I haven't had a chance to post much on my blog lately. I think most people know why I haven't ... baby on the way, new house, a bunch of new websites and a new book. Anyway, I don't want to quit on the blog completely, but I'll probably consider a new format at some point, especially since I will be contributing to the Spumoni Press blog as well. Until then, be sure to check out spumonipress.com, as well as my latest post - First year = crazy year.

I had expected this note would give you an exact date, preferably in December, to announce the launch of "Corporate Ties." Unfortunately, it will have to wait a bit longer. I've been slightly busier this fall than anticipated … we purchased a house, we're preparing for a baby in March, among other things. The good news is that once I have a decent block of time to devote to the book, I should be able to finish it.

Until then, here's a new excerpt from the book.

Fellow Baltimore writer Spencer Compton will be sharing commentary from his new book, "Get Real" at 7pm tonight (Oct. 26) at Red Emma's Bookstore and Coffee House.

As I attempt to find an agency to pitch my new book, I thought it might be a good idea to list some of the agents I have contacted. At this stage, I've run into issues where companies have listed communication methods, but they don't seem to follow through. I hope that my list will save the time of others who are attempting to find representation.

August 21 is National Spumoni Day. Did you know that? I seriously doubt it. But who cares? It's an entire day to celebrate Spumoni! If you don't know what Spumoni is, check out the Wikipedia page. Better yet, let me explain why you should care about Spumoni in the first place.

If you are any sort of sports fan whatsoever, you have probably read numerous articles on sites like espn.com, cbssportsline.com, etc. You may notice that the links I just provided are not clickable because assuming you are a sports fan, you already have them bookmarked. If you are not a sports fan, you should probably stop reading this, because the website I'm about to list will be incomprehensible to you.

Paying bills and banking online has become the chic thing to do recently, due to the vast amount of information on the Internet and the ease of accessibility.

I've stumped myself with a recent philosophical discussion

I had with, um, myself. Who has the last word in an

email discussion?

It's pretty obvious in a face-to-face

discussion. The last person who talks has the last

word. Even if you

hold your ears and scream really loud, it's apparent

who said the last thing. In a phone conversation, this

Determining what a computer is seems like a fairly simple thing. A laptop: yes. A piece of chocolate cake: no. A PC: sure. Sean Connery: probably not, but it's not out of the question that he could be a robot.

Then again, comparing what we know as a computer and an analog computer is a bit different. An analog computer, according to the Wikipedia, is a form of computer that uses electronic or mechanical phenomena to model the problem being solved by using one kind of physical quantity to represent another.

Just for an instance, don't be a spam hater. You don't actually have to open anything in your inbox with "enlargement" in the title. Just play along for the simple fact of nostalgia.