Sadly, the last is the most time-consuming. There are an awful lot of cooks peering into that particular pot, and the emails seem to be nearly constant.Somewhere in there I am also trying to plan my NaNo piece. I think I know

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-51454211554084337152007-10-24T21:08:00.000-05:002007-10-24T23:34:59.727-05:00

I suppose these shots have more in common with last week's arches than anything else. They're all about texture. The tree stands in the courtyard behind the Arts Center at my former college. I was in the area the other day, and thought I'd stop by.Everything looked pretty much the same. I found the sameness slightly spooky. Things are supposed to change, aren't they. I drifted through the

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-42789921969124440422007-10-23T17:32:00.000-05:002007-10-23T17:34:49.156-05:00

Play rehearsals are strange things for this actor. Too fun to be work, but sometimes too frustrating to be anything else. Rehearsals are where we begin our tentative passes at the scripts we are preparing for the world. We nourish our eventual performances in the hopes that one day the script which currently wobbles on fawn's legs will become something bigger, something greater.We run our lines a

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-16523772280709967042007-10-22T23:01:00.000-05:002007-10-22T23:08:37.312-05:00

Another image-only post. Curl, dusk, distance. I promise some words tomorrow.*****Other Phoctobering:All Phoctober posts from this site.Absolute Vanilla plays with poppies.Verilion takes on the night.Taffiny and a streamScarlett makes friends in high places.Jefferson Davis gets a headache.Kyklops buys the world a Coke®.It isn't too late to join the fun. Just do a photo post, mention Phoctober,

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-76484860813057428292007-10-21T23:34:00.000-05:002007-10-21T23:40:51.024-05:00

No words today. Just pictures.*****Other Phoctobering:All Phoctober posts from this site.Gayé joins the fray.Verilion gives us a weekly review.Sognatrice shows us puppies!Absolute Vanilla at an outdoor market.Minx goes for a stroll.Kyklops gets petally.Taffiny goes costume shopping.Scarlett goes white.It isn't too late to join the fun. Just do a photo post, mention Phoctober, and come and tell me

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-61150374467552358082007-10-20T23:24:00.000-05:002007-10-20T23:21:12.810-05:00

Very late getting this in. My day just flew away from me in some unexpected ways. Apologies.*****Being tired—as one gets—of conventional, old-style pornography, I went last night to see the New Pornographers. My initial disappointment over such a misleading name quickly faded. Turns out that they are musicians. Pretty good ones, too. A fine time was had by all, except I did spend more than a few

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-35905412894745056332007-10-19T16:03:00.000-05:002007-10-19T16:01:40.037-05:00

ArchesI had made prints made of a couple of these images, and showed them to some of my family. An aunt (the same one who seems to feel it necessary to point out my height each time I see her) asked me "Why did you take pictures of these things?"She wasn't being snarky or unpleasant. It seemed like she really wanted to know. I think I mumbled something about the texture, or maybe the shadows.I

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-29528778551547992542007-10-18T19:59:00.000-05:002007-10-18T20:15:33.882-05:00

The last hold-outs. Flower, fungus and fly.In the ninety seconds I was photographing the flower, one of the petals curled up entirely. Either it was shriveling or flipping me off. Anybody's guess.It continues to be freakishly warm here, and as a consequence we had a batch of strong storms and even some tornadoes tearing through the midwest. I've now written several letters of complaint to the

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-38739790810885688152007-10-17T11:06:00.000-05:002007-10-17T11:09:36.471-05:00

This, hereThis...is the other side of this...where you can get this...made from things kept here......and if you exit here...you're right next door to here...where you can sit here...and order this...*****Other Phoctobering:All Phoctober posts from this site.Absolute Vanilla takes elegant shots of flowers, light and glass.Minx explores her garden.Kyklops on evening and sky.Taffiny goes for a

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-4916281250370556992007-10-16T15:02:00.000-05:002007-10-16T15:02:54.335-05:00

