Joseph Backholm, filing a referendum against same-sex marriage said today “There are lots of meaningful relationships that are not called marriage. Marriage should be reserved for a man and a woman and the children they raise.” Does the inclusion of children mean that Backholm also wishes to make a legal distinction between children born in […]
Some intriguing definitions from the Samsbad Bengali-English Dictionary, marooned among words in an alphabet I cannot read, with no page numbers because I can’t read those either: a sound as of munching; confused noise as of hot discussion or incessant prattling. possessing catlike brownish eyes the sound of biting off or cutting off (esp. suddenly) […]
An Uncertain Place: a Commissaire Adamsberg Mystery, Vargas, tr. Reynolds. Yes. I continue to be fond of Vargas’s hero, Commissaire Adamsberg, and the writing and (perhaps especially) translation are lovely, but I fear the plots are becoming more involved than I need. Vargas is not nearly on the thin ice that Tepper is, though.
This is now old news, but this post has been in draft for several months. From the 5.0 license agreement: When you use Siri, the things you say will be recorded and sent to Apple to process your requests. Your device will also send Apple other information, such as your first name and nickname; the […]
When I was a child, I listened to music as a child. I went to a Sharon, Lois and Bram concert (mom bought me a tiny Mon Cheri chocolate box, which I remember more vividly than the music). I had a record of the songs and poems of Dennis Lee (and stared at the album […]
A couple weeks ago, one of my Twitter accounts was followed by a spammer. This is not unusual; a huge percentage of Twitter accounts are spammers. The thing that caught my eye—though perhaps not quite as the spam machinery intended—was in the bio: “dip me over and fuck me doggystyle. Whatever you want I will […]
Dead Mann Walking: A Hessius Mann Novel, Petrucha. Yes. Petrucha has created a unique (to my knowledge) first-person narrator in Hessius Mann. I am looking forward to the next installment to see if he can maintain the level of interest, given Tana French’s rationale in giving each of her Dublin Murder Squad books a different […]
Reaper Man: A Novel of Discworld®, Pratchett. Yes. Again, Pratchett provides reliable entertainment. This one introduces a particularly entertaining minor character, and Death can always be relied upon to add that certain something.