by Mark O'Brien | Jul 14, 2015
Having just published our 200th post, this month saw an unusually vigorous influx of billets-doux from our ever-growing legions of loyal readers. In fact, the volume of inbound correspondence was so high, our regular postman contracted a quadruple hernia schlepping...
by Mark O'Brien | Jul 10, 2015
I’ve discovered yet another reminder that I’m going about everything all wrong. I’m the kind of guy who takes seriously the U.S. Army commercials about being the best you can be. I suffer with a chronically stiff neck from setting my sights too high....
by Mark O'Brien | Jul 9, 2015
After I got through the promo for his new book — and his seven-minute video — I read a LinkedIn post Tuesday from Marshall Goldsmith. Marshall’s famous. If he isn’t, he should be. It’s also possible he thinks he is — or thinks he should be. I’m...
by Mark O'Brien | Jul 7, 2015
I don’t mean to appear skeptical or disrespectful. And I certainly don’t mean to cast aspersions or to judge (God forbid). But I do have some questions about the claims of alien abductees to have had rectal probes. My curiosity is, of course, purely...
by Mark O'Brien | Jun 23, 2015
Being in the communications racket may make me a little more sensitive to intelligibility than most. And I may have a slight hyper-percipience when it comes to perceptions of linguistic decorum. But there are some occasions on which you just can’t help but...
by Mark O'Brien | Jun 17, 2015
For those who don’t know his work, Frederick Exley’s passing 23 years ago today will be as the great preponderance of the world’s myriad events — unknown, unseen, unremarked. For those of us who know and love his work, his passing marked the loss of...