I cannot help myself. I am drawn to the ochres and umbers of the season. This might be because it is only a quick flash during the year, like singling out a vocal harmony that happens only once in the song.Autumn is my favorite. October is my favorite. Although I am not doing anything special, I can easily see in my mind's eye the hayrides and apples of another time. The leaf piles, hot cider,

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-14151095016994988412007-10-15T16:59:00.000-05:002007-10-15T17:33:00.390-05:00

It's Blog Action Day, and while I am naturally a little suspicious of a one-day event which does not mention what day the event is in its banners, the topic (also not specifically named above) is the environment, so I'll do something on the topic, and linkies and whatnot.My initial thought was to keep the autumnal theme going, but add some sort of eco-message. I found this shot, taken

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-31697172046030908442007-10-14T23:12:00.000-05:002007-10-14T23:07:22.458-05:00

Having taken ill the last few days, I was intrigued to find a rest area on my walk home from breakfast. Couch, vacant lot. I thought about climbing the fence and catching a quick nap, but ultimately decided against this course of action.Sorry to be just getting this in under the wire for the fourteenth. Sick plus busy equals bad blogger.*****Other Phoctobering:All Phoctober posts from this

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-73077323843223171192007-10-13T15:28:00.000-05:002007-10-13T15:59:59.062-05:00

Autumn is coming slowly to Chicago this year. The trees whisper awkwardly to one another, afraid to go first. Soon, they will all gain their reds, golds and browns before discarding the leaves entirely to stand skeletal watch over the winter.*****Other Phoctobering:All Phoctober posts from this site.Matthew shoots animals!Verilion takes some nice shots, thinks about wine and rugby.Absolute

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-40533029845417952202007-10-12T14:46:00.000-05:002007-10-12T14:44:41.958-05:00

This is Murphy. Or possibly The Murphy.Once, long before we met, Blogreader, I was coaxed out of my apartment by a small group of Workers. Together, we attended a professional sporting event. It was a baseball match between the Chicago White Sox and some other group of baseball players.Soon after taking our seats, we noticed Murphy. He was hard to miss, so engrossed was he with noticing us. He

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-54601226331179390362007-10-11T14:30:00.000-05:002007-10-11T14:46:49.204-05:00

Cell phones with cameras in them. How delightful.Once upon a time I moved among Workers, and I had some poseable figurines on hand. Spider-Man got the best stuff, since he was super-articulated. You could even control his individual fingers.We would set them up in the morning as a small gift to the other workers. Sometimes it was me, sometimes my friend Micah, sometimes it was Rich. Rich and

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-66864506061256058782007-10-10T11:42:00.000-05:002007-10-10T11:47:22.429-05:00

Holding out on youBloggers generally do not talk about every single aspect of their lives. To do so would be boring and probably even painful for everyone involved.And it is totally understandable when bloggers do not share something private with their readers. I, however, have been holding out on you in a most sinister way: I have been withholding things from you which are most certainly public,

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-2863809884042092502007-10-09T13:32:00.000-05:002007-10-09T14:27:49.721-05:00

Just a very brown room.Other Phoctobering:All Phoctober posts from this site.A Minx in a mine stack.Verilion is nice five times before finally spelling it "phoktober" towards the bottom.Absolute Vanilla on poetry, wind, light and water.Scarlett and some sort of terrifying mushroom contraption.Sognatrice weathers a storm and earns a rainbow in an unofficial entry.It isn't too late to join the fun.

