Richardderus thread 12 of 2014

Painting by Harriet Backer

“Books permit us to voyage through time, to tap the wisdom of our ancestors. The library connects us with the insight and knowledge, painfully extracted from Nature, of the greatest minds that ever were, with the best teachers, drawn from the entire planet and from all our history, to instruct us without tiring, and to inspire us to make our own contribution to the collective knowledge of the human species. I think the health of our civilization, the depth of our awareness about the underpinnings of our culture and our concern for the future can all be tested by how well we support our libraries.”
― Carl Sagan, Cosmos

In honor of the first night of Neil de Grasse Tyson's new take on the classic TV series

I have a category called Orphans, which will still catch all the other reading I do.

My ORPHANED books ticker:




I want to treat the Short Story collection challenge as a ticker-to-itself thread, thinking 48 reviews as my goal. I'll keep the thread over in the Short Stories forum.

My SHORT STORY collections ticker:




I'm keeping a mystery-genre thread over in Crime, Thriller, and Mystery forum. Way way way too many of my reviews have been, in all forums, mysteries and thrillers, and while I love them, I don't want to get too rut-ified and read only those books while keeping up my self-made review writing census.

My MYSTERY & THRILLER books ticker:




THIS THREAD is the 75 challenge for 2014, which will be non-fiction and non-genre-fiction books published in 2013 and 2014, plus recommendations from other 75ers.

My last thread of 2012.
My last reviews of 2013 in this thread.

My 2014 NEW books ticker:




Books 1 & 2...thread 5.
Books 3 & 4...thread 10.

Books are reviewed in post:

5. American Hippopotamus...#14.

6. Alan Turing: Unlocking the Enigma...#52.

7. Snorri and the Strangers...#108.

Top o' the evening to you, Richard! I'm sorry your hand is proving troublesome and hope that the rest will provide some relief.

*smooch*

Happy new thread *smooch* and pain go away *whammies*

>3 katiekrug: Oh. Hello, Road fancier.

This image won First Place in a "Science As Art" competition.

>4 AuntieClio: Stephanie darling! How are you!! So so good to see you here.

Have some of this fresh pumpkin pecan bundt cake with butterscotch glaze!

Happy new thread, Darling. Hope the pain will disappear with the dawn.

Not neglecting anyone; just struggling and can only LT a bit at a time.

*smooches and scratches*

ETA: Drool

*smooch* to you sweetums!

OMG that cake looks so good. Please ask Perkins to ask Cook to whip up another one. Send it with the Irish lad please.

>4 AuntieClio:
Mine! Yummy! nomnomnomnom

Thank you Richard.

>6 Matke: Hi there Danvers! *smooch* It's good to see you whenever you can be here.

>7 luvamystery65: Thanks, Roberta! Here's some more nummy-delish cake.


>8 AuntieClio: There's always more, me lurve.

Ooh, that cake looks simply scrumptious! Please send some my direction. (not that it will ever make it all 3000 miles because it will get nibbled to death on the way, but it's the thought that counts.)

>10 ronincats: I know, right?! What a beautiful thing it is.



This one's for you. Thanks for coming to visit me.

*gasp* ...that cake... that cake!!!

...sorry, I seem to have drooled a little on your thread...

so much cake!
I love (love) butterscotch icing/glaze. And its got me thinking about Sticky Date Pudding, with all that yummy gooey buttery sauce. Oh boy.

The Science as Art judges made a great decision, imo, in awarding that image the winning spot. It is gorgeous!

Review: 5 of seventy-five

Title: AMERICAN HIPPOPOTAMUS

Author: JON MOOALLEM

Rating: 3.75* of five

The Publisher Says: In 1910, the United States—its population exploding, its frontier all but exhausted—was in the throes of a serious meat shortage. But a small and industrious group of thinkers stepped forward with an answer, a bold idea being endorsed by the likes of Theodore Roosevelt and The New York Times. Their plan: to import hippopotamuses to the swamps of Louisiana and convince Americans to eat them.

The only thing stranger than the hippo idea itself was the partnership promoting it. At its center were two hard-bitten spies: Frederick Russell Burnham, a superhumanly competent frontiersman, freelance adventurer, and fervent optimist about America’s future—Burnham would be the inspiration for the Boy Scouts—and Fritz Duquesne, a.k.a. the Black Panther, a virtuoso con man and cynical saboteur who believed only in his own glorification and revenge. Burnham and Duquesne had very recently been sworn enemies under orders to assassinate each other. They’d soon be enemies again. But for one brief and shining moment they joined behind a common cause: transforming America into a nation of hippopotamus ranchers.

In American Hippopotamus, Jon Mooallem brings to life a historical saga too preposterous to be fiction—a bracing and eccentric epic of espionage and hippos, but also of a conflicted nation on the threshold of a bewildering new century, deciding what kind of country it would be, and what beasts it would eat.

My Review: This Kindle Single, produced by The Atavist...which company creates quite a few of these not-quite-enough-to-make-a-regular-book very long articles...was a whimsical purchase. American HIPPOPOTAMUS and Teddy Roosevelt and the Original Boy Scout?! It's like they mapped my brain and found all the crannies that need filling before putting this, and many of their other, projects out.

Mooallem (great name, don't you think?) found this weird little footnote in history heaven-knows-how, but I am glad he did. The more-or-less 70pp of the story don't give him all that much latitude to develop the sheer blinding weirdness of his tale into tedious show-your-work detail. He hits the high points and moves on, following the two central characters of Burnham and Duquesne from sketchily traced origins to endings. The men are documented fully in other books, as they deserve to be. This isn't intended to be a dissertation on either of them, or of their weird plot to introduce hippos to the swamps of the Gulf Coast...HIPPOS! they kill more people every year than sharks!...to solve something I'd only very glancingly heard tell of, "The Great Meat Crisis" that was afflicting the US a hundred years ago.

I know for a fact that the water hyacinth problem the hippos...hippos! can't get over that...were meant to help solve is ongoing, and the importation of exotic animals to help solve it is still bandied about. Austin, Texas, was all gung-ho to introduce sterilized Asian carp into one of its lakes to eat the damned weeds. A scary, scary prospect. Those are some very nasty fish with no local predators and no food value that I know of.

Anyway. Mooallem was obviously struck by the audacity of such a plan, and by the world that could imagine such a thing working well. He sums up the appeal of this read quite well and succinctly:

I'm not arguing that America would be a better or more beautiful place if it had imported hippopotamuses in 1910. But there is something beautiful about the America that considered importing them--an America so intent on facing down its problems, and solving them, that even an idea like this could get a fair hearing; where the political system and the culture felt so alive with possibility, and so confident of its own virtue and ingenuity, that elected officials could sit around and contemplate the merits of hippo ranching without worrying too much how it sounded; where people felt free and bold enough to imagine putting hippopotamuses in places where there were no hippopotamuses.

Somewhere along the way, our politics, and maybe our psyches, too, became stunted by a certain insecurity--by the fear that someone is quietly sneering at us, just waiting to skewer and betray us if we take a bold chance.

Well, well, well. Someone other than me noticed! Of course, the advantage to that timorousness is the guarantee of the supine acquiescence of our potentially rich populace to the damnable and insufferable rule of the banksters and plutocrats. Know what finally killed the hippos-in-Dixie plan? (Other than good fortune, can you even imagine the horrors of hippos charging through New Orleans?!) The nature of harvesting the meat (don't get that image too stuck in your heads) meant that the gigantic meat-packers couldn't use their huge slaughter houses and assembly-line methods to cut and pack the meat.

That, obviously, cannot be allowed. No more than could the egg farmers afford to acquiesce to the proposal, made around the same time, to replace fragile, quick-to-spoil hen's eggs with turkey eggs that have a larger volume of albumen, more yolk, thicker shells, and a vastly longer unrefrigerated shelf life.

Such, laddies and gentlewomen, is the nature of life in a "democracy" that's run for the benefit of the few against the interests of the many: pay more for less, and be grateful you're allowed to have it at all.

Ahem. The cost of this good evening's read is $2.99, and it's a darn good investment in an amusing side-light onto American history and human nature.


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>12 dk_phoenix: I know, right Faith?! Oh so so scrummy-looking. Hi, BTW.

>13 LovingLit: It is a cool image, isn't it Maudie? Good to see you, petkins.

Hello Richard - fascinating idea to import hippos, does anyone in the world actually eat them? But there have been some really strange ideas in history and you can only imagine how the world would have turned out if they ever happened.

I hope that you are feeling better. *smooches* for you and *scritches* for Stella.

Just stopping by to mark my place. Note that I scrolled past those decadent cake pics too quickly to drool much on your pretty new thread.

Good morning Rdear. I hope your hand isn't swollen anymore and the pain has lessen.

on your new thread. I like the painting at the top, it is lovely.

That's an interesting review about the hippo-book! I hope your day will be better, Richard. *smooch*

Happy New Thread, Richard!

>14 richardderus: Wow. Just, wow.

Morning RD! Congrats on the new thread. Love the Backer topper! Sorry to hear about the pain. I hope it has eased up.
55 today! Hooray!

Good morning, Rdear. You're up early too, I see. Is your hand better?

Hippos in Louisiana. The mind simply cannot take it in. And it's certain they would have migrated to Florida, where they could take part in the free-for-all with the alligators and snakes.

I see your point about corporate America, but surely this was an idea that deserved to die, considering the generally unfortunate results of imported beasts to local environments.

Good morning Richard, I absolutely love the picture that starts this new thread, hope you are not in too much pain and have a great Monday.

Good Monday morning, dear man. Hope the aches and pains are withdrawing and the good reading is advancing! The story of the hippos reminds me how much I love history.

