Country Cousin

The Women's Crusade

Thu, 20 Aug 2009 17:09:36 GMT

part of a special NY Times Magazine issue on Saving the World's Women.

Can't think that they chose particularly helpful wording for the title. But the article is good and is currently at the top of the most-emailed list.

www.nytimes.com/2009/08/23/magazine/23Women-t.html

uh, yes, lot of that going around

Wed, 12 Aug 2009 14:08:11 GMT

hat tip to dkogan

http://www.reallifecomics.com/ Aug 12, if you use this link later.

I suppose a lot of movies are fan fiction, by that reasoning. But some of my favorite authors do, too. Laurie King, with her Mary Russell books, in particular. Mary Stewart with her Merlin/Arthur series. Lots of others visited that mine. Mary Renault's retelling of old Greek stories.

Jimmy Carter on leaving the Southern Baptist Convention

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 11:31:05 GMT

Because of their God-favors-male-supremacy stance.

Hat tip to mmegaera.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/jul/12/jimmy-carter-womens-rights-equality

ETA: Actually the decision was made in 2000. This is just a continuing essay on the same issue.

Literary Fail

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 13:22:49 GMT

These folks publish a quiz each week, different subjects. Unfortunately, the link below leads to the answers as well as the questions, so I've supplied this week's questions. I got 5 :-(

http://corp.credoreference.com/quiz

Fictional Characters
A recent addition to the Credo Reference database is the "Chambers Dictionary of Fictional Characters". All the answers to this quiz about people in books can be found there.

Questions:
1. Which writer created the character Bilbo Baggins?

2. Name the heroine of Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice", who falls in love with Darcy.

3. Which 1851 book by Herman Melville includes a character called Queequeg?

4. In Kingsley Amis's "Lucky Jim", what was the surname of Jim, the struggling university lecturer of the title?

5. Which novel by Charles Dickens includes the character Little Nell?

6. Which 1951 novel features a rebellious 16-year-old called Holden Caulfield?

7. Name one of the two children - a brother and sister - who are the young governess's two charges at Bly in Henry James's "The Turn of the Screw".

8. Which author created the character Professor Timofey Pnin in his 1957 novel "Pnin"?

9. What are the names of the two "merry wives" in Shakespeare's "The Merry Wives of Windsor"?

10. Claudia Hampton is a character in which 1987 novel by Penelope Lively?

Another SF survey

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 00:44:16 GMT

Joyeuse13 is running another survey, this time on participants' understanding of some terms. Her post describing it is here:

http://joyeuse13.livejournal.com/547942.html

Microfiber Cleaning Cloths

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 15:27:11 GMT

Many of you know about these - this is for those who don't, yet.

You can buy, almost anywhere, cheaply in bulk, inexpensively in small packages: cleaning cloths, purportedly made of "micro-fiber".

Sounds like a marketing scam? Probably some of them are, but I haven't found those yet.

They clean very well, pick up dust and hold on to it (until you wash them) and can be used with and without cleaning solutions. Good for dusting, cleaning, glass, monitors, wood floors, etc.

I'm not going to write an essay; do a search on "microfiber cleaning review".

I am very much into recycling and would much prefer, normally, to use for cleaning something I used to wear or sleep on.

But these things are very much worth the price and can be re-used themselves. I have yet to throw one away.

An Omnibus Philosophy

Sun, 14 Jun 2009 21:15:47 GMT

The State Association

had declared a convocation

At a well-located hotel

here upon a certain date.

If the weather turned out balmy

I could saunter out quite calmly

And be certain to arrive there

neither sweaty nor too late.

But the weather turned out surly

and the meeting time was early -

Should I walk I'd turn up soggy

and perhaps a little late.

Now a bus runs thither, nearly;

I could hop upon it, clearly;

So I looked up scheduled bus times

so I'd not arrive too late.

A later bus was timely

should it run its route sublimely,

But if that bus were tardy

then I would have been too late.

So I left my house quite early

lest the early bus be early

And I miss it and be tardy

should the later bus be late.

Thus it happened I was early,

for the bus I took was early,

'Cause I'd feared I might be tardy

should the later bus be late.

Dreamwidth Invite Codes - Gone

Sun, 17 May 2009 18:26:18 GMT

I've set up a DW site as countrycousin, primarily to keep in touch with some folks who may move there entirely.

