Booklist likes my Book!

Aw, look!

Booklist likes Fault Lines!

Though it's not my debut novel. But otherwise!

Twenty-Five Years

Dr. Skull and I have been married for 25 years, as difficult as that is to believe. As I often tell my students, we didn't live together before we got married -- in fact, we didn't live together after we got married. He was working in LA and Georgia both before and after our marriage.

But in fact this isn't entirely true. I was in graduate school in Fayetteville, and when he was in town, which was often, we lived together. So we've really been together somewhat longer than 25 years.

Anyway! Here's what he gave me for our anniversary:

 It's a stained glass window that you hang up in an actual window. When the sun shines through it, it's very lovely.

He also gave me this little guy:

because I write SF, get it?

I have the best husband.

Podcast Galactic Suburbia

Galactic Suburbia podcast discusses Fault Lines (at the very end! Skip ahead to like the last seven or eight minutes if you just want to hear about my book).

https://galactisuburbia.podbean.com/e/episode-186-16-may-2018/

Summer School

As I noted in an earlier post, I'm teaching two classes (let's hope -- one hasn't made yet) this summer.

The Kid is also taking a class at my university this summer. This is for two reasons -- one, it's much cheaper to take a class here than up at the flagship U; and two, it's their math req, and taking it all by itself will allow them to focus just on math. They're much better at math than Dr. Skull and I are, but it's not their strongest subject.

Anyway! My point! Signing the Kid up for a class has let me see the mechanics of university life from the other side. While it's much easier than it was in our days, in that lots of it can be done sitting in your living room via your computer, rather than walking all over a miserably hot campus from building to building, it's still a heap of fiddle to collect and stick in the right slots -- transcripts, shot records, SS#, official # for high school, dates for same, official # for all universities attended, dates for same, ACT/SAT scores...

All to take a single summer class.

I can see why each bit of data is necessary, mind you. But I can also see why some prospective students, who don't understand the need for all this data, might give up and decide to work at the water park instead.

Links!

It's two weeks until Summer I begins. I am probably teaching two classes in that semester -- madness! But (as always) we need the money.

Meanwhile I am writing and writing.

Here, have links!

Cool article on Homer and color words -- also touches on why translations are such a tangled web

Don't forget to sign up for the give-away of my novel!

Charles Murray is a terrible human being

Via TYWKIWDBI, why America is broken

NYTimes lets Jordan Peterson hang himself

Jessica Valenti on Peterson

For those of you who want to know even more about Jordan Peterson

See also this :

When the shooting stopped, Mr. Dixon said that friends told him that the gunman first entered an art classroom, said “Surprise!” and started shooting. The suspect’s ex-girlfriend was among the people shot in that classroom, he said.

Rod Dreher, of course, thinks school shootings are caused by access to the internet.

Also, Rod Dreher thinks you should get off his fucking lawn


I don't think this is necessarily a bad thing -- the causes are worth looking at though. (Hint: It's probably not bc Gen Whatevs is so selfish.)

Fault Lines Give-Away Promo

You know you've been waiting for it!

Now you can jump the line! Candlemark & Gleam is holding a May Giveaway of my new book, Fault Lines.

Go here for more details!

Dreaming

I had the best dream last night.

First, I got a $20,000 raise. Also it was rainy and grey outside -- my favorite weather. Then as we were driving home, we heard that the Paris Accords were working. Then I started getting texts and emails from everyone telling me my book was a best-seller.

Then -- and this was the best part of the dream, I even thought, inside the dream, this is like the best dream ever -- then, Donald Trump got impeached.

Happy Mother's Day, y'all.

May all your dreams come true!

Donald Glover / Childish Gambino

To be honest, I had lost track of Donald Glover after I quit watching Community, a comedy about a community college which, for its first three seasons, was quite good. (After that, it became quite terrible.) Donald Glover played Trey Barnes on the show.

