Noumenon is a daisy.

Summer cold season

Sat, 12 Jul 2008 19:37:12 GMT

I have a summer cold that seems to have progressed to a sinus infection. This basically means that I have a constant toothache, am on antibiotics that could stand in for footballs, and at the worst moment of pain last night I ended up buying a neti syringe. (Don't ask.) So far things have progressed from three apparent icepicks in the face to one really deep icepick in the face. Oh, and because the only place the pain eases up is in a hot shower I'm probably the cleanest I've ever been in my life. And the most sleep deprived. So my apologies to everyone for my attitude ahead of time--it's the pain talking...

Mental floss needed.

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 12:30:20 GMT

I just had a nightmare involving New Zealand Parliamentary politics, adoption, arson, corruption in office, and pork futures. While this may not be the strangest combination of elements I've ever had in a nightmare, it does have a certain "What the hell?" quality to it that deserves to be noted.

The upcoming film season.

Sun, 06 Apr 2008 22:57:40 GMT

Looking ahead to summer, I need to make some movie-going plans which could affect this journal so I thought I'd give any of my theoretical readers a chance to give their opinions. There are a number of big-budget/high profile films coming up such as Speed Racer, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Wall-e, and Iron Man, as well as some outstanding revivals such as The Cup (which I am going to see this time, damn it, even if I'm the only person in the theater).

I'm trying to decide which of these I'm going to see opening night and which I'm going to let slide for the discount shows. As you can imagine, the delay getting to a cheap show usually leads to "Why Bother" when it comes to reviews. (I have a review of Beowulf sitting around here that was never posted because of illness: by now, everyone that might be interested has already seen it.) Would anyone be interested enough that I should go to the extra effort and expense to catch first night shows for possible review?

A pleasant musical interlude.

Mon, 20 Aug 2007 06:46:53 GMT

While I'm not hostile to the artform I've had a mixed amount of luck attending to-be-Broadway musicals until now. To be precise I saw Diana Rigg in Colette when I was in college (opened in Seattle, closed in Denver--and Dame Rigg was not the problem), and Hairspray (successfully opened on Broadway). This evening I saw a third that's due for Broadway: Young Frankenstein. A ton of people I know attended opening night tonight (Hi scarlettina!) and I think it's going to do well.

First the cast: all doing a good job, with Andrea Martin and Megan Mullally winning the prized Gumption award for taking parts originally performed by Cloris Leachman and Madeline Kahn and running away with them. (With one notable exception: for those of you that have seen the film you'll remember a moment when Kahn's character says "Woof." Mullally does a fine reading of the line, but Kahn managed what I swear was a two octave drop in her voice when she did it that converted a silly line into a hysterical one.)

The physical production was well done (or as well done as you can when you're not using Kenneth Strickfaden's original hardware in the lab--and wouldn't that give the fire marshal a heart attack--although the Tesla coil and the spark generator seem sort of lonely), the songs were well performed and funny, and the dancing first rate. One thing that kept driving me mildly nuts was that for some reason or other they're not using the original violin/french horn theme for Young Frankenstein (which I've always liked) but instead a vaguely similar tune that shouts "we couldn't afford the rights." This violates Durocher's Second Rule of Remakes (the First Rule is a steal from the unlikely duo of John Huston and Burt Reynolds, but never mind): if you can't use the original then go for something so different that it doesn't remind the audience of what was there in the original. (The worse example of this I've ever run into was a production of My Fair Lady where the costume designer decided that they weren't going to use the Edith Head racecourse gown design and managed to produce a dress that shouted "I should be the Edith Head dress but I'm not! I'm really not!") This musical omission is especially odd since they kept both the classic songs the original film used for two of its most outrageous jokes, which I'd suspect would have cost more to get the rights to use.

There was one opening-night moment where I found myself feeling sorry for the lead, Roger Bart: he delivers a line before a closed curtain which he probably could have gotten away with in any other city than Seattle. Unfortunately the Rocky Horror-trained audience here responded by first going "Oooh!" and then "Ahhh!" You could tell three things by the look on his face: he wasn't expecting it, he didn't have anything prepared in case it happened, and he didn't want to ad lib something in front of Mel Brooks. It was only about seven seconds long, but my heart went out to the poor slob. And I bet if I went to tomorrow's show that Mel will have written something in case this ever happens again.