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-26124306962868428282007-10-08T11:25:00.000-05:002007-10-08T11:32:31.875-05:00

I thought today would be a nice day to focus on the strange wonder that is the city of Chicago. Some of the joy I've found in my new camera comes from the fact that there is always something interesting to do or see in this town.Personally, I think it's nice that someone took the time to label the mattress as infested, that our streets apparently make a nice dining room. I like that the dark

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-36588892659686251032007-10-07T16:26:00.000-05:002007-10-08T00:43:34.197-05:00

I went to a wedding reception last night. A dear old friend tied the knot in Germany over the summer, and last night I got to meet his bride and see quite a few people I had not seen in well over a decade. It was sort of a weird night.It is possible that I sang in public for the first time in more than five years, in the shadow of an enormous moose head, accompanied by former map of july members

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-76086855572470371272007-10-06T11:03:00.000-05:002007-10-06T11:11:24.630-05:00

No one has told the flowers the autumn is here. The thermometer also seems blissfully unaware.Other Phoctobering:All Phoctober posts from this site.Minx waxes poetic in a post about the post.Taffiny shows us the whitest of roses. (sort of rhymes, no?)

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-37937002454357648602007-10-05T13:12:00.000-05:002007-10-05T13:23:36.290-05:00

More yard sales. I especially liked the last one. He had loads of what could have either been Halloween decorations or perhaps the unwanted lesser pieces of a macabre collection.Why, I wonder, did they seem to work so hard to make the head appear realistic, but then craft those fingers so poorly?Other Phoctobering:All Phoctober posts from this site.Absolute Vanilla pushes the envelope somewhat

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-60671539702714733822007-10-04T07:51:00.000-05:002007-10-04T08:37:48.761-05:00

No explanation seems necessary.Other Phoctobering:All Phoctober posts from this site. Links from previous posts can be found here as well.Minx gets Treslothan.Absolute Vanilla flirts with shadows.

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-88400027709844149362007-10-03T07:06:00.000-05:002007-10-03T07:13:05.920-05:00

Signs fade, letters peel. Time marches on.Still, you should not park in front of the first one. And the hospital truly is to the right.Other Phoctobering:All Phoctober posts from this site. This would be a good page for other Phoctoberers to set up a link if so inclined, as this page will eventually contain all the posts here, and all the external links as well.Absolute Vanilla shows you a great,

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-88979651164425245502007-10-03T01:35:00.000-05:002007-10-03T01:32:09.391-05:00

I cannot recall where I first saw this meme, but it's been making the rounds, and it's the type of meme I like: vaguely worded enough to play with.1. Pick out a scar you have, and explain how you got it. Well, at first I thought this said "pick at a scar you have," which would be an unpleasant thing to ask someone to do, and really something you could do with a scab more easily than a scar. Hmm.

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-80214113756028536512007-10-02T07:14:00.000-05:002007-10-02T10:58:16.697-05:00

A year ago today was my big trip to England. Well, a year ago today is when my flight was supposed to depart Chicago. Instead we sat on the runway for hours and hours and someone threw up on me and we didn't actually get airborne until a few hours into October third. You can click the "England" tag to read more about my trip (after the inauspicious start, it was a really great trip). As a bonus,

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-44480388669986664792007-10-02T01:21:00.000-05:002007-10-02T01:36:47.716-05:00

David over at Wandering Aimlessly has given me a shiny bit of blog bling meant to suggest that I am nice. Or, as he puts it, that I am nice in spite of myself, which conjures up images of me wishing I were a heartless monster but constantly thwarted by my own niceness. What a heartwarming children's book I might make if this were true.My initial thought was: "This amuses me" as I stroked a white

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-65877140173038081502007-10-01T13:42:00.000-05:002007-10-01T13:50:22.297-05:00

"You have nothing to lose..."About a year and a half ago, this sort of weirdly positive graffiti started springing up around my neighborhood. Had they stuck to sidewalks and abandoned buildings and such, they might still be popping up here and there, but the city got riled.I was told later that the culprits turned out to be a couple of suburban teenagers, which I guess makes sense.It was a little

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-58933676011408082672007-10-01T13:28:00.000-05:002007-10-01T13:41:55.822-05:00

