No, this isn’t about the Peter Straub novel I’m reading…this is a real ghost story that happened to me. I’ve been meaning to tell this tale for quite a while, but I just never got around to it. It seems that Halloween would be the perfect time to make the time, so here goes.
When I was very …

On the day before Halloween, there’s no way I couldn’t make the Sunday Seven feature the famous day in some way.
So now that I have given you a hint about the topic this week, I will now make reference to the journal writer who put the fear in all of her colleagues by being first to answer last week’s Sunday …

Time to take a break from the Vivi vote counting to post the Saturday Six. Yes, I know there was no Tuesday Two this week, but I’ll post a double edition this coming Tuesday for that one.
Before the questions…
Wait a second…”Bonanza” is on. Let me go take care of that.
All right, I’m back. Don’t know why, but …

“Are you going to stand up?” the bus driver asked.
“No,” Parks answered.
“Well, by God, I’m going to have you arrested,” the driver said.
“You may do that,” Parks responded.

It was a moment that changed history. It began on a Montgomery, Alabama bus when 42-year-old Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white man as the laws at …

I got this in an email from a friend of mine and I thought you might find it interesting.
This is a real test given by the Human Relations Dept. at many of the major corporations today, and, assuming the email is accurate, the test apparently was passed along by Dr. Phil on an episode of Oprah.
It helps employers get better …

I am reminded by Wil of “The Daily Snooze” that National Novel Writing Month – “NaNoWriMo” is the actual abbreviation — is coming in November. It’s that masochistic practice in which one sits down with blank paper on November 1st and theoretically produces a novel by November 30th.
Fortunately for me, November sweeps takes precedence, so I won’t be able to …

No, says Miss Snark, the literary agent at her blog of the same title:
Blogging sucks up time like a hoover. None of my novelists blog unless they are on the road. I asked. They’re busy writing their novels, or writing to me, or writing to their fans. Mostly they’re writing.
Blogs definitely eat away at your time. Most of …

I’ve made some changes in the look of “A Stop At Willoughby.” If you’re reading this by way of an RSS reader like “Bloglines,” you wouldn’t have known had I not mentioned it, so I thought I’d make note of the difference.
The font is now black on gray instead of the former white on black. Some people find that white …

I’m not a sports fan.
But I’m going to step into normally unexplored territory here at “Patrick’s Place” on the subject of a new dress code policy from NBA (that’s basketball, of course) Commissioner David Stern has for his players when they are engaged in team or league business.
As reported by USA Today, Stern’s stern policy:
• Bans sleeveless shirts, jerseys, T-shirts, …

Gimmie an alpha! Yep, 2005 has set a new record with the number of named storms: for the first time, we’ve run out of names and had to go to the backup plan: the use of the Greek alphabet.
Hurricane have been named since 1953, when forecasters decided that referring to them by a woman’s name would be …

The first few questions involve a recent news report reported by John Scalzi in “By the Way.” If the story itself didn’t have you double checking the products in your house, maybe these questions will.
But before the questions, it’s time to recognize the first person to play last week. According to the rules, to be considered the first …

From Jess:
Writer’s Weekly Question #2: Why do you write? Is it because you want attention, or is there some other reason you are driven to do this? What draws you to this craft?
I think all writers write because they want attention at some level. Some crave it far more than others. In terms of instant gratification, blogs are much better …

This year, I produced the Vivi Awards, an annual peer recognition event for the AOL Journals community. I wanted to include the nominees of the various categories. Note that since the banner ads fiasco, some of these journals may have shut down or gone private.
JOURNAL OF THE YEAR 2005: Adventures of a desperately fat housewife – tillysweetchops ChaseNKids …

John Scalzi of “By the Way” recently provided a link to the Top Ten Design Mistakes for Weblogs, as opined by Jakob Nielsen.
Scalzi took great exception to point number 10, and to a lesser extent, I do as well. But here are my takes on all of Nielsen’s “usability issues:”
1. No Author BiographyNielsen says the lack of an author …

It’s time for another edition of the Tuesday Two. But first, an important reminder I’m repeating from last week’s edition: remember that in the rules of this game, there is one topic, two different questions, but you pick the one you want to answer and answer only that one.
Some of you have been answering both questions. Don’t. …

Last week, I asked people to name seven books they had recently purchased but hadn’t read, yet.
I must say that I was shocked by the response! I can’t believe there are so many people who read everything they buy so quickly after buying it. I think I fall into the category of having eyes that are larger than …

I’m moving a bit slower than I expected thanks to some abdominal surgery. It is also affecting the counting of the Vivi Awards, but I’ll address that elsewhere. But I managed to get the latest edition of the Saturday Six out while it was still Saturday, so I guess I must be getting a little better.
In any case, …

I wonder if Sebastian S. Kresge has been looking down recently at any of the television commercials for his “child.” Kresge, who died at age 99 in 1966 is the man who opened a five and dime store in 1897 that would grow to become one of the most famous retailers in the world.
Since 2002, Kmart has battled its …