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Scalzi's Take on Privilege

John Scalzi ruffled some feathers again on his blog when he used a gaming metaphor to try and explain to the Straight White Male players in life that they are on the lowest/easiest setting. It’s an interesting read and plenty to think about.

Straight White Male: The Lowest Difficulty Setting There Is – Whatever: You can lose playing on the lowest difficulty setting. The lowest difficulty setting is still the easiest setting to win on. The player who plays on the ‘Gay Minority Female’ setting? Hardcore.
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Macdrifter Summation of Text

A Simplenote Affair « Macdrifter: “WriteRoom Dropbox sync is amazingly fast. It’s faster than Simplenote with a large collection of notes. I use WriteRoom to quickly add a note. The launch and refresh time beat Simplenote by a large margin. The only thing I don’t like is the enormous margin in landscape.”

I’ve settled on Byword on my iPad for writing, and Elements for search if I can’t find what I’m looking for by the title.

Repetitive Tasks Chart Porn

Awesome awesomeness! Repetitive Tasks - Chart Porn

Enjoy!

My Big Ass Gay Pity Party

I had a rough day yesterday. I let myself go to a dark place and the resulting big ass pity party wasn’t pretty.

The trigger is always something trivial or on the surface silly. In this case, a distant semi-relative posted about their engagement on that awful so-called social media site, Facebook. I threw in my congrats because that’s what you do. Of course the little green jealousy monster started whispering in my ear. Everything is so perfect for them…health, youth, love of family and friends…why them?

Gravity Arranged

How does gravity work?

Oh the dreaded scale! We’ve all heard the story about Newton and an apple. Anyone who’s been ice skating knows with personal clarity the importance of treating gravity with respect.

So how does it work? Any two objects in the universe with mass are attracted to each other. But it’s not just a factor of attraction of mass, gravity is a force affecting space as well.

"A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian: A Novel" by Marina Lewycka

Reviewer: Linda

The main characters in this book are Ukrainian immigrants in the U.K. The narrator is the youngest daughter, and she doesn’t remember WWII. Her father and older sister, however, have vivid memories, memories they have never shared with the narrator. The book weaves the tale of the father’s marriage to a much younger Ukrainian (Russian?) gold-digger who is looking for permanent residence with tales of the past. The narrator and her sister have not spoken since their mother died, yet the gold-digger, as a common enemy, gets them back together. And they both learn lessons about the value of family.

"The Novelist" by Angela Hunt

Reviewer: Sally

Angela Hunt is in the top five of my favorite authors list. Her stories are exciting from page 1 to the end. I know when I start one; it is likely to be a very late night. They are hard to put down. “The Novelist” is a little different than the majority of Angela Hunt’s books…excellent…but different. That is not surprising, given the storyline of the book.

"Empire Falls (Vintage Contemporaries)" by Richard Russo

Russo’s novel is wonderful! The characters, even the minor characters are real, tangible, quirky, heartwarming and heartbreaking. His writing style is rich and engaging; his style reminds me of John Cheever, or John Updike, John somebody anyway.

Empire Falls, a small mill town in Maine, has seen the last of the good times. Miles Roby grew up in Empire Falls, had a brief chance of escape while in college, but was drawn back because of his mother’s failing health. Now, middle aged and struggling to make ends meet, Miles runs the Empire Grill.

"Unspoken" by Angela Hunt

Reviewer: Sally

Some people think humans evolved from apes…gorillas. Glee Granger thinks gorillas are almost human and can be taught to think and talk. Rob (Glee’s brother) thinks gorillas are animals, but he talks with Sema, Glee’s gorilla. Brad Fielding (director of Gorilla exhibit at zoo) thinks gorillas are fascinating…but animals from which humans evolved. Irene (Glee and Rob’s grandmother) thinks gorillas are animals uniquely created by God. Sema knows she’s a gorilla, and wants to be a mother gorilla.

"The Cat Who Went into the Closet (Cat Who...)" by Lilian Jackson Braun

This is another interesting tale about Qwilleran and his two cats. In this installment, they are renting a large mansion on the main street of town. The house’s owner is retired and now living in Florida. When the owner suddenly commits suicide, Qwilleran suspects foul play.

Qwilleran, the protagonist, is not your typical hero. He’s an older gentleman, a retired journalist, with a mind that never stops questioning and an imagination that often leads him into trouble. He’s grumpy in the mornings before his coffee, just like many of us, and he’s not always polite. His flaws make him all the more real and relatable, and that’s what makes him such an interesting character.