Phoctober is here, bringing with it the changing of the leaves and a continuing of the oppressive heat of the previous several months. Not too bad this morning, but 85° again by Friday (that's 29° to centigraders) with varying degrees of too-warm-for-the-season in between.So the idea here is for me to do an image post each day. Maybe a single image with a short explanation, maybe a bunch of

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-53035442669534071312007-10-01T13:26:00.000-05:002007-10-01T13:28:13.817-05:00

Matchmaking, woodenor love: the chemicals areincendiary

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-1845304869223789652007-09-26T17:47:00.000-05:002007-09-26T18:22:27.289-05:00

(The first part of this post is just below, and additional images can be found on my Flickr page, which links via the animated gif at left.)It is the night I enjoy. This shouldn't surprise anyone who's been reading for a while. It was also no surprise to me that returning to the carnival after sunset felt more like a real experience.It was the last night of the fair, and technically summer was

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-43746097241361186602007-09-26T11:56:00.000-05:002007-09-26T12:38:29.910-05:00

Last year I told you about an end of summer carnival. I guess by "you" I mean the four people who were reading me, most of whom I knew personally. I don't blame you for not being here yet, Blogreader. There are a lot of blogs.I inadvertently jumped the gun a little, posting about the event a day or two before the equinox, or on what I am now calling the "prequinox," because it makes it sound like

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-9486781514385948972007-09-25T09:13:00.000-05:002007-09-25T09:45:56.707-05:00

Back in June, I wrote a little about how I was buying a car. Then I mentioned having taken it back. In the interim, I have been tooling around in the old Mahtmobile, waiting and waiting for the idiosyncrasies of my grandmother's estate to be resolved.On Saturday, they finally were, and I went to the friendly local Department of Motor Vehicles to make everything official.I also mentioned on my

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-83786279418817257342007-09-24T14:31:00.000-05:002007-09-24T15:11:02.022-05:00

I was tagged on Saturday by Canterbury Soul with this meme, to list my five strengths as a writer. As if to ensure that "timeliness and punctuality" are off of that list, I was tagged twice more today, once by Sognatrice and once by Taffiny. I figured I should post now, before I get tagged again.I guess I just tend to think of myself as a decent overall writer. I don't think I spend a lot of time

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-59694180140493261632007-09-24T11:28:00.000-05:002007-09-24T11:33:15.589-05:00

The equinox past,still we swelter at ninety.Please send some Autumn.

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-90148528653394405582007-09-21T09:20:00.000-05:002007-09-21T09:47:27.892-05:00

The path from Chicago to Naperville is a simple one. Direct, too. One needs only to wade through the traffic on the Eisenhower Expressway until it merges with I-88, formerly called I-5, and recently redubbed the Ronald Reagan Memorial Tollway, for those of you thinking of making the trek and wishing to navigate by Presidents alone. From there you have your choice of several exits.I took the first

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-34118405066307814222007-09-20T08:31:00.000-05:002007-09-20T08:54:58.496-05:00

I recently sat through the latest Quentin Tarantino film, Death Proof, which was released as part of a double feature called Grindhouse initially, but for some reason has shown up on DVD a full month before its twin.As I sat there, narrowing my eyes at yet another of his scenes in which characters yammer on and on in ways which do not in any way advance the plot, and only illuminate character in

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-15702487287925599832007-09-19T07:06:00.000-05:002007-09-19T09:24:43.654-05:00

"OK, Alex. We'll take twenty for the antlers and ten for the hat."The antlers in question were mounted to a block of wood, and sat atop a pile of t-shirts.* The hat was in Alex's hand, a gray fedora which he turned to peer at from different angles.I was just walking by, affiliated with neither Alex nor the woman with the dyed red hair who was presiding over the collection of cast-offs along the

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-21832046957194310172007-09-18T07:08:00.000-05:002007-09-18T07:55:36.821-05:00

