Slices of Dog

    OMG!! They're slicing up this dog into pieces!!

Tattoos

    I don't have any tattoos, and have no desire to get one.  But if I ever did, it would be something like this.

The Epitome

    And let's not even discuss how I used to think "cacophony" was pronounced.

Kindle Deals

    Both of these books are available for only $1.99 for the Kindle at Amazon today, and both are fantastic reads.

Mario Brothers Art

    Okay, I need somebody to come over and paint this on my garage door.

Book Excerpt for the Day

    “Hey, you’re up early.”

    I made a valiant effort to sound cheerful.  “Heck, I’ve already had breakfast.  Jan made it.”

    “Ah, Jan’s there.  That explains why you were out and about and not answering your phone.  How’s Jan?”

    I liked the way this was going.  No reason for Jenks to wonder if we’d been up to no good, because if Jan was with me it was a given, and he usually just didn’t want to know details unless he had to post bail.

    (from Just Needs Killin’ by Jinx Schwartz)

    7½*/10.  The complete review is here.

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Feline Healthcare

    I don't know whether to laugh, cry, or get angry at Trump's healthcare think tank. 

Lipstick Gluestick

    Groan.

It's almost Friday

    True dis.  At least until I go part-time.  Or retire completely.

A Star Wars plug

    Pretty subtle, Cubs TV.  But well done!

Coniferous

    First it was "payed" (see here).  Now it's "confierous".  Has proper spelling become a lost art?!

Music Appreciation Monday

Sunday Poetry

    This is a highbrow blog.  Only highbrow poetry gets posted here.

Washing the car

    I'm not OCD.  It's just that Saturday is wash-the-car day.  Saturday is always wash-the-car day.

Book Excerpt for the Day

    The semicolon has been rightly called “a compliment from the writer to the reader”.  And a mighty compliment it is, too.  The sub-text of a semicolon is, “Now, this is a hint.  The elements of this sentence, although grammatically distinct, are actually elements of a single notion.  I can make it plainer for you – but hey!  You’re a reader!  I don’t need to draw you a map!”

    (from Eats, Shoots & Leaves by Lynne Truss)

  9½*/10.  The complete review is here.

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Pirate Punnery

    Groan.

Happy Ides of March!

    A holiday that is seriously underrated.  

How's the weather?

    A blizzard, you say?  Storm of the decade?  Basketball and hockey games being cancelled due to the weather?

    Here in Phoenix, we'll have sunny skies for the rest of the week.  Highs in the 90's the whole time, topping out at 95°F on Saturday.

    Time to make cookies while carpooling.

Why I have Trust Issues

    Yah, that pretty much covers it.

Saturday Sunday

Surreal Saturday

    Simply breathtaking! 

Book Excerpt for the Day

    Teela said, “Speaker, are you sure?”

    “Of course,” the kzin answered.  “The portside rim wall is visibly larger.”

    Louis smiled to himself.  He had never had war training, but he knew something of war.  He’d been caught on the ground during a revolution on Wonderland, and had fought as a guerilla for three months before he could get to a ship.

    One mark of a good officer, he remembered, was the ability to make quick decisions.  If they happened to be right, so much the better . . .

    (from Ringworld by Larry Niven)

     8½*/10.  The full review is here.

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Pierson's Puppeteer

    This is an actual photograph (really!) of a Pierson's puppeteer, whom I had the pleasure of meeting recently on a time-travel jaunt to the 29th-century.

    You may think I'm delusional, but Wikipedia has an entry for these critters.  Read about them here.

Happy International Women's Day!

Planet of the Big Boys

    The true end of civilization as we know it.

Book Excerpt for the Day

    “You killed the dragon?” she said is disbelief.  “How?”

    “With Sir Elberone’s (sic) lance.”

    “Which one?”

    “He only had one.”

    “No, I mean which dragon?” .

    (from The Dragon’s Breath by Jamie Sedgwick)

    6*/10.  The complete review is here.

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Payed?

    I recognize that cartoonists probably don't hire editors and proofreaders.  But for goodness sake, PAYED ???

Chalk Art Saturday

    Fabulous!  If you look closely, you can see some of the seams of the floor tiles in the "picture".  Whic just makes the whole thing all that more amazing.

The perfect date

    Nonsense.  The perfect date, IMHO, is YY-MMDD.  If you want to file things in chronological order, it's the only way to go.

Book Excerpt for the Day

    Humans! They lived in a world where the grass continued to be green and the sun rose every day and flowers regularly turned into fruit, and what impressed them?  Weeping statues.  And wine made out of water!  A mere quantum-mechanistic tunnel effect, that’d happen anyway if you were prepared to wait zillions of years.  As if the turning of sunlight into wine, by means of vines and grapes and time and enzymes, wasn’t a thousand times more impressive and happened all the time. . .

    (from Small Gods by Terry Pratchett)

  10*/10.  The complete review is here.

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Eats Shoots and Leaves

    If you're concerned about the misuse of commas (and you really should be), this e-book is available at Amazon for $1.99 right now.