At last: Marble Hornets Entry 23!

Crap crap crap crap crap

Freaked out.

Marble Hornets: The Anagrams!

The "Marble Hornets" game is fascinating. Someone suggested that the name of the student movie that is purported to be a feature of the story is such a strange name, and seemingly unconnected with the action of the movie that seems to be happening, that maybe it is an anagram of some other phrase. Here is a list of the possibilities, from respected wordsmith Anu Garg's Internet Anagram Server.
I like "Hamlet's Reborn" as a good lead. On the other hand, "Herbal Monster" may be it--possibly a reference to the "House of Leaves" novel?
Or how about

• "Rem Blathers On"?
  
• "Ramble Her Snot"?
  
• "Her Lost Barmen"?
  
• "Hot, Barren Elms"?
  
• "Mel Abhors Rent"?
  
• "No Brash Remelt"?

I really wonder...

On a related topic, I don't personally feel that Tim could be the masked person who attacked Jay, as some seem to suggest; Jay recently interviewed Tim, who seemed a rather normal guy in recent life, and he did not seem to have clear memories of the whole shoot. People have said that it's fairly certain it's Tim, and that he is far gone and has little memory or similarity to the person he was during the shoot, but clearly he is not too far gone in the interview.
Further, he has a power similar to that of the Slender Man in being able to do magical type things such as making people sleep, disrupting video and audio in the camera, and such. Tim could not do that unless he is also now supernaturally powerful.
Or maybe I'm misunderstanding others' arguments. I will read more. Is this a waste of time? It is certainly inspiring!
Photo linked from http://knowyourmeme.com/photos/33260 but probably not original to that person...

Dumpty-Dumpty-Dump: Dan Brown's Writing Flow

Here is another comment on Dan Brown's writing that I found in one of my very favorite mailing lists, Daily Writing Tips.

Two things contribute to the flow of sentences within a paragraph:
1. sentence length
2. logical progression of thought

In browsing my shelves for examples, I realized that some very popular writers don’t seem to share David’s concern regarding “jumpy” narration.

Here’s a typical paragraph from Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code:

Langdon and Sophie stepped into another world. The small room before them looked like a lavish sitting room at a fine hotel. Gone were the metal and rivets, replaced with oriental carpets, dark oak furniture, and cushioned chairs. On the broad desk in the middle of the room, two crystal glasses sat beside an opened bottle of Perrier, its bubbles still fizzing. A pewter pot of coffee steamed beside it.

Not a complex sentence in sight. It doesn’t seem to matter if Brown is being reflective or describing action. Most of his sentences are simple or compound. Here and there the reader comes across a noun clause introduced by that, or a an adverb clause introduced by as or as if. Mostly it’s dumpty-dumpty-dump.

Yes, Dan Brown is a wildly successful writer and I’m happy for him. His gift, however, is story-telling, not writing style.

Just to share for a bit. A good insight. A great mailing list, too!
By the way: will I read the new book?
For sure, dude! And I'll enjoy it--the story as well as the bluepencil stuff.

Hilarious "Literal Video" --- what a super concept!!

I hope you will all enjoy this. It was suggested by my high school friend, Leo Memolo. Instead of the original lyrics of "Total Eclipse of the Heart" (was that by Jim Steinman? Sounds like!), what we hear (and it has subtitles!) is a literal description of what happens in the video--sung to the original music. Brilliant.
Prego!

UPDATED:
Yes, it is by Jim Steinman. Thanks again for the video and the information, Leo.

*snif*

As far as I can tell, NOBODY has even read my comments on "Angels & Demons" or had any reflections on what I wrote! Disappointed!

The Oscurati: Dim Bulbs in Dan Brown's Angels & Demons

Part One:

Langdon was certain you had never heard of the name.

"Effluvium," Langdon said. "Vapors from decaying bone." He breathed through his sleeve as he leaned out over the hole, peering down. Blackness. "I can't see a thing." (Angels & Demons 269)

Quick question: how many of you have ever heard of an obscure Italian from the Renaissance named "Galileo"?

Ring any bells? Yeah, the proponent of the concept of heliocentrism. Essentially, the inventor of the solar system concept. Kind of important. Kind of famous.

So why does the noted Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon seem to assume that only other eminent scholars would know the name?

Langdon was certain Kohler [the head of a conclave of scientists] would recognize the name. Even nonscientists were familiar with the ill-fated astronomer who had been arrested and almost executed by the church for proclaiming that the sun, and not the earth, was the center of the solar system. ... "His name was Galileo Galilei," Langdon said. Kohler looked up. "Galileo?" (32)

Thank you, Basil Exposition.

Dan Brown, pardon me, but I ask you: "Langdon was certain Kohler would recognize the name."--Are you kidding me? Why not mention, say, Thomas Jefferson and insinuate that a character would have heard the name because of his high level of education? Who, I ask, has never heard of Galileo? Certainly, in some areas of the world the name would be less familiar, but then these people are similarly less likely to be reading a novel about European Renaissance culture.
Anyroad--Kohler is a sharpie, for sure. He even has heard of the Masons--who, Langdon assumes, are total mysteries to you and to me.