At any rate I'd recommend it. You may now talk among yourselves.

The price of fame.

Sat, 17 Mar 2007 01:42:38 GMT

One of the problems with writing in this LiveJournal is the realization that I seem unable to come up with topics that amuse or interest folks enough to post. Clearly I'm not Jon Singer or Ginmar and I've come to live with it. The annoying thing, however, is that over the last couple of weeks I've been getting repeated spam attempts against the one post I've done that has attracted any attention at all: the post about Underworld. (Well, there was the time I hit Metaquotes with the story about the naked 6' blonde woman doing a headstand in the shower and screaming, but that was posted on someone else's LJ and probably doesn't count.)

I set the site up to screen comments from the beginning, but that's just because I once spent two years suffering from a stalker/obscene caller: if you post I'll unscreen as soon as I see you've done so and aren't spewing hate or are an actual person. That last qualification is the problem. What I'm getting now are postings about the wonders of dental cleaners, one-liners in sketchy English that say I must have been involved in computers for a long time and keep up the good work, and so on. If these were attaching to all my posts I might shrug it off and unscreen 'em, but the only post they show up on is the one whose URL has made it to popular sites such as Making Light. I have to believe that someone's spam system is trying to use my Underworld review to bump their Google rankings.

I admit to some confusion here: if *I* were trying a trick like this I'd go for something a bit more popular. (This site is the Bates Motel of LiveJournal: off the freeway and forgotten. I'm going to have to try posting more to see if I can at least get to the monkey/typewriter/garbled Shakespeare level...) There's also a bit of annoyance as well: someone's trying to use the one thing I wrote here that's been of interest in a not-nice way that may annoy others--not good.

No grand point here: sometimes there just isn't one.

This makes me happy.

Sat, 17 Feb 2007 22:24:15 GMT

Can't get the picture to show up here, but here's a link to it:

http://belltown.typepad.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/eaglets2_5309_1.jpg

Who re-cells Dustbusters?

Mon, 05 Feb 2007 23:35:23 GMT

I've got three different Dustbusters here that need new batteries, and each shop I visit says "Just throw them away and get a new model." Call me tight, but this is way beyond conspicuous consumption. Anyone know of a rebuild shop in the area?

Not grasping the subject, really.

Thu, 21 Dec 2006 18:29:42 GMT

There was a recent article on Children's Books in The New York Times that compared a number of classic children's books to new releases and which Urinated On Where's My Cow by Pratchett From A Great Height (sorry, I can't give a link--didn't read the article until a day later), basically because the story included--well, a couple of characters that Sam Vimes added in from his workday (I'm trying to avoid spoilers here) rather than wholesome characters like the ones in, say Good Night Moon.

I know that The Great Grey Lady is unlikely to do "The Times Regrets the Error" over this (Goddard didn't get his until July 20, 1969), but this seems more being uninformed that the book wasn't really a children's book rather than the slag job against Science Fiction and Comics that was bundled into a movie review the day that Eisner's obituary ran. (And boy, that reviewer must have hated it that a Comics Person made the front page instead of her wonderful attack on comics!) Does anyone know if there's been an attempt to get the word to the paper or the reviewer that they now appear totally clueless?

A Clarion Call to Songwriters.

Thu, 21 Dec 2006 18:08:52 GMT

Because of a series of odd circumstances I've found myself spending a lot of time listening to music on the radio lately, which this time of year means you're listening to lots and lots of seasonal holiday music. The songs that are played range from the strongly religious to the avaricious (in the latter category I lean towards the younger-than-Madonna-when-it-was-recorded version of Santa Baby by Eartha Kitt, and am amazed by the amount of truly bad new covers of it that are out this year). There are a few clunkers of course: some that are just bad songs (if I get the guy that wrote The Little Drummer Boy in an alley he's not coming out intact), others are O.K. but written or performed by someone that, to put it kindly, hasn't mastered their tools yet (this week I was in a store that was playing an all-Hanukkah album by a folk-singer that had a dynamite first cut, but the rest of the album was so dull I found myself wishing for Adam Sandler and Eight Crazy Nights). Generally I enjoy them.

