Category Archives: General

Stuff is not-life

Posted on March 13, 2023 by smellincoffee

I adopted anti-consumerism shortly after I began working, largely out of self-defense because I began to appreciate that paying money for a thing meant trading hours of my life for a thing. Was a $100 set of Star Trek dvds … Continue reading →

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Thinking about women authors

Posted on March 10, 2023 by smellincoffee

A few years back, out of a matter of curiosity, I  went through my data on books-read since May 2007 and determined that nearly 80% of my reading came from male authors. This is not something that bothers me, since … Continue reading →

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I SAY, Jeeves. Rather alarming, what?

Posted on March 7, 2023 by smellincoffee

Since it’s early March, I’m doing my April/Read of England planning, including a draft of the “Reading of England, 20__!” post I publish on the first. I’d written up a very brief intro paragraph in the style of Bertie Wooster, … Continue reading →

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Teaser Tuesday: Heroes and villains

Posted on March 7, 2023 by smellincoffee

Today’s tease comes from The Romance of Religion by Dwight Longenecker. Reviews/comments for it, The Reactionary Mind, and Blood of Honour to come this week.. The truly romantic warrior sees the evil in the world and wants to fight it, … Continue reading →

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The Bookworm Tag

Posted on March 4, 2023 by smellincoffee

Borrowed from Marian, and remixed a little bit with more borrowing from The Edge of the Precipice. If you like the questions, climb aboard and remove/add your own! 1.  If you had to go into the witness protection program, and … Continue reading →

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Favorite subjects…

Posted on March 1, 2023 by smellincoffee

Today’s Wednesday writing prompt from Long and Short Reviews is: what is your favorite subject? I can still remember the first day of fourth grade, walking eagerly to my desk and rummaging through the pile of books there to find … Continue reading →

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February 2023 in Review

Posted on March 1, 2023 by smellincoffee

The moving finger writs, and having writ, moves on, and now another month is gone. I think I quit myself reasonably well in February, making steady across across most of my challenges. Do you anxiously wait all year for my … Continue reading →

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“Our revels now are ended…”

Posted on February 28, 2023 by smellincoffee

This past weekend I was privileged to see one of the final performances of Greta Lambert at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, where she performed the role of Prospero in Shakespeare’s “The Tempest”. I’d never seen or even read “The Tempest” … Continue reading →

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Memes on Tuesday: SF and rebellion against horror

Posted on February 28, 2023 by smellincoffee

First up, Tuesday Teasins’, this time from Michael Warren Davis’ The Reactionary Mind. This week’s top ten list is a ‘genre freebie’, so I’m going to go with Ten Near-Future SF Tales. (1) & (2): Daemon and Freedom, Daniel Suarez. … Continue reading →

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If this isn’t nice, I don’t know what is

Posted on February 25, 2023 by smellincoffee

A few years back I read a quote in Vonnegut’s Timequake that has stuck with me since. ”My uncle Alex Vonnegut, a Harvard-educated life insurance salesman who lived at 5033 North Pennsylvania Street, taught me something very important. He said … Continue reading →

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