My Dinner with Amy | Tragic Comedy

Nice to meet you, old friend.

Six Replies to My Dinner with Amy

Lori Lancaster | July 12, 2009
[hidden by author request]

Aaron Shurtleff | July 12, 2009
Ha ha! Awesome! She really does exist!

Was this recently? How does someone come to town and not let me know? :P

Scott Hardie | July 12, 2009
This was Friday night. Amy drove to Venice for something, so she stopped in Sarasota for dinner with Kelly and me. I probably wasn't very lively company after a difficult day at work, but we had a good time, and good food. The photos were an impromptu thing at the very end.

Amy Austin | July 12, 2009
I thought about trying to drop in on you, too, Aaron -- but I remembered what you said about my dropping in on Steve! ;-)

Aaron Shurtleff | July 12, 2009
Fair enough. I was working until 10:30 anyways, so I wouldn't have been around. Just being difficult! :D

Aaron Shurtleff | July 12, 2009
[hidden by author request]

Logical Operator

The creator of Funeratic, Scott Hardie, blogs about running this site, losing weight, and other passions including his wife Kelly, his friends, movies, gaming, and Florida. Read more »

You Won't See This in the Goo Game

Jeopardy! history was made yesterday: (link) Go »

More Free-Fallin'

A skydiver's chutes won't open, he falls 12,000 feet and survives with minor injuries, and the whole thing is captured on his helmet camera. (link) You have to click on the speaker to activate the sound. Go »

Mystery Gift

Thank you, Johnson, whoever you are. I received what I presume is a birthday gift hand-labeled from someone named "Johnson" in Jacksonville, Alabama, postmarked Anniston, Alabama on May 22nd. This means it's someone who knows me well enough to anticipate my birthday and know my home address. Go »

Shoulda Seen It Coming

The news that Princeton's infamous ESP research lab is soon to close (link) is both heartening and a little disappointing. On one hand, if there's anything at all to ESP, then skeptics should have no objection to private donations funding some bonafide scientific research into it – no harm done except for a hint of legitimacy. On the other hand, this lab was a black bruise for Princeton and its "findings" were routinely debunked, and a facility investigating exceptional claims must have exceptional adherence to scientific standards. Go »

Trial of the Century

I served on my first jury last week, for the gripping case of the Walmart Protein Bar Bandit, accused of a $1.46 theft. Voir dire was oddly focused on whether grazing (eating groceries before you pay for them) was acceptable, whether eating protein right after a workout is important, and whether any of us had strong feelings about the Walmart corporation. Go »

All King and No Kubrick Make Jack a Dull Boy

I recently got to talking with friends who liked The Shining, both Stephen King's novel and Stanley Kubrick's film adaptation of it, but who were unaware that King has always loathed the movie, despite its reputation as one of the best horror films ever made. It's hard to imagine that a writer doesn't know his own work better than someone interpreting it, but I think this is one of those rare cases where the writer is just too close to the story to get it. Here are three reasons why I think Kubrick's film better understands the material, and is better overall, than King's novel: 1) In King's version, Jack Torrance is a fundamentally decent man who wouldn't hurt a fly, but who is down on his luck and desperate. Go »