Sadly, I met a man once a few years ago, who was on a honeymoon in Africa, and in an accident was killed by a hippo. Weird, and so sad.

OK, off I go to attach the day.... I hope yours is good.

Today is Monday, it's really Monday..... from early morning, till late at night.

Bah humbug.

I just bought two "shorts" for kindle. I usually don't bother... you know how I feel about short stories. These go along with the book The Returned by Jason Mott. This is the book that they based the new TV show Resurrection on, and one that I have seen around my recs from Ammy. The shorts were free, so I grabbed them, and requested the book from work. We shall see.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2014/03/07/resurrection_the_returned_and_the...

The show was okay, might get better or not. But I decided to read the book, or at least have a look at it.

I hope that today is a better day for you in many ways and I hope that any random naked hallway lurkers are appealing.

Interesting comments about American Hippopotamus, Richard. Hmm...hippos running loose in New Orleans? They would probably have sat on the tracks and blocked the St. Charles, Canal and Desire streetcars on a regular basis, and the ones who had hurricanes and mint juleps at Pat O'Brien's in the French Quarter would have broken all of the glasses there and clogged the entryways of the peep show places on Bourbon Street. And God forbid that anyone got in their way when the Carnival floats were throwing beads and coconuts to revelers during Mardi Gras. Nope, definitely not a good idea.

>14 richardderus:: I have just spent a delightful ten minutes sitting here daydreaming about all the ins and outs of hippo farming in Louisiana, Richard. Now I have never eaten one nor do I want to but I somehow imagine them as tasting a bit seaweedy and being enormously fatty. What a funny book to have found! Hope the crystal miseries are giving you some respite today.

>5 richardderus: - Well I saw the movie of The Road and didn't like it. Does that count for anything?

>17 Storeetllr: Hi Mary! What, no drooling?! Go back immediately and feast your senses upon the richness of pound cake with pumpkin for velvety smoothness, pecans for rich nuttiness, and baked in a bundt pan to ensure the densest, most moist possible texture, iced with butterscotch royal icing and topped with the prettiest pecans....

>18 Ameise1: Good morning, Barbara, and thanks for the well-wishes. I'm a bit better today, thanks.

>19 wilkiec: Here's Diana the Red! *smooch* It was fascinating, and so very unexpected, to learn of this weird passage in history. I am a wee bit wistful that it never worked out. That would be interesting....

>20 scaifea: I know, right Amber?!

>21 msf59: Hiya Mark, glad to see you here. It's a less painful day, thank goodness. And it'll be 50° here too, which is a boon and a blessing. Tomorrow almost 60°!! Of course, Thursday is cold and snowy again.

>22 Matke: Sleep was fitful, one of my housies had a terrible cough from this horrible plague virus making the rounds. Hand is a bit better today, thanks! I'm pleased it's not worse.

The hippos were to be introduced and ranched everywhere there was invasive water hyacinth, so Flada and Sippih and Bama would've had their own hippo ranches.

Pause a moment and reflect on the people you know in that region, and imagine them as co-tenants with an aggressive aquatic mammal, an aggressive aquatic reptile, and more aggressive arboreal snakes than you can shake a stick at.

Evolution in action. Thank goodness this never came to fruition!

>23 johnsimpson: Hi John, many thanks for the well-wishes, and a big hug to Hannah for missing out on her baking day. A discreet peck for Karen, too, if you please.

>24 maggie1944: Omigosh! How very bizarre for an American to be killed by a hippo, and how very weird for it to be on his honeymoon.

Thanks for the withdrawal wishes, me deario, and they seem to be coming true...I can hope, anyway.

>25 mckait: Good morning, sweetness, it's Monday alrighty all right, and I for one welcome our alien overlords.

I don't like the premise of Resurrection, I suppose it hits too close to home for me to really want to watch it as entertainment. And look at you, gettin' short works on the ol' Kindle! I'll be interested to hear what you have to say once it's all read and done.

>26 kidzdoc: Hey Darryl! Yeah, hippos eatin' up the drunken revelers of Mardi Gras sounds like a recipe for untouristing the economy, and that would pretty much be that.

Are hippos relatives with the pigs? Pigs I hear are metabolically very similar to humans, and are most vicious when protecting their young. Hippos are pretty mean, too, as are humans, in my experience.

>27 tiffin: Crystal miseries are a bit better, thanks Tui...I'm not sure how much difference it makes to rest my hands, but it's bound to be some. I hope.

The idea of hippo ranches across the Southeast...well...I can't imagine anything that would make me happier. Many, many fewer crackers. OOO!

Hippo fat is commonly used, in Africa, for soap-making. I had daydreams of a happy cartoon hippo in a bubble bath being used to sell the product...heh.

>28 katiekrug: Goodness. It's the Road fancier. Hello.

Cute meme!

>32 maggie1944: As it happens, no. They're related most closely to cetaceans, that is whales and dolphins. Explaining their rich and abundant fat!

Book porn!

Rdear, I'm glad to hear, that you feel much better today. *smooch*
for this book porn with the chain saw!!!

Hay Richardmydear, Love the bookcase! but what is that chainsaw doing there? That's frightening!

Happy new thread.

>36 Ameise1: Thank you, Barbara!

>37 connie53: Hi Connie!

As for the chainsaw, I suppose the householder has seen one too many horror movies and believes in being prepared.

>35 richardderus: Isn't that stepladder 10 feet too short?

>14 richardderus: Well, I've lived in Louisiana, and I'm a little surprised they didn't go for this idea. I mean, a few years later, they latched on to the nutria, one of the nastiest little mammals ever to paddle down a drainage ditch. That one was supposed to raise a lot of money for its farmers, being a fur-bearer, and all. They got loose (as critters will do) or got turned loose when they proved unprofitable, and became a very destructive force, ruining wetland acreage. There's a bounty on 'em now.

>39 PiyushC: Maybe someone used the chainsaw to shorten the ladder out of pure meanness?

>39 PiyushC: The taller ladder is on the other side.

>40 laytonwoman3rd: Gawd those nutrias! And Broussard, the congresscritter for the affected part of Louisiana, sponsored two separate bills on the subject until the main USDA expert in favor of it died and the opposition to TR's progressives in Congress started a laughing campaign to do the guy's district out of the $250K (a LOT of money in 1910).

>40 laytonwoman3rd: And here I thought the chainsaw was to reduce the height of the stacks, like you start reading the bottom most shelf and after you are done reading, you saw it away!

>41 richardderus: Thats a relief!

>35 richardderus:
With a chain saw?

>11 richardderus:. My blood sugar goes to dangerous levels just reading your thread, Richard. So glad you're feeling better!

>42 PiyushC: :-)

>43 AuntieClio: Book Porn...with a chainsaw!

>44 labwriter: Thanks, Becky, I'm so relieved it's hard to fathom.

Glad to hear you and your hand are feeling better. Hope the rest of the household start to feel better soon so you can get some sleep.

Great review. Thumbed!

So what was the nature of harvesting the meat that made it difficult? Are hippos that much larger than cows?

>46 Morphidae:
awwww cute!

A discreet peck for Karen it is.

Hi Richard! What an interesting new thread and an interesting review of American Hippopotamus. I'm glad you're feeling better and hope you continue to do so.

RD I was sure that I had left a message yesterday seeking a slice of one of those three coffee cakes you put up and am baffled it hasn't seemed to appear. Never mind I'll wish you a happy new thread again and make sure this one gets sent properly. Missing planes, missing posts WTF?

>46 Morphidae: It's the size of the beasts, the fact they've never been domesticated, and they're hideously aggressive in mating season plus more prone to violence than bulls.

Thanks for the thumb!

>47 AuntieClio: Isn't that an adorable little Corgi?

>48 johnsimpson: Ah. All's well then.

>49 phebj: Hi Pat! What a bizarre little moment in history that was. Thanks for the well-wishes.

>50 PaulCranswick: Plenty plenty cake around here, Paul, so no need to worry, someone will take pity on your sad little eyes regarding them oh so mournfully as they chow down on their fourth piece.

Review: 6 of seventy-five

Title: ALAN TURING: Unlocking the Engima

Author: DAVID BOYLE

Rating: 3.5* of five

The Publisher Says: Alan Mathison Turing.

Mathematician, philosopher, codebreaker, a founder of computer science, and the father of Artificial Intelligence, Turing was one of the most original thinkers of the last century - and the man whose work helped create the computer-driven world we now inhabit.

But he was also an enigmatic figure, deeply reticent yet also strikingly naïve. Turing’s openness about his homosexuality at a time when it was an imprisonable offense ultimately led to his untimely death at the age of only forty-one.

In Alan Turing: Unlocking the Enigma, David Boyle reveals the mysteries behind the man and his remarkable career. Aged just 22, Turing was elected a fellow at King's College, Cambridge on the strength of a dissertation in which he proved the central limit theorem. By the age of 33, he had been awarded the OBE by King George VI for his wartime services: Turing was instrumental in cracking the Nazi Enigma machines at the top secret code breaking establishment at Bletchley Park during the Second World War.

But his achievements were to be tragically overshadowed by the paranoia of the post-War years. Hounded for his supposedly subversive views and for his sexuality, Turing was prosecuted in 1952, and forced to accept the humiliation of hormone treatment to avoid a prison sentence. Just two years later, at the age of 41 he was dead. The verdict: cyanide poisoning.

Was Turing’s death accidental as his mother always claimed? Or did persistent persecution drive him to take him own life?

Alan Turing: Unlocking the Enigma seeks to find the man behind the science, illuminating the life of a person who is still a shadowy presence behind his brilliant achievements.

