richardderus's second 2020 thread

Cele Goldsmith Lalli with Michael Lalli image via Wikimedia Commons

Cele Goldsmith (1933-2002) edited two influential mainstream SF/F magazines, Amazing Stories and Fantastic Stories of Imagination from 1958 to 1965.

what makes this cover's topmost question so hilarious is that Goldsmith later edited Modern Bride magazine...

this cover image purports to illustrate "The Seats of Hell" by Gordon R. Dickson, among the many men published by Cele Goldsmith who praised her editorial talents.

She was responsible for the first professional publication of Ursula K. LeGuin's fiction, a story called "April in Paris," in Goldsmith's Fantastic Stories of Imagination. It's a lovely time-travel tale, much anthologized after LeGuin became famous.

But LeGuin wouldn't have become famous if Cele Goldsmith hadn't seen the bones of the writing were good, and how much of a story was in fact there in this modest effort. Many authors held in highest possible esteem in today's fandom...Thomas Disch, Fritz Leiber, Roger Zelazny, J.G. Ballard...were discovered or rehabilitated (Leiber's alcoholic writer's block was broken when Goldsmith devoted an issue of Fantastic to his work, requiring him to produce or renege) or brought to US magazinedom.

Cele Goldsmith was honored at WorldCons as a major shaper of the watershed 1960s, the decade when SF broke free of its pulpy past and set off in interesting new directions. Dune appeared in 1965; had Frank Herbert written it for publication in 1955 it would've been impossible to find an editor who would've consented to read it, all 1000-plus manuscript pages of it. Sweeping epics and stories of ideas and writers whose worlds included women...what a huge number of changes the decade that Cele Goldsmith helped birth wrought on the worlds of science fiction and fantasy.

In 2020, I will post 10 book reviews a month on my blog. I already read a book every other day, as this year's total of 155 (a lot of individual stories don't have entries in the LT database so I didn't post them here; guess I should do more to sync the data this year) reads shows; so it's doable, and I've done better than that in the past.

I will Pearl Rule books I'm not enjoying with notes on Goodreads & LibraryThing about why I'm abandoning the read.







My Last Thread of 2018 Is Here:
Reviews are back-linked there.

My Last Thread of 2019 Is Here:
Reviews are back-linked there.

Reviews 1 through 3 are thataway.

THIS THREAD'S REVIEW LINKS

4 I Really Didn't Think This Through was a seriously bad mistake on my part, post 185.

5 Weight retells the myth of Atlas as only Jeannette Winterson could, post 274.

6 The Man from Saturn was fun for a 1953 romance, post 271.

7 The Hunger reopened old, old wounds, post 290.

8 The Famine Ships: The Irish Exodus to America was a really rewarding read, post 291.

goals

Hi! What's new?

Richard! New thread! The fun continues...

I hope you are feeling better (or soon to find a way to enjoy good sleeps). And lots of great reading/reviewing.
Nothing new here in the frozen North. I'm thinking me 'n my wooly blanket are going to snuggle down on the sofa to finish my current Tony Hillerman, Finding Moon. It's -33 oC on the thermometer outside the kitchen window.

Happy new one, Richard. So, are you sticking with the same person for the topper, since it's still January?

>5 SandyAMcPherson: - We are currently at a balmy +1C here in TO, Sandy. Though that won't last long. The weekend looks to be bringing us WINTER

Greetings from the windy desert! Happy new thread....

*taps toe* *waits for topper to appear*

>5 SandyAMcPherson: The shenanigans may commence, Sandy's here!


I regret to inform you, however, that I can only dash your hopes for a better-feeling host. I feel miserable. I caught the cold, sneezy raspy stuffed-up cold, that's wending its way around.

Yay.

>6 jessibud2: I think it's about 6C outside...that's around 40° I think...but it's also foggy/cloudy/soon-to-be rainy. It's winter, so that's not all bad.

>7 katiekrug: Thanks, Katie! Stay indoors, windy deserts = inhaled sand = UGH

>8 laytonwoman3rd: It's up! It's up!

Oh, if you can't see the images, switch to http because there's a dearth of https resources for these specific cover images.

Happy new thread, Richard!

>11 harrygbutler: Thanks, Harry! Welcome.

Happy new thread Richard! And thank you for the topper about Cele Goldsmith, a name I'm embarrassed to say I did not recognize. Brava Cele!

Happy new thread, RD. Sending tropical get well vibes your way.

>13 swynn: I suspect the fact she's a she plays a big role in her relative obscurity among the fannish. But for Le Guin alone she deserves a spot in the pantheon.

>14 PaulCranswick: Thanks, Paul, but put a hold on any tropical heat, huh? The horrors of summer will be here all too soon.

Happy New Thread, Richard!

Wow, I knew nada about Cele Goldsmith. Thanks for clueing me in. The covers (and illustrations) aren't coming through for me, but I get the idea. As you say, LeGuin alone garners her a spot in the pantheon.

Happy new one!

Happy new one, Richard and feel better soon! xxx

Happy New thread - I feel your snotty urghhh - stupid January colds :( The whole office is hacking away and it's all a bit miserable.

>1 richardderus: I browsed here and here (Safari {Version 13.0.4 (13608.4.9.1.4)} on a Mac Notebook).

Which ones precisely are the covers which won't show here? I'm totally intrigued!

Happy new thread!

Happy new thread Richard.

>1 richardderus: Cool! Like others I was unaware of how much I owed to this benefactor! I think I was had read much of Leiber's oeuvre before I became aware of Le Guin, and Zelazny was very much the thing in the mid-seventies when I fell into the SF library at LASFS.

I saw this 🐙 today, and well, it's been a while hasn't it?

Happy new thread, Richard dear, and feel better soon!
2 books read and 17 Pearl ruled??!!

Fellow oldster Murrikinz...go listen to this rendition of Kansas's Dust in the Wind and be shocked someone this lassie's age even knows who Kansas were.

I'll be back later. I woke hungry and must feed Seymour to my inner triffidy thing.

Ricardo--Happy new one!! Boo to the crud afflicting you and Cheers to Cele Goldsmith!!

Happy New Thread, Richard. Sorry, you are stuck inside with the "yucky" weather, but I see that, you are not complaining, so I take that as a good sign.

>25 richardderus: - Wow, that was amazing! I had to google to find out what instrument it is. Apparently, a *gayageum* is a Korean zither-type-thing. She is some talent!! Thanks for posting this, Richard! Feel better soon!

Wow! You really have been busy with the Pearl Rule!

>16 jnwelch: Thanks, Joe. Her relative invisibility was appalling to me, but not surprising since I only learned of her existence by accident in the 1990s.

>17 figsfromthistle: Thanks, Anita!

>18 DianaNL: Thank you, Diana.

>19 BekkaJo: Oh no, Bekka, that is colossal heaps of No Fun. Sending snotless hugs.

Sending ((gentle hugs)) your way, RD!

>20 SandyAMcPherson: One is the Amazing Stories cover for November 1960; the second is Fantastic Stories for October 1960; the third is Fantastic for November 1959, the Leiber issue.

>21 drneutron: Hi Jim, thanks!

>22 johnsimpson: Hello John, happy to see you.

>23 quondame: Oh I love that octomoji! Hilarious.

I think a lot of us saw the people she launched and never much wondered how that happened. Such is the nature of the beast.

>32 richardderus: Did you click on the octomoji? It was a link to duarker realms.

>24 FAMeulstee: Heh, not just this year, that's a rolling ticker from last year as well.

>26 Berly: Thanks, Berly-boo! *smooch*

>27 msf59: It's not long to be trapped. Tomorrow will be sunny and 48°/7-plusC.

It's also not January weather, this is more like Texas when I was growing up.

>28 jessibud2: I'm glad you enjoyed it, Shelley, the young person amazes me with her grasp of musical nuance.

>29 thornton37814: Hi Lori!

>31 alcottacre: Thanks, Stasia, and keep 'em gentle until your arm's better.

>33 quondame: Funnier realms, where The Quackening happens anew. Heh.

Happy new thread, RD!

Early morning greetings, RD!

>20 SandyAMcPherson: and >32 richardderus: This may only work for PCs, and it may only work using Mozilla Firefox, but I right clicked on the image I couldn’t see, chose the Copy Image Location option, opened a new tab, pasted it in, and voila. I could see each cover.

>25 richardderus: Wow! Luna Lee. Thanks for sharing – I’ve done the unheard of and actually made a music recommendation to Bill and Jenna.

*smooch* from your own Horrible

>37 karenmarie: I right clicked on the image I couldn’t see, chose the Copy Image Location option, opened a new tab, pasted it in, and voila. I could see each cover.

Thanks for this suggestion, Karen! (Also: why didn't I think of that?) For me something similar worked in Chrome, except that after pasting I had to change the "https:" prefix to "http:" I expect something like this would work in most browsers.

** Nerdy stuff **

I notice in the code, there is no prefix stating the protocol:
<img src="//www.philsp.com ....>"

I believe most browsers' usual behavior in this case is to insert whichever protocol is used in the linking page. Since the LibraryThing page uses "https", most browsers will insert "https" into any link where the protocol is not specified. But the images exist on a site that uses http --- hence, broken links.

Happy New Thread, Richard.

>38 swynn: I had noticed the http: vs https: discrepancy with the broken images. I tend to right click and do "copy image source" so it includes a protocol, but once in awhile, something changes after I post, and I still have to redo an image source.

>40 thornton37814: Yep, and now I see that Richard mentioned this back in post 10. So, yeah, nevermind.

>38 swynn: Same for me, even in Firefox (altering to remove the 's' from the http).
I have fairly stringent security settings so even in Firefox, I couldn't always see an image without altering the url.

Thanks for giving us that hint, Karen. I could then have "my daily laugh" from >1 richardderus: saying, what makes this cover's topmost question so hilarious is that Goldsmith later edited Modern Bride magazine.. because ...

Happy new one, Rdear. Big waves over the pond.

Dude! Feeling better? That's a bad bug going around. I got the flu shot about 10 days ago; knock on wood.

>36 lkernagh: Thanks, Lori!

>37 karenmarie: Thank you, Horrible!

>37 karenmarie:, >38 swynn:, >40 thornton37814:, >41 swynn: I'm glad the tech *finally* cooperated with you.

>39 The_Hibernator: Thanks, Rachel!