ETA: They're gone now.

I've been given a couple of invite codes. If you want one, say so and leave email/contact instructions. Comments are screened.

review: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

Tue, 16 Dec 2008 04:31:36 GMT

a novel by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows, published in 2008 by the Dial Press.

This delightful little novel is set in England and the island of Guernsey right after WWII.

The principal protagonist is an author who, at the start, is in the midst of a book tour promoting a book she has just published collecting humorous and inspiring columns she wrote for a paper during the War and having trouble getting into her next book. That setting is quickly supplanted due to a letter she receives from a resident of Guernsey.

Guernsey and the other channel islands are not far off the coast of France and were occupied by Germany shortly after Dunkirk. The Society of the title was formed during war as part of coping with the occupation. It and the people who formed it captivate the protagonist and she promptly passes on the pertinent evidence and captivates us. At the time of the story, England and the channel islands are still trying to rebuild their lives following the war. Our protagonist wants to write about this for her next book. We don't get her book, but we get a variety of letters as she learns about the island and the occupation.

The whole novel is structured as a collection of letters by different people. I admit: this structure is one that normally does not hold me. An exception that only lasted a prologue was Dorothy Sayers' introduction to Busman's Honeymoon. The letters were from a variety of characters, written in appropriate styles, and let the reader pull together the picture. This book is similarly delightful. Most of the letters are from the principal protagonist, but she is joined by a cast of varied supporting characters. The letters are witty and amusing in spots. "Amusing" is not appropriate for all of the spots; those letters are appropriately written. "Witty" is not appropriate for all of the writers; those letters are appropriately written.

I am not spoiler-sensitive*, myself, but I find it hard to say a lot more without adding spoilers. The book is a delight to read. The people we meet are varied and skillfully painted. Life progresses, perhaps with a few coincidences, but who wants to read about the same-old, same-old? There is laughter and tears, behavior sturdy and superficial, romance unrequited and fulfilled. You'll meet several people you'll be glad you did. As I write, the NY Times has it as 18.

Edit: Mary Ann Shaffer wrote the book, but became ill before the final editing was complete. Her niece finished the book. Shaffer died in Feb. 2008.

*My feeling is that most good books are a good re-read; obviously spoilers aren't a factor then.

Got me again

Sat, 13 Dec 2008 04:47:13 GMT

Sunday evening I was in the middle of a construction project, holding some pieces with wet glue and an absolute disinclination to remain in the position which destiny had decreed they assume when my wife walks in and says that the Director of the Senior Center has decreed that she produce me at the Senior Center promptly.   Hmmm.   This was obviously some setup, but the Senior Center (I'm on the Board, was Treasurer, and, of course, have to leave all that when I move) had made a very nice recognition at the Annual Meeting not long ago. But. One does not mess with the Director.  I meekly abandoned my project, replaced my rather grubby outer layer with a more festive one, and let myself be led off.

Got down there. Walked in. Bunch of folks I mostly didn't know. No Director.  Someone comes up - it is the Ambulance Crew.

I've made a couple of posts about the dunking booth these folks run at our annual festivities on Labor Day Weekend. I did it again this year, too, but don't have any new pictures. The lady who comes up says they're having their holiday party and want to share it with me in appreciation for my efforts. Uh-huh. Nice dinner. Afterwards, presentations, and, to compress, I am now an honorary member of the Ambulance Crew, with a handsome plaque to prove it. They don't take me out on runs, so central VT folks can rest easy. Arthur Fiedler I'm not.

I am very honored.  And successfully bamboozled again.

Tactical error

Sat, 13 Dec 2008 04:16:10 GMT

It is nice to have a bit of music while doing dishes, but tonight I made the mistake of putting on the Stratford DVD of The Mikado.

The music is, of course, superb. But so is the acting and choreography. I kept sneaking rather extended peeks and my chores were thereby extended.

The Stratford G&S DVDs are indeed a blessing.

Life

Sat, 22 Nov 2008 05:09:43 GMT

I posted in July that we'd be moving, and various consequences have kept down my posting, although rather a lot has been happening. One thing is implied in a profile change: I am no longer a Village Trustee, although I have agreed to help them out with electrical matters for a while, and I spent an hour on the phone today with non-electric municipal concerns.

So I'm intending to make a series of posts to memorialize some of these events.