My Review: As a stated goal, "seeks to find the man behind the science, illuminating the life of a person who is still a shadowy presence behind his brilliant achievements" is one that goes largely unmet. Well, almost entirely unmet. In approximately 65pp, there's no room for that.

So why say it? Because the author wanted to write ABOUT Turing, not OF Turing. What he accomplished in 41 years is amazing. A normal biography is going to stress the parts of his life that biographers can reach, the achievements and the facts behind his spectacular fall.

Writing about Turing is exploring, with whatever factual fig-leafs one can find and apply, his life and his feelings, to the extent one can ever do this with another person. So we get very little of anything new. There are no unplumbed sources newly revealed. There are no as-yet-uninterviewed colleagues or old loves still living. So the book is a competent rehash of the man's life and work, a good fast overview of a fascinating human being, and all done in time for the announced posthumous pardon granted to Turing.

The cold fact is that no one wanted to grant a posthumous pardon to him for the "crime" of being queer. It would open up so many old cases of people convicted under the same revolting law, over 50,000 of them, and think of the bureaucratic horrors of that. What made the Tory government change its mind? A Liberal Democrat peer introduced legislation to force the gummint to issue pardons and void the conviction of all the men now dead who were convicted. It was going to pass, and ye gawds what a kettle of fish that would be.

One Royal Pardon comin' up. Strictly limited to one person, worded carefully, and ever so pusillanimously vilely bureacratically sound. Nauseating.

Lord Quirk, of whom I have never heard before this good moment, said it best:

I end by noting something surely perverse, if constitutionally sound enough, about this bill...It would grant Alan a pardon, when surely all of us would far prefer to receive a pardon from him.

Well said, sir.


This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

>52 richardderus: Wow, you're on a roll, Richard. Another excellent and educational review. I've heard of Turing and some of his career achievements but I didn't know anything about his personal life.

>53 phebj: Pat! Pat! RUN to Amazon and get this single!! It's exactly and precisely aimed at you! He's very much worth learning about, and the fast version offered here is ideal for the grazer. You'll know by the end of the piece whether you're interested enough for a full bio.

Good writin' Richard!

>55 sibylline: Thankee most kindly, m'dear ol' cuz! *smooch*

>50 PaulCranswick: I will gladly share my cake with you Paul. Perhaps Erni will serve me a cup of her famous coffee.

Richard I am glad to see you feeling well enough to post. xoxo to you and Stella

My poor Bruce is in pain and I had to give him anti inflammatory. Now he's back to running to the kitchen for a treat. It breaks my hear to see one of my Devilles suffering.

>57 luvamystery65: I know, right?! I can't bear it when Stella's icksome. Schmoozle Bruce's ears an extra time from me. *smooch*

>14 richardderus: huh. Hippos ay? And intertwined with politics sociology and the meat-packing industry. The tags for that book are gonna confuse some people :)

>59 LovingLit: Ain't that the gawd's honest. Which is probably one reason the incident isn't perzackly the mostest famoustest of 'em all.

Great review of Alan Turing: Unlocking the Enigma, Richard. And thanks for that explanation of the controversy behind his pardon; I wasn't aware of that (although I did know that he was pardoned last year).

>61 kidzdoc: Whenever something is done that's right and proper, you can bet huge sums of money that it's done to avoid embarrassment and/or expense. You will never lose that bet.

>29 richardderus: You are an evil, evil man.

>35 richardderus: Much better. I lingered there and drooled copiously at all those lovely books! And those tall, tall bookshelves. Except...is that a chainsaw?

Many years ago the wonderful Derek Jacobi starred in a play on Broadway about Alan Turing.

The last line was "It's not always about Breaking the Code - but what comes after".

Was he talking about breaking the German Enigma code (which he played a role in) or breaking the code of silence for homosexuals in England at that time.

The movie is around - worth a look.

>63 Storeetllr: Moi? *batbatbat*

Chainsaw. Yep. What, you don't keep your chainsaw at the ready in case of zombie attack?

>64 magicians_nephew: ...was...?

ETA Aha! I was too quick. I think I'll look it up. Not a *cheery* subject, but a solidly dramatic one.

Well, sure I do, but it's under my pillow, not on the bookshelf. I mean, really.

>66 Storeetllr: Mmm yes I see, much much less chance of damage to one's preciouses under the pillow. Sound thinking, m'girl!

Oh my, new thread + two thumbable and scintillating reviews + drool-worthy book porn = good time for all Richard:-)

>68 brenzi: Why thankee Miss Bonnie the Satanic Book Warbler! I'm pleased to have given you some food for thought.

>67 richardderus: Precisely! Priorities, you know.

*smooch*

Congrats on thread #12, Richard and OMG - give me the library in your thread topper and I will love you for life! If that is a no-go, I will settle for a slice of the pumpkin bundt cake with the butterscotch glaze - sans nuts.

>52 richardderus: Oh, spying and code breaking is my kind of war-time reading material. I am not a 'shot it up' or 'in the trenches' kind of reader - I like the behind the scenes stuff like code cracking. Very intrigued by your review of the Alan Turing book and his involvement in the code cracking business.

>52 richardderus: Another educational review, Richard! Have a good Tuesday. xx

Morning RD- Just popping in to wish you a happy day!

Grumble. You hooked me for another $2.99 on Amazon - American Hippopotamus.

And that bookcase in #35 is too tall - can't get to the top ones easily enough. I hope the chainsaw isn't something someone put there to use on the bookshelves..... *shudder*

Have a good, pain-free, sickness-free, book-filled day.

*smooches* from Horrible.

Turing is indeed a fascinating, brilliant and tragic figure. I highly recommend the the Derek Jacobi film, though I think it's a tv film, perhaps from Masterpiece. Saw it years ago and was surprisingly moved to tears at the end.
Ah, a brief look-up tells me it's a Brit tv adaptation of the play made in 95. I hope you can find it!

Best wishes for a good mostly pain-free day.

fly by xo... crazy morning here..

waiting for the fridge repair guy, should be here in a few..

Are you well? Happy-ish?

Cold? ( I'm cold)

>71 ronincats:: waiting for the fantods about that table. That is rather spectacular.

>70 Storeetllr: :-)

>71 ronincats: OOooooOOoooOOoOOOOOoooo! That is one handsome cephalopod!

>72 lkernagh: Punkin, if that liberry were within my gift, I'd be in it 24/7/365. You would be more than welcome to visit and have coffee and bundt cake.

I like the spy genre as well, siince it almost always exercises my brain to find patterns and get sneaky. (One thing I am not is sneaky.)

>73 wilkiec: Diana the Red! So good to see you! *smooch*

>74 msf59: Thanks, Mark, and many good listening hours today.

>75 karenmarie: *preens*

"Pain-free" is no longer even something I dream about. I'm totally over the nasties, however, so YAY, and I've been reading up a storm.

The taller ladder is on the other side, and the chainsaw is, like I'm sure your own is, ready at hand to defend against the zombie hordes. Like, duh.

>76 Matke: Good morning, Danvers me lurve, I'll seek out this play/film soon. I'm thinking I'd like to do some more reading about Turing in the near future.

*smooch*

>77 mckait: Cold? No...it's already almost 50° here. Fridge repair again? Is this still the icemaker issue?

*smooch* for sweetiekins Kath

>78 tiffin: Heh. You know me well, Tui, fantods above.

They ARE evil:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/bad-cattitude-family-call-polic...

>82 katiekrug: "This enraged the already furious moggy further forcing the family and their dog to hide in the bedroom with the door shut before calling 911."

A 22lb cat?!? Yikes!

Good morning, Richard, my dear. That is a wonderful review of Alan Turing: Unlocking the Enigma with an absolutely spot-on perfect quote from Lord Quirk (of whom I hadn't heard until this very moment!).

I'm off to appoint an up-thumb.....

Have a wonderful Tuesday!

>84 EBT1002: Thanks, Ellen! I appreciate the thumbs-up. I hope it doesn't suck, which is about the limit of my ambitions these days.

>71 ronincats: ew

>82 katiekrug: Which simply proves that some people are idiots.. I mean, really?

PffffT

New Blog Review! BRIDGE OF SNOW by Marie Rutkoski is a four stars-of-five fantasy story, free at Tor.com. Wait...what? I reviewed a fantasy story?!

Yes. The moment in time that this story reveals is a simple and profound one: What is my place in the Universe? Where do I belong, who do I belong to?

What could be more profound?

My review is here and has a link to the story itself.

>86 mckait: Hi there, Your Crabbiness. Sending happy-unicorns-farting-rainbows wishes!

>87 richardderus: - I hesitate to say it, but your review was sweet :) And I loved the story, so thanks for that.

>89 katiekrug: Ew. Sweet?! I'll go tart it up with GIFs of slaughter, mayhem, and blood-letting then.

Apparently it's a prequel, of sorts, to a novel. One hesitates to venture that deep into the sloughs of phauntaisee.

I've missed too much to even pretend I've been around this month. Hello, Padre! I hope all is well! Lovely images, as usual.

Richard, I am off to slay dragons today.

Hello Richard, it feels like forever since I've been over here. Hope you are having a good Tuesday.

>14 richardderus:
>52 richardderus:

I have avoided the Kindle Single up to this point, when you sir, hit me with two book bullets! So thanks for that. Who can resist a story a story about introducing hippos to the southern US? And I am woefully under informed about Alan Turning.

Then I moseyed off to read your review of Bridge of Snow and have already downloaded that to Pocket on my iPad. I tried to leave a comment on your blog but it didn't show up....not sure why? Sometimes I feel like a techno-idiot. Anywho...excellent reviews as always!

>14 richardderus: Back in the 1840's Secretary of War Jefferson Davis had the goofy idea of introducing camels into the American Southwest.