>42 SandyAMcPherson: Heh. That's one of the priceless moments no one would dare write into a story.

>43 Ameise1: Hi Barbara!

>44 SomeGuyInVirginia: Feeling much, much better indeed, thanks Larry. I'm not particularly spry but also not clogged and drippy. I call that a major win.

Happy new thread!

I am very late to the party. Have a star. Happy new thread

>47 ChelleBearss: Thank you, Chelle!

>48 BBGirl55: Hi Bryony! Glad to see you here.

Happy new one! I am glad to hear that you are feeling better - not clogged and drippy is definitely moving in the right position. You can work on spry later.

>50 Crazymamie: Thanks, Mamie, it feels flat-out delightful not to schnerkle every third breath. Heaven only knows how it affects the apnea!

Glad you are feeling better! Removing the "s" worked for me to see the images, so thanks for the instructions.

>52 ronincats: Me too, Roni, and it's good that you can see them now. That polygamy thing still makes me chuckle.

Morning, RD. Sweet Thursday. Last work day, before starting my long holiday weekend. Yah! It looks like we are finally settling into January-like temps, for the rest of the month. As long as the snow and ice holds off, I will not complain.

Happy new thread Richard! Very happy to hear that you're feeling better.

Good morning, Richard, and happy new thread! Glad to hear the cold seems to be abating.

We are experiencing rainy weather today, but I'll take it over snow. Two more work days 'til the weekend (a split weekend, I'm working Sunday and off for the holiday on Monday), and I may be getting snowed in with the cats on Saturday. Guilt-free reading time, though? I'll take it! I already had a library patron call and ask about the weekend forecast, and had to be sorry to disappoint but right now I can see in the ten-day forecast, there's a 100% chance of snow, and they are not predicting how much.

>54 msf59: A-women, Mark, on the hold-offs. I can't think of any good reason to wish for an ice storm. Ever.

Enjoy the little pleasure of knowing this is It for four days!

>55 Coffee.Cat: Thanks, Abby! How lovely to see you.

>56 bell7: People call the library to find out what the weather forecast is?

SMH

But a weekend replete with guilt-free reading time is ideal. Enjoy!

'Morning, RD, and happy Thursday to you.

schnerkle every third breath

As always, your words are a joy.

>58 karenmarie: Hey Horrible, how goes the parade?

Thanks for the kind words! *smooch*

Congrats on no longer being a schnerkling Snuffleupagus, RD. I will say your virtual baking skills remained undimmed throughout. But there's nothing better than finally being able to breathe freely again.

I just finished brekkie, am on my 2nd mug of coffee. The animals have been fed, I need to do a few things around here then go for the self-indulgent massage I allow myself every month. Three errands in town since I'll be there anyway, then home again.

>60 jnwelch: Thanks, Joe. It's been a siege of snot, though I'm grateful it wasn't flu. (No fever, no bone-breaking pain, whew!) I'll go a long way for a dobos torte!

>61 karenmarie: Sounds like a lovely Thursday. No sense making more than one trip, for environmental and stress reasons.

>57 richardderus: You'd be amazed at what people call the library for; the weather is the least of it (there, at least, I can make the argument that even in our well-to-do town, not all folks have easy access to the Internet). There are, in fact, questions I *can't* answer and often do have to explain to people that I can't give tax, medical or legal advice - and in fact, would break the law if I do!

I am getting ready for the ALA winter conference in Philadelphia. It is January 24 - 27, 2020. I have not yet received conformation that LT will provide the free passes to the exhibits, as they have done in the past, but have made contact with them to find out. So far, I have received no inquiries regarding a meetup, but if anybody reading this thread is interested let me know and I will find a place and we can hang out and talk about what incredible finds we have made on the exhibit floor.

The exhibit floor opens on Saturday, January 24 at 9:00 a.m. and closes at noon on Monday, January 27, 2020. In between are lots of free ARC (Advanced Readers Copies) for both children and adults. As soon as I find out from the LT gods if there will be free passes to this nirvana I will let you know.

Glad you are feeling better!

Hi RD! Just catching up here. I am glad you are feeling better.

"Schnerkle" is a great word. I'm going to steal it.

>63 bell7: You're right, I can only barely conceive of the things the General Public can dream up to ask a librarian.

...but tax questions...SMDH

>64 benitastrnad: Anyone know anything relevant?

>65 figsfromthistle: Thanks, Anita! I slept a solid four hours in the middle of the day snuggled up to The YGC. That was unexpected and lovely.

>66 katiekrug: Welcome to use it at will, dear lady.

Happy new thread Richard. Glad you're feeling a bit more....spry?

>67 richardderus: One of my local libraries has bins of tax forms every spring. It only makes sense to ask librarians.....
One more advantage of YGCs.

'Morning, RichardDear. Congrats on napping, and in such a pleasant way.

>68 brenzi: Me too, Bonnie, and thanks!

>69 quondame: That's like asking the librarian for car-repair advice because they have Chilton's Auto Repair Manuals on the shelves, at least to me.

He's a gigantic gift to me. Luckily he feels I'm a gift to him as well.

>70 karenmarie: It was lovely, and the net good effect has continued into today.

Morning, BigDaddy! We made it to Friday, so I think we should celebrate:


Pumpkin pancakes with cinnamon pecan syrup

>72 Crazymamie: What an excellent idea, Mamie! I'll just get the butter delivery signed for and be right back:

*belly laugh*

Happy Friday, Richard. Snow arriving shortly. I am meeting Bree and her fiance for dinner and brews, but hope to be home, before the worst of it. I hope it will be clear enough for our drive up to Milwaukee tomorrow. Had a good afternoon with the books, finally finishing up The Chaneysville Incident. The guy is a terrific writer and smart as hell, but he does go on and on and on. That said, I am glad I finally got to it.

>74 Crazymamie: :-)

>75 msf59: Hey there, Birddude, it's going to be "wintry mix" here starting this evening...my absolute least favorite thing, not excluding ice storms, is "wintry mix" because the wretchedness is so immensely vile. Coldest-possible rain meets wettest-possible snow meets sting-iest-possible sleet. Ugh.

>66 katiekrug: Me too

"Schnerkle" is a great word. I'm going to steal it.

>77 SandyAMcPherson: Heh, feel fee...I mean free!
***
I will see the pulmonologist Tuesday late a.m.! At last this process can get going.

>72 Crazymamie: Ok, I want those now, lol.

((Left armed hugs)) to you, RD! Glad you are feeling better.

>72 Crazymamie: I found the perfect plates!


>79 alcottacre: Hi Stasia! I'm thrilled not to feel stuffed up anymore, and so so so glad I don't have flu. You're due for the next round of improvements. *smooch*

Happy new thread, Richard. Good to see that it won't be long until your appointment. Ugh, weather. We have had snow since Monday and we don't do it well. Looks like it is back to our regular rain soon.

>80 richardderus: Lovely!! *Saturday smooch* And hooray for the pulmonologist appointment!

>80 richardderus: What a beautiful plate!

I call this next work, 'Portrait of the young middle-aged artist not cleaning the kitchen like I promised.' I swear, if I ever win the lottery I'm hiring a housekeeper.

And a totally hot butler.

I'm reading The Rules of Civility. I have better things to do than going at the floor with a scrub brush. Love the book so far, kind of hate the title, but I think therein lies the tale.

>81 Familyhistorian: Hi Meg! Rain, of the cold and horrible variety, is our fate this evening.

>82 Crazymamie:, >83 laytonwoman3rd: Agreed, it's lovely and so weird. I'm thrilled to have the assurance that the end of this awfulness might be beginning.

>84 SomeGuyInVirginia: Ah, "middle age" that jittery, moving target! It's plausibly moved its northern suburbs to fifty-ish from forty-ish, but, well...sixty-ish is still old.
A Hot Butler:

*happy sigh*

I simply do not understand why I can't launch myself into Amor Towles's work. On the surface appearance of the stuff, I should eat it up with a spoon. In reality I can't wait for each sentence to end and, by the time I'm done with the story, I'm seething with dissatisfaction at the reading experience. *shrug* He probably wouldn't like me, either.

>85 richardderus: A rather non-traditional uniform, but otherwise...

>86 laytonwoman3rd: Agreed...isn't it traditional that hot Butlers go starkers when discharging their duties? Admittedly, that's a fifteen-year-old photo of Mr. Butler, but he's aged well:

I confess to an *unruly* need to fix his jeans-cuffs....

This is Royal Stafford's "Ocean Blue" dinnerware:

It is a new pattern for 2019 and I ***COVET*** it. I have no need for it, no place to put it, and a strenuous desire to eat my dinner off these beautiful plates.

PS this is the pattern inside the bowl:

>85 richardderus: yum!
>87 richardderus: very cool!

Hi Richard! I’m back from our west coast US trip.

We came across so many beautiful octopus sculptures - especially glass ones in Hawai’i - I gave up trying to take pictures of them all but I did take some of a Chihuly underwater-scape. I’ll see if I can post one sometime. Speaking of, I’ll have to try some work-around to view your thread toppers. And Yay! for the Ladies of SF.

We also saw a live octopus on a snorkelling trip which one of the Guide divers brought out of the water and offered it to us to hold. I may regret the missed opportunity but I felt bad for the poor thing; it looked rather upset at being grabbed out of the sea. I would have liked to have taken a photo though, but we were about to take our turn going underwater on sub-scooters and my phone was safely tucked away somewhere dry.

Hi RD!

It does not surprise me at all that you covet dinnerware with octopuses and other sea creatures on it.

*smooch*

>88 richardderus: I love that!

>88 richardderus: It's new!?! I found images on a replacements site I've used, so I thought it was retired. I do not need new china. Just replaced roof and heating-air. No room. China breaks. It is so cool!

>89 ChelleBearss: Heh, +1 to both!

>90 humouress: Hi Nina! I'm glad you're home safe and sound. There are many delicious things about traveling but the crowning glory is coming home again.

I'll be delighted if your posting photos becomes reality, but knowing the steps are...well...multiple, I won't nag you about progress.

Much.

Octopuses are deeply curious creatures, so I don't know that the specimen that guide pulled up was necessarily upset. They can breathe out of water for quite some time, so no respiratory distress would set in for a long while. Your response is likely more about how you'd feel in the octoshoes.

>87 richardderus: " an *unruly* need to fix his jeans-cuffs..." Take the stupid boots off while you're at it.

