Zingers!

OK, here's a couple irresistible jabs to cheer me up after the previous post.

The other day while McCain was tackling applesauce...



...Obama was giving a speech in front of 215,000 cheering, American-flag-waving Germans.



And while the McCain campaign put out an oh-so-lame French joke...



...Obama met with the President of France.

Winning and Losing

I don't plan on making a habit about writing about the other team, but McCain seems to really be pushing the "Obama would rather lose the war than lose the election" message. The first time he said it earlier this week, I thought it was a heat-of-the-moment misstatement, but he's still saying it today.

Isn't suggesting that your opponent would sell out his country to win an election, isn't that basically accusing Obama of treason?

I think that's kind of disgusting.

Nerves of (Danielle) Steel

Danielle Steel is publishing her 75th novel and has this to say about writing:

"I still never finish a book without being terrified I can't write another one. I never start one without being terrified I can't finish it. It's sort of a torturous process."

Seventy-five and it's still torture for her. I'm only on my second, and both have felt like getting kicked in the face. I was hoping it would get easier.

She pounds out all her novels ... on a 1946 Olympia manual typewriter and first drafts are usually done in a punishing 20-hour shift.

Key word "punishing."

I don't think I've ever heard of a writer who likes writing. Writers like having written. Probably in the same way that women don't particularly enjoy childbirth, but keep having kids.

Quote of the Day

"I'm happy with my Hermes portable manual typewriter. But it's not so portable anymore. It's tough to get through airports. They think it's a bomb."

--Larry McMurtry, author of Lonesome Dove and screenwriter of Brokeback Mountain, on whether he uses computers.

Whoa whoa whoa

A street art exhibit in Boston's South End has put Obama's face on Lincoln's head. The two men are both tall, lanky, from Illinois, and served a single term in Congress, but the comparisons should stop there. I think there's no question that Obama is the most exciting candidate to come around in a generation (at least), but that doesn't mean people should jump to compare him to our greatest president just yet. Let's first see whether he even gets elected.

Quote of the Day

Me: It's taken me weeks to gather all this [paperwork].
RMV woman: Yeah, there are a lot of stop signs.

--Registry of Motor Vehicles, Downtown Crossing, 1:26 p.m.