Periscope Depth

bow down before the one you serve

When I wrote last Friday about where my desires come from, I used the example of Laughing Cow cheese. My desire for this cheese went from non-existent (before I tried it) to compulsory (after). I thought that was pretty extraordinary. Some folks, commenting on my LiveJournal, observed that the manufacturers of Laughing Cow cheese didn’t [...]

you told me again you preferred handsome men

And Who Are You Supposed To Be? How good was this past Sunday’s episode of Mad Men (“The Hobo and the Gypsy”)? So good that I don’t know if I want to go as Don Draper for Halloween anymore. That’s how good it was. I probably will, anyway, as I’ve reached that point in my [...]

I've got something to tell you far outside the black and white

Sylvia called me up on Sunday and asked if I wanted to watch Helvetica, the 2007 documentary about fonts. “Do I ever!”, I exclaimed. Helvetica is a very dry documentary about a very fascinating subject: the role that typeset has in introducing us to products or concepts. It covers this larger theme by recounting the [...]

don't throw stones; you don't know

On Friday I had the neighbors, Ryan and Erin, over for wine and cheese. We sifted through each other’s movie piles to find good films to laugh over. Neither Erin nor Ryan had seen Road House, so we put that in first. If marginal utility theory means anything, then I should get more value out [...]

there's someone in my head, but it's not me

While visiting Chicago, waiting for a bus at Addison with my man Hawver, two street hawkers approached us. “Would you like to try some Laughing Cow light swiss?” “Sure,” I said, being hungry. One handed me a sample pack of swiss cheese, about the size of my thumb; the other, a pack of crackers the [...]

when you laugh and run free with the thought, pull the line in and try to see what you caught

When I’m not reading books or watching movies about Hating America by America Haters that promise to teach me How to Hate America Better*, I’m getting some writing done. In an ideal week, I stick to the following: Write one hour a night, two nights a week. This produces between 1500-2000 words each night. Write [...]

and they brought prosperity down at the armoury

The Dispossessed: One of those novels I wish I’d found sooner. Le Guin has a beautiful economy of language not often found in fantasy writers: making the terse but poetic choice, rather than bombarding a scene. The Dispossessed feels like an epic, though it comes out fairly slim. And like all good science-fiction, the story [...]

quantum jump, I'm right at your doorstep

On Wednesday I heard Ray Kurzweil speak. Kurzweil gave an abbreviated version of the gospel he’s been preaching for the last twenty years: that technology evolves on exponential curves, whereas intelligence has evolved to make linear predictions. “If you can measure the underlying properties of an information technology,” he said, “they follow smooth exponential arcs.” [...]

walk without rhythm and it won't attract the worm

This weblog has always had the primary purpose of helping me remember what I’ve done, with the secondary purpose of being entertaining*. So when I start updating less frequently, I start forgetting what I’ve done as a result. A quick recap of the prior week, so as not to lose everything to the sands of [...]

hit me with your best shot

I got a flu shot on Wednesday. When filling out the consent and information form prior to getting stuck, I had to think for a moment on whether or not I’d ever had a flu shot before: that’s how long it had been. But I definitely had in college, if not somewhat later. It had [...]

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  • Periscope Depth

    The website of John Perich, author of TOO CLOSE TO MISS and editor for Overthinking It. He's learning about writing, marketing, publishing and promotion, and he encourages you to learn along with him.

    perich@periscopedepth.com

  • TOO CLOSE TO MISS




    "... opens with a bang and never relents ..."
    "... from chapter one, I couldn't put the damn thing down ..."
    "... already looking forward to Perich's next book ..."

    Mara Cunningham knew that sleeping with a married man was a bad idea. But when her lover shows up in the hospital after his wife and son are murdered, the rumors about her turn dangerous. Now she's the prime suspect in a double homicide, and the real killers will stop at nothing to silence her ...

    Buy the book that readers are calling "a great, suspenseful thriller" at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other online retailers.



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