>91 karenmarie: Hey Horrible! *smooch* Happy Sunday. It's positively sunstruck here, after a dank day yesterday with plenty of icky-ptooptoo "wintry mix." Today it's windy and cold. But I love it because sunshine is the bomb.

>92 alcottacre: Me too, Stasia!

>93 quondame: Introduced this year, as a matter of fact. "Not needed" is a series of sounds that must convey meaning, I see/hear them so often, but their sense eludes me regularly.

>95 laytonwoman3rd: That's Step One. Hideous clodhopping things.

Lots of chatty, smart people in lots of threads, as usual...still no voice.

>98 mckait: Oh no!! That rots on ice. I'm so sorry you're still voice-impaired. *smooch*

>85 richardderus: You are not the only one, Richard dear. I have read one book by Amor Towles, after seeing many glowing reviews. The sentences were smooth, but I was underwhelmed by the content.

Good morning, RD! I hope you have another sunshiney day. We've got blue skies and it's currently 28F.

>85 richardderus: Re Amor Towles: On the surface appearance of the stuff, I should eat it up with a spoon. In reality I can't wait for each sentence to end and, by the time I'm done with the story, I'm seething with dissatisfaction at the reading experience.

There are any one of a number of authors I could apply that to, of course. Now more than ever, I abandon books with glee if I can't eat it up with a spoon.

I'm devouring Harry Bosch #21 and will immediately launch into #22. Gotta do something fun today, right?

*smooch* from your own Madame TVT Horrible

Morning, RD! Happy Monday. You know, I only say that if I have my butt parked at home. Meeting a birding friend for breakfast and then a couple of errands. Lots of book time, reserved for later. Yeah, baby! I hope you are doing well.

Hi, harya?
I stayed off the threads (mostly) this past weekend so I could concentrate on actually *reading*!

>100 FAMeulstee: I'm very glad I'm not alone in my underwhelmedness.

>101 karenmarie: It's positively sunstruck out there! It's also windy and about 30°/-1C with a windchill I don't even want to type. Rob, whose day off this is, called to let me know he had no intention of braving the wind when he was feeling punk. I agreed, of course, so here I am with an afternoon of nothing to do except read. Poor, poor pitiful me.

*smooch*

>102 msf59: Hi Mark! Great day in the mornin' I forgot this was a postal holiday. Explains why a package I expected isn't here. Enjoy it!

>103 SandyAMcPherson: Yodelee-whoooo-hoooooo!

"Reading"? Qu'est-ce que c'est quand il est à la maison?

>104 richardderus: I do hope your reading at least has gone well.

>105 quondame: Nope; instead I made matzoh balls and mushroom-onion soup. Yum!

>104 richardderus: Quoi? C'est la joie!

Happy Monday, RD! ((smooches))

I made a Lentil Vegetable Soup for dinner tonight and it was very good. Your Matzoh Balls and Mushroom-Onion soup sounds tasty!

>107 SandyAMcPherson: It is. It is indeed.

>108 alcottacre: :-) It was. It was indeed.

Hey, RD. Are you a David Mitchell fan? I'm reading his Thousand Autumns, and I'm thinking I'll read all of his that I haven't yet.

I just read a PW capsule review of Camilleri's next one coming out (the review was positive, of course), and the reviewer said that Camilleri wrote "several" more for posthumous publication. Hmmm! Wouldn't that be something.

>110 jnwelch: Nope on the Mitchell fandom; I loathed Black Swan Green and rolled my eyes so hard at that deZoet thing that I am sure I saw my brain. Cloud Atlas was...well...not a great reading experience, I'm afraid.

Several!! That would be the nuts! Make it so, Number One. (Somehow that sounds better to me than the invocations of invisible friends who act like nasty bullies.)

>38 swynn: I love that nerdy stuff! I actually understand the explanation. It's so much more satisfying than, say, "cover images from amazon tend not to work." Now I know why. *smile*

Re: Amor Towles, I adored A Gentleman in Moscow and I gave Rules of Civility a generous four stars back in 2017 (dang, time does fly!) but I hardly remember it at all. Anyway, if you don't like him, you don't like him. I was reading Laura's review of RoC and thinking the overwrought figures of speech would send you into reader orbit. :-)

I hope the pulmo appointment (tomorrow, right?) goes well. xo

Good luck tomorrow, Richard!

I also made soup today: roasted sweet potato soup with orange and ginger.

>113 jessibud2: That sounds good! How did it turn out?

>114 thornton37814: - It turned out great. It's one of my 2 go-to soups for the winter. It's from The Looneyspoons Collection cookbook. Those Podleski sisters are a hoot and you could split a gut laughing, just reading their cookbooks. The bonus is that their recipes are terrific.

I wonder what person this beauty made me think of?

>112 EBT1002: Thanks, Ellen!

I'm just not interested in the man's stuff, and get down to it, that's all I need to know.

>113 jessibud2:, >114 thornton37814:, >115 jessibud2: It does sound scrummy, and I hope this batch makes the top-ten batches list.

>116 ronincats: Oo! Best mug tree ever! Thanks, Roni, you're the best.

Pulmonologist today? *smooch*

>118 karenmarie: *FUME*SEETHE*MUTTER*
NO!

At least there was a sign on the door saying, "In next Wednesday," but not a sign of a hair of a sniff of a doc.

ETA I'm a bit spoiled...I didn't have to step toe outside the building to make this discovery, so that should permaybehaps be a mitigating factor in this irritation. If I'd gone to her office and she didn't show, being angry about it would be appropriate. This doc comes to us!

But ya know...this ain't the first time...and it's a gorgeous day, cold yes but not very windy, and so there's really no excuse to do this AGAIN. Back to Nadine and Audrine I go for that outside referral.

Whoa. Not good. I'm sorry. I hope you can get a referral to an outside doc sooner than soon.

>120 karenmarie: What she said. *smooch and a bear hug*

>120 karenmarie: It's been a circus...what with the co-ordinatrix being ill for a while, then the pulmo being back on our schedule; but clearly this isn't going to be a quick process.

Grumble.

>121 Crazymamie: *smooch* Thanks, sweetiedarling.

Booooo! That's rubbish :(

>123 BekkaJo: I know, right?!

So aggravating, Richard! I feel your anger! Don't leave that office until you have a referral in hand. Take a book and sit there until they cough it up. I personally have done that on more than one occasion (taking a book and sitting and reading until I get what I came for).

>125 jessibud2: They're never unwilling to do things when asked, Shelley, they're just *exceedingly* busy. It is less plant-and-wait than nag-and-nudge.

Ugh, so sorry the pulmonologist wasn't in today. *Whammies* for being able to see the right doc soon, one way or the other.

Hi RD. Such a drag not getting into the specialist's office. Seriously broken medical care in so many jurisdictions. Canada not excepted, I assure you.

I reviewed The Codfish Dream as you suggested. Thanks for your encouragement.

>127 bell7: I just this minute spoke w/a fellow inmate here who told me I'd had a lucky escape! Apparently this pulmo is worse than useless. She suggested taking my loss as a warning and to get an outside consult. So maybe this is a good thing.

>128 SandyAMcPherson: I'll be over shortly. Happy to have been of some use!

>129 richardderus: - Well, I guess this is one of those *it happens for a reason* cases. Onward, Sir!

>130 jessibud2: Indeed, I march through the fog of war. So to speak.

Sorry to hear about the doc. Hopefully, you will be able to see the specialist soon!

Stoopid pulmonologist . . . . .

Here's hoping that you get in to see the specialist you need soon, RD! I know exactly how this goes. ((Hugs))

Good morning, RD!

>129 richardderus: Ah, maybe a blessing in disguise.

*smooch*

>132 figsfromthistle: Thanks for the sympathy, Anita, and let it be so!

>133 SuziQoregon: Apparently that's the problem, Juli. Happy that you're settling in to retirement.

>134 alcottacre: You *certainly* do! *smooch* Thanks for coming by.

>135 karenmarie: Horrible dear! Lovely to see you! *smooch* back and have lovely reads today. It's a LOT warmer here today...almost 40° this afternoon...and still sunshiney and pretty. Nice.

For any wanderers who are not lost, but merely stumped as to which way to go, Tor.com offers a guided Ursula K. LeGuin reread.

If you've wondered what the fuss was about, looked at the sheer volume of her output and thought "help" in three-point type, this is the place and the moment to delve.

If you're nostalgic for another dispatch received by ansible from the Ekumen, this is the place and the moment to re-up your love for Old Music and Estraven and Ged and Tenar.

Sheesh. Take off a measley couple of weeks for a little open heart surgery and end up two almost full threads behind! Since I'll never catch up on everything that's been going on, I'm starting afresh here and hope i didn't miss too much of earth shaking importance.

>1 richardderus: Fascinating! What an amazing woman.

>87 richardderus: Love everything about this post, from the dishes to the man!! LOL

>129 richardderus: Let's go with it was fate that you escaped this particular pulmonologist and hope you get that outside referral ASAP!!

Smooch. : )

>137 richardderus: "Ursula K. LeGuin reread"

I *really* needed this! Thx. (no, don't let's talk about my TBR list...)

>138 Storeetllr: That'll learn ya, taking time away to do piddly stuff like have valves replaced and not keeping up with the group! Silly thing, get those priorities in order!

And how glad I am we live in a time when you can have such a procedure.

>139 Berly: Hi Berly-boo! Yeah...sigh...teh hawtness they name is Butler.

I'm ready for that referral. Like, yesterday. SOON will do. *smooch*

>140 SandyAMcPherson: TBR "list" LOL

I think you mean "2GB database of titles."

Good Lord Richard how much do you have to go through. That's just terrible.

>137 richardderus: thanks for the Ursula Le Guin link. I haven't read anything she's written.

>142 brenzi: Not really that much, if I'm at all reasonable about it, but it's frustrating nonetheless.

Go forth and procure The Dispossessed! It's the first read, and a humdinger of a start it is.

Morning, BigDaddy! Thanks for that link to the UKG read - I have only read two books by her. So funny that they are starting with one of them - The Dispossessed. I read it back in 2013 on Kerry's recommendation, and I really liked it. I'm trying to decided if I will reread that or just start when they get to the next book.

'Morning, RichardDear. Coffee and brekkie done, getting ready to head out on a few errands. I just might stop in the PTA Thrift Shop on the way home, just in case, you know, there might be that perfect book that I absolutely must have.

