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jazzfishWhee, been a week. Among other excitement: Taranis's wifi card has decided that intermittent faults are the hip new accessory, so I broke down and got an old new laptop. Same model as the one I experimented with last spring. Still not entirely convinced of the need for a new machine but a) I'll need one in the next couple of years for certain, and b) Macbook design is getting worse all the time. (Latest models removed the extraneous Eject/Power button. This wouldn't matter except that now I have nothing to map a proper Delete to, and I require both Backspace and Delete.)
ETA: The Fantastic Ursula K. Le Guin: "She had been mildly cheered up, she added, by following a Twitter feed with the hashtag #BundyEroticFanFic."
Litany, by Billy Collins. There are poems like "After the Pyre" that leave me ripped open and bleeding, and I understand why. Then there's this one. I don't understand in the slightest what it is that it does to me. (I also don't expect it to do that to anyone else; like Among Others, whatever it is feels too intensely personal to possibly affect the rest of the world.)
The Arches of The Little Prince: "Can you build an arch from a pole to the equator? Can you build an arch from the north pole to the south pole?" Which is all fascinating, but the thing that really caught me is the simple and obvious realisation that you can model arches upside-down with hanging chains.
Hipsterism and Cultural Appropriation: "So to make explicit what lies implicit: when hipsters 'ironically' don clothing associated with working class people, when hipsters 'ironically' profess tastes for products associated with working class people, they are communicating 'we all know I couldn't possibly actually like this, because we all know that this is unworthy and beneath us.'"
The Yale Record Does Not Endorse Hillary Clinton: "Because of unambiguous tax law, we do not encourage you to support the most qualified presidential candidate in modern American history, nor do we encourage all citizens to shatter the glass ceiling once and for all by electing Secretary Clinton on November 8."
Also, it's been ages since I paid any attention to my 101 in 1001 list.
101 in 1001 update
Completed:
7) Make a pilgrimage to Powell's Books in Portland. 2016-09-18
21) Make a new local 'close friend' (can be a previously existing acquaintance). Erin, 2016-09-27, though she's somewhat less local as of May.
23) Find a mentor/partner for [REDACTED]. 2016-10-03
54) Read or purge one-quarter of the books currently tagged "unread" in LibraryThing (60/60). 2016-10-30. Read and purged End of the World Blues by Jon Courtenay Grimwood. Purged Embassytown and the Miyazaki interviews. Read Beagle's Unicorn Sonata. Read Pinkwater's Neddiad and Yggyssey. Purged a whole bunch of stuff.
75) Start a couch-potato-type investment. 2016-06-01, RRSP deemed sufficient. If it turns out not to be, well, I know where to look.
76) Get some financial advice from a financial advisor. 2016-08-05
90) Reduce physical library to three figures. 2016-10-30
91) Find a better backup solution than "ad-hoc Time Machine". 2016-04-24
In progress:
3) Travel somewhere in Canada I've not been, somewhere further than 50 miles from Vancouver (other than the island). Seems likely this summer.
4) Travel outside North America. Laying plans for Helsinki '17.
24) Write to three dozen new people (2/36).
29) Get my eyes checked, and new glasses if required. Appointment scheduled.
40) Finish, revise, & submit "Blood on Her Hands and a Stone at Her Throat." Plot/climax definitely unstuck.
55) Read or purge the second quarter of the "unread" books (5/60). Purged a whole bunch of stuff, 2016-10-30.
64) Play 50 18xx games (45/50). 1856 and 1846, 2016-04-03. 1835, 2016-04-11. 1846, 2016-04-12. 1846, 2016-04-13. 1862, 2016-04-14. 18OE, 2016-04-15. 18NEB, 2016-04-16. 1862 and 1846, 2016-04-30. 1860, 2016-05-13. 18Dixie and 1860 with new trains, 2016-05-15. 1846, 2016-05-26. 1817, 2016-06-04. 1846, 2016-06-25. 1830, 2016-07-17. 1867, 2016-08-01. 1830, 2016-08-28. 1817, 2016-09-24. 1846, 2016-10-09.
