Image – ASkaugset https://www.flickr.com/photos/pagent/ – licence https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/
A gentleman is simply a patient wolf – Lana Turner.
Month: October 2017
What I’ve been reading – Bethany by Anita Mason
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Sly, subtle portrayal of the implementation of cult structures and procedures in a social grouping. Complete with an abusive, narcissistic bully posing as caring commune leader, and submissive devotees serving dual function as enforcers – and all without ever being so crude as to explicitly state the purpose of the narrative. Compliance is rewarded, and consent vigorously manufactured to Newspeak assertions that up is down and the earth is – metaphorically – flat. Resistance and dissent are vehemently discouraged. But will one prospective mug/mark manage to evade the net?
Clever. And unsettling. Not a jolly read, but a memorable one.
Image – Jenny Mackness https://www.flickr.com/photos/jennymackness/ licence https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/
What I’m reading – Shifting Shadows by Patricia Briggs
Finished ‘Fairy Gifts’ in this collection of short stories – the story of Thomas (vampire) & Margaret (fae) from the Mercy Thompson universe (Moon Called et al). The story is a vast improvement on ‘Silver’, Thomas in particular nicely characterized and believable. The twist in the tale is not very unexpected, but this still makes a satisfying story. The historical element is also realistic and interesting, and without the annoying ‘mythic’ quality of Silver. (I didn’t like Silver!)
Image – Just Another Shot https://www.flickr.com/photos/wideopencode/ licence https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/
Queen Kitty will grant you an audience now…
Exhibition: Richard Bawden, Paintings, Linocuts & Etchings Location: Hayletts Gallery, Maldon, Essex Date: Until 11th November 2017 Details: Richard Bawden is a painter, printmaker and designer working predominantly in lino, etching and watercolour. His work has a graphic, linear quality and a strong sense of craftsmanship, which translates naturally into many forms. These have included […]
via RICHARD BAWDEN, PAINTINGS, LINOCUTS & ETCHINGS —
Gorgeous regal cat, isn’t she? How lovely. Wish I could make it to this exhibition!
cute kitty alert
I have neither excuse nor reason for this post. Except that this image by Ronald Searle, public domain via Wikimedia Commons, was so adorable I just wanted to share it with other pussy lovers. It made me think of ‘I Am A Cat’, by Natsume Sōseki. Which I must get back to reading. It’s not gonna finish itself.
We all do ‘do, re, mi,’ but you have got to find the other notes yourself*
Image – Chris Hoving https://www.flickr.com/photos/pcrucifer/ Creative Commons licence https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/
I’m listening to Scarlatti a lot lately – and really, could it be any more like the spots on a blue butterfly’s wing?
*Louis Armstrong
A Shakespeare Scholar and Spy
http://www.thepassivevoice.com/2017/10/a-shakespeare-scholar-turned-nazi-hunter/
Lovely article! Surely heading for feature film production somewhere? I bet Rachel Weisz would do a lovely job playing Elizebeth Smith Friedman.
image – Georgia https://www.flickr.com/photos/leechun/ licence https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/
hello darkness*
http://rcdow.org.uk/vocations/blog/a-novena-for-peace-and-renewal/
This is one of the first page results I got from a random-word Google search today. It’s the one that sprung out immediately and caught the eye on the page, although not the first result as such. Interesting, huh? Got to admit, I’m always picking up signs and interpreting messages. I blame Pam Grout.
This, though?
Sometimes, the universe just needs a kick.
Image – Alex Antropov https://www.flickr.com/photos/51686021@N07/ licence https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/
*ya know where it comes from. you oughtta.
Tears are only water, and flowers, trees, and fruit cannot grow without water*
image _foxy on Flickr https://www.flickr.com/photos/27395274@N00/ licence https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/
I was obliged to take a walk into town today, due to transport issues – GOSH-DARN INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES, WHY WERE THEY EVER INVENTED? But there were compensations along the way, abundant compensations. Primary amongst these were the vetches in the hedgerows and the woods – multi-headed purple vetches, and purple vetches are almost my favourite vetches. (Apart from birdsfoot trefoil, and that’s an unfair competition, because birdsfoot trefoil is also colloquially called eggs-and-bacon in the UK, AND HOW CAN ANY DECENT WILDFLOWER BE EXPECTED TO COMPETE WITH THAT?)
Vetches are the prettiest things. The internal combustion engine is the annoyingest thing, but vetches are the derndest prettiest things.
Also the blackberries are not quite yet finished off – or pissed on by Satan and rendered inedible, as the folklore has it. (It’s the maggits in wild brambles that bother me more than Satan’s theoretical outdoor hedgerow slashes while out on the piss. Copious amounts of salted water, to deal with the wildlife, can render them uneatable anyway.)
image Andrew Barclay https://www.flickr.com/photos/electropod/ on Flickr https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/
There were even some unripe blackberries still hanging high, fruit and flower everywhere, nature in profusion and gloriously fertile.
It rained a little, and I’d forgotten my brolly. But I didn’t feel I had too much to complain about, all told. I came back with biscuits, after all – and biscuits are the comfortingest things.
*Brian Jacques.
‘how important it is to play our music while we’re here’
https://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2017/10/our-journey/
The wisest, most loving response I’ve seen to the Las Vegas shootings so far.
Also, remember that one person died yesterday in a spirit of hate, wanting to take as many as he could with him.
But dozens of heroes died in a spirit of love, protecting the ones they loved themselves. Just looking at the numbers, I think they won.
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