It didn't work - the smell of a camel spooks a horse something fierce - but it always tickled me that ol' Jeff Davis had the time to fund and outfit a United States Camel Corp, among his other duties.

Feral camels (and how often do you get to use a phrase like that?) continued to be sighted in the Southwest through the early 1900s, with the last reported sighting in 1941 near Douglas, Texas.

>91 London_StJ: Crypto! *smoochiesmoochsmooch* I'm always happy to see you. Hope you're well, and weren't there some conferences involved in this busy-ness?

>92 AuntieClio: happyhappy joyjoy *whammy*

>93 Thebookdiva: Hi Abby, glad to see you wandering around and about. I hope all is well.

>94 Cobscook: *self-satisfied smirk*

No, no comment on the blog, and believe me when I tell you I empathize with your sense of despair. Sometimes the simplest things go awry, and we're completely in the dark as to why. *sigh* Does it need to be this complicated? Are we sure that I'm the problem here?

>95 magicians_nephew: Heh, that fact is mentioned in the piece, Jim, and much amusement is derived from same.

>88 richardderus: I'm sleepy. Maybe crabby too. But really sleepy. I just fell asleep again. Craziness.

But seriously, how can anyone be afraid of their own cat? I have seen many a fractious cat, but fear? Silliness in the extreme. I need to go and make a salad.

The Book Gawd smiled upon me today!

Snorri and the Strangers arrived...I'd forgotten I ordered it...then remembered it was part of the research for a book.

Your Inner Fish came, too...a book-bullet from a Goodreads friend.

Blacklist
Weapon of Vengeance are two ARCs from Tor Books, whee!

Rdear, it looks like you feel much better. *waves* from good old Europe.

>97 mckait: This much sleepiness isn't a great thing. If it persists, go to the doctor. It needs worrying about if it becomes a pattern for more than a week.

>99 Ameise1: *smooch* Hi Barbara! Glad to see you! I'm happy that it's 16C right now!!

Wow, I guess that's called spring. *smooch*

It is called spring indeed, but today's it. Tomorrow we're back down to 8C.

yeah, well, we're back to 9F tomorrow.

WAH

EEEEEWWWWWWWWW!!!!

That's just insupportable. Have a word in private with the Weather Goddess, and remind her she's not to big to go over Nanny's knee.

Honestly.... it is warm out there now. I have the door open for air. Tomorrow, 9. I wish I could just sleep through it. :-/

>80 richardderus:

Great reason for a chainsaw! Zombies! I totally agree.

Hi Richardmydear! Good to hear that the nasties are gone and reading in on! Keep that up. {{Hugs}}

I lied, the nine will be tomorrow overnight.. and snow 2-4 inches.. hooray! .

Review: 7 of seventy-five

Title: SNORRI AND THE STRANGERS

Author: NATHANIEL BENCHLEY
DON BOLOGNESE (Illustrator)

Rating: 3* of five

The Publisher Says: Snorri was born in North American--more than a thousand years ago. His parents had come there from Greenland with other settlers. Snorri learned to fish, and to hunt. He also asked his parents questions: Where did you come from? Where is Greenland? He wondered what Greenland was like.

One day, while Snorri was looking at the sea, strange men came paddling up. They traded with the Norsemen, and everyone was happy. Then something happened to frighten the strangers. They went away, and they came back ready to fight.

But Snorri did not mind. Because of this, he would have an answer to hie questions about Greenland.

My Review: Very, very 1976, this book. Settlement by Vikings, okay; Native peoples, mean and threatening; instead of the older narrative of white people beating the savages, it's more or less a draw and the white folks run away back to Greenland.

People over a certain age will remember how the news of Norse settlements at L'Anse aux Meadows was very much in the news during the 1960s. Anyone just slightly younger will remember the American Bicentennial of independence from Britain was in 1976. So what could be more natural than to put this story out at that moment in history? And, since it's demonstrably true that there are no Norsemen among the Native Americans, we know only that the L'Anse aux Meadows colonists failed to gain more than a toe-hold here. Benchley imagines, in very 1970s style, that the mean ol' natives scared the wimpy non-English settlers into running away.

Ahhh, the Malaise Years. Even the colors of the so, so 1970s illustrations are Malaise Burnt Orange and black. Grim.



But the reason I got this little marvy was to research a plot point in a book I'm contemplating. Turns out it's perfect for my mooted plot point! Anyway, more on that in 15 or 20 years. But in the meantime, there's nothing that makes me think you need to get this book and read it now, or frankly ever. It's a kids' book that I'd probably never give to my kid due to simple-mindedness and cobweb-thin characters doing nothing worth discussing. I think kids deserve better than that.

There's a reason this is an obscure book I stumbled across while looking into Robert Benchley's son and Peter Benchley's father.


This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Commandments that make sense.

>109 richardderus: stealing

>108 richardderus: When do I get my first peek?

Richard, I thought I had left a comment yesterday to save my spot in your shiny new thread but I don't see it. So perhaps that was naught but a dream. Or is this the dream, and that the reality? Who the hell cares, am I right> Anyway, nice new thread, and some lovely reviews of the most unexpected subjects (honestly, who else could review stories about hippos in Louisiana and Alan Turing and do them both justice? Only you, my friend!).

>110 mckait: Welcome to it, sweetness! Heck, I haven't even named the MC yet. Eustace Portmanteau Throcklepidgeon, permaybehaps I'm thinkin'.

>111 rosalita: Well, you're here now, and that's what I care about, Julia. Thanks for the kind words! *smooch*

>109 richardderus: Now those are 10 commandments I wouldn't mind seeing posted publicly.

Hi Richard. Your reviews are interesting, as always!

If you can get your mitts on An Officer and a Spy, do so! It is a joy!

>113 Copperskye: I would be thrilled if they were prominently placed in all gummint facilities. Thanks for the nice words, Joanne!

>114 msf59: Already done, based on Suz's Satanic Book Warbling.

******************FANTODS***********************

Amazon Prime members will have two, count 'em TWO, excellent new series to watch soon! Variety is all verklemmt over the Chris Carter (X Files, Millennium) order, but frankly I thought it stunk up the place.

***I*** am all excited over Bosch, based on Michael Connelly's long-running series character Harry Bosch. I liked the pilot, and I think Titus Welliver does a fine job as Bosch.

Also cool beans is Mozart in the Jungle, adapted from the book of the same name. It's a half-hour dramedy and it bids fair to be a yummy guilty-pleasure show.

The other show I wasn't interested in, called Transparency which is a multi-level pun on transsexual, parenting, and inappropriate sharing in a family whose patriarch is on the way to becoming the matriarch. ~meh~

>87 richardderus: "Some days, my friends, are made for storybooks and fairy tales and the quiet words of mothers to their children. This day was one of them."

Love that RD and wanted to see it on your thread rather than having to mosey away to read it again.

>52 richardderus: Excellent review, dear fellow, of a tragic and insufficiently appreciated figure. Turing's contributions to science were overlooked in the place of persecution by a reactionary government as irritated by his left-leaning views as they were by his homosexuality. Not so sure that his posthumous pardon was exactly mealy-mouthed and I do note that Prime Minister Brown had delivered a public apology to Turing prior to the pardon. It had garnered 37,000 signatures on a petition of Downing Street to move it forward and, even a case of too little too late, is slightly better than nothing.
Nice quote from Lord Quirke who is an interesting chap in his own right. His Survey of English Usage was quite groundbreaking in its day.

>57 luvamystery65: Roberta, you are a dear. Erni would of course be mobilised to both our benefits to porduce her gift of arabica.

>109 richardderus: I should put that up in the office somewhere.

>82 katiekrug: >83 richardderus: and just today I was at my mums place and saw someone had cut out a newspaper article (if you could call it that) for her about a 10kg cat who attacked its owners....in Porstmouth/Plymouth/Portland. Somewhere with a P anyway :)
It has to be the same thing. (the link not working)

>108 richardderus: Turns out it's perfect for my mooted plot point! Anyway, more on that in 15 or 20 years
lol, I will look forward to it!

Okay, Satanic Long Island Book Warbler, I read the story and ordered her first trilogy from the library immediately--they are children's books but I love children's books and this is a completely new author to me.

>115 richardderus: So Bosch got picked up? That is wonderful news that will get me to watch TV again, assuming it stays true to the books (as much as possible) and true to the pilot.

>108 richardderus: Okay, will *not* be getting that one for Charlie, then.

>109 richardderus: Love.

Oh rdear... Woden's day and work awaits. Thanks to our tymfos, I have an idea for a new and imporved way to keep track of our income... I'll let you know how it goes.

> 112 Eustace Portmanteau Throcklepidgeon ? hmmmm I think I rather like it!

eta...

hugs

>116 PaulCranswick: Ah, but you'd never even sniff my blog if I put everything here, Paul. Method in the madness. Besides, I'm not counting it towards my 75 goal.

>117 LovingLit: Hiya Maudie! *smooch* No cat should be that big. It's Wrong on a Cosmic Scale.

>118 ronincats: *preens*

>119 Storeetllr: It will only be an Amazon Prime thing, Mary, not for regular old TV. Like Orange is the New Black or House of Cards.

>120 scaifea: Good decision indeed, Amber. I wouldn't give it to a modern kid.

Yeah, it's a good one indeed.

>121 mckait: *smooch* Glad you like the name! On better-rested reflection, I suspect it's OTT just a weentsy widgin.

Work, bah!

Abby is a svelte 11.5 pounds. Just sayin'.

*smooch*

>109 richardderus: I fully agree on that.
Good morning Rdear, I hope everything is fine in the New World. Some coffee?

>124 EBT1002: Is she, now. Ah hah.

