"…something like the supervisor of an entire team of political agents…"
Cecil Vortex Another great thread this week — thanks to all! It’s a real treat, I say, this ongoing conversation. A stately pleasure dome of commentary, if you will. And one I super appreciate. Lately I’ve gotten in the rhythm of doing all my TBA reading on Saturdays and Sundays, and it’s just a fantastic of a … Read more
Thanks for the excellent comments, as always! Food and fashion are two threads that ran through this section, along with the expected seasonal asides, watery ends, and withering descriptions. Oh, and lots and lots of plot points came together this week as Iris’ tale gathered steam and we made the journey from the picnic to … Read more
With all these genres mashing, it’s the meta-mystery that keeps pulling me through. I’ve started keeping a notebook with dates and events, and I get way too excited when I can do maths and say “Oh, she was 18, that means it’s 1934-ish!” My favorite passage this week was the one The-First-of-Two-Equal-Susan-C’s cited in the … Read more
Like a lot of folks in the comments, I started to settle into the rhythm this week. The noir felt more like a noir. Iris’ memoir got the good long run many of us were hoping for. The sci fi sort of reminded me of a lost Ursula K. Le Guin novel, if Le Guin … Read more
Hi all, I wanted to let you know that a collection of my poems and stories is now available on Amazon in print and kindle! I thought I’d reshare the title poem here, which was originally about the joy of lemonade and coffee shops. Over time it became about other things that go away and … Read more
Welcome Button Factory Visitors Have I already confessed that this is my first Atwood? And that somehow I hadn’t even heard of this book before a few weeks ago? Well, you can imagine my delight this week, as I finally found out what the hell we had gotten ourselves into. As so-called Alex said in … Read more
Eating a chicken apple sausage is like eating a chicken sausage while some guy pokes little pieces of apple in my mouth. And I’m like hey: just let me eat this chicken sausage, mister.
Welcome to the trailhead, my friends! Today we embark on a winding journey, one that will take us from our living rooms to our bedrooms, from our front porches to our backyards, if we have such things, and then back to our living rooms because you know, couch good. All the while carrying a digital … Read more
An underrated skill. The ability to enjoy the sky, a perfect book a wonderful chat a cup of tea, if that’s your thing. Not a case of denial. Just watching the news, making plans and then taking out your boxes. These ancient things. “Look at him. Look at her,” they might say: “Check out that … Read more
Some time back, a gaggle of ne-er-do-wells gathered together online to read challenging books in 50-page increments. We commented as we went, checking in, sharing observations. All with the intent of securing for ourselves a magnetized collectible or similar specialized consumer good. This was a thing we did. And we did it more than once. … Read more