Posted By Ardellis at 4:31 am, June 24, 2009
Comfort reading is like comfort food, only not fattening. It’s an indulgence that you give yourself when you’re stressed or tired and want something familiar and beloved. Over the years I’ve discovered that my comfort reading list is really quite short: J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings; Emma Bull’s War for the Oaks; the original Wild Cards series edited by George R.R. Martin.
And officially, as of right now, Elizabeth Bear’s Promethean Age duology The Stratford Man: Ink and Steel and Hell and Earth (aka, from Bear’s blog entries while she was working on it, Will and Kit’s Bogus Journey — which joke you’ll totally get if you’ve read it). I devoured it when it came out last summer, and it was the first thing my hand went to a couple of weeks ago when I was looking for something to read and none of the stuff in my unread pile looked appetizing.
And even though I know what’s coming, Bear is still making my breath catch in my throat. And I’m just as in love with Kit and Will and Tom and Lucifer and Morgan and Murchaud the second time around. Maybe moreso.
Category: Fiction |
1 Comment »
Tags: elizabeth bear, kit marlowe, will shakespeare
Posted By Ardellis at 4:00 am, June 12, 2009
Off to sunny Florida tomorrow, to load the last of my late father’s belongings into a moving van so we can drive them back to Massachusetts.
Not my idea of the ideal vacation, but what can you do? At least it gives us an excuse to visit my cousins in Tampa and friends in Raleigh.
Category: Life Offline |
1 Comment »
Tags: family
Posted By Ardellis at 4:57 am, June 4, 2009
New Hampshire has just legalized gay marriage. That’s six states so far, five of them in New England.
What are you waiting for, Rhode Island?
Category: Society, Law, and Politics |
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Tags: gay marriage
Posted By Ardellis at 7:12 am, May 30, 2009
First thing I thought of when I woke up this morning and saw the date on my computer?
416 years since Christopher Marlowe was killed in Deptford.
Not accounting for the change of calendars in the 18th century, of course.
Category: History |
1 Comment »
Tags: kit marlowe
Posted By Ardellis at 5:38 am, May 11, 2009
We saw both of these in the last few days, and now that I’ve had time to digest them…
Star Trek had one particularly huge plot hole in it (which I would have to be spoilery to explain). It bothered me that they shoehorned Pavel Chekhov into the cast, even though he ought to have been closer to 12 than 17. And, please, someone explain to me why Scotty had to have the cute alien sidekick? Still, the casting was exceptional — I was particularly pleased by Zachary Quinto’s Spock and Zoë Saldana’s Uhura– and the film was a fun romp.
I also enjoyed X-Men Origins: Wolverine, despite the fact that they felt the need to stick in a young Scott Summers and an unnamed but obvious young Emma Frost (apparently without her psi powers?). Also, this was the first film in the franchise in which Hugh Jackman’s complete lack of shortness was actually distracting. I was glad to see that Gambit’s eyes are still red, even if it’s only when he’s using his powers, but he wasn’t slick enough for my tastes. But despite that, and the terribly overdone wire-fu, I had a good time.
Category: Entertainment & The Arts |
3 Comments »
Tags: comics, film, star trek
Posted By Ardellis at 6:04 am, May 9, 2009
This is probably the coolest use the internet has: to get images of unique historic artifacts out where everyone can see them.
Have a look at the Codex Gigas, also known as the Devil’s Bible.
Category: Entertainment & The Arts, History, Language, Life Online |
1 Comment »
Tags: calligraphy
Posted By Ardellis at 7:19 am, April 30, 2009
Yes On Gay Marriage is gathering signatures on a petition to tell President Obama and Congress to get off their duffs and get rid of marriage discrimination at the federal level.
Sign it here.
Category: Society, Law, and Politics |
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Tags: gay marriage
Posted By Ardellis at 11:37 am, April 18, 2009
I’m enough of a book geek that I’ll frequently choose a trip to a used bookstore over going to a movie. Which is what my husband and I did last night and came away with three bags of goodies.
Among the “new” acquisitions: beginners’ books on learning Persian and Japanese, a quotation dictionary, a handful of paperback novels, a couple of DVDs… it’s better than chocolate.
Category: Fiction, Language, Life Offline |
1 Comment »
Tags: used books
Posted By Ardellis at 5:52 am, April 9, 2009
It’s been a banner week for the cause of gay marriage, what with Iowa and Vermont doubling the number of states that have stepped into the 21st century.
It’s amazing, watching the world change like this, however slowly it’s happening.
Category: Society, Law, and Politics |
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Tags: gay marriage
