R.I.P Molly Ivins:

Molly Ivins, the liberal political columnist who made Texas and George W. Bush her endlessly entertaining subjects, has died after a long struggle with breast cancer. She was 62.

Ivins's column was syndicated in more than 350 newspapers. She wrote in a style I call H.L Mencken after 3 tallboys, brawling, proud, and profanely intelligent. You didn't have to agree with her to like her because her leading agenda items was common sense and fairness. She once called Dallas a town “that would have rooted for Goliath to beat David" and a colorless politician "the pet rock of the state house."

I only met Molly Ivins once when I lived in Austin and staffed an event for Texas Folklife Resources. She was a tall woman with a presence like an oak tree who managed to be both world weary and eager for a fight in the same breath. When an audience member told her how much they liked her work, she asked if they too lives in Austin. When the audience member said yes, Molly Ivins replied "Honey, then you know as well as I do. With Texas politics, anyone could do it. It's all in the material."

Molly Ivins's best material is, in my opinion, her three collections of columns: "Molly Ivins Can't Say That, Can She?", "Nothin' But Good Times Ahead" and "You Gotta Dance With Them That Brung You.". I've read each and enjoyed every word.

Molly Ivins was a giant of journalism and the written word, a troublemaker and therefore the best kind of patriot. I will miss her and her work very much.

The Texas Observer, Ivins's first paper, has dedicated their website this week to remembering her.

Word of the Day: "Spurious"

Spurious (adjective): "False, lacking in authenticity"

Usage: "The claim that I have super powers is only spurious to those of weak imagination"

Spurious claims throughout history: The "flat earth", the "Surgeon's Photo" of the Loch Ness Monster, and a few things Nostradamus had to say.

Thought of the Day: "Your Thoughts"

""If in the last few years you haven't discarded a major opinion or acquired a new one, check your pulse. You may be dead." --Gelett Burgess (via The Writer's Almanac)

Gleanings: State of the Union, State of Alternet, State of SXSW:

On my mind and in the reading queue this week

• President Bush's approval ratings hits an all-time low (30%) following his State of the Union address (via Alternet).
• Rudy Giuliani may be running for president. And he may not be.
• Alternet now has RSS Feeds for all of its columnists including Jim Hightower, Annalee Newitz and Molly Ivins. Which makes me all kinds of happy
• Puzzlehunt is a series of puzzles leading to a final answer where puzzlers compete against each other over a continuous block of time. Microsoft's famous puzzlehunt started in 1999. MIT does one called the Mystery Hunt. Someone told me about puzzlehunts at dinner last night which got me way excited. I love these things
• A NY Times article about black indie rock fans. Yes, they exist (via LHB).
• Wired's article on RSS supping up has got me playing with all sort of cool stuff including RSS reminders of what's playing at your favorite movie theater.
• I've been visiting Done Waiting's SXSW Music blog everyday now in hopes they will post a list of bands playing this year. Thus far only dribs and drabs. Maddening.

Read Recently: "The Tennis Partner: A Doctor's Story of Friendship and Loss" by Dr. Abraham Verghese:

Title: "The Tennis Partner"

Author: Abraham Verghese.

Synopsis: Dr. Abraham Verghese is an internist specializing in infectious diseases. In the early 1990s he accepted a job in El Paso, Texas. With his marriage failing and two sons to raise, he befriends a medical student and former professional tennis player David Smith. Smith, a former drug addict, relapses.

Backstory: "My Own Country", Dr. Verghese's first book about running an AIDS clinic in rural Tennessee in the early 1980s was a gift from my mother and a favorite of mine.

Notes: Much of the writing and storytelling gifts Verghese displayed in his first book are here (W.P. Kinsella called his prose "clear as spring water"). Short chapters will tempt you to speed up but don't give in. You'll throw the gentle, sad tone of the story off.

Verdict: Dr. Verghese's writing is as strong as ever but there's really not a booklength story here. More like a long magazine article. At times, "The Tennis Partner" feels stretched and padded to accomodate those demands. Or perhaps those of an anxious publisher, looking to capitalize on the success of "My Own Country".

I hope Dr. Verghese has a third book in him. I wait eagerly for it.

What the World Needs Now:

Is caffeinated doughnuts. Mornings will never be the same.

Word of the Day: "Pedant"

Pedant (noun): "a person who overemphasizes rules or minor details."

Famous pedants throughout history: Lady Bracknell, Dean Wormer, Seymour Skinner.

Thought to be pedants but in the end were not: Professor Kingsfield.

One Sentence Movie Reviews: "Born Rich"

Born Rich (2003): "Fortunate people have issues too."

Notes: There's a good movie to be made about the psychological baggage of being born rich but this isn't it. The filmmaker, heir to the Johnson & Johnson fortune, is too close to the subjects (his friends and peers) to ask burrowing questions. Or maybe they just won't answer them. I'd like to see a similar film about beautiful people, who may be more willing to talk about their good fortune than folks with tons of cheddar are. I may have to make it myself.

Too Busy to Blog:

So hey. Sorry I haven't been around much these last few days. Finished up a book review for the Chronicle, working on another for the LA Times and trying to swim my way through the molasses that is the research for my next book. But things appear to be clearing up.

Word of the Day: "Fecund"

Fecund (adjective): "Productive, fruitful, prolific"

Notes: A big SAT word. The focus of of a great joke in the movie "Clueless"