Let the spreading of love commence.

The first sequel to the New York Times Bestseller Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous & Obscure hit shelves this week, just in time for Valentine’s Day. Celebrating the warm and fuzzy and cold and hard and bitter and sweet and euphoric and torturous world of the hopelessly romantic heart, this one’s called Six-Word Memoirs on Love & Heartbreak: by Writers Famous & Obscure. I just learned the other night that I’m fortunate to be part of this book as well, in the centerfold, appropriately on a very black Page 61. This memoir’s brand new, but not necessarily unrelated to the first one.

Our new book’s packed with telling stories from both sides of the love coin, from writers you both know and have never heard of. Like:

A kiss can write a secret.
— Annmarie Howell

It never hurt as good again.
— Marc Ecko

Butterflies still kicking after ten years.
— Lisa Taylor

People can’t want what they want.
— Dr. Drew Pinsky

Will always follow you. On Twitter.
— Mircea Lungu

May I have the last dance?
— Robert Hass

Here we go again. The next several weeks will be eventful, with lots of blogging and tweeting going on, along with a book tour. Scheduled stops will include Denver, San Francisco, Portland, Boston, Chicago, and a very special slam in New York on Valentine’s Day. Party hearty! Check out the official Six-Word Memoirs site for more info. Web socialites can also join our Facebook group, and enjoy a piece of six-word love each day on Twitter until Valentine’s Day.

So there it is. Six-Word Memoirs on Love & Heartbreak: by Writers Famous & Obscure, now available at fine bookstores everywhere. Pick it up at Amazon and share it with someone you love.

Or don’t.

Six-Word Memoirs on Love & Heartbreak: by Writers Famous & Obscure, now available at fine bookstores everywhere.

As I write this at 2:25pm PST, there is a wonky little problem with Twitter, which is affecting blogs that use a Twitter badge (like the Recent Tweets widget on the right). [click to continue…]

Which one to use? For review, here’s a good list of some commonly misused words:

nauseated/nauseous. It’s the difference between being sick and sickening. You are made sick (nauseated) by something sickening (nauseous). Never say, “I’m nauseous.” Even if it is true, it’s not something you should admit. “I’m nauseated by that nauseous cigar!” said Ethel.

on to/onto. If you mean on top of or aware of, use onto. (The responsibility shifted onto Milo’s shoulders. I’m really onto your shenanigans,” he said.) Otherwise, use on to: Hang on to your hat. Sometimes it helps to imagine a word like “ahead” or “along” between them. Milo drove on to Chicago. He was moving on to better things.

different from/different than. What’s the difference? The simple answer is that different from is almost always right, and different than is almost always wrong. But… You may use either one just before a clause (a group of words with its own subject and verb). Both of these are accepted: Respectability is different from what it was fifty years ago. Respectability is different than it was fifty years ago.

continually/continuously. Yes, there is a slight difference, although most people (and even many dictionaries) treat them the same. Continually means repeatedly, with breaks in between. Continuously means without interruption, in an unbroken stream. Heidi has to wind the cuckoo clock continually to keep it running continuously. (If it’s important to emphasize the distinction, it’s probably better to use periodically or intermittently instead of continually to describe something that starts and stops.) The same distinction, by the way, applies to continual and continuous, the adjective forms.

farther/further. Use farther when referring to physical distance; use further to refer to abstract ideas or to indicate a greater extent or degree. Lumpy insisted that he could walk no farther, and he refused to discuss it further.

Source: Woe Is I, by Patricia T. O’Conner.

The production company dropped by last night to give me a copy of the schedule. They’ll be shooting the Lowes commercial this Saturday from 7am-7pm. The scene will include a family in the front yard, a few doors down. Without the Big Wheels, I imagine.

Bluebird
by Henry Charles Bukowski (b. 1920; d. 1994)

There’s a bluebird in my heart that wants to get out,
But I’m too tough for him.
I say, “Stay in there. I’m not going to let anybody see you.”

There’s a bluebird in my heart that wants to get out,
But I pour whiskey on him, and inhale cigarette smoke.
And the whores
And the bartenders
And the grocery clerks
Never know that he’s in there.

There’s a bluebird in my heart that wants to get out,
But I’m too tough for him.
I say, “Stay down. Do you want to mess me up?
You want to screw up the works?
You want to blow my book sales in Europe?”

There’s a bluebird in my heart that wants to get out,
But I’m too clever.
I only let him out at night,
Sometimes,
When everybody’s asleep.
I say, “I know that you’re there, so don’t be sad.”

Then I put him back.

But he’s singing a little in there;
I haven’t quite let him die.
And we sleep together like that,
With our secret pact.
And it’s nice.
Enough to make a man weep.
But I don’t weep.
Do you?

Papa Jo Jones. One of my favorite drummers to watch, with the best smile to ever sit behind a drum set. All fun. In this solo from 1957, he puts the sticks down and plays with his hands.

Papa Jo played with the best of ’em: Bille Holiday, Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington, Chuck Berry, Benny Goodman, John Coltrane. The list goes on.

Brilliance. Via Worth1000, a Photoshop contest inviting entrants to have at it with Matt Damon. Below is my favorite by far.