All Purls. No Swine.
So. The world is going gaga (lower case) today about Taylor Swift's rendition of "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?" at the ceremony inducting Carole King into the Rock-and-Roll Hall of Fame. As with most things Taylor Swift, it's heavy on the pop, the backup singers, and the synthesizers and I don't know how much… Continue reading Musical Sundays: Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?
Cross-posted--for the most part--from Ricochet: So there I was this morning, slurping up my daily “Jolt of Good News” from the Good News Network when I came across this tidbit and was catapulted (you’ll see what I did there in a moment) back several years in my Ricochet life. Normally, I only get this sort of… Continue reading The Gentrified Cats of Istanbul
95-year old Queen Elizabeth gracefully declined a nomination as the 30th "Oldie of the Year," an annual award given by Oldie Magazine, a "light-hearted alternative to a press obsessed with youth and celebrity." Previously celebrated by the annual tongue-in-cheek award, among others, were John Major (politics), Olivia de Haviland (entertainment), Glenda Jackson (entertainment) and Ian… Continue reading Queen Declines ‘Oldie of the Year’ Award: You Go, Ma’am (as in ‘ham’)!
The sprawling science fiction series involving Honor Harrington started in 1993, with On Basilisk Station. Nearly thirty years later it is still going strong with nearly thirty novels and six anthologies in five different threads. To End in Fire by David Weber and Eric Flint is the Honorverse’s latest arrival. Part of the “Crown of… Continue reading Book Review by Seawriter: The Hunt for the Mesan Alignment
The Characteristics of a Narcissist An all-pervasive pattern of grandiosity (or fantasy or behavior), leading to the need for admiration and adulation, while lacking empathy, usually beginning in early adulthood and presenting in diverse contexts. Five or more of the following criteria must apply: Feelings of grandiosity and self-importance (examples: exaggerates achievements and talents to… Continue reading Are You a Narcissist?
The image of the boy in a tree, sawing determinedly away at the branch he is sitting on, while he's actually sitting on the wrong side of it--on the part of the branch that's going to fall to the ground with him on it when he cuts all the way through--is one that's always amused… Continue reading Step Away–I Got This (Not)
Yes, the pedantic me (or "I" as it should more properly be) knows that in his most famous quatrain, William Ernest Henley spells, and is using the word "strait" as it applies to a narrow body of water, often difficult to navigate and get through in one piece. And certainly, sometimes when you're undertaking a… Continue reading How Straight the Gate!
In my Autumn garden I was fain To mourn among my scattered roses; Alas for that last rosebud which uncloses To Autumn’s languid sun and rain When all the world is on the wane! Which has not felt the sweet constraint of June, Nor heard the nightingale in tune Broad-faced asters by my garden walk,… Continue reading An October Garden
Jake August writes pulp fiction. He was a Navy Criminal Investigation Division officer, before he got shot in a brothel in Occupied Japan and was invalided out of the service. Now in 1952, he writes paperback novels for Rattlesnake Books. Deadline: New York, a mystery by Jim Lester, explores the emerging world of paperback publishing… Continue reading Book Review By Seawriter: A 1950s -Style Noir Mystery Set in 1950s New York
Before my husband, Mr. Right, died last year, he spent many years (probably well over a decade, now that I reflect on it with the benefit of hindsight) slowly succumbing to dementia. It's a cruel disease, as many of you know. But also looking back on it, and--indeed--since he died, I've found humor in some… Continue reading An Autocorrect Fail, or Just the Funniest Book Review Ever?