Vogon called to dictate a list of things he would like me to bring him tomorrow. He didn't want me to pick books for him [1] so I had to go into the stifling hot study and read titles off a pile of books. Much repeating and explaining where a particular title fell within a series ensued.

Somewhere after the end of that, he said "Oh, and I want [mumbles]". I asked him to repeat it.

Vogon: Hitchee goomee.
Me: Hitchhiker's Guide?
Vogon: Hitchee goomee!
Me: I still don't understand what you're saying, so I'm just going to pull the hardcover Hitchhiker's Guide. (I think that he has the pre-Mostly Harmless edition, but whatever.)
Vogon: That's what I said! Hitchee goomee!
Me: I think your mouth is too close to the receiver, because it sounds like you're saying "hitchee goomee".
Vogon: That is what I said!
Me: It must be an abbreviation that doesn't carry over well in speech.
Vogon: [slowly] H. 2. G. 2.
Me: I get that now. You could have just said "Hitchhiker's Guide".

--

1. I was going to pull Musicophilia, The Mind and the Brain, and Banvard's Folly.

For a fleeting moment I knew what key my tinnitus[1] is in and bolted out into the living room to grab one of the electronic keyboards and a set of headphones to confirm it. Unfortunately Vogon was asleep and Laurel was watching TV, and its horizontal scan rate noise throws my perception. I am ready to unplug that irritation box. Vogon assures me LCD television sets do not make that noise (the one we own is in his study and not the living room), but the harmonic between the TV and my tinnitus has been annoying the crap out of me since I quit watching TV last month. DO NOT WANT that noise.

I'm going to hole up in the bedroom again with more soothing BBC World Service and get back to reading Oliver Sacks. I smile every time he references Jourdain and all the mentions of plasticity. Does neuroplasticity count as a fandom?

I am tired of the TV-noise and need to either cajole Vogon into enabling wireless connectivity or just run a network cable into the bedroom so I can have internets without the torture of TV-noise. I keep having good ideas spoiled by hearing the same few episodes of iCarly, Hannah Montana, and Wizards of Waverly Place. Sufficiently annoyed by TV-noise, I would happily beat up all of their casts and knock Billy Ray Cyrus about the head until he stops using that dreadful "cuntry" (misspelling intentional) dialect.

Good noise was on Selected Shorts this week, though; Percival Everett's "The Appropriation of Cultures" read by Ruben Santiago-Hudson. I laughed so hard I almost peed myself. The next time I see the Confederate flag, I will hear the story's main character say "That's the black power flag, brothers."


1. If I heard a high A continuously as Schumann did late in life, I would sell everything I own for any medical intervention to make it stop.

I have an ear infection and am slightly incoherent as a result.

I finished the Ramona embroidery last weekend and photographed it, so please feel free to tell me to stop being a lazy bum and unload the camera/upload to Flickr already.

I survived the four-day weekend with the midget with a little retail distraction. On Monday we walked along the south side of our block to find Crayola triangular capless washable markers at CVS for Austin (caps on markers get in the way when you are two and a half) and popped in Family Dollar to look at random stuff. Found Suave Radiant Brunette shampoo on clearance for $1.60/bottle. Might want to stock up on that.

Trying to get through weeding outgrown clothes before spring cleaning, I am about two-thirds of the way through Laurel's wardrobe. Bought a couple more long-sleeve tees to get her through to spring, but the Middlebury hoodie I bought last fall is nowhere to be found. I asked her if it was under her bed or had been left at school; she giggled and shrugged, "I'm forgetful!". I am not amused.

revme, I have finally finished the Zach'ry section of Cloud Atlas (the least gripping story for me) and am happily back to Sonmi. Cannot wait to get to the conclusion of Louisa Rey's mystery, I had a minor case of the fantods when the first half ended where it did.

