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I would never recommend reading every single message that appears in your junk mailbox, but every once in awhile, there's a golden nugget of hilariousness. Here's one I received a few days ago:
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Subject: mug factory looking for partner
Dear manager
Nice day to you
If you've had enough of Christmas music being played incessantly throughout your region, just be thankful you are not a shark at Loch Lomond Sea Life Centre in the United Kingdom. There, scientists are examining sharks' reactions to Christmas tunes.
Cue the "We Three Kingfishes" remake.
Just in time for the holidays, I've decided to put together a little book sale for "The Developers." Between now and the end of the year, if you're interested in purchasing a copy, I'll send you an autographed copy for $6. Or, if you need two copies (perhaps one as a Christmas gift), that will cost you $10. And yes, I'm including shipping. Stores can have crazy deals, so why can't I?
These days, most people are content to watch "CSI" or "NCIS" to receive their fill of criminal investigations. While the shows are entertaining, they are obviously not real, and as we all know, usually the truth is stranger than fiction.
I suspect anyone who is reading this already has a number of technology gadgets. I suppose this could be anything from a computer to a cell phone to an MyePet (quick survey ... does anyone really have a MyePet?). Anyone with a gadget knows that it doesn't always work right. However, according to a recent study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, 15 percent of individuals never bothered repairing a piece of technology that broke within the past year.
This year, 2024, marks the 42nd year (should be 43 years in a row since the tournament was canceled in 2020 due to COVID) that I have picked at least one NCAA men’s basketball bracket. I have copies of many of them, including the one from 1981, when I picked my Louisville Cardinals to win the championship. That was the year they lost their first game on a halfcourt shot. Some people might be deterred after that jarring experience, but not me! Then again, I was only 5 when it happened.
The publishing industry, much like any entertainment industry, is all about who you know, and not necessarily about how good you are. Having said this, though, if you are damn good, and you have a little luck, you can break into the inner circle.
For my third straight weekend, I'll be making a book appearance, this time in New Albany, Ind. I'll be at Destinations Booksellers (604 East Spring Street) at 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 4. Destinations is a relatively new bookstore, but the place definitely does great work in supporting local authors. And of course, you can find a lot of main stream books there as well.
I will also be introducing my local publicist, Elizabeth Woods, for the first time. Elizabeth is my grandma, one of the main proofreaders for 'The Developers' and an avid bingo player.
I recently found out that a friend of mine, Fred Miller, used "The Developers" as a topic of discussion at the March 17, 2006, meeting of the Investigators Club of Owensboro, Ky. According to Miller, it is a literary club (the oldest in Kentucky as far as he can tell) that has been meeting once a month since 1892. Every two years each of its 24 members is responsible for presenting an "Original Topic" paper, a "Scientific Topic" paper, a book report and host the meeting. He thought it would be a neat idea to review a book written by a local author.
Some of you are probably familiar with the Performance Against Seed Expectations (PASE) metric used with the men's tournament brackets. In short, the metric takes into account how many games a seed is expected to win based on past performances since 1985 (the first year of the 64-team tournament). I use this metric to determine expected offensive statistical totals for the college basketball fantasy league that I run each March.