He was also, apparently, in the Martian, so I probably saw him in that. But the Martin was so boring I remember almost nothing about it.

Then, as I'm sure most of you know, his video "This is America" dropped last week.

Whoa.

I'm not caught up, but Glover has apparently become (or at least come out) as a genius while my back was turned. I've just started watching his series Atlanta (brilliant), and I'm listening almost non-stop to his music.

Here's the video, in case you missed it, and some commentary on it.

The video:

Commentary:

More commentary -- this one's pretty good

This one might be my fav -- from the article:

“This is the thoughtful discussion of the place of violence in the American landscape and how guns are a perpetual and tragically necessary part of living in America,” says Touré. “I think it’s critical when [Gambino] says ‘I got strap, I have to carry it.’ He’s not bragging about having a gun, he’s like ‘I have to, this is America, this is the way things go here.’ The fact that he has to is really important to the message.”

Links!

We're driving up to Fayetteville to fetch the kid home for the summer.

Have some links!


The end of this editorial is the most compelling bit -- the start, meh. I think we've given Kevin Williamson enough attention. He's another overrated white guy, who's been surviving on Wingnut Welfare. Time to send him on the Hate-Wing Lecture circuit where he belongs.

Amazing

IT ME!

Employment is up, wages ain't (at least for most of us)

At least one reason for the previous

Interesting, but I need more data

Trump supporter uses his free speech

Philosophy, man

For like all six of you who haven't seen this yet -- Donald Glover is a straight genius:

This is Why Internet

I'm learning French on Duolingo -- really just messing around, obviously. This is no way to really learn a language. Anyway, for the phrase "Comment vous appelez-vous?" I found these comments, which I had to share:

---

WendlaGoodman

• 16
• 9
• 4
• 3
• 2

Alexander Hamilton. Je m'appelle Alexander Hamilton.

5

ReplyGive Lingot•1 year ago

---

VinegarII

• 13
• 9
• 3

Je m'appelle Philip Je suis un poète J'ai écrit cette poème juste pour le montrer

0

ReplyGive Lingot•5 months ago

Thinking about Graduate School

"Ego-involved" was a big thing back in graduate school.

As in, "Wow, he's a little ego-involved in his work, isn't he?"

Or: "Yeah, she doesn't really take criticism of her poetry well. Too ego-involved."

I'm trying to remember where this came from. Maybe from reading the Bhagavad Gita?

Who knows. The 90s, man.

Holy Hell

If you ever want to start a Twitter storm, just tweet that food-woo (in this case, Pink Himalayan Salt) is bullshit.

I've STILL got people coming @ me

You Can't Make This Shit Up, Y'all

See, even if I had known it was a lie, I still would have posted it, because it's okay to lie about gay people and other people I don't like.

How else is a good Christian conservative supposed to save this country from the liberals?

Here is How Good People Act

You'll remember a few days ago I wrote about Rod Dreher and his silly pearl-clutching over parents discussing what they would like their children to call them. (Rod thinks civilization will be destroyed if every single parent doesn't parent in lockstep with every other parent.)

As an antidote to that toxic and fragile bullshit, I offer this wonderful story.

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

Y'all, if you haven't seen The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (available on Amazon Prime), go watch it now.

Only the first season is available so far, but the second season is filming as we speak.

(H/T Nicole and Maggie)

It's not the End, but You Can See it from Here

The end of the semester hoves near, y'all.

I'm only giving one exam, in English Grammar, which will be practically painless (at least for me). My other classes have portfolios, which will have to be read and commented on. That's more work, but it's also slower work.

Soon I will have almost a month off, in other words. I'm teaching Summer I, which starts in early June. So I've got almost all of May to write, and maybe sleep, if I got shake this pernicious insomnia.

The kid comes home on May 11. Then they're going to visit their sweetie for awhile, who lives in Pennsylvania.

Then they'll see about getting a job.

Yes, it's an exciting summer planned here at Chez delagar.