*smooch* from Madame TVT Horrible

>144 Crazymamie: Hi Mamie! I don't know about you, so much younger than I am, but re-reading is reserved for especially important and significant books at this moment of life. Not to say I don't think this is an especially important and significant book, but is it that to you?

No matter when you jump in, I expect you'll find a lot to enjoy about reading these essays. I've enjoyed the series that Tor has run quite a lot.

>145 karenmarie: Hey Horrible, happy Thursday and good hunting at the PTA Thrift Shop. Yummy finds abounding! *smooch*

I actually love to reread, but usually for a comfort read or to revisit a beloved series. I guess I'll just see if the mood strikes me or maybe just reread the beginning to refresh my memory about the tone of the book. Thanks for sharing your perspective - it makes me think about it deeper, if that makes any sense.

>147 Crazymamie:, yeah, I get that.
I am totally one to reread, just about always as "a comfort read or to revisit a beloved series".

>147 Crazymamie:, >148 SandyAMcPherson: I'm always interested in the reasons people re-read, since I was once a devout re-reader. I must've read The Hundred and One Dalmatians seventy times. I was absolutely desperate to be rescued...this story was rescue fantasy writ well...and that impulse, that need to reinvest my love in a reliable and relatable recipient, was ultimately a victim of time. I'm not going to see 2040, but I can reasonably expect to see 2030. There's a lit of power in limits!

>148 SandyAMcPherson: Hi Sandy!

I read a lot of Ursula LeGuin back in the day. Dispossessed, the Earthsea books and Left Hand of Darkness are great, of course, but my favorite is probably the oddball Lathe of Heaven. Debbi and I read her Beginning Place together, which is a memorable one.

>150 jnwelch: Contact with LeGuin is urgently needed among today's youth! I'm glad that she wrote teen-focused books. How do we convince the moderns to pick 'em up?

The Lathe of Heaven is an oddball, all right, a weird story and told in a surreal way. It's never been a candidate for favoriture around here, but its sheer balls-out strangeness will always give it a home on my shelves.

My favorite LeGuin is the anthropological study of a post-apocalyptic society in Always Coming Home. I do have some of her later ones to read yet, like Lavinia and The Telling.

>152 ronincats: It's so...hefty...that I can't claim it as a favorite, though it contains a passage about companionship and love..."And I will say, a little farther yet"...that makes me sniffle and repine. It's probably the very most personal of her books. How much of her mother's and her father's writing and thinking is in it. How perfectly wonderful that she spent the thousands of hours necessary to create it.

But lawsy me, is it dense.

The Telling is excellent, and I am holding on to Lavinia as my last unread UKL novel. I've promised myself to finish The Found and the Lost before I dive into it, since I ain't gettin' no more.

>153 richardderus: The Telling is one I had to re-read before I appropriated it. I've never forgiven Lathe of Heaven for its ending, but it is a tour-de-force. I sort of inherited Always Coming Home from a sister-in-law - it was among her possessions my brother was clearing away after her death. It was boxed with a cassette I don't have the equipment to play.

>154 quondame: I've never forgiven Lathe of Heaven for its ending

LOL

That feeling is not foreign to me.

River Song always made me smile and shiver. (It's from the cassette.)

>116 ronincats: I remember in art class the professor showed a picture of an ancient Greek pottery vessel with an octopus painted on it. He showed us how it was remarkable because the drawing, with all the tentacles, perfectly filled the space available to it. It may well be the 1st interesting thing I learned while I was in college but that was clearly my fault.

I've never been able to read much science fiction. There, I've said it.

Mucho love-o.

>156 SomeGuyInVirginia: Hey there Lare. Not everything is for everyone...not liking SF is a minor character flaw, nowhere near as disfiguring as, say, pushing poetry on the resistant reader or voting Repulsivecan.

*smooch* Come again soon!

Morning, Richard. Happy Friday. Getting hit with some winter weather, these past few days and more accumulation tonight into tomorrow, which should make work a challenge. I am really enjoying Oranges are not the Only Fruit,even though most of this was covered in her excellent memoir.

Hi RD! *smooch*

>158 msf59: Oh yuck on the winterblast! I'm so sorry, Mark. But it's great that you're enjoying Winterson's debut, I agree that it's a wonderful read.

>159 karenmarie: *smooch* Happy Friday.

Remembering the beautiful film of Lathe of Heaven filmed in Portland because the buildings there looked so futuristic.

The original one (1980) with Bruce Davidson. Worth a look for you all.

>161 magicians_nephew: Not surprisingly, I remember the costume design on that one!

>161 magicians_nephew: The only filmed version of her work that UKL enjoyed? On my bucket list!

>162 quondame: No. Really. How utterly gobsmacking.

>116 ronincats: that would be satisfyingly heavy, I bet. It would look so cool in my house!!!!

Morning RD, I am having a slow morning here, which is lovely. Read in bed (where else *is* there to read!!??) til after 9am, got up, and enjoyed 2 hot drinks- a coffee and a herbal tea (so balanced).

Saturday Smooches!! Another LeGuin fan here.

>164 LovingLit: Hey Megan! Happy Sunday, hope this has been a pleasant weekend for y'all.

>165 Berly: ...you live in Portland, Berly-boo, it's illegal *and* unwise to dislike UKL!

*smooch*

Hello Richard! I'm not sure where to find solace, perhaps in the books, but this new Spenser Confidential trailer from Netflix, featuring Mark Walhberg, is offending my sensibilities. Not sure if you enjoyed the books or the 80s TV show, but wow, this looks bad.

>141 richardderus: I think you mean "2GB database of titles.
~ Sadly, yes.

No wait, not sad, it is comforting to have a TBR list. When I feel bereft after a series is done (or I have to wait for the next one to be published), I have the TBR. I should rename it JL, The Joy-List!

>167 brodiew2: Spenser, as in Robert B. Parker's Spenser? Mark Wahlberg???? Ye gods and little fishes. Robert Urich was bad enough. There has never yet been a decent Spenser characterization.

>119 richardderus: Oh, that is infuriating. I mean, you had an appointment, isn't he supposed to show up??? WTF?

I read The Dispossessed back in 2013, still exploring SF/F, and I gave it 4 stars. I also know that I read The Left Hand of Darkness in college for a "modern American novel' course, and loved it. But I don't remember much about it (it was a while ago, after all). LeGuin is definitely an author I want to read more.

>168 SandyAMcPherson: I like JL, Joy-List, because I fully agree that having oodles of books yet to read and just right there at hand for whenever you want to read them is truly a joy.

I hope you're having a good weekend, RD.

Warbler!! I've been putting off my Earthsea read (or re-read?? I'm unsure which is appalling). It may wriggle it's way in. Happy Sunday :)

Happy Sunday, Richard

The only saving grace of the "Spenser" TV show was Avery Brooks as Hawk who nailed it. Nailed it.

Perfect mix of cool detachment and coiled menace

>167 brodiew2:, >169 laytonwoman3rd: Oh...well...yeaaahhh, that's not gonna happen in front of my eyes. Just no. *sigh* What makes Spenser so darn hard for the visual media to get right?

>168 SandyAMcPherson: Heh! I like that, "the Joy List!" Very appropriate. We should, as a group, adopt this new nomenclature, as Ellen's response shows.

>170 EBT1002: Appointment? Appointment! hahahagasphahaha*wipes eyes*

We don't rate actual appointments, dear lady. We show up, sit in a row, and wait our turns. Appointments are for rich people.

They taught UKL in your college years?! Did the books get sent back to Padua via wormhole or something? Srsly, Left Hand is very much worth revisiting. The Dispossessed, being read this past decade, might be a bit soon to re-read...OTOH, maybe a docented read would offer some new insights. At the very least the re-read's essay would make for a good expansion of the subject.

I hope I'm having a good weekend, too, though I'm really more interested in Monday since Rob *might* come visit. I hope he can, but never make it A Big Point so he doesn't feel that he must.

>171 BekkaJo: Hi Bekka! (Re-)read or no, it's a wonderful series and a delight to (re-)experience. Happy Sunday!

>172 figsfromthistle: Thank you, Anita, same sentiments heartily returned.

>173 magicians_nephew: I didn't have a TV until 1992, so I missed lots of stuff and Spenser was one of those things missed. I saw it, of course, friends had TVs, but...well...all I remember is how much I wanted to turn the sound down. That was consistent across shows, though.

>174 richardderus: So the first day of the week is .... a good thing now?

>176 humouress: It's weird, isn't it. But 1) I don't work and b) it's his day off, so the concatenation of circumstances make it a lovely day for both of us.

Crossing my fingers for your Monday magic to happen.

>178 Crazymamie: Heh. Thanks, Mamie, me too!!

>173 magicians_nephew: You are spot on about Avery Brooks' Hawk. though I liked Urich where others might not, Brooks stole the show.

>174 richardderus: Right, Richard? Is it so hard to make a good looking, educated, and tough? You did have a picture of Gerard Butler up above. Butler's not right either. Who's between Butler and Pitt? LOL

The February Fantasy thread is open for business:
https://www.librarything.com/topic/315995#

Hello Richard! I am belatedly finding and starring you. Best wishes to you!

>180 brodiew2: Apparently, though goodness knows it shouldn't be given the *immense* pool of actors in the world.

As to who's between those two gents, I want to say "me" but it would be both untrue and unhelpful.

>181 ronincats: I shall coddiwomple thitherward.

>182 AMQS: Hi Anne! Happy to see you, and hope you'll find your breadcrumbs to get back.

I'm glad Jim mentioned the film version of Lathe of Heaven. I loved it, too. Strap on your weirdness boots.

4 I Really Didn't Think This Through by Beth Evans

Rating: 2.5* of five

I confess: I added this because Rob, my Young Gentleman Caller, is having some issues that this book addresses. I'd hoped that it would offer some gentle guidance.

Was I ever misreading the room.

I got an angry blast for being condescending and insulting his taste, coupled with a scathing take-down of its wibbly wobbly thinking about what constitutes dating, when to get theraputic help, and deafening silence on some significant issues I'm sternly enjoined not to discuss at all in public. So not so much on the guidance, then.