DW had church obligations: seasonal bazaar tomorrow; she was supplying meringues. She enlisted me to help her carry various stuff to the church tonight for preparation. Her work and that timing meant that supper was late (She is an expert. Consequently, although my mother trained me well, I stay out of the kitchen, except for clean-up. So no-one wants dinners that I might prepare.) So she suggested, beforehand, that we head down to Subway for a bite after our logistical jaunt. We completed our task and walked down to the village center. We passed the Library, and she said, remembering something, that she had to stop in there and pick up something. OK, I'm easy, although it was a bit puzzling. But Brain was idling. Saw a bunch of people I knew in the Community Room. hmmm Some meeting going on tonight, and she has to get something there? OK. I'm tame. And clueless.

She walked into the room. I knew people, so I followed, hoping to remain inconspicuous.

Everyone turns to me and starts clapping. I'd been had, but completely. It was a group of Library supporters. Over the decade I've been here, I've served on the BoD, been Treasurer both of the Library and the Friends of the Library, and been tech guru. It was an appreciation gathering, and they gave me a nice card and a photograph of the Village, done by one of the people who does professional photography.

Very moving. I'm not that good, frankly. Almost everyone there does more than I do. But I very much appreciated the sentiment and the surprise. DW had tricked me earlier, too - I'll write about that in a subsequent post.

We have voted

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 17:19:13 GMT

1037 at 10:45 am, not all absentees fed in yet.

A little over 2000 voted in the general election of 06.

There are over 3000 names on the checklist, but I don't know how well purged it is. They do try, but it is difficult in a rural town with a college.

I have one totally non-random exit poll from Indiana: 1 previous Bush voter is reported to have voted for Obama. You can add that to Dixville Notch to hold you until evening.

We got stickers, but mine fell off. :-{

Political Stand Meme

Thu, 30 Oct 2008 00:57:18 GMT

From many on my FL*: I don't do this much, but, because of various activities, particularly Q8, CA:

Copy this sentence into your livejournal if you're in a non-same-sex marriage, and you don't want it "protected" by the bigots who think that gay marriage hurts it somehow.

I could go on about this - I, personally, think there would be virtue in allowing some civil arrangement that would allow people to set up a legal close relationship with other people, regardless of actual or presumed intimate relationships. I was told by someone closely involved with the efforts here (VT) that it would interfere with other legal structures. Anyway, it didn't happen.

*in different versions, particularly, non-same-sex <=> heterosexual

Non-Vorkosigan Bujold Quotes

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 18:38:30 GMT

We had a spate of Vorkosigan quotes. A re-read of The Curse of Chalion cries out for a spate of others.

One particularly appropriate for full-moon time in October:

"My chosen god is, dare I say it, fiendishly ambiguous at times . . . "

A Night in the Lonesome October

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 02:56:28 GMT

by Roger Zelazny 1993

I think it is out of print but one can get copies.

Anyway, it is that time of year again:

from the prologue
"I like being a watchdog better than what I was before he summoned me and gave me this job."

from Ch. 1, Oct 1

"The Thing in the Circle changed shapes, finally making itself look like a lady dog of attractive person and friendly disposition."

from Ch. 2, Oct 2

"Jack has a long list of ingredients, and things must be done properly on schedule."

I can't read the next chapter until tomorrow.

Bujold quote meme

Sat, 20 Sep 2008 03:24:43 GMT

from mmegaera

When you see a Bujold quote, post another Bujold quote in your LJ, and see how long we can keep it going.

Such riches to choose from...

I better get this in while I can . . .

"Shopping."

(back to lurking. Still trying to sell a house.)

'nother grammar quiz

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 21:43:18 GMT

I normally do well on these. Got all of the last one that went by.

OK, here's another.

http://www.mentalfloss.com/quiz/quiz.php?q=329

I got a whopping 1 out of 10.

Enjoy.

US-centric observation

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 18:30:44 GMT

In those areas where they are personally managed, today is actually National Lawn-mowing Day.

Life

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 02:48:53 GMT

We're moving.

From an 11 room Victorian with basement, attic, and garage where the two of us do not rattle around because of all of the good junk I accumulate, to a 2 BR & a den condo with no basement, attic, or garage other than parking space. It does have a nice view.

