Pennie talks to Felipe about her plans for the dry creek she is building between Tuscan Hall and the woods beyond.

“Life is always a tightrope or a feather bed. Give me the tightrope.” – Edith Wharton

Look at the left edge of the photo and you’ll see the gate into the Zubiate Courtyard, the grand entrance to Spence Manor. After we dig out all the dirt behind Rocinante, exposing the limestone shelf beneath, we’re going to create a cool “hanging out together” grotto beneath the cantilevered foundation of the gym. On the […]

Here’s that List: Number One Singles of 2018





This really is Daniel, by the way. Last Friday I took this photo of the button his Dad was wearing. – Indy

The Thing About Hemingway… I’m reading Hemingway’s novel, Death in the Afternoon, and I like it. It is a detailed explanation of bullfighting. Not a story about a bullfighter. Bullfighting. I have no interest in bullfighting. None. The book has no character arc because it has no characters. It has narrative, but no narrative arc. […]

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P.S.  I am reading Shadow of the Wind (as per a list you offered some time back), which I happened upon featured at the front desk of a used book store here in Santa Fe.  Some coincidences/synchronicities there.  One of which is the NYT Review of Books guy quoted on the back is the father […]

Spicoli Joe drove from Austin to Coldwater, Michigan to pick up Quixote’s Rocinante for you.

Now all we need is $5,500 to pay for it. Someone will do this. Is it you? Just email your intentions to daniel@wizardacademy.org and at the end of the year you’ll get a tax receipt. The academy is a 501c3, remember? And, oh, your name(s) will be on the big, bronze donor plaque in the hanging-out […]





Okay, Indy, give me the details. 

The auction, which is set to take place on December 7 in New York, will present to bidders what is said to be “the largest collection of pre-prohibition whiskey ever to appear” in such an event. Highlights of this collection include “Old Crow 1912 and deep quantities of Hermitage 1914 from W. A. Gaines, amongst […]



Brian has a dazzling new book that will soon be headed to the printer. The working title is “To My Bastard Son”. Speaking of… books… Brad Whittington has published LOTS of books, mostly novels. The ones the wizard and I have read have all been good. Really good. – Indy

Hanging out one afternoon in the office of Jacob “Boxwine” Harrison…

http://traffic.libsyn.com/mondaymorningradio/Mobit.mp3

Remembering William Goldman…

Willing to Fail?! by Brian Scudamore with Roy H. Williams

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The Source of All the Confusion Two brothers were locked out of their home, so they climbed onto the roof and entered the house through the chimney. When they crawled out of the fireplace, one of them had soot on his face, the other did not. The clean-faced brother immediately went into the bathroom and […]

How to Get and Hold Attention_MMMemo

How to Get and Hold Attention Indy Beagle posted a T-shirt in the rabbit hole that said, “If life gives you melons, you might be dyslexic.” Princess Pennie laughed when she read it. If that T-shirt had said, “If life gives you oranges, you might be dyslexic,” would she – or anyone else – have […]

Emery Vickeleti, Hungarian, (1819–1895)

As you set out for Ithaka hope your road is a long one, full of adventure, full of discovery. Keep Ithaka always in your mind. Arriving there is what you’re destined for. But don’t hurry the journey at all. Better if it lasts for years, so you’re old by the time you reach the island, […]

http://traffic.libsyn.com/mondaymorningradio/talking_trash.mp3

If you’re looking for someone to help you build a selling system that agrees with your public image, the Wizard of Ads partner who specializes in that is Ryan Chute.

It’s a really fascinating book. You’ll laugh. You’ll be amazed. You’ll be encouraged. Entrepreneurship is a roller coaster of trial and error, laughter and tears, confusion and triumph. Brian Scudamore takes you on an adventure that will convince you once and for all that you have exactly what it takes to succeed. This book has an […]