What led to this problem for him is the author's "sappy" sentimentality, which I put down to the generational divide and my distaste for the entire "you go girl! you got this" cheerleading thing. It looks like that might be less generational than gender based...Rob's roommate rolled his eyes so hard he saw his brain, I was instructed to say since I introduced them to that phrase and they constantly seek opportunities to use it (to my ill-disguised pride).

It's too bad. I'd hoped for a net positive result. I can't give it the requested one star, though, because I'm utterly charmed by the artwork. (Another point where we differed, he hated it.) My point being, please exercise gender bias in making this purchase as a gift. While I didn't loathe it, two males in the target population who disagree on many, many aesthetic things united in their dislike for it.

>184 jnwelch: It's weird to me how much luuuv it gets but how invisible it appears to be among the cinéastes.

-A Pink-Footed Booby (I have not seen one of these beauties)

Happy Sunday, Richard. I hope you had an R & R day with the books. I am looking forward to tomorrow off too. Hopefully, it will include a bird stroll.

>187 msf59: A visit to the Caribbean islands is in order, then. I understand Margarita Island, off Venezuela, is a great place to see them.

It was a blah sort of a day, despite the sunshine, what with Rob scorching off my eyebrows with sulphrous invective. *sigh*

>185 richardderus: Was I ever misreading the room.

Hahahah that often happens to me Richard.

I probably shouldn't say this because as soon as I do things will change but we've had very little real winter here. It's been raining for days after getting some snow early last week and that was just about the only snow we've had. So weird.

>173 magicians_nephew:, >174 richardderus: Avery Brooks was Hawk...no doubt about it. But I confess that in my mind, Spenser always looked a lot like Parker himself. I kinda think Parker thought so too.

>190 laytonwoman3rd: Spenser being Parker leans toward my Gerard Butler comment. Not that they look too terribly much alike, But it would signify a more rugged looking character than a more pretty face. What you can carry makes walberg a potentially good choice but the treatment looks awful.

I just sneaking in here to hide.... Roni bought the new Sharon Shinn series for her kindle. Apparently after my giving Books 1 and 2 rave reviews.

But I didn't know that I just reviewed Book #3 ~ . Then I saw her news!
However, I'm off the hook ~ 'all is forgiven'...

>170 EBT1002: >174 richardderus: I read Left Hand of Darkness in college too. (1984-1988). Along with Canticle for Lebowitz and some James P Hogan

>188 richardderus: What happened to make you lose your eyebrows to Rob's sulphrous invectives? : (

>192 SandyAMcPherson: A new Sharon Shinn series?

>181 ronincats: And Fantasy February? I’m off to investigate.

Especially before Richard sees >194 Berly:. (Hint, Kim. See >185 richardderus: I think Richard misread the title ;0) )

'Morning, RD!

>185 richardderus: Sorry about misreading the room and Rob's sulphrous invective.

>187 msf59: A pink footed booby?

Where I'm from boobies have nipples not footsies.

I'm back from the UK, RD and trying to maintain some happiness in my muddled mind.

>189 brenzi: It's never a happy feeling, is it? The weirdness of winter this year is grim to me because it's an indicator of just about the worst problem we're only going to get more of.

>190 laytonwoman3rd: I expect you're right, Linda3rd, he *was* Spenser in his own mind.

>191 brodiew2: Wahlberg's not a prettyboy, but he's...well...unbaked somehow. Looks less rugged than he does beat-up and ground down. Not my idea of Spenser.

>195 humouress: Yes (a new Shinn trilogy).
The set was a Christmas gift and I will be keeping them, even the one I dissed!

>192 SandyAMcPherson: Hi Sandy! Yeah, it's probably good for the peace of the threads that Kindle Unlimited became the venue she used.

>193 mahsdad: Y'all's colleges were more, umm, advanced than Southwest Texas State.

>194 Berly: He felt, and not without reason, that I was being manipulative in shoving this book onto him. That my motives were kind didn't stop his feelings from being hurt...and he absolutely *loathed* the way it's presented, and felt I was indicating he had bad taste in writing.

I've apologized all over myself, and he's had time to think it through, so he's not furious anymore. He made a point to call a few minutes ago to apologize for being so unkind in his expression of anger with me. He was a little embarrassed by the degree to which his sense of offense got control of his tongue.

>195 humouress:, >199 SandyAMcPherson: Heh. We had a chuckle about that when we talked, Nina. Have you read the Shinn?

>196 karenmarie: I'm sorry it happened, Horrible, but these things do.

Have a lovely Monday! *smooch*

>197 PaulCranswick: Weird how boobys have feet and wings and feathers, isn't it Paul?

Home is a hard place to be when you feel needed elsewhere, I know. I'm sad with you about this separation.

>201 richardderus: Thanks RD. My friends in this group are a wonderful source of consolation and support to me.

>201 richardderus: Not yet, Richard. I know I’m known for being fast off the mark but today is a holiday for Chinese New Year. Plus I still have to acquire the second half of her Elemental Blessings series.

>202 PaulCranswick: One of the internet's many blessings, isn't it?

>203 humouress: ...and you have no Kindle? I just assumed that, Singapore's climate being as inimical as it is to the book as an object of paper and ink, you'd be all Kindled up.

>204 richardderus: I do have a Kindle and it would save me shelf space, not to mention funds, if I used it more often but somehow I prefer physical books to read. And bringing a pile home is more satisfying too :0)

Overdrive is a blessing though - when I can find recommended books. My library memberships are from Australian and Singapore libraries, so American and UK books are not always easy to find. Or there’s a queue.

ETA: and yes, you’re right about the effects of the climate on books here.

>205 humouress: OIC

Would your Seattle relatives, umm, fudge a bit to allow you to claim residency and get a library card there? It's a great institution.

Because Monday.

>207 Crazymamie: ooooooooooooooooooooooo
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

yespleasemorepleasenowplease

Kogi's Kimchi Carnitas Ooey-Gooey Fries are the ultimate expression of putting toppings on fries, and I've had In-N-Out's animal fries.

>209 quondame: *faints from frustrated concupiscence*

The Essential Vegan Instant Pot Cookbook by Coco Morante is on sale for $2.99 today...it's an excellent resource, full of tasty recipes and uses the modern invention I adore to its best advantage.

Ok, I'm in. Just bought the vegan cookbook but I'm still going to draw little faces on all my root vegetables before I put them in.

>211 richardderus: I don't think I could be Vegan. I like dairy and eggs too much. I could probably handle vegetarian if I had to do so. In other words, I'm more likely to purchase a vegetarian cookbook than a Vegan one.

>212 SomeGuyInVirginia: Oh, you! Such a card.

>213 thornton37814: I use the recipes as starters and don't fuss about the vegan aspects, because I ain't worried about the Moral Purity of My Food. Waaay too poor for that kind of shenanigans.

>206 richardderus: We are in negotiations (though I do feel a tad guilty).

And this is the best way to eat chips:



Unadorned except for salt. Or, if you want to go wild when you’re dripping (especially your nose) after a swim, with a sprinkling of chilli powder.

(To be honest, I’ve never worked out how to eat chips with toppings on. Though they probably do make them marginally more healthy.)

'Morning, RDear. Happy Tuesday to you.

>207 Crazymamie: >209 quondame: >215 humouress: Fries (and onion rings) are simply an excuse for catsup.

>215 humouress: Guilt-b-gon® administered. You can not keep ebooks past their due date no matter how hard you try.

>215 humouress:, >216 karenmarie: Blech. Nope, not for me, ketchup needs to be ameliorated in its sweetness by copious lashings of hot sauce. And even then I like fat more than sweet, so it gets mixed with mayo before it goes on the (never ever ever naked, at the absolute minimum with malt vinegar!) fries.

Sleepless in Long Island reports. Our external-appointment coordinator was away from the facility yesterday conferring at a conference. Sigh....

Heavy sigh.

SOoooooooo hungry..... it's the end of the interminable January and I am reduced to eating the stale crackers out of my cupboard at work for lunch. At least they are in there though - and at least there is food in the freezer for dinner!

>218 richardderus: Sighing on your behalf :(

Ketchup is only for tater tots. Although our Birdy eats them with syrup - she is nutty like that, but we are keeping her anyway.

>218 richardderus: Much sadness and frustration.

>218 richardderus: - Well, that's just some kind of crap. I'm sorry.

I picked up the terrible Texas habit of dipping my fries in ranch dressing. Yes, yes, I know. It's revolting. And yet not....

Mayo or gravy for fries, please and thanks.

>220 Crazymamie: Ketchup is for fries, and tater tots when eaten at dinner. I fully support Birdy eating them with syrup as part of breakfast.
Where do we come up with our ridiculously specific likes and dislikes for food? :D

Happy Tuesday morning to you, Richard. Sorry to hear you're still waiting to set up the needed appointment, and hoping you don't have to wait much longer :(

...aaannnd she's conferring elsewhere again today! I am assured that won't be the case tomorrow.

>219 BekkaJo: Hi Bekka! I join you in the munchies, though slightly less in the pantry-nudity. I'm about ready to push lunch up two hours and start on some tamale scramble.

>220 Crazymamie: Birdie FTW! Tots'n'syrup is outstanding. It's really only marginally more sugary than ketchup is.

>221 katiekrug: I like fries in Ranch just fine, BUT I am not a huge fan of ranch-on-pizza which is popular in Austin if not in the rest of Texas.

>222 ChelleBearss: Gravy! Hm. I do delightedly dip fries in Béarnaise, so I really have no room to be sniffy about gravy, but it hasn't (pace poutine) ever been a habit of mine.

>223 bell7: Hi Mary! *smooch* Hope you're doing well with your (wrongheaded, but never mind) ridiculously specific food tastes.

I think we're hardwired to like specific taste clusters...I myownself only like chocolate *with* things like nuts or fruits, not by itself. I won't eat chocolate mousse, f/ex, but sling some hazelnuts in it and I am so there.

Except white chocolate. YUCK

>215 humouress: I use a fork.

>216 karenmarie: There is no excuse for catsup. Ranch dressing, sure, but these messy fries are well coated and ready to brave the stalagmites and stalactites of our gullets as they are.

>217 richardderus: In Airplane mode, nothing goes away.

>224 richardderus: Nothing white is chocolate. Hazelnuts and chocolate is some sort of magic.

What's wrong with salt and vinegar on fries? I thought everyone ate them that way until I visited family in California when I was around 14. That's when I found out it was a French Canadian thing. I am not French but I did grow up in Montreal. A bottle of vinegar sits right alongside salt, pepper and ketchup on the table in restaurants. For me, that's the ONLY way to eat fries. "-)

>225 quondame: But in Airplane mode, your borrow is still over, isn't it?

