I’m Somebody Now!

Posted on July 28, 2023 by JE

“The new phone book’s here! The new phone book’s here!”

a photo of the compact Oxford English Dictionary
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My Object All Sublime

Posted on July 25, 2023 by JE

Typo of the day is snicjkered, which I take to be an especially insidious style of snickering.

e.g. “He didn’t just snicker at me–he snicjkered! So I impaled him on my snickersnee.”

A guy with unkempt hair and hairy legs wielding a sword too long to be a snickersnee. The image is captioned by a line from Gilbert & Sullivan's The Mikado: "I drew my snickersnee".
Ko-Ko drawing his snickersnee in The Mikado. Artists unknown; image found here.
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Writing Music

Posted on July 18, 2023 by JE

Some bluesy piano to cool off a hot July afternoon.

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Activity Dog

Posted on July 15, 2023 by JE

A fairly typical photo of Reuben Sandwich (PhD, MVP, DOG): lying on someone’s foot, waiting for something to fall from the table, taking a refreshing nap, with a toy near at hand (or tooth).

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Antiquus sed Bonus

Posted on July 13, 2023 by JE

Igpay Atinlay by Antgray Idersnay.

by Grant Snider at Incidental Comics
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ΧΑΟΣ

Posted on July 12, 2023 by JE

I don’t know if you knew this about me, but I’ll buy a book every now and then. Because I am not a crazy person (anyway, I’ve never been officially diagnosed), before I’ll buy a book I see if I already own it in some form.

My books are organized according to a principle I call chunking and what others call not organized. If I’m looking for a Leiber book, I know I have a chunk of them there, and another chunk over there and a third chunk in another place.

Continue reading →
Posted in art, books, Chaos, fantasy, fantasy art, Keep it or chuck it?, Minnestoics, music, Myth & Legend, politics, review or meta-review, sff, sword-and-sorcery, werewolves | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Extruded Word Product

Posted on July 12, 2023 by JE

I guess I understand that replacing writing with “automated insight extraction” makes sense from a managerial point of view. I just can’t see how it makes sense from any other point of view (e.g., someone who might have to read the junk that chatbots generate).

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/infinite-scroll/my-ai-writing-robot

screenshot of the New Yorker article, “MY A.I. Writing Robot”
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Napoleon, Simoleon

Posted on July 11, 2023 by JE

ME: I wish people would make movies that aren’t based on comic books.

RIDLEY SCOTT: [makes sweeping romantic saga about the inventor of the police state]

ME: Not like that!

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Words to Live By

Posted on July 11, 2023 by JE

“When you’re cooking lentils, don’t add perfume” (ὅταν φακῆν ἕψετε μὴ ‘πιχεῖν μύρον).

–Strattis Comicus (whoever he was)

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Cattus Latinus Snoozicus

Posted on July 9, 2023 by JE

I’m rereading Ovid’s Metamorphoses again this summer, which always reminds me of my son’s late-but-great cat Lewis the Explorer. This picture from seven years ago may suggest why.

photo: a white cat rests peacefully on the left hand of a man trying to read Ovid's METAMORPHOSES.
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