Today, I like snow

Call me crazy, but I really enjoyed shovelling this afternoon. There was maybe four inches of beautiful white fluffy snow. Even through the shovel, it felt soft and silky. That’s the weird part. How could I feel the snow without touching it?

Reparations

If you’re looking for a moving story about sacrifice that’s not related to the holidays, you might appreciate “Reparations” by Merrie Haskell, in an excellent reading on Escape Pod. Like “Wikihistory” it involves time travel to Worrld War II, but it’s the polar opposite in tone.

Just A Minute

One of my favorite sources of amusement is starting a new series tonight: Just A Minute. It’s a radio show that’s been going for over 35 years, challenging the players to try to speak on a given subject for 60 seconds without hesitation, repetition, or deviation. Like many simple things, it’s incredibly hard to do, [...]

A Snow Recession

Last week, everything was covered in snow, but it didn’t take long for the snow to recede. The first sign was the tips of leaves poking through.

Do it today

I’m now finishing the second two weeks of working from closed lists, as described in Do It Tomorrow, and I just got over the inevitable mistakes and stumbles. (Don’t worry, I promise not to report in every two weeks.) Now I’m even more amazed at how easy it was to get back on track.

Small Gods

While so far, my favorite book by Terry Pratchett is easily Small Gods, it’s not so easy to call it a funny book. In this book, he finally sets aside the urge for constant jokiness, and is content to raise a few smiles or groans, while telling a damn good story. This is the story [...]

Hogfather

One of the coolest aspect of reading so many Terry Pratchett books is watching a popular author get better. That doesn’t happen nearly often enough. After a rough start, I’ve enjoyed his books more and more, especially the Death stories, and now I can say Hogfather is a great book and an excellent TV movie. [...]

Feeder Hack

I’ve had mixed luck feeding goldfinches with fresh nyjer seed. The main problem is the feeder holds far more seed than the birds will eat. I think I finally have a solution.

The Lottery

It was inevitable, I suppose, that the New Yorker Fiction podcast would cover “The Lottery,” by Shirley Jackson. I really didn’t know what to make of this story when I first read it in high school.

Soul Music

Sadly Soul Music was the first Terry Pratchett book that was long enough for me to invoke the 150 page rule. I wanted to like this book, but I couldn’t.