"And how can the dead be truly dead when they still live in the souls of those who are left behind?" ~Carson McCullers, 'The Heart is a Lonely Hunter' #SundaySentence

I’m what you might call a post-party doula.

Congrats, Athens. We finally did it.

“Night was the time.” ~Carson McCullers, ‘The Heart is a Lonely Hunter’

Today, August 4, 2026, is the date when the fictional events occur in Ray Bradbury's "There Will Come Soft Rains," which was published in Collier's Weekly in 1950. You can hear Leonard Nimoy reading the story here.

August 4, 2026: There Will Come Soft Rains | Ray Bradbury & Leonard Nimoy | OEW Institute

YouTube video by OEW Institute

youtube.com

Barbenheimer doesn't feel like it was three whole years ago.

"Every year, the kids had to take a big exam that let the state know just how badly I was doing my job." ~Ottessa Moshfegh, 'Bettering Myself' #SundaySentence

The ophthalmologist dilated my eyes this morning, so now I'm huddling in my darkened office looking like 🥹 but in a weird, kind of scary way.

“Many’s the man lost much just because he missed a perfect opportunity to say nothing.” ~Claire Keegan, ‘Foster’ #SundaySentence

How am I only now discovering Claire Keegan??

“It is easy to charm a person who talks too much: all you have to do is listen.” ~Patrick Radden Keefe, ‘London Falling: A Mysterious Death in a Gilded City and a Family’s Search for Truth’ #SundaySentence

My dentist’s office waiting room is just casually bouncing to some Roy Ayers this morning—I will DEFINITELY be referring family members and friends to this place.

Well, it turns out I'm allergic to the only drug the treats the parasite, so I'm boiling everything now: lettuce, potatoes, Oreos, bananas, oranges, Coca-Cola, Nerds Gummy Clusters, ice cubes...

“I have chosen this thing to do, away from my family, the doors closed, characters who form in my head and move to the paper, black symbols on a white sheet, no more than that.” ~Larry Brown, ‘On Fire’ #SundaySentence

“The details bloomed all at once, not the way a story usually unfolded, but beginning, middle, and end all at the same time, the way stories happened to God.” ~Gus Moreno, ‘This Thing Between Us’ #SundaySentence

“Manhattan does not lie in an earthquake zone, but there is always the possibility of nuclear war. Short of that, nothing you can imagine would alter the publishing schedule.” ~Jay McInerney, ‘Bright Lights, Big City’ #SundaySentence (s)

It's taken years of practice, but I've finally mastered 'lucid screaming,' in which I'm in complete control of whatever I'm screaming about.

Overheard at an Athens, GA restaurant counter yesterday: Worker: "How's it going?" Customer: "Well, I just got out of jail, so pretty good, I guess."

'Old Yeller' is an incredibly sad movie. 'Old Shouter,' while also sad, is somehow less so.

So, Obama’s deal with Iran, but more expensive for the US? 🤔

Today I learned that Squidward was in his 40s during the show. It makes sense somehow (me being in my own 40s now), but I guess I'd never really thought about it before.

Wait, so Sigourney isn't even her real first name??

I'm giving a reading this Friday with some other Athens writers. Come see us at Rec Room Books at 6:30!

Not much lowkey slaps these days, and I'm feeling pretty mid about it.

Athens, Georgia will soon have a professional indoor (American) football team, and in the vein of celebrating the Athens music scene à la the Rock Lobsters in pro hockey, I’m really hoping that this new team is called the Shiny Happy People.

I was sitting on my balcony just now with Mouse, and a guy I don’t know was walking in with a bunch of groceries said, “That seems like a really chill cat!” And I said, “Yeah, he is. His name’s Mouse.” “Hey, Mouse,” the guy said. And yeah, I’m very lucky.

I'm wanting to make the Kool-Aid pineapple slices now.

YouTube keeps recommending that I watch the Met Gala live. Why would I want anything to do with an event that costs $100k to attend? Why?? How out of touch does a society have to be to think I care about any of this??

“To be declared a genius at one thing is to begin to believe you are a genius at everything.” ~Noah Hawley, “What I Learned About Billionaires at Jeff Bezos’s Private Retreat” from ‘The Atlantic’ #SundaySentence