In my case I started thinking about the subcategories I was hearing, and I was brought up short when I realized that I was in a demographic that wasn't covered at all. I imagine H. L. Mencken had a similar sensation back in 1927 when he some truly awful burial ceremonies for late friends and wrote his essay "Clarion Call to Poets." In it he wrote "One of the crying needs of the time is for a suitable burial service for the admittedly damned," and offered a supply of "pre-war wet goods" for a team of poets to provide a solution. While I can't offer a similar inducement I hope that someone out there will take up the challenge, or let me know if I just managed to overlook the definitive song on the subject.

Basically, while there are religious songs, and romantic songs, and children's songs, and homesick songs and dragooned songs (Baby, It's Cold Outside, which gets bundled into holiday playlists primarily because it's a cold-weather song) and wonderful season songs, there is nothing that quite fits the moment I had a couple of weeks ago when ladyjestocost and I were looking at Christmas card displays (we've had medical adventures so they're not out yet: you haven't been forgotten) when I realized that everyone I used to send Christmas cards to is dead.

Trust me: this one will stop you cold for at least 30 seconds. It's not a matter of feeling disconnected or sudden despair, or at least it wasn't for me, it's more feeling sorry that you can't drop them a line or invite 'em over for dinner and share stories and opinions and argue over pet theories that mean nothing to anyone else, and hope you'll remember all the good stuff to tell them when you see them someday and somewhere to come.

Anyway, I thought about this off and on for a day or two and then mentioned it to a couple of people in passing. Now I run with a fun-loving but thoughtful crowd, willing to toss almost any conversational ball into the air and see how often they can bat it over the net, but I found out that bringing this up instantly got an Uck! and worried looks for the rest of the time I was there.

Clearly they were getting a very different image in their heads than I was, and based on the reactions I was getting if I wrote any of the songwriters I know (Hi, Kat! Hi, Felicia! Hi, John!) about this they'd call my lovely wife instantly and make sure I was kept away from anything sharper than soup.

So I throw it open to the universe. Mind you, we don't want hordes of Hungarian Christmas shoppers throwing themselves off of the tops of malls, so avoid the heavy hand. And you'll be judged to strict standards: I know one songwriter who could have handled it with understanding and charm based on his most quoted lyrics, and the one long conversation I ever had with him, and I'd turn to him in a second--but, damn, Mike, you quit taking commissions this year and it's going to be someday and somewhere before I get a chance to ask you about it!

Dream interpretation

Sat, 02 Dec 2006 15:12:44 GMT

I am currently working for a company doing telephone tech support for high-end electronic devices.

Last weekend I dreamed I was doing telephone support for Gundam suits. You know the drill: your multi-ton giant robot suit develops a glitch while you're zipping around in outer space fighting other giant robot suits, so you call me for help in resolving the problem.

I think this means I may need a vacation.

Anyone in the Seattle area need a sewing machine?

Tue, 02 May 2006 03:36:46 GMT

I've got my mom's old Kenmore here: it works, but she went to something made from plastic instead of cast-iron that folds into and out of a table--I'd like to find it a good home.

I dropped my laptop this morning.

Tue, 18 Apr 2006 22:44:18 GMT

Screen is shattered diagonally, and the bottom third doesn't work. If anyone hears of a cheap replacement screen for a 667 Titanium Powerbook, let me know, O.K.?

I'm just saying...

Tue, 21 Feb 2006 02:24:17 GMT

Any phone call that starts out with "First of all, I'm All Right!" is going to suck.

Before we were so rudly interrupted...

