Writer's Block Ahead

[THESE DAYS: A Commentary]
A collection of attempted humor by Dan O'Leary


COLUMNS
(* - Reader's Pick)
Pluto Downsized
August 2006

Farewell, Ted and Gloria
March 2006

Cheney's Got a Gun
February 2006

How Deadly is That Sin?*
December 2005

Back to Skool*
September 2005

Little Tykes, Big Bucks*
August 2005

FYI: the 411 on TXT
July 2005

Hot Topics
June 2005

Brought To You By The Letters OMG*
April 2005

Christmas Carol Cutouts*
December 2004

A New Day in America
November 2004

Vote These Days Party '04
October 2004

A Bug's Life
May 2004

Outsourcing? Outstanding!*
April 2004

Can You Hear Me Now? (click!)*
November 2003

Hollywood Halloween Horrors
October 2003

(Not) Reality TV
September 2003

What I'll Do On My Summer Vacation*
August 2003

Show Me The Way To Go Home (Depot)
June 2003

It's Raining, It's Pouring, The Old Man's Not Snoring*
May 2003

You Want Fries With That Lawsuit?
March 2003

Lost In The Super Market
February 2003

Happy New...1979?
January 2003

The THESE DAYS Job Fair
December 2002

This Movie Stinks! Really!
November 2002

Back In My (School) Day...
September 2002

Pass The SPF-90, Santa*
August 2002

Must See TV...or Else
June 2002

Unreal Estates*
May 2002

Spring (Cleaning) Has Sprung*
March 2002

Your Handy Holiday Shopping Guide
December 2001

CAUTION! Hazardous Words!*
November 2001

Make A Wish, Blow Out The Punchcards*
August 2001

Will Bug Phones For Food
July 2001

The Phantom Critic Menace
June 2001

The Return of Saturn*
May 2001

Your Ad Here, And Here...*
March 2001

"Dave? What Happened, Dave?"
February 2001

"You Mean Dewey Didn't Beat Truman?"
January 2001

Surviving The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year*
December 2000

Florida Hosts "Mr. Democracy's Wild Ride"
November 2000

Now Playing -- "It's A Wonderful Life of Brian"
September 2000

Darwinism on the Highways
March 2000

Hey, Guys...Darva Conger's Single Again!
February 2000

It's The End Of The World ... Again
December 1999

Regis Picks a President
November 1999

Too Much Information?
October 1999

That's My Final Answer
September 1999

8KShould Be Enough For Anyone
August 1999

The Fandom Manace
May 1999

Oxford's Word Search
March 1999

The THESE DAYS Awards, 1998!
January 1999

How The Grinch Saved Christmas -- A sequel (of sorts)*
December 1998

Counting My Blessings ... Sort of
November 1998

Movin' Right Along*
September 1998

And Now, A Warning From Our Sponsor*
August 1998

Hug A Luddite
July 1998

Open Mouth, Taste Foot
June 1998

And Baby Makes Four*
May 1998

While You Were Out
April 1998

I'm Ronny, Fly Me*
March 1998

The Starr Chamber
February 1998

OK, Folks! Drink 'em Up! 1997 Is Now Closed!
January 1998

Taming the Holiday Herd
December 1997

Dial R For Retaliation
November 1997

They Blinded Us With Science
October 1997

Call Mulder and Scully!
September 1997

A Nice Place To Visit?
August 1997

Great Taste, Less Dead People*
July 1997

When A Problem Comes Along, You Must Whip It
June 1997

New and Improved Reruns
May 1997

Cloning Around
April 1997

"Lose Weight! Ask Me How!"*
March 1997

You've Come a Long Way, Baby*
February 1997

1996: What Were We Thinking?
January 1997

Oh, Come, All Ye Grinches
December 1996

...And The Politicians Throwing Stones
November 1996

Wanna See Something REALLY Scary?
October 1996

Point & Click...& Click...& Click...& Click...
August 1996

Summertime Junk Food For The Mind
July 1996

I Carry My Brains In My Back Pocket*
June 1996

Spring Cleaning: Some Helpful Hints
May 1996

Does Your Snowman Have Sunblock?
April 1996

Bigger? Better? Faster?
March 1996

Let's Do The Time Warp Again
February 1996
 

KUDOS

Here are some nice folks who were actually willing to praise my collection of screeds without being paid and without the influence of chemical substances.

If you're so inclined to do the same, please mail me and you will have my eternal gratitude and blessings of good karma.

Top 95%!

The Brain Candy Collective THESE DAYS is an irregular regular humor column. Dave Barry-esque, but still original. Gotta love someone who can get political and still have time to interview insects and outsource himself from his own job. --"Treats" section (weekly picks), June 15, 2004



Winner of Freeservers.com's MySiteRocks! Competition 10/2003. The good folks at Freeservers.com host penniless fools like myself with a luxurious amount of Web space gratis beyond the sponsor banner you see on top.



Humor and Life, in Particular:
Best 'Very Short' Humor,
December 2002
Author Margie Culbertson runs this great site for both humor readers and writers. Judges for the site's Humor Writing Contest gave the kudos to "Pass The SPF-90, Santa." (Margie also owns and runs the WWH: Writers With Humor online group of international humorists. Please check it out.)



Third place in The Online Voice's Best Topical Topics (Humor), 2001
Online Voice.org
A slick little Internet mag on cultural debate written by and for people even more cynical than myself, which is in itself an achievement.



Rated a Five-Star Humor Site by Humor Search
Humor Search
A cool little search engine for all types of amusing work-avoiding sites on the Web.



Ranter's World. A good site with lots of links to fellow Web scribes.     "THESE DAYS is the modern world filtered through the very confused mind of Dan O'Leary, and delivered unto thus in 1000 words or less. Smart, short and sweet. I've never seen a ranter hit his targets and come off sounding so nice while doing it." New Reviews section, September 2001



The Comedy Zone. One-stop shopping for all your comedy needs. Subscribe to their newsletter too.     "Dan O'Leary's monthly humor column that goes where "other columns fear to tread," offering commentary about ... well whatever Dan wants to comment about! Refreshingly fresh (is that a double positive?), and well worth bookmarking. Also has an e-mail delivery feature." ("The List" Site Reviews, 06/28/97)


LEGAL STUFF: All content copyright © 1996-2006 Daniel O'Leary. All rights reserved. No unauthorized duplication, publication, or distribution.

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Dan O'Leary is a contributor to New Jersey Lifestyle Magazine.

He has previously written online editorials to NJ-shout.com (RIP), Great Society.org, and Songsource.com, among others. He has also been featured in ShoreGuide and AbsoluteWrite.com.

Dan is a current member of the NetWits humorist's collective.

Since his early twenties, Dan's writings have also been prominently featured on the refrigerator in his parents' home. "Sure, they make no sense," Mrs. O'Leary comments, "but we're proud of him -- no matter what everyone else says."

Web Page and Essays Copyright © Dan O'Leary
dano@cybercomm.net