I enjoy computers and migrated into the software business, at home as well as professionally. Since I have retired, I've been associated with a couple of organizations, and people have donated castoffs to them. Which I have accepted. Trouble was, the organizations had better stuff by that time from other sources. So I had this stuff in my attic, basement, garage. As well as my old stuff, which I didn't want to let go for compatibility concerns.

So I have taken 14 or 15 systems to recycling over the past month. Only a few printers. Other obsolete hardware. One I took today was a 30 year old Apple ][ with a SN around 1400. Broke my heart to think about it, but, in fact, the last time I got it going, fifteen years ago, I spent half an hour reseating chips to get off enough oxide so that the circuits would actually run. So I'm down to a mere 8 (not counting PDA, HP100, cellphones, etc.) That's enough so we can show the house. (We got on the cover of the local Picket Fence! Neither DW nor I are in any way cover persons, but we live in a cover house!) But we have to get rid of a lot more stuff before the end of the year.

So I haven't been as active this last month and will probably be less active than my normal low rate for the rest of the year.

One good thing that happened a couple weeks ago:

We took off an afternoon to visit the construction site of our new residence and make some choices. We were in time that I could specify where I wanted cat5 drops; I hope I still feel the same way when I move in!

Then we went to a nearby restaurant that we knew of and celebrated our 49th anniversary. It was Friday the 13th, but 49 is 7 squared, so that defended against any residual bad luck. Very nice dinner, and the staff were very nice to us.

Commonly Confused Words Test

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 02:12:06 GMT

Several people on my FL have done this one. The first time I tried it, I had to take a break in the middle and never did get results, but this time it worked.

I seem to have done well enough, but I have a question. Here's one I don't know: We will select who(m)ever comes in first. I suppose I'll have to post it on the List and hope Dr. Whom notices.

Your result for The Commonly Confused Words Test...

English Genius

You scored 100% Beginner, 100% Intermediate, 100% Advanced, and 100% Expert!

You did so extremely well, even I can't find a word to describe your excellence! You have the uncommon intelligence necessary to understand things that most people don't. You have an extensive vocabulary, and you're not afraid to use it properly! Way to go!

Thank you so much for taking my test. I hope you enjoyed it!

For the complete Answer Key, visit my blog: http://shortredhead78.blogspot.com/.

Take The Commonly Confused Words Test at HelloQuizzy

Blogging may be good for you

Thu, 22 May 2008 22:06:01 GMT

According to a Scientific American snippet you can read here . Unfortunately, I did not notice any comment about the positive effects of lurking.

Note to self: post more.

106 books meme

Tue, 20 May 2008 00:15:32 GMT

Several of my FL have done this, most recently bright_lilim and stoutfellow.

The following list contains the top 106 books most often marked as "unread" at LibraryThing. As in, they sit on the shelf because you were supposed to read them for school or college, because you felt you should read them because they are classics or because everyone else loves them. Or because it's simply chique to have certain books on your shelves.

- bold the ones you've read
- italicize the ones you started but didn't finish
- underline the ones you read for school - not many of these out when I went to school - and of those, I only had one.
- Add asterisks (*) to the ones you own

And comments. Not much point doing this without comments. First comment: where did chique come from? What was wrong with chic? Not chique enough?

