You all saw the message the universe sent me today, right? Your positive omens don’t get more explicit than that. Read more →
Author: Mr. McLaren
A Very Happy Thought
There is some conventional wisdom that experience brings a certain necessary cynicism. That having seen it all before removes the shine from life. That there are always some disappointments, and they accrete over time into a dull patina between us and our experience of the world. Me, I think that’s certainly understandable, but not necessary. And today, I think that… Read more →
From Russell’s Autobiography
I am learning much about growing old. Thirty-five years ago I was lately married, childless, very happy, and beginning to taste the joys of success. Family appeared to me as an external power hampering to freedom: the world, to me, was a world of individual adventure. I wanted to think my own thoughts, find my own friends. … I felt… Read more →
Halfway to Seventy
I have now been 35 for 9 minutes. So far, it feels the same as 34. Read more →
Frii Time
Not a ton of time for blogging tonight, due to the little birthday presentTechnically not until next Monday. I bought for myself: a Wii with some accessories and a couple of games. This is the first console I’ve ever owned. From childhood, when I visited friends to play Atari or Intellivision (I did eventually get a Vic 20, which was… Read more →
Nemi
Two months ago I had never heard of Nemi. I had no idea that she was apparently known all over Europe, and especially a hit with her Norwegian countrymen, and across the UK. And then I was browsing through Previews looking for stuff to order at my local comic shopI try to always do a pass through the “back” of… Read more →
Monday Misc. Music
To help me get through another annoying Monday, I have composed a short playlist of five songs that I like, which bear no relationship to each other whatsoever. Additionally, I am reasonably certain that anyone reading this will most likely not have heard any of these songs, and I can state with some certainty that no one reading this will… Read more →
Learning Google Gadgets
I decided tonight to learn how to write a Google gadget. I figured something simple, like a configurable RSS feed reader (with a little shiny chrome) would probably be enough to learn the skeleton of what I would need to know. So I whipped up a gadget for the Shadow Unit feed, since I’m still chewing over the first episode… Read more →
Gone Drinking
Due to important fund–raising activities and all-you-can-drink craft beer, there will be no blogging today. (Actually, I’m sick and driving, so there won’t be that much drinking, but I will still put in an appearance, raise the flag, and put some money towards a good cause.) Read more →
Once more unto the breach
…to close a bunch of tabs before Firefox memory issues eat my computer. Let us begin with my praise of BibliOdyssey. They pulled me in earlier this month with the scans from an antique geomancy almanac, and I’ve been exploring their archives since then. Wow, is there a lot of stuff in there for a bibliophile to gawk at. Cosmological… Read more →
I mean it: Go read this.
You may recall my mention earlier of how excited I was at the announcement of Shadow Unit? Well, the “first episode” is now live on the site, and I encourage you in the strongest possible terms to go and check it out. If you’re a book person, think of this as a free new Emma Bull story for you to… Read more →
I have seen the Sky Wolf eat the moon…
…and I have two thoughts: 1) Damn, this science shit is cool. I can see the Sky Wolf eat the moon and know exactly what’s really going down. Yay for science! 2) Is it just me, or does eclipse night seem somehow darker than new moon night? That makes no sense, and is thus spooky. Of course, I live in… Read more →
En Passant
I’ve got a three-year-old arriving in half an hour, and I’ve got a remote controlled car that I’ve just assembled, so I don’t have a lot of time for blogging today. Let’s see how many of my 20 or so “quickies” I can get through, in passing, before she gets home… Recent experiments with Hemmingway‘s recipe for Death In The… Read more →
If I can find chestnuts…
It appears that I failed to get tickets to the Savour Food & Wine show before it sold out. Consequently, it appears I will not be getting to taste: Slow roasted pork ribs with mango salsa, Buttermilk stilton biscuit with roasted duck and mini doughnuts with warm mocha chocolate Shaved Smoked BBQ Brisket on Rosemary Crouton with Grainy Mustard Aioli… Read more →
Musings In Advance
When I turned 20, I was one of the youngest of my group of friends. I had watched them all make a big deal out of it, and I laughed. 20 was no problem. When i turned 30, I was one of the youngest of my group of friends., although I had made a number of friends who were substantially… Read more →