*smooch*

>125 Ameise1: Hi Barbara, hope your Mittelwoch was a good and relaxing one. We're sleepy, my pooch and me, because both of us have taken an allergy pill to help our itching eyes.

In fact we're just waking up!

Just checking in ... no blood was drawn yesterday nor angry words exchanged. I'm off to meet them for lunch and then go do clean up while they do doctoring visitations.

Hahahaha Rdear, my Mittwoch afternoon started by visiting my ophthalmologist as an emergency case with the diagnosis pinkeye (both eyes) - no pills but antibiotic drops.
So I do hope that you and your pooch feel good and have woken up now.

>127 AuntieClio: *whew* So happy to hear that it went well!

>128 Ameise1: Oh UGH pinkeye! Horrible! Certainly not lethal, but very very uncomfortable. May it pass quickly.

I read Nebula-nominated novella WAKULLA SPRINGS and gave the Tor.com original a good going-over.

Lots to think about, said in lush prose, and plotted beautifully. Since I'm not counting it towards my goals, it lives on my blog.

>129 richardderus: thanks Rdear. *smooch*

>108 richardderus: Your Viking invaders books looks like something I would have read in elementary school...perhaps after borrowing it from the bookmobile! The bookmobile only came to our school once per month. I can remember waiting impatiently for my classroom's turn to head outside and clamber aboard the bus. Once aboard I would happily look over the shelves and pick out a couple of books to borrow until the bookmobile came back the next month. Bliss.

>132 Cobscook: It was a 1976 book, so you might very well have done. Once a MONTH?!? Ye gawds. We went to one of the branch liberries in Austin every Friday, and there were full, nay bulging, stacks at each school's liberry too!

It never occurred to me to question it...mama was always surrounded by books, so I was too, and while I didn't get every book I ever asked for (still don't), I wasn't ever more than a foot or two away from one I could read.

Our small town library was only open 3 days a week. I would ride my heavy bulky bicycle the half mile into town and fill up the basket with books to replace the ones I brought back--I'd read every book in the children's books (no YA in those days) by 5th grade. I did a lot of rereading.

Ah, childhood memories! We had one home which was two, maybe three, blocks from a beautiful Carnegie Library. In the basement, on Saturday morning, the librarian would assemble a group of children and read stories to them. Up stairs were lovely big reading rooms, with oak tables and chairs, and quiet. Oh, the quiet. I loved it so as there was little quiet in my house. I began to check out Second Grade readers to then hide under a huge pine tree and read. The spot under the pine tree was so safe, and also quiet. Unfortunately, we did not live in that house for more than a couple years.

>134 ronincats: Cool earcuff! I did lots of re-reading, too, but out of choice and preference.

>135 maggie1944: It's kind of sad that so many readers didn't grow up in bookish households. For a lovely memory, that one is also poignant in its crystal clarity...in part due to its short duration, I suppose.

>130 richardderus: - Ah, Richard, that is some write-up of Wakulla Springs which I look forward to reading now that it's neatly downloaded onto my Kindle. I love your personal reflections; when I read them, I think "Yes! That's it. The thing I can never articulate." But you always manage to articulate it so wonderfully. So thank you for that.

Pardon the gushing - I'll blame the cheap sauvignon blanc I'm drinking (but the admiration is sincere)...

>137 katiekrug: Katie! Goodness chile, how many cases of that sauvignon blanc did you drink?! Your praise is very flattering, though I am inclined to think the wine had a LOT to do with how much of it you offered me!

*smooch* for being so very sweet

Going waaay back up to post #82: LOL but seriously, I used to own a 24 pound cat and all it ever did was scare the meter reader (by sitting at the top of the stairs looking down at the guy) and playfully stalking the neighbor's collie .... He was sweet as pie.

Other than that quick editorial interlude, I hope you have been having a lovely week, RD!

Even though I've been absent a bit, now that I'm a true blue member of your blog, I get emails every time you post one! So I already knew there were some phenomenal reviews awaiting me! Thumbs for them & had to wish list the Hippo book. Not even a huge fan of history, but you've grabbed me there! I've got to go find your review last week from Carson McCullers. It moved me!!!!

Morning, Richard!

(I think you're wonderful, and I don't even drink! Ha!)

You know.. I have read about children's rooms and children's books here on LT. I don't remember a library in my primary school... and it was about a block away from where I live now. The town library was upstairs in one of the buildings in the main street ( of this town, because this is where I lived during primary school..just up the hill) Anyway... When I was 10 or 11 is when I discovered the library in Ambridge ( a castle!) where I then lived, and the catholic school they stuck me in there in Ambridge did have a library. I read all the books in the school library, which were kids books. The town library never stopped me from taking out any books I wanted, and I never took books out of the kids area. I did read a lot of history and historical romance.. and sci-fi. Lots of science fiction.

My Nebula Novella Nominees reading continues. Burning Girls by Veronica Schanoes was a 4.8-star experience for me, and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it.

There is some wonderful writing going on in the SF/F genre these days, and I couldn't be more excited by discovering some high-quality new-to-me storytellers.

Starting with this publication, permaybehaps she will be the author of a whole collection. Until now, she's been in anthologies like Queen Victoria's Spells and the 2008 edition of the year's best fantasy and horror.

>139 lkernagh: Heh. Thanks, Lori, and a round of smooches for the Canadian contingent.

>140 TinaV95: It's like it's not history at all, isn't it, Tina? This weird little side-light into the boondoggles and pork-barrel politics of long ago gives one a fresh appreciation for why history is *really* His Story.

>141 scaifea: Hi Amber! Gosh...imagine if you DID take a slug...

>142 mckait: Good morning, sweetness! Glad you're up and about without being frozen into immobility. Libraries are so central to a bookish person's life, I've seen nothing but happy memories so far.

>134 ronincats: Want. Badly.

Some great reviews again, Richard. I finally just subscribed to your blog; it's easier. I leave occasional anonymous or Breezy comments.

Oh, I added the 2 Nebulae to the kindle.

Celebrate Thor on this, his day.

xo

>145 Matke: *smooch* for saying so!

Good morning, Richard! Wonderful review of Wakulla Springs over on your blog. I do agree with Katie about your personal musings being charming, by the way (and it's not yet 8am so I haven't had a single drop of Sauvignon Blanc!). I know, "charming" is not a word you're generally used to, but you'll just have to suck it up and tolerate it.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I'm reading and enjoying Charming Billy -- probably not your sort of thing. But ha! Now I know how that word eked its way into my Thursday lexicon.

I think I'd better go to work. Have a great Thursday, Richard dear.

>147 EBT1002: Hiya Ellen! Thanks for the kind words about Wakulla Springs. I'm charming? Uh oh. I'd best refine my technique. :-)

Reading another novella...

>134 ronincats: Yes!

>130 richardderus: and >143 richardderus: I've got both books on my Kindle for reading after I finish my current crop of mysteries so haven't read your reviews yet, but I do have you to thank for pointing out their availability last week!

Can't love Thor after reading Atticus. Wait, whose thread is this? Where am I?

Wow, Richard. Loved your review of The Child Thief.

"Peter himself, the Happy Sociopath"

"No one may borrow my copy"--haha.

"I wasn't much of a child. I thought about stuff kids just don't"--me too. There may have been more of us than we knew.

"Disney shit made me gaseous, as I said to my mother"--and as I fell off my chair laughing.

"told in truthsome, sparklingly grim prose"

I need to find this book, right now.

>149 Storeetllr: Good! Free is good. I hope you'll enjoy them, Mary.

>150 ronincats: The Thread of Magniloquence, madam, J. Archibald Somnambulist (Prop.)

*smooch*

>151 labwriter: Thank you, Becky! I was, in case you were in some doubt, very impressed with the book. I hope you will be, too.

So I finished a third Nebula-nominated novella...had to spend an hour or more researching stuff. Not a bad piece, just not what I was expecting.

And the review is where?

Blog, tomorrow. Still refining and just finished researching.

*tap* *tap* of fingers.

I suppose I can wait until then. Just barely...

:)

OK, did I imagine a fantastic review of Heart is a Lonely Hunter? I couldn't find it anywhere on the book page!

>157 TinaV95: You didn't imagine it...it's on his blog.

>156 drneutron: Heh. Well, join the members of the blog and get them emailed the day they appear!

>157 TinaV95:, >158 laytonwoman3rd: I have no idea what happened! I though the review was there, safe in the arms of Jeeeeezus, and no it was not! So now it is. Thank you both for letting me know about that!

Good morning to you! Hope your day is a pleasant and comfy one. Oh, and a read-y one, of course.
xo

>160 mckait: Good morning, sweetness, thanks for the well-wishes! *smooch*

Today's review of a Nebula-nominated novella is Lawrence M. Schoen's gap-filling Trial of the Century, which is at my blog. There's a link in the review for a free download.

Well, really, Richard. I'm thankful that a lot of the recent books are free.

A morning smooch and earscratch for you and Stella.

>162 Matke: Heh. I wouldn't suspect you'd be a major purchaser of SF novellas! Stella avoided the smooch and liked the earscratch. Me, the opposite. *smooch*

Book porn!

But where is the library with the couch/bed? I need a nap already.

>165 AuntieClio: Here you go, dear.

^ nom nom, and I am glad they put the rug in, it'd be nuthin' without the rug. (well, not strictly nothing, but definitely not as much)

Just cruising by, about to pop to the shops with Lenny to stock up on eggs. Making a cake this morning to take to a friends place. Dum de dum....

Have a good weekend, RMD!!

>167 LovingLit: Cake! So, what time're y'all comin'? Clearly *I* am the friend....

Happy weekend!

