200,000 Tweets

Milestones: are they necessary takings of account or meaningless attachment to round-ish numbers? I am soon to reach such a milestone — the seemingly effusive number 200,000 tweets. A gloomy sort might say ‘And how many novels would that be?’ but I figured out that the things that end up in tweets are the sort…

An English Professor in New York

Yeah, got that song in your head now? (or this one?) Good. I headed down to the city — and when you live in this state, there’s no confusion about what you mean when you say that. New York City casts a bit of a shadow over the rest of the state. Oh, believe me…

Six Sentence Sunday: Mandrake Anthrax

I’ve been getting all noir lately. I blame Mr B. Ireland’s so lovely, but I’ve been setting stories here that are undeniably grim. So I blame Ken Bruen, too. While I’m spreading the blame around, might as well point a finger (or two!) at Mark E. Smith, too. If he hadn’t written a lyric like,…

Converting Galway

Thanks to Michael, there’s a photo of me giving my talk at the Moore Institute yesterday. There was quite a good turnout! I suspect it was the sandwiches. The audience seemed to be receptive and laughed in the right places, always a good sign.I will put the talk on line when I get a moment….

Krampus and Digital Monks

Did the Krampus visit you last night or did Saint Nicholas fill your shoes with gifts? Happy Independence Day, Finland (let’s have a little Värttinä for that). My talk is today at the Moore Institute. It’s an update of my keynote address from April; I wanted to hit a lot of the same issues, but…

Know-vember: Chloë

What is more awesome than awesome? It has to be the lovely Chloë! She sent me absinthe chocolates. That would already make her more awesome than awesome, but she’s also hilarious and has adorable Maudie to help with the awesomeness, too. We finally got to meet in Derby this year at Alt.Fiction after having lots…

Know-vember: Mark Walker

In the States, today is Thanksgiving day; depending on who you ask it’s either a day to commemorate when the Pilgrims survived the vagaries of New England despite their ignorance and arrogance with considerable help from some of the indigenous folks (who would come to regret that kindness), or it’s a day to stuff yourself…

Know-vember: Barry Leary

I should be in Dublin with Elena and Rod today, which is just as well considering my current guest here: Barry is shy. He’s also an artist. We may have been standing next to each other at the big Rothko exhibit at the Tate Modern a few years back, both gazing in rapt awe, but…

Know-vember: Mr Tumshie

All right, it’s not his real name, but if you’re on Twitter (as so many of us are) that’s how you know him. A canny chess player, a friendly chauffeur (^_^) and blipper of tunes, Mr Tumshie keeps us all amused with his sardonic humour. But he won’t let me tell you his real name…

Know-vember: Jeanne Andrew

Meet the fabulous Jeanne Andrew, a most amusing and lovely woman. I met her on Twitter, part of the extended network of Scots that I have somehow found myself amongst. She’s a “stand down” comedian and budding screenwriter and writes a blog appropriately named “Funny Girl” — and she’s a lot of fun. 1. What’s…