Sun, 19 Feb 2006 23:51:44 GMT

As most of my friends (and my long-suffering wife) will tell you, I have a weakness for neat gadgets and toys. I try to keep it within control, mainly because I want to be able to walk through the house rather than fight my way through ever-increasing piles of junk. I'd like to talk about one I just got, one I've had for awhile, and one that I may get someday if I get lucky on e-Bay.
The one that I just got is a device called the Dupli-Carver, which is the brand name for the most popular Router-Duplicator (or three-dimensional pantograph) on the market. Basically it's a frame that holds a router and router bit several inches to the side of a pointer shaped like the router bit. You trace over an object you want a copy of with the pointer and the router will carve a piece of wood, stone, or plastic to match the object. It's popular with instrument builders when it comes time to rough out a body or neck, and works well for sculptors that want to rough out a carving similar to an earlier work or that want to get an original in clay or wax into a more permanent media without spending a wad on, say, metal casting. A good quick overview is at this site.

I've wanted a device like this for a number of years, both for my own use and for the use of some of the sculptors (Hi, Kim!) and woodworkers (Hi, different Kim!) that I know. I even went so far as starting to build a three-dimensional pantograph from plans ordered off the web, but I stopped working on it after we moved because there was no room for the completed version inside and, unlike our little rental house, there's no porch or garage to store things in outside.

Then, three weeks ago, I decided to try a search in the for sale section of seattle.craigslist.org on impulse. I was shocked to see one listed, and for hundreds less than a new model goes for. After a talk with ladyjestocost (three years of unemployment makes you cautious) I sent them an offer and after an agonizing two days got a reply that they'd be happy to sell it to me: they were a Catholic charity that makes wooden toys for kids who had bought it for their nearly blind head carver. He didn't like it so they were delighted to sell it.

I packed it in the back of the car (which I could never have done with the version that I'd been building) and took it home, where I inspected it. It became clear that it had never been used--parts were bolted on backwards or missing--so I started e-mailing the manufacturer for replacement parts and I should have it ready to use in another week. I'll include a couple of pictures when it's finished.

The thing I've had for awhile is a wonderful "game" called Cascade, by Matchbox/Lesney. The reason I have "game" in quotes is because while the company sold it as a semi-educational game I have never found anyone that actually used it for that purpose: everyone who's ever had one just set it up and let it rip. It's a Archimedes screw that raises ten steel balls to the top of a tower where they roll out of a spout, bounce off of three seperate rubber drums, and then land in a bin three feet from the tower (the "game" had to do with where they landed in the bin) where they rolled in a trough back to the tower base.

I ran into a reference to it at The Rolling Ball Web - Main Page when I clicked on the link to a very corny web page. (WARNING: Tripod pop-ups lurk here.) Luckily there were pictures and sound files as well as bad text and I was entranced. After a different conference with ladyjestocost (I had just lost my job) I made a few attempts to get one on E-Bay and lucked into one in pretty good shape for $15.00. I had to do a little bit of work to get it up and running, but after a trip to the store for some D batteries and the sacrifice of a ballpoint pen I had a working Cascade. The game comes with ten metal balls, but it will take thirty more without jamming. This means an unending shower of thumping metal balls and a thoroughly upset cat, who feels that things in midair are fair game but not moving that fast. I suspect it's one of those things you need to see in operation to fully appreciate, and were I King of the World I'd cut a deal with Matchbox for the marketing rights so fast your head would spin.

The thing I may get someday is the only steel-ball toy that ever gave Cascade a run for it's money: Bing Bang Boing. This one was lavishly written up by Dean Zollman in The Physics Teacher 12, 358 (1974) in an article called The Physics of Bing‑Bang‑Boing. Basically, it had bouncing balls like Cascade, but was manually operated: the pluses were that it was more of a free-form layout, but the minuses were truly sucky names for the parts: the BingleFlinger (the launching ramp), the BangleVator (a weight-powered rotating arm to give the balls more boost during their run), the HumDrums (guess), the FlickerTicker (a hoop with a pendulum to block balls from going through unless you positioned it correctly), and the BoingleBucket (a cup that caught the balls and which raised a flag with the Ideal logo on it), with options like tuning the rubber drums to thump at different pitches and allegedly an add-on kit so you could return the balls to the top of the starting ramp.