Hi R-Dear! Have a great weekend. *smooch*

Hark! An Abby sighting! And a darn good thing, since her mother's forgotten all about me and ignores me and leaves me in the cold and dark.

I know, it has been forever since I've been out and about. So sorry, I shouldn't have neglected you so. Forgive me?

My mom will be out and about soon, I promise. You are not forgotten.

>171 Thebookdiva: ...o....okaaaaaaaayyyyyy...

The Nebulas were always sort of more in-your-face than the stuffy old Hugo awards (for science fiction).

But I read both. Probably the only genra where I still read novellas and short stories

>173 magicians_nephew: I'm a shorter-fiction aficionado, but the SF field is the busiest of all possible marketplaces for the stuff in today's world.

I went looking for the history of the Nebulas, and found this interesting nugget:

Brian Aldiss, in his book Trillion Year Spree: The History of Science Fiction, claimed that the Nebula Award provided "more literary judgment" while the Hugo was a barometer of reader popularity, rather than artistic merit, though he did note that the winners of the two awards often overlapped.

Me, I dunno, I just like the Nebula winners more often than the Hugo winners.

Oscars vs. People's Choice? Hmmmm

>175 mahsdad: Guess so...I'm almost always happy with Nebula winners...Oscars not quite so much.

Maybe Golden Globes versus Oscars!

I agree. After I posted People's Choice, I thought about the Golden Globes. But for humor's sake. People's Choice sounded better.

*peeks her head in*
Everything okay?

Richard, popping by to tell you I am reading Shadow Of The Wind and the author used the term "stuff and nonsense". I immediately thought of you. HAH! If you haven't used that term ( which I swear you have at some point) it seems. . very Richard-like. Made me smile. Had to come by to say hello and *hugs*. Hope you have a great start to the weekend!

Rdear, I wish you a lovely weekend

I'm enjoying the Hugo vs. Nebula talk. I'm starting to work my way through both lists (plus a couple of others mixed in - Stoker, WFA,...) chronologically, but I'm not far enough to have read anything other than Hugo winners, as they started earlier than the rest. I'll be interested to look for differences in the choices, although it's true that there are several years in which the same book won both prizes. I'm about halfway through a Hugo winner now, and it's my favorite of the bunch so far - Way Station...

Morning RD! I hope you have a perfect R & R day planned. Still waiting on Springtime here. March has sure been stubborn.

Hey hon,

Since I am making coffee all around, to you I have to complete it with something yummy :P




Here is sunny, so I hope there too and you are pain free.

So, Saturday. Good weekend whammies ..

>177 mahsdad: Ah yes...the Humor Symmetry Maxim in action, I see. :-)

>178 AuntieClio: Peachy keen, sweetiedarling! *smooch*

>179 leperdbunny: Hi Tamara! I'm positive I've used "stuff and nonsense" often enough. It's such a wonderful old-fashioned expostulation.

>180 Ameise1: Hi Barbara, happy weekend!

>181 scaifea: Wow, you're almost to convergence then. It was 1966 when the first Nebulas came about so you're practically there!

I haven't read Way Station since the 1970s. All I remember about it is that I really liked the name "Enoch" for a few months after reading it.

>182 msf59: Hiya Mark, it's a beautiful and warmish day here...might get to 55° or so. I'd say that's spring...how long it will stay, well, that's yet to be determined.

>183 tigerlyly: Hi Lyly, pain-free is beyond the scope of my wishings so I'll just happily take "not writhing on the floor summoning the Angel of Death for an express trip."

>184 mckait: So sweet, thank you dearest.

Hi Richard,
I just read your review of The Warden over on your blog. I've not read it and the review suggests that I might enjoy it. Nice.

Meanwhile, I'm not much of a SF reader but the novella idea is tempting.

Happy Saturday to you and the Stella!

>187 EBT1002: Happy Saturday, Ellen! The novellas are a free and painless way to check in on SFdom. They're up for a major and well-respected award in that world, so it's safe to assume they represent high-quality work in the realm.

I think The Warden is a very worthy book, but if you're new to Barsetshire, start with Barchester Towers...a bit less, errrmmm, chewy shall we say.

Working the weekend. Boo!

xoxo to you and Stella

ETA: I do get to grocery shop weekday mornings so I shouldn't complain. That alone is worth it!

>186 richardderus: Yep, I've just got Leiber's The Wanderer next and then I'll be up to the Nebulas starting, the first of which (Dune) also one the Hugo.

Hi Richardmydear! Finally some time to catch up with threads! I did not read every post in yours, but I got the idea that everything is going reasonably well.

Hugs for you! gentle ones!

Happy Saturday, RD!

If Kennedy Lived by Jeff Greenfield is fascinating. I love the throw-away bits - hypotheticals not directly related to JFK but ripple-effect Wows!

Hi, Richard. I'm trying to catch up, and with new reading glasses (yay) I am able to spend a bit more time than I've been spending on the computer, and in books. Let's all cheer for Spring. It is about time she shows up, and hangs around for a while.

>189 luvamystery65: BOO!! But Stella sends slurps, and I my smoochings.

>190 scaifea: The overlap will save you a great deal of time in reading. Thank goodness they're almost all good books!

>191 connie53: Hiya Connie! Happy weekend.

>192 karenmarie: I know, right?! It's such a richly imagined world. Greenfield also wrote a counterfactual...less novelistic, more analytic...called 43* about the Gore presidency that we SHOULD have had. I have it on Kindle.

>193 maggie1944: Yay for reading glasses, Karen44! So happy this long unpleasantness is over.

Today I received The Foolish Gentlewoman in the mail! Yippee!!

Thanks, Richardmydear. I hope the same for you!

>146 richardderus:

The Norse god Thor came down to earth in his human form to find a cute human girl for some entertainment. While hanging out at a bar, he realized that the only girl who was interested in him, although attractive, had a speech impediment. However, after a few drinks, Thor decided to take her to a motel anyway, where he proceeded to give her the night of her life before slipping out the door when she fell asleep.

The next day, Thor felt bad for leaving her without even telling her who he was, so he went back to earth and knocked on her door.

"Who ith it?" she asked with a lisp.

"It's me, the guy from last night. I just wanted to tell you that I'm Thor."

"You think YOU'RE Thor?! I won't be able to thit down for a week!"

>194 richardderus: I look forward to reading what you think about The Foolish Gentlewoman. I just added it to Mount TBR.

Thankfully, I don't get slurpy kisses. Maia gives soft little damp kisses.

>163 richardderus: Oh, I'm apt to read most anything, Dearie. As a tween and young teen I had a keen interest in SF, mostly to prove I could read whatever the brothers read, but also to see what they liked and why. It was quite broadening in an intellectual sense. Sailed all the way through Vonnegut in my late 20's. I left it alone for years as other interests surged up from the depths, but now feel in the mood for a little exploration.

On a more current note it appears that Mr. McCarthy and I will never be twin souls. I see occasional flashes of good writing, but they're short-lived and we are soon back seeing exactly how...how distasteful he can be. He has many fans and surely won't miss me--nor I him.

Beautiful. True.

Hi Richardmydear! Just wishing you a lovely sunday

>198 richardderus: is beautiful....

Bright side, weekend is half over... sending good mojo your way...
Hoping for a bit of brightness in your day.

>198 richardderus: Ah dear fellow starting off the day with a Prince of Poultry I see. Eminintly quotable was Mr. Donne.

More than kisses, letters mingle souls.

Could be made for the group methinks?

Have a lovely Sunday.

Just a de-lurk to leave smoochies and reassure that I am still alive. XX

>195 connie53:, >199 connie53: Bright and cheery as ever, Connie! Sending a big hug and a smooch transAtlantic special delivery

>196 Morphidae: HA! Cute joke, Morphy. *smooch*

Stella's slurps are just my ticket, thank goodness. She's not a slobbery kind of a pooch, so her slurps are more...controlled.

>197 Matke: A re-Vonnegutting! Yes, that's a treat for one's older years. I confess I'm a little hesitant to re-read Player Piano. I strongly suspect I won't like it anywhere near as much at 54 as I did at 24.

I am slogging through No Country for Old Men for this author challenge. I haven't changed my mind about him. The occasional lovely line doesn't make up for the Bataan Death March in between them.

>200 mckait: Isn't that a beautiful quote, sweetness? It made me smile all over when I found that. Happy Sunday! The crew is off doing some painting work while the basement dries out.

>201 PaulCranswick: As long as I don't have to read an entire long, boring pome by him, I'm good with Donne. I like that line you quoted, for example, but if I'd had to troll an entire poem to get there I'd be somnolent and out of sorts.

>202 BekkaJo: Bekka dear! *smooch* so glad you're not dead in a ditch somewhere in Latvia, having been kidnapped by Putin's people as leverage against the international drug cartel you front for.

You see how baroque my imaginings can get. Glad you came to reassure me.

Richard, I gave all my Vonneguts to one of my lads for that very reason. It was like walking on air at the time but I somehow suspect it wouldn't be that way now.

>205 tiffin: I re-cracked Galápagos and am not disappointed. I'm not all the way through it, though, so there's still time as my vague 20-year-old memories are telling me the ending wasn't All That. But it makes me a little sad to think someone whose writing made a lot of dark nights of the soul a good deal brighter might be a closed book to me now.

>203 richardderus: Ha! I hated the movie No Country for Old Men so there was no way I was going to read THAT book. I'm reading All the Pretty Horses and it's not that bad. Most of the violence is "off-screen."

>207 Morphidae: I'm not an Aunt Tillie type of reader, who clutches his pearls at the mean, mean ways of mankind; I object to the pointless, there-for-decoration kind of violence that McCarthy dwells on. It's urpsome.