I spotted this on whipupnet the other day and forgot to mention it, so here you go:

Australian magazine publisher Creative Living Media is offering a free six-month subscription to the online versions (a page-through view in your web browser, no viewer download) of your choice of their titles Beads etc, Creative Expressions (edited by a machine embroidery designer), Creative Weddings, Down Under Quilts, or For Keeps Creative Paper (cardmaking and scrapbooking).

The free subscription requires a first/last name and a valid e-mail address; by giving them two or more e-mail address for friends you can the subscription extended to 12 months. Sign up here:
http://subscriptions.creativelivingmedia.com.au/subscriptions/

...

I picked Down Under Quilts and did the two-addresses-for-twice-the-time offer; I got access to a year's worth of back issues printed (um, to file, but that's another story) maybe eight or nine projects. They say up front that the foldout pattern page is not included in the online issues but I found them in some of the earlier back issues. I hope you find it or any of the other magazines as potentially interesting and useful as I did.

These are the top 106 books most often marked as "unread" by LibraryThing’s users. As in, they sit on the shelf to make you look smart or well-rounded. Bold the ones you've read.

( Read more... )

It's a bit embarrassing how many of those I read thanks to the English program at D'Evelyn.

We let the worm composter go for awhile without regular attention, so we're restarting three trays this weekend. Laurel enjoys helping with the worms, so I'm only helping minimally this round. (My knees are thankful for that.) Some of the finished compost will be going to repot the ficus plants and restart the potted grass for the cat. The pineapple could stand to be repotted too, but I have to cut it back first. Not a fan of bromeliads poking me.

...

The Thursday winter weather postponed the school event where we're providing face painting and balloon decor to the end of the month. This gives me more time to buy some small Snazaroo palettes, a couple of stampers (with volunteers of unknown experience painting it's a good choice) and decide whether to buy cosmetic glitter. I'm considering the UV reactive Snazaroo paint too, but that would be for personal use.

...

After hitting another plateau of motivation/behavior with Laurel, we've been listening to the audiobook of Marshall Rosenberg's Nonviolent Communication and applying it there. It would have been nice to do the Landmark Forum, read Richard Lavoie's books and listen to Rosenberg earlier in Laurel's life. Just Lavoie's books would have been much more useful to read while I was pregnant than the "What to Expect" series and never-let-your-child-cry books that made up most of my local library's parenting collection.

We've also been using new-to-her music as an earned incentive for consistent behavior, so this weekend I sussed out her taste in Desi music some more (I've been downloading desihits.com podcasts and noting artists she likes) and I bought Baby Loves Jazz and Vienna Teng albums to burn to disc for her to work toward.

I want to make snarky comments about plagiarism, but this is so bizarre it stands on its own: romance "author" Cassie Edwards uses passages of an environmental magazine article as dialog in novel and is outed by the ladies of Smart Bitches, Trashy Books.

Links:
- Cassie Edwards Investigatory Extravaganza at SBTB
- "Move Over, 'Meerkat Manor'" article at Newsweek
- "Ferret Article Allegedly Plagiarized in Romance Lit from Monday's Talk of the Nation; it's 17 minutes but worth listening to just to hear Tolme (the ferret article author) say "Is that a ferret in your loincloth or are you just happy to see me?".

Barbara Ehrenreich in The Nation ("Bonfire of the Disney Princesses"):

"Disney likes to think of the Princesses as role models, but what a sorry bunch of wusses they are. Typically, they spend much of their time in captivity or a coma, waking up only when a Prince comes along and kisses them. The most striking exception is Mulan, who dresses as a boy to fight in the army, but--like the other Princess of color, Pocahontas--she lacks full Princess status and does not warrant a line of tiaras and gowns. Otherwise the Princesses have no ambitions and no marketable skills, although both Snow White and Cinderella are good at housecleaning."

