Grumpy Grammar Gus

    Yes, I admit it.  I am a Grumpy Grammar Gus.  But Facebook is curing me of that.

A Balanced Diet

    Eating a balanced diet is important during the Holiday season.

Book Excerpt for the Day

    Non-magic people (more commonly known as Muggles) were particularly afraid of magic in medieval times, but not very good at recognizing it.  On the rare occasion that they did catch a real witch or wizard, burning had no effect whatsoever.  The witch or wizard would perform a basic Flame-Freezing Charm and then pretend to shriek with pain while enjoying a gentle, tickling sensation.  Indeed, Wendelin the Weird enjoyed being burned so much that she allowed herself to be caught no less than forty-seven times in various disguises.

    (from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling)

  9*/10.  The complete review is here.

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Printer Problems

    Printers and I do not get along.  But maybe this explains things.

Hallmark Movie Plotlines

    Why yes, I have done a lot of research on this subject.  Most of it was unwilling, of course, but still ...

When the First Snowflake Falls...

   For the record, Michael Bublé just released an album on November 16th, unimaginatively titled "Love".

Cirque du Soleil

    We're going to see the Cirque du Soleil tomorrow night.  This was the closest meme I could find for the occasion.

Ode to Black Friday

    Pretty true, except I did put up all of the outside Christmas lights.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Book Excerpt for the Day

    Twelve snails went walking after night,

    They’d creep an inch or so,

    Then stop and bug their eyes

    And blow.

    Some folks… are… deadly… slow.

    Twelve snails went walking yestereve,

    Led by their fat old king.

    They were so dull their princeling had

    No sceptre, robe, or ring-

    Only a paper cap to wear

    When nightly journeying.

   (Vachel Lindsay, from "The Haughty Snail-King")

    (from The Congo, and Other Poems  by Vachel Lindsay)

  7*/10.  The complete review is here.

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Tuesday Poetry

    Just finished a book of poems by this guy.  Book review to follow, probably tomorrow.

My New Novel

    I think I've figured out the opening scene in my new novel, "Fifty Shades of Weigh".

Red Hair

    Really now.  What other answer is there?

Book Excerpt for the Day

    Bloch stepped into the waist-high transformer pit and wrestled the gun onto its bipod in firing position.  Santini simply pushed the ammo dolly in ahead of himself.  The cannisters were padded against shock, but a direct hit from a laser might penetrate.  The best result the crew could hope for then was a low-order explosion that might not kill them.  If the bead of deuterium at the heart of each cartridge detonated, hard suits weren’t going to make any difference to the resulting thermonuclear explosion.

    (from Redliners by David Drake)

    5*/10.  The complete review is here.

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Writing a Book

    I'm not an author - aspiring or otherwise - but I have a feeling these two graphs are quite accurate.

Giants

    So you don't believe in giants, eh?

Grocery Shopping Blues

    My wife sent me grocery shopping yesterday, and out of eleven items on the list, I messed up on three of them.

    I didn't get the eggs that were on sale.  I blame Fry's.  I got the ones that were right behind the "on sale" notice on the door.  That was very misleading.

    And I swear the Ro*Tel no-salt original-flavor 10-oz. diced tomatoes and  the Barilla's Whole-Grain 13.25 Lasagna Noodles don't even exist.

    So there.

Monday Philosophy

    So true.  We're all just pancaked poodles.

ZZ Top

    She's got legs!!!!

Book Excerpt for the Day

    “No!” Morelli said.  “You can’t borrow my pickup.  You’re death on cars.”

    “I am not death on cars!”

    “Last time you used my car it got blown up!  Remember that?”

    “Well, if you’re going to hold that against me…”

    “And what about your pickup?  And your CRX?  Blown up!”

    “Technically, the CRX caught fire.”

    (from Four To Score by Janet Evanovich)

    8*/10.  The complete review is here.

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Two Classics

    I've read both of these books.  One was fantastic; the other was a total waste of my time.  I'll let you guess which was which.

Photo Radar Blues

    Yeah, that's pretty much the way the conversation went when I got served my summons for my photo-radar red-light-running violation.

The N-Word

    Words fail me, politically-correct or otherwise.

Election Night

    No matter which candidate(s) you support, get out there and VOTE!!

Monday Pun Day

   Groan.

Murica

   
    From the crazy minds at Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal.

Book Excerpt for the Day

    One evening a number of young men raided the Zenith Socialist Headquarters, burned its records, beat the office staff, and agreeably dumped desks out of the window.  All of the newspapers save the Advocate-Times and the Evening Advocate attributed this valuable but perhaps hasty direct-action to the American Legion.  Then a flying squadron from the Good Citizens’ League called on the unfair papers and explained that no ex-soldier could possibly do such a thing, and the editors saw the light, and retained their advertising.  When Zenith’s lone Conscientious Objector came home from prison and was righteously run out of town, the newspapers referred to the perpetrators as an “unidentified mob”.

    (from Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis)

  8½*/10.  The complete review is here.

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Retirement Plans

  So, you want to know about my retirement plans, eh?

Roman Numerals

    If people from the Roman Empire visited us today, there would be issues.