I think All the Pretty Horses was his first book or one of them anyway. So he hadn't gotten into the pointless violence yet.

#204 Snarf!

Actually it's in the cupcake icing... they'll never catch me!

>209 Morphidae: I think McCarthy had written several books before All the Pretty Horses. That's the one that got people talking about him, but The Orchard Keeper, Suttree and Blood Meridian all came before Horses.

>209 Morphidae:, >211 laytonwoman3rd: Yeup.

>210 BekkaJo: Cupcake icing! Brilliant! Though permaybehaps revealing this on the Internet wasn't a genius move....

Smooch. : )

>213 Berly: BERLY-BOO!! Haven't seen you in an age, hope that just means busy not mizzierabble. *smooch*

Both. : ) : (

Happy Sunday, Richard.

>215 Berly: Yayickhmmmmmmmmmmmm

What's the issue causing distress?

>216 labwriter: Thank you most kindly, Becky!

>198 richardderus: Oh, love it. Donne is my absolute favorite non-classical poet. He's just wonderful.

Seriously good book nook porn!

>218 scaifea: Well, it's not as bad as some, heaven knows. Pope *shudder* springs to mind. Milton *gag* or *shrieking heaving convulsion* SPENSER

>198 richardderus: Beautiful it is. I do love some Donne, although a highlights album would be very nice.

>203 richardderus: McCarthy's Bataan Death March! Wish I had thought of that one. Reading him is similar to Chinese water torture. At least for me it's one and done.

>220 richardderus: Really? I quite liked "When I consider how my light is spent" by Milton, along with 50 or so lines from "Paradise", and the single line "Eyeless in Gaza at the mill with the slaves" from "Sampson." Pope is unknown by me and Spenser a troublesome nightmare from the past.

Let this be a good week for you, Deario.

Hi Richard. So, I looked and Barchester Towers appears to be the second in the series. You know that I (like so many others around here) compulsively prefer to read a series in order. So it's not that I'm questioning your recommendation but just asking for confirmation that the second one is a good place to start for a Trollope newby.

I hope you and Stella are having a good Sunday.

>221 Matke: A piece of Pope:
Know then thyself, presume not God to scan,
The proper study of mankind is Man.
Placed on this isthmus of a middle state,
A being darkly wise and rudely great:
With too much knowledge for the Sceptic side,
With too much weakness for the Stoic's pride,
He hangs between, in doubt to act or rest;
In doubt to deem himself a God or Beast;
In doubt his mind or body to prefer;
Born but to die, and reas'ning but to err;
Alike in ignorance, his reason such,
Whether he thinks too little or too much;
Chaos of thought and passion, all confused;
Still by himself abused or disabused;
Created half to rise, and half to fall;
Great lord of all things, yet a prey to all;
Sole judge of truth, in endless error hurl'd;
The glory, jest, and riddle of the world!

― Alexander Pope, An Essay on Man

Blech.

>222 EBT1002: Yes. Read the second Barcastrian book first, especially since your literary digestive tract is still recovering from Ferrante's assault. Barchester Towers is very much less stodgy and chewy, far more like the sprightlier Pallisers than the gloomier The Warden with it churchchurchchurch sensibility.

#212 Good point... darn I'll shift it to the gingerbread men...

Oh wait...

>224 BekkaJo: *sigh* Death wish, thy name is...

>201 PaulCranswick: ...More than kisses, letters mingle souls.

dunno. Considering that one..

>226 mckait: Dashing Orange Creamsicle considered and wondered, too.

>227 richardderus: Perky Blue Berry. *snork!*

Unicorn names! Of course.....although I personally would not mind knowing what my octopus name might be....just saying.
Signed, Merry Orange Creamsicle (I can't wait to address my lovely other as Perky Fancy Feet...)

>228 scaifea: That's so accurate, though. Like they knew you!

>229 LovingLit: Perky Fancy-Feet! HA!!

>181 scaifea: Way Station is a good 'un.

Re-read it recently and found it fresh as forty years ago.

Next you should try his Goblin Reservation for a very different take.

or City

He often gets left off of "best off" lists in the sci-fi community and I think he can hold up his head with any of them.

OK>>>> I'm Colorful Fancy Feet for this evening. Tomorrow morning I make no promises for color or fancy.

Dashing Fancy Feet here.

>231 magicians_nephew: Oh my yes, City! Loved that book back in the day, but haven't read it since the 1970s.

>232 maggie1944: Colorful! Dear! So lovely to see you.

>233 ronincats: And your cousin Dashing! *smooch*

Chipper Sugar Socks sees your point about Pope but notes the famous to the point of tedium line contained therein. There would be poets I like better.

Happy Monday.

>14 richardderus: Richard, What a wonderful review!

My first name is Sassy but that's all you're gonna get out of me.

>227 richardderus: Shiny Happy Feet is here. I hope your week will be fine, Richard. *smooch*

>231 magicians_nephew: Thanks for the recommendations - I definitely want to read more of his stuff. I'm a bit surprised, too, that I hadn't heard of him before; it seems that he deserves to be read more than he seems to be.

Morning, Richard!

Morning RD- Just checking in. Hope you had a nice weekend. I am off today. Nothing beats being off on a Monday. Back to the foot doctor though. I think I am going to ask for a cortisone shot. I need to get this settled.

I am here catching up, but I have zero energy today. Zero. That's very low for me. I am missing you, BigDaddy, and I have to agree with Ellen and Katie that you are charming. Both you and your lovely writing. I'm off to thumb some reviews and *sigh* purchase some books.

Loved the commandments (especially #9) and the Donne quote. Not so much my unicorn name of Merry Floating Bubbles - I'm just not feeling it. Did I mention that it's wet here? Very wet.

*smooch for you and scratch behind the ears for Miss Stella*

Hi Richard - I tend to like the Nebula award-winners too. I will check out some of that short stuff (and your reviews) when I get a moment. However, I must admit to being terribly confused by the nomination of Hild for this years novel award. While it was one of my favorites of last year, it's neither science fiction, nor fantasy. Very weird.

>219 richardderus: - That's lovely. My brother-in-law is going to build me a bookcase wall, and I may model it after that. I love the square thingy in the middle.

Helloooo...anybody home?

xo

Hi Richard, it seems that I am a Jolly Prancing Unicorn, who'd have thought it.

By the way I reject "Jolly Fancy Feet" as my unicorn name.

Unicorns are powerful majestic gallant animals and deserve better than this degrading tom foolery

Nice to meet you, My name is Sugar Tickled Pink.

Hope you are alright, Richardmydear.

Good morning...make that afternoon...all, I'm alive but not very well. VERY sore joints today, and I slept until...wait for it...11am to avoid dealing with the world. Silly, really, all it means is that I miss out on the fun around here.

So.

Another Nebula-nominated novella review today. Six-Gun Snow White by my homeslice Catherynne M. Valente wins an almost-perfect score from me. Go take a gander.

Hope you feel better soon, RD!

Oh, so sorry that your joints are sore today. I send lots of good wishes your way.

>235 Matke: That's the way all of Pope is, Danvers dearest, a collection of pity quotes padded out by *ugh* rhyming couplets galore.

Thanks. It's not particularly.

>236 Whisper1: Thank you, Linda! Very heartfelt, as I know you can tell.

>237 AuntieClio: Heh. Can't be that bad, Stephanie. C'mon c'mon....

>238 wilkiec: Thanks, Diana! *smooch* for the Happy-Footed Shiny Red Dutchwoman!

Healing whammies zapping your way, Richard. Sleep is a blessing when you need to escape the meanies, though.

>239 scaifea: Morning, Amber! Go look at my profile on Facebook. I left a photo of a house in Dubuque with your name on it.

>240 msf59: Hiya Mark! Cortisone will help, the orthotics will work a slow miracle. Best of all, if you want the advice of an old campaigner in the foot-pain wars, is to get your insurance to pay for custom shoes. The investment will increase your pain-free profile, and cause many fewer doctor visits.

>241 Crazymamie: *GASPreels backwards*

Mmm...mmm...Mamie?!

*faints*

Maud Martha, bring the sal volatile! I am having visions! That...that...looked like MAMIE was here!

Well, whoever you really are, tell Mamie I send scroodles of smooches and a peck or two of love-hugs and inform them that kidnapping is a Federal Offense. Clearly that's what happened to keep her away so long!

;-)

>242 DorsVenabili: Hi Kerri! Oh lucky you, to get such a fantabulous shelf-wall built for you! I am envious. And, as a result, I shall step up my reviewing in an effort to make sure your collection outgrows it.

Cause that's the kinda hairpin I'm.

>243 Matke: Good morning, apple fritter! I am alive, though as of now (13.53 EDT) have added gastric issues to my list of discomforts.

This is the Mondayest Monday I've had in a while.

>244 johnsimpson: That's...well, let's just say it's a widge infra dig. for an August School Governor. Send Karen and Hannah my hugs, will you?

>245 magicians_nephew: I agree, Jolly Fancy Feet, it is degrading tomfoolery. Indeed, Mr. Fancy Feet. Yes sir, you ol' Jolly thing you.

>246 connie53: HAHAHA! O that is delicious, Connie! I think it's accurate, too.

>#219 AWESOME!! Gives me a great idea for a book nook in my attic where the roof line is seriously pitched!

>248 connie53: How kind, Connie! I'm going to assume this is my punishment for hiding in my bedroom all weekend so I wouldn't have to interact with people I find unpleasant.

That bloodyminded gawd the christians put in charge insists on a certain minimum quote of misery and suffering, so best to take it when she dishes it out, I guess.

>249 Whisper1: Thanks, Linda...does this mean you're off from work today? I surely hope so.