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell - wasn't aware of this one. After looking it up, looks like I should look more carefully. But if it is on lots of folk's shelves unread, maybe I should try the library first.
Anna Karenina I've dipped into it a few times, haven't taken the trouble to really start.
Crime and Punishment*
Catch-22*
One Hundred Years of Solitude - heard good things, but not things that appealed, so never started.
Wuthering Heights - never got the urge
The Silmarillion*
Life of Pi : a novel - read a review. Maybe I'll try someday, but I doubt that I'll own it.
The Name of the Rose * Dark, but I highly recommend it for its picture of the times and Sherlockian main character. If it is on your shelf unread, give it another try.
Don Quixote* I've read parts, but not all. Yeah, this one I got because of a class.
Moby Dick I don't think I own it, and I've read most of it, maybe all. And, no, I didn't have to do it for school.
Ulysses
Madame Bovary - no urge
The Odyssey - hmm. I've read the journey, lots. Doubt that any version was a full translation. Don't own it.
Pride and Prejudice - it seems to have affected authors I like and my FL. But I haven't made the attempt, yet.
Jane Eyre - does the Classics Comics count?
A Tale of Two Cities I used to own this. I think it died and I never replaced it.
The Brothers Karamazov*
Guns, Germs, and Steel *   I intend to keep working on this one. But I get the picture.
War and Peace *  OK, this one I think I ought to try again.
Vanity Fair
The Time Traveler’s Wife
The Iliad - here again, I've read the stories countless times since grade school. Don't know if any of the versions count.
Emma - nope. Haven't done the various movies, either.
The Blind Assassin - wasn't aware of this one. Looks interesting. These silly memes apparently do have some virtue.
The Kite Runner *   I can see why it is on this list. Good book, but hard to get through.
Mrs. Dalloway - wasn't aware of this one, either. Looks interesting, but I think I'll pass.
Great Expectations
American Gods *
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
Atlas Shrugged - no urge
Reading Lolita in Tehran : a memoir in books - looks interesting, but not on the list yet
Memoirs of a Geisha - ditto
Middlesex - ah, an Oprah book. Hadn't been aware of it. Wonder if <i>Raptor</i> would count?
Quicksilver - another I wasn't aware of. Haven't even got to <i>Cryptonomicon</i> yet. Shiftless.
Wicked : the life and times of the wicked witch of the West - mildly interested, but not enough to bite.
The Canterbury Tales * I don't think I've read them all, but I've read most of them
The Historian : a novel* I read it all the way through, and it was OK, but I don't strongly recommend it. We are downsizing in half a year - this one won't go with us.
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man - have had the urge a few times, but didn't make it. Don't think I will.
Love in the Time of Cholera - good reviews, but no interest.
Brave New World used to own it in PB. It died and wasn't replaced.
The Fountainhead - no. No Rand. No interest.
Foucault’s Pendulum not as good as Name of the Rose but worth the effort.
Middlemarch - no, never tried, don't intend to.
Frankenstein - I may have read parts of this. I did read the Classics Comics, but we aren't counting those.
The Count of Monte Cristo - no. Might have done the Classics Comics, but I don't recall doing so. Had trouble getting through the movie.
Dracula* oh yes. I seem to be a sucker for creatures of the night. Don't know why - I think the concept pretty silly
A Clockwork Orange* very interesting concept. Wish it didn't take such an ugly story to present it.
Anansi Boys - no. I have come to Gaiman only recently and haven't got to this one.
The Once and Future King* OK, here is another on my shelf, uncompleted.
The Grapes of Wrath*
The Poisonwood Bible : a novel - seems interesting, but haven't got to it yet
1984 This book had a big effect on my outlook as a teenager. Used to own it, but it died.
Angels & Demons* OK, if you own this and haven't read it, you're better off. I bought it in PB while waiting for The DaVinci Code. Big mistake.
Inferno* Dante's, I trust. Have a version my mother had with Beardsley illustrations. I was a teenager BP (before Playboy) and that was about the best I could do.
The Satanic Verses* I own the book out of respect for the people who died trying to publish it. But I don't have a strong urge to actually read it.
Sense and Sensibility - no - like the others in this class, many on this list.
The Picture of Dorian Gray* Have a collection of Wilde's. All worth reading. My mother read Ballad of Reading Gaol to me when I was 11 or 12.   (And Mathematics and the Imagination when I was 13) She also staged as a high school play The Importance of Being Earnest. She got me off to a good start.
Mansfield Park - no
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
To the Lighthouse - haven't read any Woolf. Or put it on the shelf with good intentions.
Tess of the D'Urbervilles
Oliver Twist
Gulliver’s Travels
Les Misérables - Classics Comics again. I have no shame. But that was 60 years ago. And I didn't even own them - a friend had most of the series.
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time - no. I suppose I should
Dune*
The Prince another one I used to own in PB that died. These days, I can fix them.
The Sound and the Fury
Angela’s Ashes
The God of Small Things
A People’s History of the United States : 1492-present * I read most of it - local bookstore ran a discussion on it until it petered out. I appreciate his focus, but don't share his perspective.
Cryptonomicon no, but I have intentions
Neverwhere *
A Confederacy of Dunces
A Short History of Nearly Everything* I recommend it.   Annoying errors in details here and there, but the pictures seemed good. Readable essays about the development and developers of a lot of science and tech.
Dubliners
The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Beloved
Slaughterhouse-five
The Scarlet Letter I don't know if I have this one or not
Eats, Shoots & Leaves* Well, my wife bought it, and I've read part and intend to go back.
The Mists of Avalon* a little different from The Crystal Cave . . .
Oryx and Crake
Collapse : how societies choose to fail or succeed* still working on it
Cloud Atlas
The Confusion
Lolita this is on the shelf, unread? Odd. Maybe started, but not completed.
Persuasion - I have intentions, but haven't got there
Northanger Abbey
The Catcher in the Rye
On the Road
The Hunchback of Notre Dame - Classics Comics, again
Freakonomics : a rogue economist explores the hidden side of everything
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance : an inquiry into values
The Aeneid
Watership Down*
Gravity’s Rainbow
The Hobbit * oh, dear, this on the shelf and not read? Read it to your kids. Or someone else's kids.
In Cold Blood : a true account of a multiple murder and its consequences
White Teeth
Treasure Island used to own it - think it died in a flood in my mother's apartment.
David Copperfield

