Other recent books

I read a few of rysmiel's Rex Stout books while visiting Montreal: The Golden Spiders, Might as Well Be Dead, and Champagne for One. That I got through three is evidence that I liked them better than the short stories. (I'd also read Some Buried Caesar recently, courtesy of the library, after Rysmiel and others suggested I might like the Nero Wolfe stuff better at novel length.) I didn't make much of an effort to figure things out myself, just read along and watched Wolfe and Goodwin poke at each other and sometimes other people (notably in the comments to us the readers). I may or may not go back to them later.

Also in Montreal, I picked up a copy of Those Gentle Voices at a used book store, on the theory that it was an Effinger I'd never heard of. Unfortunately, it deserves its obscurity; it doesn't have the inventiveness or characterization of Effinger's best works, and is implausible on a number of levels. ( spoilers lurk here )

[This post was prompted by glancing at some "50 book challenge" posts and noting that at this rate, I'll have no trouble whatsoever hitting 50. The key variable, I think, is how often I get to the library, with secondary factors being rereading and the amount of time I spend on things other than books, which include newspapers as well as Websites and Usenet. My best count is that the second and third Nero Wolfes, the Effinger, and Ryman's 253 are this year's, and The Golden Spiders would get filed under 2006.]

Other recent books

I read a few of rysmiel's Rex Stout books while visiting Montreal: The Golden Spiders, Might as Well Be Dead, and Champagne for One. That I got through three is evidence that I liked them better than the short stories. (I'd also read Some Buried Caesar recently, courtesy of the library, after Rysmiel and others suggested I might like the Nero Wolfe stuff better at novel length.) I didn't make much of an effort to figure things out myself, just read along and watched Wolfe and Goodwin poke at each other and sometimes other people (notably in the comments to us the readers). I may or may not go back to them later.

Also in Montreal, I picked up a copy of Those Gentle Voices at a used book store, on the theory that it was an Effinger I'd never heard of. Unfortunately, it deserves its obscurity; it doesn't have the inventiveness or characterization of Effinger's best works, and is implausible on a number of levels. ( spoilers lurk here )

[This post was prompted by glancing at some "50 book challenge" posts and noting that at this rate, I'll have no trouble whatsoever hitting 50. The key variable, I think, is how often I get to the library, with secondary factors being rereading and the amount of time I spend on things other than books, which include newspapers as well as Websites and Usenet. My best count is that the second and third Nero Wolfes, the Effinger, and Ryman's 253 are this year's, and The Golden Spiders would get filed under 2006.]

Earrings

I have a pair of earrings made from Scrabble tiles. They were a gift from adrian_turtle; the letters on them are the initials of my partners (their ordinary names, not their aliases here [1]), since the store didn't have my initials available.

When I was in Montreal, papersky asked why I'd picked those letters, and when I explained, told me I was "ridiculously sentimental." I'll grant the adjective.

A lot of my earrings have some association for me, in one way or another, though most of them are less likely to provoke comment. For example, there's a fine pair of paua shell earrings in the shape of turtles, gifts from Papersky (so associated for me with both her and Adrian), but "why do you have turtle earrings?" is a less likely question than "why those letters?" There are several pairs that I got from elisem at haiku earring parties, and the "Song of the Lesbian Elephants" that I won in a contest Elise ran. I like having those bits of connection, along with the visual pleasure of the earrings and the feeling of them hanging from my ears.

I'm wearing the Scrabble earrings today. On our way up earlier, one of my neighbors noticed them, and asked if they were Scrabble tiles. I said yes, and she asked where I'd gotten them, and then whether there was a meaning behind the letters. I answered "My girlfriend found them in a shop in Boston" for the first, and something like "Yes, I picked them on purpose" for the second. My neighbor didn't ask for more details. I'd evaded because I didn't want to try to explain my poly web to a casual acquaintance in the time it would take the elevator to get to the fifth floor, but if she'd persisted, I would have. If I weren't somewhat open to explanations, I'd have said "a friend," though "girlfriend" is ambiguous in that sort of context.

[1] Two of my partners share an initial.

Earrings

I have a pair of earrings made from Scrabble tiles. They were a gift from adrian_turtle; the letters on them are the initials of my partners (their ordinary names, not their aliases here [1]), since the store didn't have my initials available.

When I was in Montreal, papersky asked why I'd picked those letters, and when I explained, told me I was "ridiculously sentimental." I'll grant the adjective.

A lot of my earrings have some association for me, in one way or another, though most of them are less likely to provoke comment. For example, there's a fine pair of paua shell earrings in the shape of turtles, gifts from Papersky (so associated for me with both her and Adrian), but "why do you have turtle earrings?" is a less likely question than "why those letters?" There are several pairs that I got from elisem at haiku earring parties, and the "Song of the Lesbian Elephants" that I won in a contest Elise ran. I like having those bits of connection, along with the visual pleasure of the earrings and the feeling of them hanging from my ears.

I'm wearing the Scrabble earrings today. On our way up earlier, one of my neighbors noticed them, and asked if they were Scrabble tiles. I said yes, and she asked where I'd gotten them, and then whether there was a meaning behind the letters. I answered "My girlfriend found them in a shop in Boston" for the first, and something like "Yes, I picked them on purpose" for the second. My neighbor didn't ask for more details. I'd evaded because I didn't want to try to explain my poly web to a casual acquaintance in the time it would take the elevator to get to the fifth floor, but if she'd persisted, I would have. If I weren't somewhat open to explanations, I'd have said "a friend," though "girlfriend" is ambiguous in that sort of context.

[1] Two of my partners share an initial.