Dog Dog Dog Dog!

The dog should come home today. I promise to update soon after the beautiful (and hyper) creature enters this apartment. Perhaps I'll have her try her paws at an entry. Stay tuned.

Dog Dog Dog!

As in, Max and I are getting one.

It's an American Eskimo dog, a beautiful animal from the Tampa Bay Humane Society. It should arrive Saturday.

I'll detail all the wonders of that adventure soon. Stay tuned.

Rick Bragg Redux

I am unhappy with Mr. Bragg. The New York Times reporter announced he'll be resigning from the paper, after a stinging correction on one of his stories brought his news-gathering methods into question.

Rick Bragg is a great writer. His collection of news stories, "Somebody Told Me," is full of stories that resound with grace and good-ole-fashion Southern charm. But his reactions to the correction have been egotistical, slanted and undo virtually all of my positive feelings toward the man.

(Follow this all on Romenesko for details. I'd link more extensively, but it's late and I'm irritated.)

To pass off an uncredited stringer's work as your own, when that person contributed significantly to a story, is wrong. I don't care if it's institutional policy not to give that credit (Mr. Bragg claimed that was the case, the NY Times says not quite). It's still wrong.

If you dedicate yourself to the craft and art and backbreaking toil of shaping words, but you don't understand that, then I don't understand you.

Write what you know. Write what you know. Write what you know. That's the mantra. Journalism, by definition, is writing what we know. It's writing what we find out. It's writing what we experience. It's telling the truth.

Skimming off someone else's quotes and experiences and wrapping it in homespun verbiage ain't writin' what you know. And it's not journalism. It's doubtful you could call it art -- or even expression. It's an attempt by a person to be someone he or she isn't.

I don't know Rick Bragg's story. I don't know what personal factors may have motivated him to act the way he did. I hope that, if indeed he has medical problems that hinder travel (as he's said), he rests and gets medical help. I wish the same for Jayson Blair, who seems to have struggled with depression.

But the work is separate and must ultimately be judged on its own. Mr. Bragg has not been honest with us. He has not been a journalist.

Things That Make Me Smile

Monty Python
"God Only Knows" by The Beach Boys
Douglas Adams books
"Good Omens" by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett
"Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" by Elton John
"Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk" by Rufus Wainwright
"Why Does It Always Rain On Me" by Travis
The Daily Show
The Onion
Cats and dogs (when not attacking me)
Phone calls from friends
A cup of coffee with milk in it
Watching Max
Bubble baths

All the Money In Tokyo

No, I haven't lucked into a fortune. I am listening to a song by the Magnetic Fields called "All the Umbrellas in London." If I were British, I might say it's bleedin' brilliant, guvnah!

It's not only melancholy and beautiful, but I think the lyrics are pretty clever. Take a look:

All the Umbrellas in London
By Stephin Merritt

if i make it tonight it'll be all right
it'll make a good song or something
i've been trying to give myself reasons to live
and i really can't think of one thing

i drive around, i walk around in circles
'cause i've got no sense of direction
and i guess i've got no sense at all

all the umbrellas in london couldn't stop this rain
and all the dope in new york couldn't kill this pain
and all the money in tokyo couldn't make me stay
all the umbrellas in london couldn't stop this rain

i don't cry anymore, i go out the door
and i usually keep on walking
i will sit in the bar where the cocktails are
but i really don't feel like talking

i lie around and let the darkness fall
'cause i've got a sense of perfection
and nothing makes much sense at all

all the umbrellas in london couldn't stop this rain
and all the dope in new york couldn't kill this pain
and all the money in tokyo couldn't make me stay
all the umbrellas in london couldn't stop this rain

Not Him Too!

Rick Bragg has been suspended for a couple of weeks by the New York Times. His situation is much milder than Jayson Blair's, but it's irritating nonetheless.

Slate has a pretty opinionated take on it here. I could grouse for awhile about this, but I won't. I love Bragg's writing, but this irks me.

Search For Canine Companion Continues

Max and I remain committed to the idea of a dog. The concept of a peppy ball of fur that bounces around the apartment and barks now and again is appealing.

Yet the specifics remain difficult. We both want a smart dog ... poodle or schnauzer-esque. Max has taken a shine to corgis. I keep pushing for something a touch larger.

Whatever way you slice it, we're looking to adopt in the next few days. It should be thrilling.