http://www.mileswriter.com Thoughts, observations and conversations on things literary and not so Mon, 05 Jan 2009 11:34:30 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en 2009 marks the 40th anniversary of the infamous Cuyahoga River fire. The PD does a nice job of recounting the river's twisted history including its amazing turnaround. Check out the article here. The photo is actually of an earlier fire in 1952. The '69 fire wasn't as dramatic but it certainly was ... http://www.mileswriter.com/2009/01/the-year-of-the-river/ The Xmas '08 kitchen painting project is done. The results are so-so, but it's time to move on. Have a Happy and Safe New Year's Eve everyone. See ya next year! http://www.mileswriter.com/2008/12/after/ Twas the day after Christmas, and I'm here to grouse 'bout the paint fumes and VOCs filling the house... That's all I got. Here's what the kitchen looks like this morning: and my Ukrainian painting gloves: http://www.mileswriter.com/2008/12/post-christmas-post/ To all of my readers that celebrate Christmas tomorrow, I wish you a very Merry Christmas and a happy holiday. Hopefully you don't feel like this Santa atop State Meats in Parma. As for me, I've got a kitchen painting project to do today and tomorrow, then shopping for gifts on ... http://www.mileswriter.com/2008/12/merry-christmas/ Saw this article on Cleveland.com announcing that Continental was cancelling its Cleveland-Paris direct flight. This past summer I flew this route, which was so much better than slogging through Newark or Detroit or Chicago first and then on to Europe. It made me feel like I was in a big, grown-up ... http://www.mileswriter.com/2008/12/sad-news/ Stopped in to the post office this morning to mail away a few Xmas cards. And these stamps were the only ones the clerk had left. This year's Eid ul-Fitr (which signifies the end of Ramadan) was October 1st, but oh well. http://www.mileswriter.com/2008/12/i-got-your-diversity/ These days I've been busily preparing for a poetry reading. It's tomorrow night, Tuesday December 16th, at the 806 Martini Bar in Tremont. I'm one of the featured readers along with John Dorsey from Toledo and music from Leah Collova. Leave the Christmas shopping for another day. Come on out, have ... http://www.mileswriter.com/2008/12/reading/ Check out this video and crack open a cold, refreshing GLB Christmas Ale. It's the right thing to do. http://www.mileswriter.com/2008/12/the-christmas-ale-song/ This morning's Plain Dealer has Feagler reflecting on the incompetence of so many of the business leaders he's met over the years. I especially liked this: When I watch Wall Street begging for our tax money, and then Detroit begging for more, I think how dumb I was years ago. I ... http://www.mileswriter.com/2008/12/you-dont-know-dick/ Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants. That's it. That's the revolution. So says Michael Pollan in In Defense of Food. The author of The Omnivore's Dilemma lays out a fairly convincing case for eating food, not the food products of industry that have made us fat and sick and have ... http://www.mileswriter.com/2008/12/a-genuine-green-revolution/