It's pretty clear that you could add multiple sets together for some really long courses, and I have a profound suspicion that with a little Friendly Plastic and possibly a BanDai Black Wolf Space Warp Coaster you could hook one up to a Cascade for a really different conversation piece for your living room or den. Maybe if you invite your vet over he'll be so charmed he'll bring some Prozac for the cat.

Software needed.

Sun, 10 Jul 2005 16:15:15 GMT

If anyone knows of a Mac OS X version of the Encheferizer (Bork Bork Bork!) or PsYcHo ChIcKeN fIlTeRs, PlEaSe LeT mE kNoW...

(Later note: never mind: I found a Services tool that will Encheferize.)

I've been tagged...

Sun, 22 May 2005 01:46:39 GMT

...by amyirene_40. And it's taken me much too long to respond, but a new job will do that to you. Here, behind a cut, are my answers:

1. Total number of books I've owned:

Well. My two bookcases where I grew up were about 12' long by 4' high, and my Mom had a hard rule that if the bookcases were full I needed to get rid of enough books to make the new ones fit--which I did. Many times. And we have many bookcases now that my wife and I own a house. My old rule of thumb was that I read a book a day so, assuming that as a rough indicator I'd say, oh, at least 17,000.

2. Last book I bought:

Take Big Bites by Linda Ellerbee.

3. Last book I read:

The Middle of Nowhere by David Gerrold.

4. 5 books that mean a lot to me:

Bridge of Birds by Barry Hughart -- As a first novel it rightfully won the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel of the Year. It was planned as the first book in a seven-book series, but the next two books weren't as well received and when Hughart's publisher dropped him while he was working on the fourth book he apparently gave up on fiction writing. Which is a screaming shame. Technically it's a mystery-adventure where a teen-ager and an old scholar race against time to find the answer to "how a plague can count," but that's like saying Moby Dick is about whaling.

Let's put it this way: you've read too much bog-standard fantasy that draws (usually poorly) on a distorted misreading of the Middle Ages in Europe based on other fantasy novels instead of actual research--everyone who reads fantasy has. This one doesn't. It takes place during 600 A.D. in China, and is damn near unique--it's original, funny, sad, ribald but safe to lend to teenagers (unless they use a search engine and actually look up the innocuous phrases mentioned during the visit with Pretty Ping), and the book that convinced me that "I shall clasp my hands together and bow to the corners of the world." beats hell out of "Once upon a time..." and "Call me Ishmiel" as the way to open a story. (I am still waiting for an occasion where I can say "My surname is D_______ and my personal name is B____ and there is a slight flaw in my character.") I keep hoping that Hughart's completed but abandoned "Dancing Girl" will be published, but I've been told the author is roughly 70 which sadly means we may never see the whole series.

And Having Writ... by Donald R. Bensen -- Alternate History is a popular part of SF. This novel is the best example of the genre I know of. A small survey ship of aliens is scouting the solar system of a newly-discovered civilization when something in their ship goes wrong. As it starts to enter the atmosphere of the planet with the civilized species a crew-member activates a tool he shouldn't have that will do a one-time shift between dimensions...

...And instead of a hard impact in the middle of Tunguska in 1908, they make a successful crash landing in the middle of San Francisco Harbor. Just before a presidential election. And while tensions are building for WWI.

This book is the best illustration I know of John Campbell's old directive "Write me an alien that thinks as well as a man, but not like a man." (And yes, we will have a pause while the usual suspects quote Joanna Russ at me to make their point. It doesn't invalidate Campbell's point, but it's an important point to make. I just hate it being made when I'm trying to deal with something else.) These aliens think different--just look at their plans on how to work with politicians to get home, which I won't reveal here.

This book has most of the virtues I mentioned above for Bridge of Birds, with an added plus: the author manages to structure the book in such a way that the last sentence converts the novel into the longest shaggy-dog story in history without cheapening what's gone before. That's a hell of a trick. Even more rewarding is that if someone who reads the last page of a book tries that trick here they won't get the joke. This one is out of print, sadly enough. (If I remember correctly the author had a successful series under a pseudonym, but this was his first book to come out under his own name. Success for your pseudonym but not for yourself--that's gotta sting.) I hunt used bookstores for copies and then give them to people who need to read it. amyirene_40, do you need a copy?

