Alex Carrick’s Blog

I’ve come up with a parlour game that’s the mental equivalent of twiddling one’s thumbs. Think of an imaginary statement, proposition or news item that uses at least two popular song titles. Then consider what the reaction of an impartial observer might be.
Is this confusing? Read a few examples and you’ll quickly catch the drift.
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(1) REACTION: [...]

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Here’s something I’ve never shared before. I try to live according to the words of wisdom from my own personal adviser and alter ego, Ari Noshuns. Emulating his spirit of generosity, the following are passed on to you as a means to achieving deeper enlightenment.
(1) A man is only good if there is a strong [...]

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The following are a dozen good reasons a proper young lady should never date a vampire.
(1) There’s not much point to installing a mirror over your bed.
(2) Your blood pudding will never measure up to his mother’s.
(3) When you tell your BFFs about his mother, they’re disappointed you think she’s an old bat.
(4) Getting him [...]

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Since video book trailers are now all the rage, the following is the script for the first foray into the field by Donna and myself. This is a little self-serving, no doubt about it, plus there is some catharsis.
The camera starts rolling.
ALEX: Hi everyone, my name is Alex Carrick and I’m here to tell you about [...]

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Hostess Betty Bernard didn’t know what she was letting herself in for when she invited the television producer Mark Gatheral and the newspaper critic Gracie Phitts to the same soirée. Mr. Gatheral was a corpulent, but still handsome, man of 45. Ms. Phitts was an attractive dynamic go-getter in her early 30s. They could both [...]

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Herb Green was frustrated beyond containment. His toxic mood might not have been impossible to deal with except that he had newly acquired a truly foul vocabulary. He started swearing like Regan in The Exorcist. Furthermore, he lacked the originality to be entertaining in his gross verbiage. No, he was disgusting to listen to. His [...]

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It was medieval times in Merry Olde England and tales of knights and dragons, sorcery and witchcraft still held sway over the land. Superstition was rampant and those who could foretell the future were held in high esteem. Revered for being at the top of her profession was Madame Lazonga, a woman who had grown [...]

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Now that he was dead, Norman Watts was in possession of certain information that someone in the living world would have given an arm and a leg to discover. Forget Halloween or Dia de los Muertos or any of those other days of the year when the departed are supposed to be revered. They might have been [...]

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In early September, Leonard Smith covered over his family’s backyard pool and started swimming at the local health club. It wasn’t a fancy club, but it still required a membership fee. This restricted the number of people who had access to the property. Nevertheless, whenever Lenny tried to get a swim in, at lunch or [...]

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Pedro Martinez had entered the United States illegally. There was no denying that fact. He was part of a group of 20 individuals brought over in the false back of an 18-wheeler from Mexico in early spring two years ago. To pay for the privilege, he made a cash contribution to his wife’s distant cousin, [...]

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