I've had little to say here lately, so this is just filler. Read it, don't read it--your choice.

I sound like Scrooge, but...can you imagine how much money Americans spend every year on Christmas cards? Between the cards themselves and the postage, it has to be a billion dollars. I'm no liberal, but couldn't that money be better spent on a charity?

My latest manuscript is coming along well. I have no idea whether anyone else will want to read it (or acquire it), but I'm writing as they say you should write: for yourself.

I love the Dos Equis campaign about the most interesting man in the world. I want to meet that guy. Seems like a Hemingway type. But I don't want to drink his skunky tasting beer.

Speaking of beer, I'm a sentimentalist. (Want proof? I have a blow dryer that's thirty years old. I had to take it apart and fix it twice, because I couldn't let it go. I'm attached to it. Silly huh? Attached to a blow dryer.) But that sentimental crap is why I started looking for Schlitz beer recently. I didn't even know if they brewed it anymore, but it was the first beer I drank as a youth, and even though people make (or made) fun of it, I liked it. So I went in search for it, and it wasn't easy to find. But I finally found it at a place called Spec's. It brought back memories. The taste is still there, though it seems lighter or somehow less flavorful. Maybe they changed the recipe a little. Next up? Old Milwaukee.

It's tempting to laze around until January 2, but I'm going to attempt to write a little between the holidays. We'll see if that actually comes to pass.

Want better substance here? Ask me a question and I'll answer it. Otherwise, well, you will sometimes get rubbish like this.

Despite the heading, these thoughts may have nothing to do with the holidays...

It's time to call a moratorium on the phrase, "I know, right?" I think it's supposed to be the catchy New York or L.A. type of thing to say, but it's been popping up in sitcoms a bunch in the past year. If you find yourself wanting to say it, please refrain. Or I will pummel you.

I came up with a great new idea for a video game, but nobody seems to be interested. It's a sequel to Guitar Hero called Mandolin Hero. Then we could follow that up with Ukulele Hero. Pure gold, in my opinion.

The Dallas Cowboys will, ultimately, break a lot of hearts this year, I think. Probably in the Super Bowl.

Books make great gifts. Does that sound self-serving? Is that my fault? Okay, yeah, maybe.

Michael Vick shouldn't be put in a cell, he should be put in a kennel. But we don't want to be inhumane, so he should be fed Science Diet.

To paraphrase Steve Martin, that wonderful love-my-fellow-man feeling you get at Christmas is the most beautiful thing that money can buy.

The weather outside is, at the moment, frightful.

"Seasons in the Sun" by Terry Jacks is going to make a comeback real soon. Count on it.

Anyone going to New York City anytime soon? I have a MetroCard with something like $8 on it. Send me your address and I'll mail it to you. First come, first served. I'm tired of having it tacked to my bulletin board.

I've been giving blood lately, about once every ten weeks. I never realized how convenient it is, because they park a bloodmobile about ten minutes away. I'm in and out in about thirty minutes. If you want to give something this holiday season, consider giving blood. It'll make you feel good, and you get cookies and juice afterward. Maybe even a nice T-shirt.

Anyone seen No Country For Old Men? If so, please share a review. No spoilers.

Funny word: Peccadilloes.

Below is the cover for Holy Moly, which will be published in May. The designer might still make some changes to the cover. Or he might not.

Did you know that you can already pre-order it? Here's the link:

http://www.amazon.com/Holy-Moly-Blanco-County-Novels/dp/0312357540/ref=pd_sim_b_img_4

Hey, I have an idea. Let's play a fun game! Let's see how high we can raise the Amazon rankings in the next day or two! Wouldn't that be fun!? Right now, Holy Moly is sitting at 245,085, but I know you can do much better than that.

As you've probably gathered from previous posts, I'm a gun owner and I support the Second Amendment. There are, of course, times when I wonder if that's a mistake. It's hard to justify gun ownership after a mass murder like Columbine or Luby's takes place. Not to say that people don't cite all sorts of reasons for ownership after a tragedy like that, it's just that the anti-gunners have an advantage, because they can play up the emotional aspects of the situation. ("What are you, a monster?! You still support guns after THIS?!")

Regardless, I watched Bowling For Columbine with an open mind, and it was very entertaining. The problem was, Moore's narrative seemed unfocused, and it tended to wander. I wasn't sure at times what point he was making. I knew, though, that he'd eventually blame guns for all our ills. He did.

He pointed out that plenty of other countries have the same cultural influences as ours--bloody movies and video games, inciteful music like Marilyn Manson, histories of violence--yet the murder rate in these other countries is tiny. What's the difference between those countries and the U.S.? Well, guns, of course.

But then Moore seems to contradict himself. He visits Canada, interviews a bunch of natives, and points out that, even though they have plenty of guns, they don't shoot each other very often.

What?

Wait, doesn't that disprove his point? Lots of gun, but very little gun-related crime.

You lost me, Mike.

I'm reading a book right now--a highly praised debut novel--that just isn't doing it for me. Here's my problem: The author is trying too hard to make his text sound "street." In other words, he's going to great lengths to make all his characters sound like hardened thugs.

You aren't in prison, you are "inside."

If you're a criminal, you're "in the game" or "living the life."

Characters talk about drug sales in terms of "weight" and "product."

Everybody seems to have chipped teeth or a broken nose or a haunted past.

It's all just too much for me. Seems artificial.

For some reason, though, Elmore Leonard can get away with that sort of thing. His tales always seems to have a sort of wink between the author and reader, almost like he's saying, "Yeah, I'm making these guys a little outrageous, but it makes for a good story, doesn't it?" There's an irony to his writing that makes it work.

Of course, the book in question appears to be selling well, so what do I know?