>251 laytonwoman3rd: Thank you, Linda3rd. *smooch* for a happy MOnday to you!

>254 tututhefirst: Isn't that a beaut, Tui? Makes me smile and sigh with a twinge of envy. But it should be reasonably easy to duplicate!

>#227 Let's all be careful with those "fluffy tutu" names. I feel a sense of ownership that is being conscripted. >>signed// Glamourous Yellow Banana.

>256 tututhefirst: My mother's nickname in childhood was "Titi," because her younger sister/Irish twin couldn't say "sister"; so the evilness of my grandparents came surging forth and the called their girls "Titi and Tutu."

I am unable to take either name seriously because of the belly-laughs I've had over the past 50 or so years thinking of my small, fiercely elegant, lacquered mother being called "Titi" to her bonny, buxom milkmaid-pretty sister's "Tutu."

*pant* *pant* *gasp*

*Clutching door jamb for support*

No one post for a while... I am finally caught up with this thread!

Perky Sugar Socks here to say that I am all caught up! I liked the name Dashing Orange Creamsicle better, oh well, some people have all the luck. *smooch*

>258 michigantrumpet: Hi Marianne! I'm glad to see you back and posting. *smooch*

>259 Thebookdiva: Abby dear! Say, did you know that SOMEone is posting as your apparently either dead or kidnapped mother? Give the FBI the dope, so they can punish the perps who took our Mamie away for so long!

Oh my! That sounds serious. If she's dead than there better be a very good reason as to why she is at the espresso machine making herself a latte. Dear me.

It's a simulacrum. Can't be her. She hasn't posted in DAYS. Only reason for that is she's got a golem-Mamie now, or summat li' that.

OH NO... you don't think that..she could be...the other mother?! I should check for button eyes ... or hide in the closet.

>263 Thebookdiva: OH NO is right! Now I'll have that image in my head again. It took me 2 or 3 years to get rid of it after seeing the movie...

>219 richardderus: I love this room. Is it just for you or might you share it?

>227 richardderus: Bubbles Orange Creamsicle

*waves* from good old Europe. I hope you feel good.

>263 Thebookdiva: RRRRRRRRUUUUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNN!!!

>264 laytonwoman3rd: Heh. Never know quite what's going to happen around here, do ya.

>265 Ameise1: MINEMINEMINE!!!

...well...since it's YOU, Barbara, I'll let you share my nookspace.

I'm feeling considerably better now that I've eaten some real food.

>253 richardderus:, hi Richard, I have passed on the love and hugs to Hannah and Karen, Hannah also says "Love You", she is such a cutie, she is starting at playgroup 3 days a week from April 15th.

>266 richardderus: *smooch* thanks a lot Rdear for your kindness and chivalrousness to share your privat place. xx

>267 johnsimpson: That will be a lot of fun for her, John! She's such a bright and shining little light, isn't she?

>268 Ameise1: de rien, ma amie

Hi, Richard. I feel you... as a young friend says, meaning I feel your pain, I guess. I too am not healthy today and during visit with my RA doctor I find out I have started getting Rheumatoid Nodules. Not the nodules where were seen in my lungs, but these are little bumps which can be as hard as bone. I have one, which whenever it is hit, or pressure put on it, the adjacent nerve screams blood murder. Oh. sigh.

I need to go read.

But before I do: here's wishing your and I both feel better very very very soon. Thank you very much.

>267 johnsimpson: she certainly is Richard and we just love having her around.

>270 maggie1944: Oh NO. Not that. Karen44, I am so very sorry. *smooch*

I'm just hoping that there are some lights at the end of the tunnel that aren't attached to speeding bullet-trains for each of us.

>271 johnsimpson: I can well imagine!

*wakes up from nap long enough to WHAMMY*

>227 richardderus: rd, I don't like mine, I want to be Sunshine Zany Twinkle Toes...

You okay tonight?

>273 AuntieClio: ...so THAT's what woke me up...

*smooch*

>274 mckait: Tolerable, tolerable. Been able to do more than I suspected I'd be able to do today! I call that good.

Now, what on Earth is wrong with "Colorful Yellow Banana," eh? It's, well, it's...you know...it's...

Yeah, Sunshine Zany Twinkle Toes is a lot better.

>274 mckait:. Yep, and I'm keeping it.

Glad you're doing ok....

hugs

Hey, I've got the place to myself, and you know that always makes me happy.

I feel kiinda . . For no particular reason

Ick! If I felt like I had a mop of long, ugly, stringy hair I'd be out of sorts too.

The twisty thing looks like fun.

The Signature of All Things, an LT-"inspired" purchase, arrived today. I hadn't really processed the information that it was a wrist-sprainer.

I hate to sound like a broken record dear... But I so want to thumb that review of The Heart is a Lonely Hunter. It's still not pulling up on the page when I go look for it! :(

Feel better, RD. No rush while your achy. I just really loved that review.

>281 TinaV95: But...but...it's right here!

I have been relieved of "combat" duty. We got a lot done and now I hope to sleep a LOT.

>283 AuntieClio: That has to be a relief. Rest well, you've earned a peaceful time.\

There are two more Nebula-nominated novellas. One I can't access, and one I dislike a lot. Weight of the Sunrise is an alternate history of an Inca Empire that didn't fall, meeting an America that's British. I found it clunky, awkward, and unpleasant.

From the Pottery Barn summer bedding collection.

Wow , what a perfect gift that would be for dear Richard.

Hey Perky, my unicorn name is "Happy Blue Berry". Me thinks these unicorn business is upside down :D
We probably are the nicknames , like Mafia's "Little John" or something ;))

Happy St Patrick to all (sorry if it was already, I am always behind on holidays) and have a wonderful day.

Morning Richard :) Stopping by to send hugs and smooches to you and Stella!! Hope all is well.

#194 - harrumph. Another $1.99 is laid at your door. 43* is now on my Kindle.

And I am soooo not Colorful Floating Bubbles.

Happy Tuesday, dear one!

*smooches* from Horrible

Happy Prancing Unicorn?

Wake up! Time to start your day.....where are you?

Holy Crap, turns out I'm Jolly Prancing Unicorn, just the kind of irrepressible upbeat morning creature that drives me nuts.

We brought you back something cute and cuddly from Seattle, Richard:



It was for sale in a shop near Pioneer Square, and we thought of you immediately.

Crazy Floating Bubbles here.

I have an octopuss for you...



It's... pink.

I have been a lazy, lazy slut today. I have done nothing except watch Netflix. Well, I walked the dog and made coffee, let's not get too crazy. Caffeineless Richard = Godzilla with an ingrown toenail and plantar fasciitis in tight boots.

No business has been conducted, no calls have been made, and I just don't care. No news has been watched. Nothing that might make me think. It's almost 40° and sunshiney and that's enough reason for me to hunker down and do nothin' today.

So there nyah.

I guess we're bombing RD with octopi today, so here:

(Don't let the goblins getcha!)

>293 richardderus: Richard, keep up the good work!

I hope you feel better today. Rest is one of the best medications!

>285 luvamystery65: OOOOOoooooOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooOOOOOO!!!

Love that!

>286 tigerlyly: Hi Lyly! The 17th of March is St. Patrick's Day but I ignore it. Gay people can't march in their parades cause the catlick choich in Murrika thinks only priests should be able to sodomize little boys. It's disgusting when consenting adults do it.

Besides, Patrick was a Viking-captured slave in Ireland, kidnapped from England. What's so Irish about that?

>287 MonicaLynn: Hi Monica! Glad to see you here. I know RL is a crazy place for you while you're doing training. Have they let that trainee graduate yet?

>288 karenmarie: *smooch* Gotcha!! Pretty soon *I'm* gonna be Horrible.

>289 sibylline: Oh...well...erm...yeah, that's not perzackly my image of you, I confess. Hey, happy Tuesday anyway!

>290 mckait: Ain't startin' no day no how an' nobody above ground can make me. Nyah.

>291 jnwelch: OOOOOoooooooOOOOOOOOOooooooOOOOOOoooooooo!!! That is *glorious*!!

>292 Morphidae: *gaaaak* That just barely squeezes past the eye-surgery-in-your-thread barrier.

>294 laytonwoman3rd: THAT, otoh, is wonderful! Ha! A goblin-octopus!

>295 Whisper1: *smooch* Thanks, Linda! Rest is an excellent remedy for what ails a body. I'm reasonably well, thank goodness.

>292 Morphidae: ROFL

NO I have not let him graduate yet.. He still has a ways to go before graduating. Our training process is anywhere from 400 to 900 hours, depending upon the person and my trainee has less than 200 hours in.. Sigh...

>301 MonicaLynn: 400 to NINE HUNDRED HOURS!!!!!!!!!

I am exhausted even thinking about that kind of time commitment.

It is a very detailed, stress filled job with very little reward unless you count that you are helping someone on every phone call in one way or another even though it is most of the time the worst day in their life and they are screaming at you for help and calling you names to get someone there now a lot of times. 911 is most of the time a thankless job, however it is rewarding in its own right or I wouldn't have been her 23 years. :) The training is tedious work but it works.

And thank GOODNESS there are folks willing to do it.

>219 richardderus:: very good, very good indeed
>220 richardderus:: I like Milton. Pope, tolerable in very small doses. Spenser, been there, done that, never again.
I refuse to do a unicorn name. It's just too "My Little Pony", sorry.

Oh Morphy, thou playeth with fire, verily. *snort*

>282 richardderus: BUT I promise you when I put the book name in last night, there were only 110 reviews and yours wasn't there!!! Now that you've given me the direct link, I have thumbed it and I feel much better!!!

I just couldn't rest without thumbing that review. Sorry!!!!! ;)