I was thrilled when my post was pulled out and displayed on Making Light, and I eagerly checked the comments to see what other people had to say. Unfortunately it looks like the thread has been hijacked by Richard Feynman. Ah, well -- Feynman was reportedly a great guy, one who never suffered fools gladly.
I had this feeling recently, when I went to a convention masquerade. I don't usually go to masquerades, but in this case I was urged to go by a friend, and I have to say I was pretty bored. Then, after the program, a DJ started playing music, and everyone started dancing, including the people in costumes. Cartman from South Park danced with Johnny Depp's character from Pirates of the Caribbean, someone from a Lois McMaster Bujold book danced with a large shaggy dog. It was one of the most enchanting things I'd ever seen. It reminded me of a bit from The Man Who Was Thursday (another trait of geeks, I guess, is that they're always being reminded of parts of books) -- "Syme seemed to see every shape in Nature imitated in some crazy costume. There was a man dressed as an elephant, a man dressed as a balloon ... There was a dancing lamp-post, a dancing apple tree, a dancing ship ... And long afterwards, when Syme was middle-aged and at rest, he could never see one of those particular objects -- a lamp-post, or an apple tree, or a windmill -- without thinking that it was a strayed reveller from that revel of masquerade."
Any group of people that can make me feel as if I'm in a Chesterton book is all right with me.
Come bank with me and save my stash
And I will give you lots of cash
And you will all the pleasures prove
If you can help my savings move.
Are you spamming,
Are you spamming,
Madame A.?
Madame A.?
Sending all those emails
Asking for those details
Shame on you
Shame on you
JvP and Merilee -- Thanks!
And here's another Dr. Dee book, _The Book of Splendor_ (forgot the author). It takes place during Dee's visit to Prague, just as mine did, and it came out the same year as mine. I haven't read it -- I'm too chicken.
AS said:
"Lisa Goldstein is the only author coming immediately to mind, though there are others hovering just out of reach."
Cool! Do I get to plug my books now? The two you might be interested in are _Strange Devices of the Sun and Moon_ and _The Alchemist's Door_ (the latter about Dr. Dee).
There's an essay on world-building by Lin Carter where he talks about naming a magician Herpes Zoster. I always wondered just _what_ he was thinking.
My favorite bookstore story happened not to me but to my husband. There was a book out a while ago called The Cry of the Kalahari. This woman comes into the store, goes up to him, and asks, "Do you have The Cry of the Calamari?" And while he stares at her, open-mouthed, she goes on, "You know, it's about the Calamari Desert." He shows her the book, goes back to his (quietly giggling) co-worker, and whispers, "No! Not with linguini!"
Then there's the guy who asked for the book with the red cover, about a submarine. We actually figured that one out -- it was Hunt for the Red October -- which had a gray cover.
Favorite opening sentence:
"Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendia was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice."
JVP, you might check out
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3981527.stm
for reactions of newspapers around the world.
| Year | Number of comments posted |
|---|---|
| 2005 | 10 |
| 2004 | 1 |
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