>226 jessibud2: I encountered malt vinegar on fries when I encountered fish'n'chips, along about 1966 or thereabouts. (My mother didn't like them, so it was my father going rogue that made the intro.)

Curry sauce with my chips please or chili con carne

Curry sauce looks tasty...I do love curry and it isn't often that I'll turn down a chance to try it a new way...but "chilli con carne" (by which I assume you mean "chili," the beanless Texan comestible, and not "{thermally underexcited} with meat") must be accompanied by chopped raw onions, cheese, and pickled green jalapeño peppers to get my heartiest endorsement. But as a concept, thumbs up!

>226 jessibud2: Salt and vinegar is fine on there right sort of fries, and rather British I would have thought, along with the battered cod.

>227 richardderus: It's over, but not gone. I've read a few that way, and other than Goodreads failing to know my opinion, not issues.

>228 PaulCranswick: Both good, but not ultimate. To anyone who stops in LA* long enough, I offer to share an order of KC-OG-fries (>209 quondame:)!

*Mondays excepted, within 5 miles of the 10&405 intersection only.

Chips, salt and mayo!

I always forget why I stopped using vinegar until I try it again. It's the cheap incense of condiments.

>230 quondame: Laughing at the exact specificity of Susan's offer.
Not a risk of my visiting LA at this time... but very wise to stem potential tide sweeping in to take advantage of "the share"!

>233 SandyAMcPherson: Really it's that that is about the range I can guarantee that the fries will still have the best texture.

>225 quondame: Chips with a fork. That would make sense in this case.

Thanks for the tip re aeroplane mode.

>228 PaulCranswick: Paul! I would have expected support from your quarter.

Fine, I’ll concede the malt vinegar and even go so far as to top my chips with fish.

>234 quondame: Really ;0) Now, if you’d told me that a couple of weeks ago when we were transiting through LAX ...

>217 richardderus: ATD, RD. No hot sauce, no mayo, but I love you anyway.

>225 quondame: Well, Susan. I’ve never tried Ranch Dressing and have no intention of trying it this late in my life. *shudder* We have some friends who put it pretty much anything not sweet.

>236 karenmarie: But, but, garlic! Ranch dressing is the cunning disguise garlic has assumed to infiltrate the American heartland as a cool liquid, in its seemingly harmless mayo looking aspect it enlivens salads and offers a savoy alternative to dippers of fried or even fresh vegetables and tortured chicken bits.

Okay, let's be clear. One can hardly ruin a good french fry. Ketchup, "fry sauce," tarter sauce, chili, cheese, Ranch..... I mean, I'm a traditional ketchup lover and that is my first choice but I've not been known to turn my nose up at any french fry. Never. Not once. Fried. Potato. Just yes.

Oh, garlic works too. Plus ketchup. :-D

Morning, Richard. Happy Wednesday. I hope you are having a good week. How are those books treating you? Anything worth hootin' about?

Good morning, RD! Joyous Wednesday to you. *smooch* from your own Horrible

>237 quondame: As with your reviews, Susan, you go to the heart of the matter. But garlic is an acquired taste, one which I don't really have. I was raised on bland mid-western fare. I use garlic when a recipe calls for it but don't go out of my way for it.

>224 richardderus: - Ranch on pizza was something some people did in Dallas, too. The only time I had it like that was on a buffalo chicken pizza, and that was acceptable - it was just a light drizzle anyway.

Hope you have a good Wednesday, RD!

>230 quondame:, >233 SandyAMcPherson:, >234 quondame: Interesting digression on the alchemy of frying....

>231 SomeGuyInVirginia:, >232 SomeGuyInVirginia: ...so no on the vinegar for you...got it.

>230 quondame:, >235 humouress: The airplane mode info is most useful! I don't borrow ebooks, they want one to read them *right*then* and that's a recipe for my never reading anything at all.

>236 karenmarie:, >240 karenmarie: *smooch*

I shall leave you to the bland side of blah with much repining. We all eat as we must, I suppose, and I must have garlic and herbs and chilis and olive oil and capers...
...
...now I'm hungry again, darn it.

>237 quondame: I can't say I like ranch on salads, not in many years, but it's a delight indeed. As is green goddess, another herbfest that I use for purposes not-salad-related more often than I do for salads.

>238 EBT1002: My enthusiasm for the thing "french fry" is easily satisfied. I like them loaded up with stuff, or hidden beneath rich, fatty dips, but on their own just salted I regard them as something to notify the Geneva Convention about.

I'm happy to report that Gilroy garlic fries are A Thing to the garlic fanciers among us.

>239 msf59: No books read...some stories...still troubled by attention issues, meaning I fall asleep very easily and forget what I've read.

>241 katiekrug: Yeah, it's a Texas thing in general. At Gatti's in Austin, we made a jalapeño bacon cheeseburger pizza that was served with ranch and it was a goer. I liked it, too, I hasten to add.

Thanks, I hope I do as well, though the hope is dimming by the moment.

>243 richardderus: My very first sister-in-law introduced us to pickled lemons in which zested lemons were quartered and sunk in a bath of olive oil with garlic, rock salt, and chilies, and forgotten for at least two weeks. The sour, salty, garlicky, hot delights were our family's indirect (olive oil had no part in the original) unknown introduction to Korean Kimchi through a Russian family (my sister-in-law's father and siblings) living in Japan. Other Russianized European recipes as interpreted by Japanese chefs were too labor intensive to be repeated, though the apricot won-ton in brandy sauce were amazing.

>246 quondame: I lovelovelove lemon pickle in all its permutations. Kimchi is aces by me as well, though I like advance notice of its inclusion in a meal so that certain steps can be applied to ameliorate its digestive end results.

Apricot won-ton with brandy sauce is not A Thing in the general public because...?

>247 richardderus: Because it takes 2 days and about 10 hours to make. The sauce, for some reason, was a translucent celadon.

>248 quondame: OIC

Yeah, that's not a goer. But celadon brandy sauce sounds *awesome* indeed and needs to be A Thing.

For some reason any food that's a translucent celadon color sound awesome. Is it because it reminds me of wasabi, which is nature's perfect dare food- deadly and delicious? I took so much once I couldn't breath, almost died in third-rate Asian restaurant. Just like the gypsy woman said I would.

>250 SomeGuyInVirginia: wasabi, which is nature's perfect dare food- deadly and delicious?

Like you had an allergy reaction? I can't eat wasabi, or any mustards. I have an anaphylactic reaction. :p

In the range of all possible things I could brave a mild allergy to wasabi, I break out in hives if I eat cashews. I think I just put too much on a California roll because it's basically a tiny salad covered in white rice. Absolutely could not breath, though. Now I dilute it with soy sauce.

Hi Richard, Here in Buffalo both ketchup and vinegar are on the table at restaurants for fries. I love them with salt and vinegar. I've had them with gravy.

Blue cheese dressing is used with wings and some people also use it on pizza. I know. Not me but members of my family.🤷‍♀️

And I have also used airplane mode when I haven't finished a library eBook when the loan was up. Not often but I confess to having done it.

Well, I'm glad that I ate before perusing your thread, Richard, although now I am craving fries and sushi (not together).

Just catching up here and now I am starving!! I could eat fries for breakfast, no?

Have a fantastic Thursday!

'Morning, RD! I hope you have a fine Thursday. *smooch*

>250 SomeGuyInVirginia: I wonder...purèed celery is translucent celadon...

>251 SandyAMcPherson:, >252 SomeGuyInVirginia: No allergy needed to react that way to an overdose of wasabi. It's an astonishingly powerful aromatic substance. Diluting it is urgently necessary, soy sauce is nice and basic so it reduces the power of wasabi's active acids.

>253 brenzi: Hi Bonnie! I'm not against people using any- and everything on their food, I'm just unwilling to partake of most variations on sugary sludge atop or as main courses or sides. Sugary sludge is dessert, dammit!

>254 Familyhistorian: Hi Meg! Sushi plus fries equals California roll, IMNever-HumbleO, and darn good it is too.

>255 figsfromthistle: Sure, Anita, you're over 21, you decide what goes into your mouth and when. Enjoy!

>256 karenmarie: I hope I do, too, Horrible. *smooch*

Hey, buddy. Just checking in. We're back home, and I'm catching up on LT, although the number of posts is daunting!

>257 richardderus: reduces the power of wasabi's active acids ☛ sparking my inner plant biochemist ~
Actually, the 'power' comes from glucosinolates...

>259 jnwelch: Hiya Joe! I can well imagine the volume of material is overwhelming for the weary homecomer. I hope you
& Debbi get back in the swing soon.

>260 SandyAMcPherson: Gluco-whatnow-lattes? Verschmeckel me much?

ETA I looked at the article and came away convinced that chemistry was never, ever a career choice I would consider!

Have you ever read The Wishing Game by Patrick Redmond? I read it years ago and remember liking it enough to carry it through two moves, but my memory is short on details. I re-read the opening bit and it's really a perfect example of what I call a gasper- shock allsorts.

>262 SomeGuyInVirginia: No. I was previously unaware of its existence, though that excuse has now fled...AND you soulless fiend it's published in English by *shudder* Disney. Something Dangerous is their title for it. I do so loathe buying anything that has Mauschwitz cooties on it. Like avoiding products that will fatten the coffers of IG Farben et alii.

Some stains cannot be eradicated.

>263 richardderus:
At the recent library conference I learned that Mauschwitz purchased the publishing arm of National Geographic from Twentieth Century Fox, who had purchased it from the nonprofit National Geographic Society back in 2015. Now any of those books, and the iconic magazine will be published by Disney. Not by the venerated institution based in Washington, D. C. However, Disney gets to keep the logo and use the name. That was part of the deal with Rupert Murdoch and it is what Disney paid to billions to get.

>264 benitastrnad: That entity is revolting to me. Their lobbyists are the ones responsible for Congress passing a breathtaking copyright law that protects their repulsive rodent and the other helium-addict cartooneries from passing into the public domain. Along, of course, with ever so many orphaned works that can't be legally resuscitated because their precious copyrights must be maintained No Matter What!

Like it is not possible to buy absolute oceans of pirated goods that infringe their copyrights already, openly and without official interference, in multitudes of cities around the world...and on The Retailer Everyone Loves to Hate.

