Monthly Archives: July 2012

moving on to another Trollope…

Posted on July 30, 2012 by dichroic

Why did Fanny Trollope bother writing a whole book on “Domestic Manners of the Americans”, when she could have summarized the whole thing as “Awful,” and saved herself the trouble? (Never mind, I know why from her son’s autobiography: it … Continue reading →

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Report on one-bag light packing experiment

Posted on July 28, 2012 by dichroic

Experiment failed. Well, that’s not strictly true – according to the scientific method, the experiment succeeded in disproving my hypothesis. LAB REPORT Hypothesis: one- bag method is more pleasant way to travel in all or almost all cases. Test subject: … Continue reading →

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because whatever else you can say about guns, they don’t shoot silver bullets

Posted on July 26, 2012 by dichroic

Expanded from a comment I made on someone else’s locked LJ post. In the commentary I’ve seen on the shootings in the Aurora, CO theater, some people keep saying things like “Too bad no one else in that theater had … Continue reading →

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packing (again)

Posted on July 26, 2012 by dichroic

Dear Amazon, I do not like the change to the way your Recommendations work. It’s not a New Release until it’s actually been released; that’s what “new release” means. Please quit recommending books that I won’t be able to read … Continue reading →

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Posted on July 25, 2012 by dichroic

When I was talking the other day about how timely Trollope’s autobiography still is, I hadn’t even gotten to the section on politics yet. Wow. I can’t agree with him on “the dangers of traveling too quickly” [toward equality], though … Continue reading →

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Sally Kristen Ride (1951 – 2012)

Posted on July 24, 2012 by dichroic

Gravity no longer holds her down and what she’s learning now, she will not reach back to teach us – not as we sit here, anyway. Who knows what learnings lie ahead once we’ve followed her path? But let it … Continue reading →

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review: Autobiography of Anthony Trollope

Posted on July 23, 2012 by dichroic

I’ve been reading Anthony Trollope’s autobiography, and it keeps surprising me. First it surprises me by how current it is; the job of a writer (and of a reader) hasn’t changed much. WHat he has to say about the craft … Continue reading →

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We’re back!

Posted on July 22, 2012 by dichroic

Actually, we’ve been back since Thursday; fortunately for us we had the rest of Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday off before returning to work tomorrow. I’ve already blogged about the cruise, with photos, in two parts; Part I discusses all … Continue reading →

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almost gone

Posted on July 6, 2012 by dichroic

Since I decided to take my big suitcase on our cruise after all (I was planning to pack light, but someone pointed out that maybe a cruise isn’t the best time for that) I’ve been tossing in a few extra … Continue reading →

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post-Copperfield rec

Posted on July 5, 2012 by dichroic

If there’s anyone reading this who knows their Dickens very well, I need a recommendation: if I loved David Copperfield what other Dickens should I read? The only other thing of his that I’ve read through is A Christmas Carol. … Continue reading →

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