whew. Done. Two posts in a day! Better get to work.

On Committee Size

Mon, 19 May 2008 21:28:06 GMT

From Science News_ comes an article that tries to relate a country's development efficiency to the size of its cabinet, and gives an explanation using network theory and a particular model for arriving at a decision. I suspect there are several devils in the details of how well their model corresponds to actual working committees, and a cabinet does not correspond to my concept of a committee anyway, given that the usual organization of a cabinet is to give each member a particular responsibility.

Nonetheless, the article is interesting. For their model, it turns out that 10 or under is workable - except 8. Apparently, one should not create a committee of 8 members.

Legislatures seem to run much larger. Maybe this is why they are primarily good for burning up money and accomplishing little.

6 things meme

Fri, 09 May 2008 23:48:23 GMT

Ah, I was tagged by wijsgeer.

a. Link to the person who tagged you.
b. Post the rules on your blog.
c. Write six random things about yourself.
d. Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.
e. Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment at their blog.
f. Let your tagger know when your entry is up.

These are supposed to be six random things. How does we test things for randomness, we wonders? I suppose that tells you something, but we won't count it.   I don't think it is going to be random - it is going to be the first six things that come to mind. And I can't use my Bob_Frankston pocket protector because I mentioned that in my previous post.

1. Let's see - DW and I took separate honeymoons - and we're still together. (But it wasn't with different partners, so perhaps it doesn't count. As much.  But it is still a thing.)

2. Memory not as good as it used to be, so maybe you've seen some of these before, but I did check this previous list
for duplication. Should work as long as I can remember while going from one list to the other.

3. Just had a quick break for dinner, where the entrée was peanut butter and jelly sandwich. The peanut butter was a carefully hand-blended mixture of freshly ground peanuts and a commercial non-hydrogenated, unsalted offering. The jelly we lovingly made from crab apples from our front yard. The bread was the always-welcome Manghis'. (OK, I find the ground peanuts, which we get from a Co-op we don't get to often, a bit dry and the commercial stuff a bit oily, and I did blend them very carefully because the jar was nearly full.)

4. We have decided to leave the big Victorian with the crab apple tree in the front yard and black raspberries and the compost bins in the back and move into a single level apartment by the end of the year. Less to take care of and we're getting creaky. But, oh, my, what a lot of junk we have to dispose of! Better us than our kids. I suppose. And DW is likely to outlast me, and I think I have her worried. I don't seem to be able to dispose of computers, printers, or monitors. I have 3 Apple ][s. Thought it was only 2, but found another. And books.  I suppose I better start taking those what-to-take-to-a-desert-island memes seriously.

5. The last snow in the pile from off the roof left us yesterday, May 8. Yes, that was on the north side. I mowed the lawn on the south side a week ago.   That was with a hand mower - I'd just tuned it up for the growing season and had to give it a test run.

6. Got a copy of Bujold's The Sharing Knife: Passage for the Library, but they don't get it until I've finished the second read-through. Can't keep hardbacks (see #4, above. Very much taken by recent descriptions of e-book readers. Haven't done anything, though.)   Good book. Look forward to the next.

Tagging other people. Well, following the splendid lead of merchandisers, we're running a self-service, tag-yourself establishment here. It's the latest thing. You may cite me if it helps.