Category Archives: General

Dark Mirror

Posted on August 21, 2026 by smellincoffee

The memory of thirty years ago is hazy, but I can look back through it and see one moment of clarity: my best friend Gil and I walking around during lunch period (we always skipped lunch in favor of roaming … Continue reading →

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WWW Wednesday

Posted on August 19, 2026 by smellincoffee

If that meme bewilders you, LeVar Burton (Geordie) was the star of a PBS show called Reading Rainbow. Its theme: WHAT have you finished reading recently? I Am Spock, Leonard Nimoy, and a book I won’t mention just yet. Review … Continue reading →

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It’s a Trekkie Teaser Tuesday

Posted on August 18, 2026 by smellincoffee

Leonard Nimoy, musing on the Spock/McCoy dynamic in I Am Spock: McCoy, frustrated: Now wait a minute, Spock! When the first baseman gets his paycheck, who gets the money?Spock: It is only logical that he should do so, since he … Continue reading →

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Set Phasers to Frag!

Posted on August 17, 2026 by smellincoffee

For the last few years it has been my custom, or at least habit, to do a “Blast from the Past” week in which I visit stories from my youth, ranging from the very early stuff –Henry Huggins, Boxcar Children, … Continue reading →

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Worth Watching: The Dystopia We Forgot

Posted on August 12, 2026 by smellincoffee

This is not merely a literary observation; Hannah Arendt identified similar factors as the prerequisites for a totalitarian society: Loneliness and Social Atomization Losing Faith in Hierarchies and Institutions The Desire to Transgress and Destroy Propaganda and the Willingness to … Continue reading →

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WWW Wednesday + Country Cooking

Posted on August 11, 2026 by smellincoffee

Today’s prompt from Long and Short Reviews is, “Food from Our Region We Love”. One potential issue with this: I’ve only been out of the Southland a few times in my life, both times to the Southwest. I’m not entirely … Continue reading →

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Top Ten Books I Read on this Day the last Decade

Posted on August 10, 2026 by smellincoffee

Today’s TTT is books we were reading on this day for the last ten years. My approach to this will be to look at the review posted on or after August 11th for the last decade. Actually, I may have … Continue reading →

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Stephen Fry’s Troy

Posted on August 6, 2026 by smellincoffee

While I enjoyed Stephen Fry’s Mythos tolerably well a few years ago, it didn’t fire up my engines so much that I went after the next ones immediately; recently a Greek wind has hit my imagination, though, and after listening … Continue reading →

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WWW Wednesday + Series we Didn’t Finish

Posted on August 5, 2026 by smellincoffee

WHAT have you finished reading recently? After Christendom, Michael Warren Davis WHAT  are you reading now? Listening to Troy, prepared and read by Stephen Fry. WHAT  are you reading next?   Probably The True Flag by Stephen Kinzer, focusing on Theodore Roosevelt … Continue reading →

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Today is August 4, 2026, in the City of Allendale, California

Posted on August 4, 2026 by smellincoffee

I can’t believe I almost missed this. Ray Bradbury’s story, “And There Will Come Soft Rains”, was the creepiest bit of short fiction I ever read in middle or high school. Images of it have haunted me since. The best … Continue reading →

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