I just sent my editor a completed second draft of Anonymous Lawyer: The Novel. It's not done yet, but it's something. No real sense of relief or anything, because it's not done yet, and there are still rough spots I have to go back to and make work. I celebrated by taking the pile of post-it notes that I've been working off of, scattered around my desk, and neatly putting them into a pile in the corner of my desk. It was a bit anti-climactic. This afternoon I'm planning on trying to fill out these papers that will let me become a lawyer, so my bar exam score doesn't expire, or whatever happens if you don't fill the papers in. From what I hear, filling out the papers should take me until about March. :) I'm also planning on re-folding some shirts in my closet, since I have a pile precariously leaning in one direction and should fall within the next 24 hours or so, if I don't address the problem. Yes, my afternoon is looking to be quite exciting.
Hopefully something interesting will happen to me this afternoon that I can post about, since this post is hella boring. But, hey, at least it saves me from writing a "What's On My iPod post," which is what's next in the queue if I've got nothing.
I did read part of a book on the subway yesterday, though. "The Most Exclusive Club," by Lewis L. Gould. It's a history of the U.S. Senate from 1900 to the present. I skipped around and only read stuff about senators I've heard of, so mostly stuff from 1980 to today. Apparently most Senators are alcoholic womanizers. That seems to be the book's thesis. Here's the Cliff's Notes for the parts I read, without looking back to make sure I'm being accurate about any of it. Bob Dole is an effective legislator who hurt the Ford presidential ticket when he was nominated for VP in '76. Bob Packwood is a terrible guy. Jesse Helms and Trent Lott are ridiculously terrible people. Some guy named Mike Mansfield was awesome. LBJ was not. Howard Baker was cool, and really wanted to be President even though he didn't really ever come close. George Mitchell was cool. Tom Daschle is cool, and when the current Republican leadership went to South Dakota to campaign against him in '04 so he lost his seat, it was a serious breach of established protocol. JFK slept with everyone, including LBJ. This current war in Iraq is actually the second time we've had a war with Iraq. The Senate building didn't have air conditioning until they installed it. Washington gets hot in the summer. And cold in the winter. And in between summer and winter, the weather is kind of okay.
congrats on getting the book in. . . sorta. I'm looking forward to reading it. I'm looking forward to hearing about your promotional experience. My wife is writing her first book and it sounds like you are about a year or so ahead of her in the process. Her first draft is due Aug 15.
Posted by: ASSociate | January 06, 2006 at 04:57 PM
"JFK slept with everyone, including LBJ."
That was good. One of my favorite LBJ stories ... oh, wait, this is probably too clean a blog for that story, because it involves molesting barnyard animals. Here's another one instead, as delivered by Molly Ivins.
'Most of the government work was done by Halliburton subsidiary Brown & Root, the construction firm, thus reinstating a fine old Texas tradition. Brown & Root was Lyndon Johnson’s major money source: It was to LBJ what Enron was to George W. This brings to mind a famous story from the Kennedy-Johnson campaign in 1960 relished by Texans. It's after the election, and the Democrats win. Kennedy and Johnson are sittin' in the Oval Office the first day, and the phone rings. It's the Pope of Rome (Texans used to specify "of Rome," lest you should confuse him with some other pope) on the phone.
He says, "John, my boy, the Vatican roof is leaking something fierce, we were hopin' y'all might fix it for us."
"Of course, Mr. Pope, sir. Just let me check with my vice president. Lyndon, the Pope's on the phone and wants to know if we can fix the Vatican roof for him."
"That's fine with me," says Johnson. "Just make sure Brown & Root gets the contract."
Posted by: PG | January 07, 2006 at 02:40 AM