65) Play 20 different 18xx titles/scenarios (16/20). 1856, 2016-04-03. 1835, 2016-04-11. 1862, 2016-04-15. 18OE full game, 2016-04-15. 18Dixie, 2016-05-15.
77) Develop a Five-Year Plan with real numbers in. Planning in progress! Numbers to come in the new year, with the new house.
78) Move to a less frustrating apartment. Differently frustrating apartment located.
99) Resolve the situation around [REDACTED]. Possibly resolved?
Abandoned:
63) Play Fire in the Lake. Replaced by Falling Sky; half credit for actually managing to play that.
ETA: The Fantastic Ursula K. Le Guin: "She had been mildly cheered up, she added, by following a Twitter feed with the hashtag #BundyEroticFanFic."
Litany, by Billy Collins. There are poems like "After the Pyre" that leave me ripped open and bleeding, and I understand why. Then there's this one. I don't understand in the slightest what it is that it does to me. (I also don't expect it to do that to anyone else; like Among Others, whatever it is feels too intensely personal to possibly affect the rest of the world.)
The Arches of The Little Prince: "Can you build an arch from a pole to the equator? Can you build an arch from the north pole to the south pole?" Which is all fascinating, but the thing that really caught me is the simple and obvious realisation that you can model arches upside-down with hanging chains.
Hipsterism and Cultural Appropriation: "So to make explicit what lies implicit: when hipsters 'ironically' don clothing associated with working class people, when hipsters 'ironically' profess tastes for products associated with working class people, they are communicating 'we all know I couldn't possibly actually like this, because we all know that this is unworthy and beneath us.'"
The Yale Record Does Not Endorse Hillary Clinton: "Because of unambiguous tax law, we do not encourage you to support the most qualified presidential candidate in modern American history, nor do we encourage all citizens to shatter the glass ceiling once and for all by electing Secretary Clinton on November 8."
Also, it's been ages since I paid any attention to my 101 in 1001 list.
101 in 1001 update
Completed:
In progress:
3) Travel somewhere in Canada I've not been, somewhere further than 50 miles from Vancouver (other than the island). Seems likely this summer.
4) Travel outside North America. Laying plans for Helsinki '17.
24) Write to three dozen new people (2/36).
29) Get my eyes checked, and new glasses if required. Appointment scheduled.
40) Finish, revise, & submit "Blood on Her Hands and a Stone at Her Throat." Plot/climax definitely unstuck.
55) Read or purge the second quarter of the "unread" books (5/60). Purged a whole bunch of stuff, 2016-10-30.
64) Play 50 18xx games (45/50). 1856 and 1846, 2016-04-03. 1835, 2016-04-11. 1846, 2016-04-12. 1846, 2016-04-13. 1862, 2016-04-14. 18OE, 2016-04-15. 18NEB, 2016-04-16. 1862 and 1846, 2016-04-30. 1860, 2016-05-13. 18Dixie and 1860 with new trains, 2016-05-15. 1846, 2016-05-26. 1817, 2016-06-04. 1846, 2016-06-25. 1830, 2016-07-17. 1867, 2016-08-01. 1830, 2016-08-28. 1817, 2016-09-24. 1846, 2016-10-09.
65) Play 20 different 18xx titles/scenarios (16/20). 1856, 2016-04-03. 1835, 2016-04-11. 1862, 2016-04-15. 18OE full game, 2016-04-15. 18Dixie, 2016-05-15.
77) Develop a Five-Year Plan with real numbers in. Planning in progress! Numbers to come in the new year, with the new house.
78) Move to a less frustrating apartment. Differently frustrating apartment located.
99) Resolve the situation around [REDACTED]. Possibly resolved?
Abandoned:
63) Play Fire in the Lake. Replaced by Falling Sky; half credit for actually managing to play that.