SAY IT AIN'T SO!

I'm really surprised, it doesn't seem Disney in the least. I wouldn't do that to you! But now I know why it hasn't been published for kindle here- they danced when the devil and the devil won. All his other stuff is on kindle. The Disney version must have cut stuff out.

It's not that I loath censorship, even abridgments bug me.

You'd be astonished what Disney has its diseased corporate talons into, and has had since who-whipped-the-pup. They do not care in the tiniest remotest scintilla of a bit what makes them money so long as it's not publicly or easily traceable to the revolting rodent logo.

Wanna retch your guts up? Research "Reedy Creek Improvement District". Not the PR but the legal trail.

I just can't investigate, it will make me ill. I was in the gym once, on a stationary bike, with a bunch of DC types. We were all watching some talking head show and I started yelling at the tee-bee. Nobody was amused, including me. Suddenly I WAS the crazy person. I just don't have the emotional teflon to shrug horror off.

I work across the street from the White House. I have to be always vigilant least the bastards roach my buzz. It really bugs me.

My heaven, I'm 24 and lord of creation. What's happened to the world since then has just been scary. I'd go back in an instant.

It will indeed make you ill, so no. By no means do that. And, well, anything that involves walking close to Ground Zero in the rape of our country by that Russian puppet gets my vote for stress and damage to one's psyche.

I was 24 during Reagan's first administration. No thanks.

Richard, dear heart, I'd go back in the blink of an eye.

Right now I'm waiting on Door Dash Chinese. I took my sleep meds, my plan is to be asleep 10 minutes after the delivery individual fucks off.

Much love, you always continue to delight and astonish. Was today wine with the lie-berrian? Does the local have draconian strictures on naughtiness?)

6 Man from Saturn by Harriet Frank, Jr.

Rating: 3.5* of five

In my daily perusal of the Obituaries, I saw a notice that Harriet Frank, Junior, had died at 96. I loved the, um, well, adaptations is too different in modern usage to apply here, let's say "films inspired by the work of William Faulkner" that she and her husband Irving Ravetch wrote long, long ago. In following the trail left in that obit I saw she'd published a lone SF story in 1953; got curious, and hadda go get it. Green men (emphatically not little ones!) who reconstitute in water, from metallic meteor fragments from Saturn's rings, who are six-four and built like bodybuilders? Sign. Me. Up.

But good lawsy me, I've become such a silly ol' SJW that the Bechdel Test splashed a lot of mud on my shiny denial of the sheer, absurd impossibility of the set-up and smacked my sensawunda to the canvas before I was on p5. Not one single instant was spent *not* thinking about "Sam Saturnis" and how...eager...Betsy Simms was to...deepen...their acquaintance.

That it also involved a Government investigator, a creep of a fiancè, a slimy man-trap, well...all the standard tropes of romantic fiction, I can't be sure how Amazing came to publish it. It was very skillfully constructed, but it probably lit up the letters section for months with misogyny! And that ending, well, it's bog-standard and if you know one single thing about romantic fiction you already know what it was.

It was free to read here, so you won't lose any money. But it's not exactly a classic.

You've been warned.

>270 SomeGuyInVirginia: Pixilated Person needs to retire to his couch, methinks, with smooches and pats.

Hi RD!

I'm beyond tired of the rodent infiltrating everything. One of the things that especially turns my stomach is seeing little girls out in public in princess costumes when it's not Halloween. *shudder*

5 Weight by Jeannette Winterson

Rating: 3.75* of five

Autobiography is not important. Authenticity is important. The writer must fire herself through the text, be the molten stuff that welds together disparate elements. I believe there is always exposure, vulnerability, in the writing process, which is not to say it is either confessional or memoir. Simply, it is real.

No one can ever say Jeannette Winterson lacks authorial chops. Self-aware aphoristic ones. That is a beautiful distillation of the purpose of becoming an author.

Atlas, he of the weight of the world on his shoulders, had a mother. She was Earth, Gaia, THE Mother. His Titanic self was born of her union with Poseidon, the Sea, her complement in this Universe of Elements called Air, Fire, Water, and Earth. (Not for the Greeks the effete Orientalism of including Wood or Metal! They spring from Earth, are held within her potentialities.)

Earth was always strange and new to herself. She never anticipated what she would do next. She never guessed the coming wonder. She loved the risk, the randomness, the lottery probability of a winner. We forget, but she never did, that what we take for granted is the success story. The failures have disappeared. This planet that seems so obvious and inevitable is the jackpot.

As we're learning better and better every day. Over 4000 "exoplanets" (humans and their deep-seated need to discriminate!) later, we still have found no other planet truly capable of bringing forth Life as we know it. Permaybehaps because those other Mothers don't have mates:

She loved {the Waters} because he showed her to herself.

Or the *right* mates, anyway. She's unique, our Gaia, and we...
...no, not now.

Atlas the Titan rebels against his younger, prettier siblings the Olympians because he didn't want them telling him what to do. His Garden of Eden was Atlantis, the eternally shining and perfect past that every generation of humanity is certain was without problems or cares, everyone always got along, love and respect were common as pig tracks, and Gaia filled our bellies with all her bounty unstintingly.

Snort.

So Atlas pursued his war against the Olympians on the flimsiest of pretexts for both sides:

My daughters {the Hesperides} had been secretly eating the sacred fruit. Who could blame them, the tree, sweet-scented and heavy, and the grass underneath it wet with evening dew? Their feet were bare and their mouths were eager. They are girls after all.
I did not see the harm myself, but the gods are jealous of their belongings.

Zeus and Company prevail in the ensuing war over trivialities, this "we don't like you so we're taking away your stuff because we like doing AND having that." (It's hard for me to read this myth without thinking the Greeks were busy explaining slavery to themselves.) In his "guilt" and its ensuing punishment, Atlas is condemned forever and always to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders as Olympian punishment for the egregious individualistic desire for freedom he went to war to secure:

I bent my back and braced my right leg, kneeling with my left. I bowed my head and held my hands, palms up, almost like surrender. I suppose it was surrender. Who is strong enough to escape their fate? Who can avoid what they must become?

And that's the crux of the matter. Atlas accepts his punishment and assumes his burden Because.

That's it. Really. Just...because. You can blow all the smoke and angle the mirrors however you like: The only thing you'll ever see is "Because" shaped in smoke and reflected at as many angles as there are. Fate is a deeply convenient double-bind technique, like sin and guilt. "You're bad! BAD! Yes, YOU ARE BAD!!" and the punishments needn't even ever be external...they're hefted onto shoulders by the bearers themselves, never to be put down because they are obviously just and fair and right. Why?

Because.

So here into the narrative comes Enkidu...oh dear, please pardon me!, I meant to type "Heracles" honest I did!...the unbridled, unreflective Master of the Universe, the id-on-legs that Zeus the seducer tricked his wife into suckling (a story I don't know, but feel I should look into) so as to offer his half-human bonny wee laddie immortality. He's godlike in his strength, beauty, and sense of entitlement. He's a rapist, a murderer, and a hero to those it suits him to assist.

I think...it's just a suspicion, mind...but I think it's just possible that Author Winterson (a known Lesbian) might have a few smallish issues with cishet toxic masculinity. Enkidu...there I go again, silly old faggot...HERACLES, of course, rapes women, masturbates in front of his cock-tease stepmother:

Hera was beautiful. She was so beautiful that even a thug like Heracles wished he had shaved. Without a mirror she showed him to himself, muscle-swollen and scarred. He feared her and desired her. His prick kept filling and deflating like a pair of fire bellows. He wanted to rape her but he didn’t dare. Her eyes were all contempt and mild disgust.

...as well as his dupe of a cousin Atlas, and offers half-heartedly to wank the latter when he says, "I don't have a free hand," when Heracles asks him to put on the show. Doesn't happen...Atlas says, "I'm too tired," eliciting from Heracles a derisive snort of "you sound like a girl."

You know the myth: Heracles (literally "the Greatness of Hera") needs Atlas to pilfer the Golden Apples from the Garden of the Hesperides, in return taking the weight of the world onto his own shoulders. It does not go well for Heracles:

Hera says, "No hero can be destroyed by the world. His reward is to destroy himself. Not what you meet on the way, but what you are, will destroy you, Heracles."
***
His body was as strong as Atlas’s, but his nature was not. Hera was right about him there. Heracles’s strength was a cover for his weakness.

Heracles is waking up! At the precise moment he can not run, hide, fight, or fuck his way out of self-reflection, here it is: He's a weakling. He can't do diddly-squat that isn't a feat of his body and using only the basest, most cunning of ruses. Strategy? What's that? But need a tactician and you found your dreamboat.

The myth runs its well-told course along precisely the lines the Greeks told it for so many millennia. The insights Author Winterson are, for all they're sparkling like bubbles in prosecco, not particularly new. She does a fine job of unpacking meaning from myth. One would expect no less from the author of Sexing the Cherry. And, to be fair, she wasn't tasked with Revealing New Levels of Meaning in the myth itself, she was asked to retell it in a modern vein. At this she succeeded admirably. But my reading pleasure, my very real Gollumy glomming onto sentences that I want to have made into Jasperware plaques and sculpted into entire palaces of Chihuly glass, is ultimately...okay. Not superb, just okay.

She didn't do it wrong. But I've seen it done before, sometimes with the names changed and sometimes not. That is what gave the read a rating under five stars...that and the (not unreasonable, not unjustified) misandry. It wasn't very subtle, nor was it intended to be (or so it seems to me), but it also wasn't particularly insightful. That I *do* expect from Author Winterson.

Here, as my last salvo, is why I expect the unexpected and the glorious from her:

If only I understood that the globe itself, complete, perfect, unique, is a story. Science is a story. History is a story. These are the stories we tell ourselves to make ourselves come true.

What am I? Atoms.
What are atoms? Empty space and points of light.

She speaks to us, the reader, directly and she gives herself the best lines. It's her story, she is entitled to do that. But I wanted more of this from the myth-retelling, and while I got beautiful words, I felt I wasn't given quite as much insightful wordsmithing of this last sort.

>273 karenmarie: Hey Horrible! Happy Friday.

Preachin' to the choir, ma vieille. I do not understand the desire to be a princess. I particularly don't like and don't understand the *pressure* on girls to Be A Princess, the way it's held up as THE THING TO DO.

