Photograph by Marie A. DyerRussell J.T. Dyer, Writer
The works and musings of an american fiction and technical writer living in Milan, Italy • Updated: Oct 05, 2008 - 5:39PM • 8527 hits past day
There's nothing like a keen mind and a calm soul.
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Site Map

To find web pages more easily, check out the site map.

Site Plans

Because of the growth in size and popularity, I've added a page to list changes and plans for this site.

MySQL Resources

Over the past nine months I've been slowly writing text on MySQL, building my own documentation of MySQL for this web site. Now that I've accumulated some good resources on MySQL—which includes the articles that I've written and published on MySQL in several magazines—I've decided to join them together on my web site. I've set up a new section just for MySQL Resources. There's still plenty for me to do, but I think I have a good solid start. I'm hoping to get feedback from readers to not only improve these pages, but to improve my books on MySQL.

In the Bookstores!

russell.dyerhouse.com

The second edition of my book, MySQL in a Nutshell has been printed and bound. It's now available at bookstores around the world. The publisher sent me a box of them. If you'd like to review the book to do an article for a publication or web site, let me know and I'll send you a copy.


My New Apartment

A few months ago I moved into a new apartment. I've been out of the country for most of these months, so I've been slow getting moved in and fixing up the place. Nevertheless, I've reached a point where my new home is starting to feel like a home. So, I've taken some pictures and updated my photo album which used to have photographs of my previous apartment. Click on the heading of this posting to see those photos and read my comments describing my home and workspace.

Marie in Italy

Finally, all parties involved have agreed and the tickets have been purchased for my daughter Marie to go to Italy. I'm in the U.S. at the moment; she will go with me when I return at the end of May. This will be her first trip to Europe. She's very excited and has been bragging to her friends about going to Italy. She wants to eat plenty of gelato, to go horseback riding, and to visit her cousin, Martina in Sicily—the one with lots of Barbie dolls. We're planning on spending about four days in Sicily, a few days in Rome, a couple of days in the northeast seeing Venice and Trieste, and a day or so in Tuscany to see Florence and mostly for horseback riding. The rest of the time we will be hanging out in Milan. We should have a fabulous time. Hopefully, it'll be a good foundation for her future as a traveler.
Baker's Daughter

Musings

Below are recent musings of mine. Click on an entry heading to read its full text. Click on the musings tab at the top left to see all of them.

My Night Light

I've been struggling over the last few years to achieve a sense of home. Over the last few years I've been accumulating furniture and other household items to give my apartment a feeling of completeness. I think I've finally found a combination that gives me comfort to sleep by. sep 23, 2008 08:09 am no comments

Living on the Ledge

Living in a fifth floor apartment without air-conditioning, with windows open all summer has been trying on me with my fear of heights. Now that summer is ending and cooler days are here, I am able to close the windows—sets of windows so wide that when open one can shove easily a refrigerator through them. I'm now able to sigh in relief and consider the stress of the last few months. sep 14, 2008 12:09 pm no comments

I don't like to share

Although I was told as a child that I need to share, and although I am very giving, I don't like to share. Now that I'm older and realize this, I have no problem saying that I don't like to share. aug 10, 2008 12:08 pm no comments

Literary Criticisms

This is the start of something new on my site, book reviews of novels. For an explanation of these, see my page on Book Reviews

The Heart of the Matter

My second literary review, it's about another of Graham Greene's novels, one of my favorites. It discusses a few aspects of the novel, focusing on the opening lines and the ending. Mainly, it discusses the interesting plot and includes some personal reflections related to writing.

The End of the Affair

This is my first literary book review for my web site. It's a review of the first Graham Greene book that I've read. It discusses the book from a writer's point of view, admiring his work and trying to learn from it.