R. J. Hendrickson says:
Fascinating. Of course, the e-book writer is almost on his own, but thankfully there is a...
Jeremy says:
Good hell–I thought all they did was mark up my scene breaks and tell me I use italics too much....
Derek says:
It turns out Barnes & Noble DOES have it in stock. You have to search for “The War of...
Derek says:
It turns out Barnes & Noble does have the Black Irish edition, you have to search for “The War...
Laura says:
Well THAT certainly got some rusted gears turning! Thanks, Steven.
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March 31, 2010, “Habit” first appeared on the site—and is revisiting the home page today as I’m on the road.
Konrad Lorenz, the Nobel Prize-winning zoologist, had a pet goose that he allowed the run of the house. The first day when the goose waddled in the door, there happened to be a mirror near floor height; the goose mistook his own reflection for some rival bird and flew into attack mode. (more…)
He sensed Mary didn’t like him. Something about the way she moved. Her actions were paired with loud, passive-aggressive noises. She didn’t bang the ice tray in the sink to loosen ice cubes for her drink. A cool Cola wasn’t on her mind.
And then she came out with it and told her husband’s guest, Kurt Vonnegut: (more…)
A few nights ago, I watched a 1970s era David Susskind interview with legendary advertising executive, David Ogilvy (1911–1999). Ogilvy told a story about what he learned from George Gallup, the founder of the Gallup poll. Gallup put Ogilvy in charge of one of his Hollywood studio accounts. Conventional wisdom at that time (late 1930s-1940s) was that men went to the movies to look at women and women went to the movies to look at men. That’s why the studio system always had male and female leads…to satisfy both parties on a Saturday night date.
But Gallup didn’t buy in to conventional wisdom. He wanted data. So, after wearing out some good old fashioned shoe leather and undoubtedly imbibing a barrel full of martinis, Ogilvy sat down to quantify the movie going experience. While tallying up responses from theater exit interviews, Ogilvy found that conventional wisdom was absolutely wrong. (more…)