Danse Macabre by Stephen King -- This is a book length essay/history of horror fiction, film, TV and radio from 1950 to 1980 (with earlier works dealt with as necessary) by a professional in the field with strong opinions and a quirky sense of humor, and ranks right up there for sheer entertainment value with Harlan Ellison's collections of essays. Unfortunately the original had (naturally) some errors, and the copyediting on the revised edition is a horror: the index was never updated to match the current edition, footnotes are on the wrong pages, et cetera. I keep hoping it will be fixed up someday, but King's current publishers just don't seem to care.

The Butterfly Kid by Chester Anderson -- This one has been out of print since the 70's, which is criminal. It takes place in an alternate 60's--70's Greenwich Village where a sporadically employed musician named Chester Anderson sits down on a park bench and sees a teenager on the other end making butterflies. Out of thin air. That fly around.

I flatly refuse to describe this one further--it's to be experienced, not described. Sadly, it's becoming a collector's item so it's a harder find--but when I discover a copy I buy it and give to to friends as well.

The Glass Teat and The Other Glass Teat by Harlan Ellison -- These are two different books through a publisher's trick to avoid selling one really big one. It's Ellison's collected television (and politics) columns from the late 60's and early 70's, and is an absolutely brilliant discussion about the virtues and defects of the medium and the society that it reflects before the horrible demands on television writers turned Ellison away from the field. I understand it's back in print through White Wolf--my old paperback copies were stolen and I need to get replacements somewhere.

5. Tag 5 people and have them fill this out in their LJs:

Well, they're all too busy, but here's five that would have interesting examples...

philfoglio Best read illustrator on LiveJournal.
kajafoglio Hardest working comics editor on LiveJournal.
jonsinger If you need to track down information, ask Jon. He may not know the details himself, but he knows someone that does.
otaqueen Incredibly well-read professional translator. Also a minx.
tamiam We never seem to hang out, but she's got an excellent brain--I'd love to see what she's been reading.

An omission.

Sun, 13 Mar 2005 15:11:32 GMT

If you look up the website for Jay F. Rosenberg you'll find listings of almost all of his books and writings--at least the scholarly ones. Unfortunately there's no listing for The Impoverished Student's Guide to Cookery, Drinkery, and Housekeepery, a small cookbook that is worth more than it's weight in gold. This is disappointing, especially since I'm told the only place that sells it is Reed College and it's not in their online book store. Is anyone going to be visiting Portland soon?

LiveJournal story of the week.

Sat, 05 Mar 2005 03:25:14 GMT

http://www.livejournal.com/users/chelkitty/292994.html

If you spend 40 minutes trapped in an Otis elevator in Seattle...

Mon, 28 Feb 2005 15:44:59 GMT

...(especially when it's just before the building's closing time) Otis may send you:

A nifty pen with the Otis logo on it and a LED inside.
A vintage nifty pen with the Otis logo and a little elevator that slides up and down when you tip the pen.
A box of three golf balls with the Otis logo on them.
A pound of See's Candies in nice generic gift paper.

Oh, and the people holding down the front desk in the building you're in will probably set aside a piece of birthday cake for when you emerge.

Not to give anything away in "Sky Captain..."

Fri, 01 Oct 2004 02:12:17 GMT

I try not to be a film spoiler, but anyone who's walking into the theater must suspect from the title that there's a lot of traveling in this film--we'll leave quality and effectiveness of the film out of the discussion for the time being, as I'm trying to decide if I'll do a detailed post about it--so I think I can safely bring this up. Tas anyone else noticed (the clue is obvious and directly in front of the camera during one of the scenes--and no, it's not either of the two clues you might expect) that part of the film takes place on Skull Island?

Ever been a sympathetic shoulder?

Sat, 25 Sep 2004 06:14:51 GMT

I just got back from being a sounding board for someone who's having a bad time.

I need music.

LOUD music.

With lots of instruments.

Sadly, "We All Had A Really Good Time" by the Edgar Winter Group isn't available via iTunes, nor is the Al Hurt version of "The Green Hornet Theme." This may be the night to go out and see if Tower is still open until Midnight, and if they stock "Metal Machine Music." Or maybe "The 1812 Overture."

