I am an unabashed Raymond Carver fan. I will say right out that if I could write like anyone, it would be like Carver. I model my prose after that sort of American Realism minimalist style that he uses. Now as much as I like to credit Carver with this style and voice, a lot of credit also goes to his editor. That type of style usually doesn’t just come out right away. I know, that’s how I write. That’s not to say that the structure isn’t there, but its like you have to take the meat off just to get down to the bare bones of it all, and to do that you need an editor.

All that being said, Carver’s widow wants to publish some of his stories in their original form. I think this is an interesting idea as it’s always kind of cool to see a writer’s progress (there’s a copy of The Last Tycoon by F. Scott Fitzgerald out there that has all his notes on the book in the back - tres cool). The thing is that the widow, one Tess Gallagher, seems to suggest that these unedited originals are more true to Carver’s vision. At least that’s the idea I got from the article. See, I think these originals would be interesting to see as supplements to the edited stories, not as replacements. Like I said, it would be interesting to see the process Carver went through. The drafts. The agonizing reality that a page and a half of his work didn’t really need to be in there. That those extra paragraphs towards the end about the midget playing pinball just didn’t work as metaphor.

Actually, wait, if Carver wrote about a midget playing pinball I definitely want to read that (NOTE: very unlikely this actually happened).

So, we all know Shaq around these parts. The lovable (I guess), slightly crazy center for the Miami Heat. I haven’t really been a Shaq fan since his days back on Orlando and I was reminded why I loved him by this video of some clips from his LSU days and just before he must have been in Blue Chips. This was the Shaq I loved. The one who had moves and some grace. Somewhere around the time he left the Magic and joined the Lakers, he decided to just become an immovable object, rather than a man who once named his drop step “The Black Tornado.” Pissed me off. I don’t know how many times I’ve watched him essentially throw balls of the backboard to himself simply because he’s so fat (not really fat, just large and in charge) and no one can get around him quick enough to get the ball. I miss the days when he could jump and move and spin. The grace man. I miss those days. Thankfully they seem to be coming back to basketball.

By the way, did you know that Pat Riley owns the terms “3 Peat,” “Three Peat,” “Three-Peat,” and I believe even won a case when USC tried to make shirts saying “Three-Pete” for Pete Carrol? He trademarked it back in day when he coached the Showtime Lakers to three straight championships. Smart man that Gordon Gecko.

Forbes reported on the top 10 most expensive celebrity divorces today. Forbes has always confused me with it’s top ten columns. They’ll do serious things and then cruel things and then fun things like top ten riches fictional characters. Top ten lists are everywhere these days and Forbes seems to have it all covered.

My personal favorite is the Richie divorce if only because there’s apparently a 20,000/year plastic surgery allowance. Really? 20 g’s a year? A judge/arbitrator thought that was necessary?

Okay, this isn’t what’s emerging in life but it’s pretty funny. An old Crispin Glover interview from the Letterman show. Truly bizarre.