Last week I mentioned the demise of the Lighthouse Diner in my neighborhood, and seeing the crew out early in the morning, sorting and stacking bricks.I like the idea of bricks as urban molecules: universal, interchangeable Legos they use to build the city. When the building comes down, the bricks go somewhere else. Why would you throw away a perfectly good Lego?It turns out that the bricks in

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-38884235865287124912007-09-17T08:18:00.001-05:002007-09-17T08:18:34.906-05:00

"Rock-a-bye-Baby!"Hi! I'm Harry Schmerler, yourSinging Ford DealerOkay, so I had to leave out a syllable from his tune to make it a haiku. Apologies to the Shmerlers and to anyone who lived in Chicagoland during the 80s.

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-18363515649440852102007-09-14T07:30:00.000-05:002007-09-14T08:05:07.673-05:00

I've grown quite fond of my morning walks. I generally leave the house shortly after dawn, which is nowhere near as early as it would have been even a month ago. Stupid hemisphere, stupid wobbly planet.Every restaurant which is open early in the morning seems to have a small cadre of morning regulars, generally older men. I watch them greet each other and the workers behind the counters. The

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-29850887272610967302007-09-12T09:53:00.001-05:002007-09-12T10:34:08.324-05:00

The ability to notice, to actively observe and mentally record things in one's life is one of the most important traits a writer can possess.So you can probably imagine how great it felt when I was out for a walk the other night and suddenly realized that an entire building that used to stand on a major intersection near me had vanished into rubble.I've been taking a lot of walks lately, and had

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-75527469005340989752007-09-10T04:32:00.000-05:002007-09-10T05:25:53.954-05:00

A Moon Topples ExclusiveActor Tony Danza will return to the big screen next year in the latest Batman update from director Christopher Nolan.Danza, primarily known to audiences for his role as boxer-turned-cabbie Tony on the television series "Taxi" and his subsequent role as boxer-turned-housekeeper Tony on "Who's the Boss," will reportedly play a character named Tony, a former boxer who is

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-73101689659249373352007-09-06T04:33:00.000-05:002007-09-06T04:51:58.119-05:00

My phone was ringing. The tiny letters within the orange glow on the face of the receiver informed me that it was my cable service provider. They had also called me about two hours earlier, hoping to trick me into getting the Showtime movie network. I had not been interested.I answered and acknowledged that I was me when the guy asked."You guys just called me," I said."Oh, well, that was probably

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-29519472902965905992007-09-05T03:19:00.001-05:002007-09-05T04:07:25.665-05:00

Wandering through Chicago afternoon heat not long ago, smoking a cigarette, I saw a woman on a bicycle staring at me. I blinked at her and continued walking on the sidewalk. I was a little surprised when she pulled up off of the street and headed straight for me.She had that look in her eye that suggested she was about to ask me for something. My guess was a cigarette. I reached toward my pocket

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-82992504757791111612007-09-04T00:24:00.000-05:002007-09-04T00:24:48.069-05:00

Monday was Labor Day in America. As it is a day off of work to celebrate the working folks, this is often the year's most ironic holiday for me.Other countries hold similar celebrations on May 1st. A little research revealed to me that some of these international celebrations of labor can be partially traced back to the Haymarket Riots in 1886, right here in Chicago (the American celebration can

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-61484780339738960602007-09-03T06:05:00.000-05:002007-09-03T06:21:01.431-05:00

My cold-fronted braincollides with my sweat-sheen skin.I begin to rain.

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33218373.post-62370528683819536902007-09-02T17:20:00.000-05:002007-09-04T20:21:21.678-05:00

Apology for lack of recent blog posts and explanation of whereabouts. Further explanation of whereabouts and small joke at writer's expense. Alternate punch line to previous small joke. Declaration of intent to maintain blog with greater diligence.Five asterisks, centered.Beginning of anecdote concerning recent event or activity. Additional sentences as needed to flesh out detail or advance

The Moon Toppleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12717446064777879248noreply@blogger.com6