Between funerals and installation ceremonies Sparrow hasn’t really been racking up the sleep numbers he’s used to, but that doesn’t stop him from watering the plants and the grass, not to mention taking the trash to the curb in today’s edition of The Diary of a Nobody.
One year ago in The Thought for the Day we quote the Bible, James 1:4, where the author, who may or may not have been James, talks about perseverance. Whether you regard the Bible as the sacred word of God or History’s bestest selling novel, there are nuggets in there for anyone to enjoy and this is one of our favorites.
We finally finished the first draft of our exciting new novel Criminals, Courtesans and Constables. We’ve been chronicling its progress here and we certainly farted around long enough completing the last chapter. There was a reason for this: on the one hand, you start writing a novel so you can finish it but, boy, you grow really close to your characters and you don’t really want to finish it. You want the first draft to linger.
You can’t linger forever, though. Up next: an immediate rewrite of the sacred first draft before putting it away for a few weeks, before the next round of rewrites begins.
On This Date:
In 1966 – The United States Supreme Court issues one of its landmark rulings in Miranda vs. Arizona, ruling that defendants in custody must be advised of certain rights, including the right to remain silent and the right to counsel. The decision overturned one Ernesto Miranda’s conviction on assorted charges.
Miranda would later be retried and convicted on the same charges and sentenced to a lengthy prison term. He was paroled in 1972 and was stabbed to death in a bar fight in Phoenix in 1976.
In 2002 – The Detroit Red Wings win their tenth Stanley Cup, defeating the Carolina Hurricanes 3-1 in Game 5. The Red Wings would win their 11th Stanley Cup in 2008, good for third on the all-time list behind Montreal (24) and Toronto (13).
In 1970 – Four months after their breakup was announced, the Beatles final #1 song The Long and Winding Road, reaches the top of Billboard’s Hot 100. It is the Beatles 20th #1 song, a record that still stands. It would remain at #1 for two weeks and the B side, For You Blue, also received airplay and is listed with The Long and Winding Road.
Thank you for reading, and have a reasonably good day.
Gaylon