She nicely sums up why we have some Princess products, but not to excess -- and certainly not on the walls. Walls are saved for characters that kick butt: Atomic Betty, Kim Possible and a hilarity-inducing drawing by Laurel of an eye patch-wearing blonde (think Elle Driver in the Kill Bill movies) and a dog with the caption "We will save you!".

'Cause man, if I have to be saved, I'll certainly welcome someone that can run in heels. Being able to run in heels while wearing an eye patch is simply impressive. And pirate-y.

Found via NPR: "A study finds that in 2002, only 52 percent of America's young adults read a book voluntarily." (This is referring to the latest NEA reading study.)

I really doubt they're all reading The Road to Reality in time with Vogon, who probably will take a year to finish it because it's dense. (No bets on how long it would take me, lacking an equally deep mathematical background.) Also: a book? Singular? I read that a week. Now. When I say I'm hardly reading anymore. Cheese and rice.

One thing I don't like: book fair items are sold at cover price unless otherwise marked down, so the value of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is $35 from the percentage of sales we are allowed to pull in product for the school. Our local elementary school has 500 students and one copy of that title in their library.

So, reader participation time: if you have a hardcover copy of any of the Harry Potter books sitting around that you wouldn't mind parting with, call a local school and ask if their library wants it. Odds are you'll get a very friendly reception. Our local school's library could use a few extra copies of Chamber of Secrets, Half-Blood Prince (we donated one a few years ago) and Deathly Hallows if you'd like to pass them along to a school I'm involved with. As usual, I do offer my skilled services in thanks for your donation.

(Next week is book fair at the school Laurel attends but I'm not as involved with their PTA, so I won't write much about it.)

Fifty years ago this month, a San Francisco municipal court judge ruled that Allen Ginsberg's poem "HOWL" was not obscene.

Last week a public radio station chose not to broadcast a 1959 reading of the poem due to fear of an FCC fine.

You can listen to an online broadcast of the poem at HOWL Against Censorship.

Gearing up for birthday week is fun. My latest Amazon.com order arrived yesterday, so I gave Vogon part of his gift early: a copy of Roger Penrose's The Road to Reality: A Complete Guide to the Laws of the Universe [review in Physics World].

I'm digging into Richard Lavoie's The Motivation Breakthrough with a pack of post-it flags and a notebook. So far there's a bit of overlap with his It's So Much Work to Be Your Friend, but it's mostly in reiterating that adolescence is a period of trying to avoid embarrassment. Lots of references to Levine and Coloroso, as I expected, and nicely called out suggestions for classroom teachers. I might buy a few more copies to donate to our local gifted and talented association's library.

...

The Unifix cubes arrived and we've already put them to use in drilling for math computation. I'm not sure whether we'll use the Invicta attribute blocks yet, but the lot included a quart-sized bag full of pattern tiles so we have another incentive for completing a sheet of practice work. Unlearning years of Saxon habits is going to be a slow process for me.

Happy birthday, sage_and_sea and revme! I love you guys.

I found some light reading to offer you as an e-gift that is FULL OF AWESOME: "The Trouble with Tribbles" if adapted for television by Edward Gorey, drawn by Shaenon Garrity.

Books sitting on the back of the toilet: 3.
Books stacked on top of my dresser: 28.
Books carefully stuffed into the built-in shelving: 40.

Then I got tired of counting, but remembered...

Books recently unpacked onto the couch: 3.

Thanks for the new additions, revme. I'm halfway through Public Radio: Behind The Voices and soaking in its wonderfulness.

Tangent: Why didn't I know you were interested in Spider Robinson?

Getting a stomach bug is definitely not a comfortable way to lose weight. Then again, laughing at the phrase "High Speed Inserters" in a monster.com listing isn't a comfortable way to snort a beverage either. At least being under the weather has given me lots of time to read Damn Interesting and let the cat sleep next to my head. I love my fender-kitty.

The castle near Lair O' The Bear park in Idledale is now available as an event location, although the photos didn't show any evidence of the metal fire-breathing dragon that guarded over the castle in the early 1990s: Dunafon Castle.

