The Book Is STILL Free
That’s right. Free. No charge. No gimmick. Just ask (see below).
Today’s theme:
Beginnings
Colorful Living Tip of the Day (I) …
Because I enjoy seeing the fundamentalists get all excited, I hope I live to see the day when America has a First Lady named Eve.
Random related …
102: Maintain Concord grapes have a Constitution that begins, “We, the purple …”
170: Wish in the interests of polite society that people described as lightning rods begin to attract actual lightning.
Random Jurassic suggestion …
• Paleontologists dedicate themselves to working with dinosaur bones. Paleontologist is a difficult word to spell. Does anyone suppose paleontologists would object if we all started calling them boners?
Arnold Palmer: On This Day in …
1977 -- Jimmy Carter is inaugurated as the 39th president of the United States, replacing Gerald Ford, who in his first act as a private citizen flies a chartered jet to Pebble Beach Golf Course to play golf with Arnold Palmer in the Crosby Celebrity Pro-Am.
Zeitgust Word of the Week (a word I made up with the goal of getting it into a dictionary) …
Slomosexual: A person who devotes his or her life to the self-proclaimed virtues of public heterosexuality before finally coming to grips with their true sexual identity.
Days Until Pittsburgh Steelers Come To Latrobe for Training Camp: 188
What to do today in the Laurel Highlands …
• Begin to make plans to attend the Ligonier Ice Festival, Friday through Sunday. Patronize the vendors, enjoy a nice meal and support the local merchants. Stop in and say hello to Laurie Young Mcginnis at Second Chapter Books. She’s an ardent supporter of local authors (like me!).
Today’s feature post …
“The Pittsburgh bandit who sought escape by fleeing across a frozen Pittsburgh river” (from ’15)
A Pittsburgh burglary suspect’s daring escape attempt has me recollecting all the questionable adventures I’ve had on frozen bodies of water. Running from the police isn’t among them. William McManus, 25, is alleged to have ripped off armfuls of scratch-off lottery tickets from a downtown convenience store.
McManus has a history of petty thievery. Confronted by police with a coat full of stolen lottery tickets, he certainly considered the consequences if caught and convicted.
It’s a choice all criminals face when nearing apprehension: Surrender, fight or flight.
The moment was immortalized in the 1971 “Dirty Harry” movie when Det. Harry Callahan asks the suspect about his intentions as he lay bleeding on the sidewalk.
Read extended version here …
Related post …
Of mallbergs, fenderdung & other made-up winter words
Oddly enough …
Point Roberts, WA: America’s most exclusive gated community
America’s Most Exclusive Gated Community. Point Roberts, Washington, is a Gilligan’s Island that is all Gilligan and no island. It is the only place in contiguous America where Americans have to leave America and display a passport just to get back into America. Surrounded by salt water on three sides and less than five square miles in all, this scenic little lick of land is home to 1,200 year-round residents who should by all logic be Canadians but became fractionally American by institutional indifference when the international border was set in 1848. Anyone who takes the time to spy it on a map might think it looks like America’s tiny asterisk. With the only entrance protected by international border guards, Point Roberts has the lowest crime rate of any town in America.
The Page 1 “Crayons!” Pledge (still applies)
The Book Is STILL Free
That’s right. Free. Anyone who wants a copy mailed to his or her home, no charge, is welcome to one. Just ask.
Author Chris Rodell, of course, encourages you to buy it and hopes you’ll support him and the people who distribute, promote and sell books. But if you’re one of those Americans who are out of work and having a tough time, or if you know a US serviceman or woman who might benefit from a book that aims to brighten daily lives, then Rodell wants you to get in touch at storyteller@chrisrodell.com.
He doesn’t believe a book that, at its heart, aims to help people be happy should be withheld from anyone over a few dollars. “It’s said the best things in life—love, friendship, laughter—are free,” Rodell says. “I don’t presume this book is among the best things in life but, by God, there’s nothing to say it can’t keep good company.”
All Chris’s books can be purchased through www.ChrisRodell.com