My mother, goddesses please don't relent in your eternal punishments, did this to my oldest sister, restricted her calories and made her exercise, constantly sang the refrain "girls must suffer for beauty, Lynne," and now she's roughly spherical, unkempt, and militant about it. I do not blame her.

(The other sister has always been slender, pretty, and a tomboy.)

The motivation...control of women's bodies from the outside and, not incidentally, gigantic profits for Mauschwitz...adds a level of disgust and horror to the proceedings.

Anyway. On to the rest of our lives. *smooch*

>273 karenmarie: >275 richardderus: I have always loved dress-up. Maybe I was brainwashed/stockholm'd into it in toddlerhood, though I lived in a TV free though regularly cinema'd world. I would caution anyone not to stand between a small girl and a pretty dress she wants, the wee beasties are forces of nature and quite capable of exhausting the store of rational explanations within the breast of a modern, freedom of expression loving parent.

>276 quondame: The princess wants what she wants, and the path of least resistance is always the most tempting. Mama was unrelenting in her insistence on dressing us to her exacting style. I wasn't exempted. It's the imposition that I object to, in this case; in general, it's the pervasive girly-girl girls and cowboy/storm trooper boys modeling that just can't be escaped...to the ka-ching! of Das Haus von Maus's cash registers.

>276 quondame: I loved pretty dresses and boufant petticoats when I was young. I went to school when dresses/skirts & blouses were mandatory for girls. I wore dresses or suits/blouses to work through the early 2000s and enjoyed them well enough. What I object to is Disney princess image that little girls are taught to aspire to and indulged in year-round.

>277 richardderus: Yes, the familiar strong mama problem, which has delayed numerous teens after they rounded the corner to change out of the proscribed outfits into something hopefully more acceptable to the peer group, or perhaps just personal taste.
As to the evils of rodents, my amoral younger brother was research director at Imagineering and told a tale of how maintenance shorted at the park. I commented that they had just sat there and decided to kill someone, and he paused and looked as if that were a new idea, and said, yes, I suppose we did. Prior to that he did research on how to make people actually watch adds and take in the messages, for which I bootlessly ragged on him. Ah well, he's good company and picks up the dinner tab.

I wanted to be in advertising when I got out of school but I stopped when I read a that Pepsi (or Coke?) was developing a technology to create floating ads that would be visible in the night sky. This was a thing in the 90s and recently read a news story that said corporations were still looking into it. They wanted to paint the night sky with Drink Coke ads. Eventually it's going to happen.

>272 richardderus: Baw, what a nice way to pass out slip into dreamland. Four straight hours before I woke up in a panic. Like the song says, 'It's getting better all the time.'

>273 karenmarie: >275 richardderus: I TOTALLY get the allure of dressing up! Prince/princess/lonely goatherd. I spent the entire fall of third grade dressed in my Halloween costume (I was a vampire. You can do an amazing lot of scene changes with a cape.) Seeing a girl dressed as a Disney princess wouldn't bother me. And seeing a middle-aged guy dressed as Maleficent at the Dupont Circle drag race kind of delighted me, too. Put on those glad rags, chirrun.

(Oh, phew Richard, you’re still here. Paul’s lamenting alarmed me.)

>261 richardderus: Never too late!

>275 richardderus: I’m sure you’d pull off the princess look beautifully, Richard.

I always think that the best costumes are the ones you put the effort into making yourself rather than buy off the shelf and the best Hallowe’en costumes are the spooky ones.

The best dress-up I’ve seen was at my kids’ school. Every year they have a school-wide cultural day and kids are supposed to wear clothes that reflect a national costume/ identity. I happened to be in the school a couple of years ago on the day and saw one or two boys dressed in the iconic uniform of Singapore Airline stewardesses and I was impressed at their courage. And then I was delighted to come across a whole gaggle of boys - maybe ten of them or more -in the uniform, lipstick and all.

>278 karenmarie:, >281 SomeGuyInVirginia: I object to the pressure to conform most of all, the life-long (in some cases) abjection to The Gawd of Fashion with its all-too-often attendant psychological and financial abuse.

>279 quondame: Your kid brother sounds like a corker! Fat, readily-opened wallets make up for a lot.

>280 SomeGuyInVirginia: In a weird way, Elon Musk's shiny cubesats bringing internet to The Hoi Polloi have done that very thing. They make astronomy orders of magnitude more difficult.

*smooch* Four hours is bettetr than fewer.

>282 humouress: A bunch of Singaporean lads dressed as stewardesses?! Good lord. The Singaporean government must've been asleep that day. They quite famously FROWN ON suchlike.

Nope, not me, no lamenting necessary du côté de chez moi.

>283 richardderus: Expat boys, not Singaporean.

>284 humouress: OIC

All is explained.

Good morning, RDear. May your day be filled with coffee, good food, good books, and whatever else pleases you.

*smooch*

Have a wonderful weekend!

Morning, Richard. Happy Saturday. I took today and Monday off and will not have to return until Wednesday. A little late winter break. Heading out to a retirement seminar now. Hope to glean some solid information. The afternoon, should be reserved for the books. Enjoy your day.

>286 karenmarie: *smooch*

>287 ChelleBearss: Thank you, Chelle, you do the same.

>288 msf59: I hope you're possessed of some good action items after the meeting. Take-aways about financial security are always useful...and a stretch of unwork time to mull it all over is a good thing.

7 The Hunger by David Rees

Rating: I really don't know. Five, three, none of them capture the relived reality of the book. Say four.

Okay, so it's like this. I re-read this book because of Kick-Ass Katie's January Reading Through Time thread on The Irish Potato Famine. I was thoroughly delighted by it in 1986. I found it at Liberty Books in Austin, the first exclusively gay/lesbian bookstore we'd ever had. It was a joy to have something every bit as good as A Different Light, the New York store that seemed like Mecca to my book-loving queer self; there wasn't A Section, like there was at the University Co-Op on the Drag, it was the point of the place! BOOKS BY QUEER PEOPLE!! ABOUT US!! All over the place there were covers with *men*touching*men*!! It was heady stuff. I spent $400 (in 1986!) in the first month it existed. This book was one of the first I bought. I'd heard of the Famine, had a vague sense that the English did it on purpose, and that Irish folks in the USA were still pissed about it. That struck me as weird, and it still does to be honest, but it made me think there was some kind of good story here. That, and the cover had a lovely tableau of a dark-haired man tenderly cradling what was clearly his heart's treasure, a blond guy with closed eyes. Sold!

Wealthy Englishman Anthony Altarnun and Irish smith's son Michael Tangney are lovers in pre-Famine Ireland. The neighbours (to misspell it in the manner of the London-published book) are, well, suspicious...the men behave queerly (in the old sense) in their intimacy, as they are pretending to be master and servant. But Altarnun is a fine, upstanding man, honest, forthright, and genuinely good to his tenants.

Then the Famine hits.

Altarnun beggars himself to feed his people. The politics of the Famine means that, because of the duration of the engineered crisis, he ends up destitute and on a Famine Ship to America with Michael. He contracts typhus, is nursed by his not-quite-faithful Michael, and dies before they reach America. And that's where a framing device, the family left behind family members' heirs receiving a mysterious bequest, comes into play. Michael's life in America is apparently successful. Of course his left-behinds wouldn't keep in touch with him, since he was a Sodomite and a catamite and a vile shirt-lifter. So this descendant, unnamed and without any evident personality, has set their eyes on recovering and retelling the story.

It was an astounding blow to my generally poor acceptance of how we were written out of history by our dearly beloathèd families, by the set-up of a society that wouldn't let us form legal families...Michael is telling an Irish fellow emigrant about Anthony:

"My...he...died of typhus. On the ship."
"He?"
"There isn't a name like husband, because the world doesn't admit such things exist. But I was as married to him as any mand and his wife are to each other."

And there it was. That year, 1986, was mid-AIDS crisis. My older boyfriend from my teens, Paul, had died not long before. But there was nothing for me to hang my grief on, "geez what's wrong with you, he was just a friend!", and you know what? That moment on, I was absolutely convinced that marriage equality was not going to make a damn bit of difference because human beings are vile and irredeemable. This idea was borne out once and for all on 9 November 2016 and subsequent events.

The end of the book:

So nothing of Michael Tangney's exists now.
Except for a silver spoon, which {a lawyer} sent to {the writer's great-aunt}; it has engraved on it the initials M.T. and this motto: Hungry dogs will eat dirty puddings. It is on my desk in front of me, as I write this.

The blight that is prejudice afflicts populations as well as people. Survivors of one, both, more than enough forms of this uniquely human evil don't have nearly enough of y'all's...our...attention for their stories. As the President of Ireland said to the English government's flunkies on a 1995 visit:

Even now, it is not too late to say sorry. That would mean so much.

Fat goddamned chance.

8 The Famine Ships: The Irish Exodus to America by Edward Laxton

Rating: 4.5* of five, I guess, though less for organization than for effectiveness

This is a non-fictional indictment of the heinous politically engineered, prejudice-motivated famine the English inflicted on the Catholic Irish from 1845-1851. Two and a half million people died or emigrated; Ireland was permanently radicalized; and still the goddamned perps haven't apologized, still less made amends...though, now that I've said that, how would that even be possible? Money won't resurrect the dead.

The book. Yes.

Laxton tells the tale via facts and figures, anecdotes drawn from the documents and media of the day. The unusual facet of this book's focus, for a US audience, is that he uses the Irish ships and the Irish crews as well as the Irish emigrants as the sources. It remains underappreciated, at this distance in time, that the Famine wasn't universal in Ireland; there were Irish who ate and lived as normal even at the lowest depth of the crisis. Laxton tells us the story of the downtrodden, but he does so via the lens of the lucky. He even reminds us that Henry Ford, he of the Ford Motor Company and designer of the Model T, was the son of a Famine emigrant. If not for the hideous, vile, evil people who perpetrated the Famine, the world would not look the way it does today for both good and ill.

There are many period illustrations, facsimilies of documents, and two signatures of lovely color plates reproducing paintings of the ships of the title. The jacket is a Rodney Charman painting of an imagined embarkation from Ireland; his work is all marine-themed painting or drawing, and it is lovely. I'd recommend the book for someone wanting to know factually what happened in a compact telling that doesn't stint on sources or on stories.

Thread three is up! Come on over!