If I had a paid LiveJournal Account I would be so all over this.

Fri, 24 Sep 2004 18:07:38 GMT

These are world-class mood indicators.

http://www.syberpunk.com/cgi-bin/index.pl?page=kao

Sadly, they're collectable.

Wed, 09 Jun 2004 07:17:09 GMT

Over the past few days I've been rereading the books I have by Betty MacDonald and those by her sister, Mary Bard. No, that's not really honest: I have one book by Mary so I shouldn't really cheat and make it sound as if I've got all her stuff. Betty is the best known, with most of her books back in print again after a decade or two where her memoirs for adults were unfashionable and out of print. Mary was just as good a writer (and as funny), but no publisher has rediscovered her and rereleased her books yet.

That's the problem. Her three biographical books (The Doctor Wears Three Faces, Forty Odd, and Just Be Yourself go for amazing amounts of money. Doctor seems to be most easily available and is the one I have, but it starts at $25.00 or so. Forty starts at about $35.00 for something in poor condition, and Yourself is about $50.00 for one that has all the pages but is falling apart.

Then there's Mary's books for children. Betty's Nancy and Plum used to be the holy grail of Northwest children's books, but it's finally back in print. Mary's Best Friends books are not, and the current prices start at $199.00 and up (and I mean way, way up) beyond my price range--probably because they seem to be a passionate favorite of girls who read them when they came out in the 60's.

This is a shame. Both sisters wrote funny autobiographies that deserve better than lying on collector's shelves, although when The Egg And I was finally put back into print Betty's daughters had to stick in an introduction that explained how their mother wasn't a racist despite what she said about the Native Americans around Port Townsend in the early 30's. (I once asked a friend who's Native American that had read all MacDonald's books what he thought, and he said "Considering the economic conditions for Indians on the Olympic Peninsula at the time, how poorly they were treated, and how prevalent alcoholism was among the tribes I'm sure she was scared out of her mind--and it shows.")

Considering the reports that MacDonald went to bat for her friend "Kimmi" (better known as Monica Sone) in trying to find a publisher for the classic Nisei Daughter, and her sympathetic comments about the black inmates in The Plague and I, I'm not sold on the "racist" charge--but I'm glad the new introduction is included in The Egg and I.

Anyway, if you want to read some wonderful and funny autobiographical writing about the Pacific Northwest from about 1912 through 1960 or so, (or some excellent children's books --actually, if you find any of the Best Friends books let me know since I'd like to give 'em a read) I recommend MacDonald's and Bard's books. Both sisters wrote about the people and places around them with a marvelous eye and ear for detail. You'll laugh for days.

Ladies, Gentlemen, Cats, Dogs, and Birds! May I present...

Wed, 14 Apr 2004 21:14:05 GMT

(Drumroll, please...)

The marvelous, wonderful, clever, and pretty amyirene_40! A woman who needs no introduction, but is going to get one anyway!

Amy is one of those folks who it is an absolute joy to know. Unfortunately for her, she's so massively competent that it tends to overshadow that she's extremely pretty, sharp as a pin, and loyal as all hell. I'll let her speak for herself, since she's better at it than I'll ever be (and boy, will I hear about it for posting this without warning her), but I'd like to add just one thing.

Almost everyone gets a call in the middle of the night sometime or other. We deal with them as best we can, usually. Amy is one of the very few that would have me down at SeaTac in the middle of the night buying a ticket for the first plane out if she called, no matter what the cost. I mean, bankruptcy only lasts seven years; folks you can "ride the river with" are much rarer, and if Amy ever needed my help I'd happily give up the time and take the trouble.

Now knock 'em dead, kid! (And remember, in the words of the great William Claude Dukenfield, "Never give a sucker an even break, or smarten up a chump!")

(I am so dead when she reads this...)

Finally, a worthy used car!

Sat, 20 Mar 2004 16:22:01 GMT

And one to carry me in the highest style! Unfortunately, it's rental only...

http://www.old-cars.net/picturecars/misc.htm

(The top two pictures.)