I recently heard on NPR that salt water mosquitoes have arrived in Dallas. I'm not surprised that I learned this from public radio, since the local news is busy with stories of crime just like History Channel keeps wibbling between History From The Bible and Every Person Ever Connected to Hitler. Don't even get me started on Sci-Fi lately.

One thing I like about traditional needlepoint is that it stitches up much faster than cross-stitch or petit-point, both of which I love but sometimes I want a quicker project.

While I don't think I'll be stitching anything from Rosey Grier's Needlepoint for Men, that samurai is pretty badass.

It hit me today that I am an intellectual snob while I was watching my daughter's classmates talk about the most recent book orders while waiting to be picked up after school.

I'm thrifty and put together an order of 13 books for just under $25: a five-pack of Beverly Cleary's Ramona books, a five-pack of Magic School Bus books from the Scholastic Reader series, and a three-pack of Flat Stanley books.

I stick to a basic book order buying plan of a mix of "one-sitting reads", chapter books, and something popular that she can relate with her classmates about reading. I know that sounds a bit doofey for me, but I think that  having some of her reading be titles or series popular with her classmates helps her socialization skills. The school librarian is great at keeping me up-to-date on what's popular (because libraries : me :: crackhouse : junkies) and I let Laurel pick out whatever she wants when we go book shopping as a family, so I think my book order buying plan works well for us.

Back to the story, a classmate of Laurel's came over to show us what he got and tell Laurel what he got was better. (This isn't a character judgment, it's just what he does.) For nearly twice the cost of what we spent, he got just two items: a My Pod Storybook & Personal Music Player (part of the Reader's Digest "book and player" format, it's a ROM player) and a large-format picture book that came with 3-D glasses.

I think this explains why I never see any books when I've visited their home.

After that, I thought "I bet that explains why their fifth grader displays reading skills at a second grade level." I know there's more involved that I don't know about, but it makes me sad that they have a huge big-screen TV as the primary piece of furniture in their living/diving area and no books in sight other than the mom's textbooks and a few religious titles. What's there for the the kids to read? (I'm not suggesting that the Bible's not good, just that it's scant variety for recreational reading.)

The UPS guy just dropped off a package from Amazon.com. After reasurring Vogon that I did not know what it was, I told him to open it in case it was a surprise.

He made excited noises and told me some of it was for Laurel and the rest was for me.

Laurel is reading Sideways Stories from Wayside School RIGHT THIS MINUTE, despite my reminders that it's 26 minutes past bathtime and she has to be in the bath by 2030.

Vogon keeps stroking How We Became Posthuman, which toddler_hiway charged me to read awhile back.

Me, I'm just bouncing around because I can read Probable-Possible aloud ad nauseam ANYTIME I WANT!

I'm unable to Postulate How!

Huge ridiculous hugs and sloppy kisses to revme.

(Nicked from moon_orchid)

This is a list of the 50 most significant science fiction/fantasy novels, 1953-2002, according to the Science Fiction Book Club.

Bold the ones you've read, strike-out the ones you hated, italicize those you started but never finished and underline the ones you loved.

( Read more... )

Why isn't I, Robot on this list?

Also, no VALIS?! You could have put the cat on a leash.

This was exactly what I needed to perk me up on a gray morning, or at least have a good laugh thanks for Jessa Crispin's deadpan observations at bookslut:

Courtney Love, uh, made a book. "Wrote" is the wrong word. It's sort of like sneaking a look at someone's really f*cked up diary. It's called Dirty Blonde, and it made me pull out my copy of Pretty on the Inside again. Salon sort of reviews the book, sort of just tries to justify Love's existence. It seemed a bit unnecessary until I started reading the comments. People compare Courtney Love to Hitler in those comments. (I wonder if the same people commenting are the same people using Salon's dating service. That would explain some things.)