-
The problem as to whether it is possible to get comfortable rooms at a reasonable price
The universe, it appears, doesn't approve of me househunting ( Read more... ) -
(Untitled)
I've been rereading "A Long-expected Party," and I was struck by how often it talks about how well-loved Bilbo was by less important hobbits. First, there's this description of his life after The Hobbit (emphasis mine):
as Mr. Baggins was generous with his money, most people were willing to forgive him his oddities and his good fortune. He ( Read more... ) -
"Characters of Color" in Tolkien
Today I finally made the time to take dawn_felagund and Maria Alberto's survey on Tolkien fandom participation. You should take it too! It's long but the questions strike me as very reflective and nuanced, and I hope the survey results are useful to them. But I'd like to talk about this really interesting concept that popped up in a few of their questions: ( Read more... ) -
(Untitled)
I was watching an interview with Chris Christie and Stephen Colbert this weekend (part 1 and part 2, if you're interested), and I had a bit of a revelation. It turns out Gov. Christie is helping Trump prepare for the debates, and his explanation in the face of "how the !@#$ could you help this man get reelected" (I'm paraphrasing obviously) was the ( Read more... ) -
(Untitled)
Most people go to great lengths to keep their name out of government computers. I've been working for six months to get mine into one. But after losing most of my official documents in a move years back and then misplacing my passport separately last December and subsequently becoming ID-less, I've spent eight months now trying to gather enough ( Read more... ) -
(Untitled)
I've been keeping a weather eye on the US Republican convention. There's something about the way they're reacting to the DNC and talking about how Biden's policies hurt real Americans and only Trump can save us from them - it's almost like he's running as the challenger. That makes a certain amount of sense, but also not, and (I can't repeat this ( Read more... ) -
(Untitled)
Today I crashed a Ph.D. defense. The candidate was an idiot, but luckily so was his committee, so I guess it all worked out. (... It's just possible my old academic biases are coming into play here, more than an objective evaluation of the work, so ( Read more... ) -
(Untitled)
I'm considering tempting fate twice and doing another SWG challenge. However, I seem to do much better when I have a single prompt chosen for me (it really focuses the creative energies for me!), and this month we're given a list to choose our own ( Read more... ) -
Tik Tok, Star Trek Version
This has been making the rounds over at Tumblr. I thought El Jay could use a giggle as well, and this is definitely LOL-worthy.
( Read more... ) -
(Untitled)
It's just occurred to me that the High Holidays are coming up, and this is going to be a real bear in light of coronavirus. Out of all the major holidays I've experienced (which is mostly Christian & Jewish), this is the set that relies on gathering in a crowd. I mean, Christmas and Easter certainly have their services, but pretty much the one ( Read more... )