[Langdon explained to Kohler that the Illuminati] "...were taken in by another secret society...a brotherhood of wealthy Bavarian stone craftsmen called the Freemasons."
Kohler looked startled. "The Masons?"
Langdon nodded, not at all surprised that Kohler had heard of the group. (38)

For a learned scientist, Langdon seems to be quite unaware of just how well known much of his arcana really is to the general public. I kept expecting him to explain:

"The Catholic church has existed literally for centuries," Langdon remarked. Vittoria stared at him blankly, even moronically. He went on, speaking patiently as he could. "It's a group of people that believe in God. And for most of that time," he continued, licking his lips with enthusiasm, for he loved to surprise people with his penetrating discussions of virtually unknown trivia of the Western world, "the Catholic church has been led by a single office. Oh, just as with the Maytag Repair Man, the office has been held by various people--sometimes Jesse White, sometimes Gordon Jump--but always by a man with an all consuming desire to control his people! And he has been known as. . .The Pope!!" Vittoria gave a startled jump into the air, bumping her shimmering hair against the nave of the church. She choked on a bit of ham sandwich and then exclaimed in a rush of incredulity, "The Pope? You mean, The The Pope?" I thought he was dead. . ."

However, perhaps Langdon is too much of a specialist. Like school kids in America, Landon

"...knew [that the Big Bang] was the scientifically accepted model for the creation of the universe. (68)

Ironically, unlike most adults who have finished high school,

He didn't really understand it. . . "(68)

These assumptions that these common-knowledge topics need to be exposited by the narrator make me wonder who in fact is the intended audience for these novels. Are these in fact children's books? Unlikely, as the books feature lots of insinuated sex and murder and mutilation (as opposed to the Road Runner cartoons, in which we see the injuries happen).

But who would assume that adults--grown people who are assumed to be intellectually capable of following the intricacies of the Langdon novels--would be that unfamiliar with Galileo or the Big Bang--or even supercolliders? Langdon finds it hard to believe that the scientific organization would have dug a huge donut out of the earth, deep underground, only to make subatomic particles crash into one another (57); as for myself, I learned about supercolliders in, I think, middle school, and have no trouble believing this.

Though I DID enjoy the stories of both Angels & Demons and The DaVinci Code, Dan Brown's narrator and Langdon's egobabble kept breaking me out of my suspension of disbelief--something a quality novel should never do. For the former narrative, I set out at once with my highligher and red pen, ready to mark the ludicrosities at once--and I couldn't put them down for the whole book.

For me, the forehead-smackin'est bit in the whole novel was when Langdon views the remarkable, ambigrammatic brand which can imprint the Illuminati's fabulous diamond on any body, cow or human. I don't know about you, reader, but I played with stamps when I was a kid. I even had a Fisher-Price printing KIT that I could use to print whole words. It wasn't hard, even as a child, to understand that to make an imprint properly, the stamp itself needs to look like its mirror image. Even carving potatoes and carrots in kindergarten, I got that idea adequately, though it was hard to execute the letters at that early age. But check out Langdon's bafflement as he views this g(l)orified stamp:

The metal still radiated heat. Grasping the wooden handle, Langdon picked it up. He was not sure what he expected to see, but it most certainly was not this.

Langdon stared [for] a long, confused moment. Nothing was making sense. Why had the guards cried out in horror when they saw this? It was a square of meaningless squiggles. The most brilliant of all? It was symmetrical, Langdon could tell as he rotated it in his hand, but it was gibberish. (467)

I was on a train when I read this applesauce. I wanted to shout out loud, "Langdon, you utter DOPE! Craphead! Fuzzdutty!" [and so forth]; I very nearly did. A few pages later, the payoff came, and it was rich: the narrator still feels he must explain to the readers (through the filter of Langdon's self-muttering) that

...the symbol now made sense. Perfect sense. The marking's awesome power hit Langdon like a train. ... They were in reverse. Langdon had been looking at the brand's negative! (472)

Not just its negative; it has to be its negative, thank you very much.

And by the way, readers, please give me a show of hands: who knew Madonna (the pop singer)'s surname before reading this novel? I am not a big fan of her work (aside from I'm Breathless) but I have certainly known that for decades. That's why I don't put the Madonna albums I might one day purchase (quite an unlikely idea) in the M section of my CD collection, next to the Ns, where the albums of The Artist Formerly Known as Prince would be found. (If you don't know, just Google it--Geez! some people are so lazy!)

More about putting things in their rightful places next time. Thanks for reading. Please comment with tact and poise so typical of, for instance, a YouTube commentator.

Chris O'Brien

July 2, 2009

Next post on Dan Brown will feature other, perhaps less-grievous inconsistencies, errors, and infelicities of expression.

Please note that I admire Brown's story-crafting ability; I just feel he needs a bit more judgment when it comes to certain areas of the narration and style; also, the judgment of a discerning editor. I am not here to hate Brown; I just want to point out that some of the things he wrote are quite outrageous and condescending, and I wanted to be the first to point some of that out and get the credit. Perhaps I am too late. I have been too lazy to Google it.

Citations refer to:

Brown, Dan. Angels & Demons. New York, NY: Pocket Books, 2000.

Trying out improv in Taiwan

I'm trying out some of the Whose Line games with my students: "Number of Words," "Questions Only," and "90-second Alphabet" (augmented sometimes to Eight Minute Alphabet). Some success, but rather slow! Here is a board I'm working on for them.

If you have done any improv you should know the challenges and hopefully the fun of it too. You could see their homepage for more notes.

Parodies Group Begun; Searching for Lodgings!

Heyo! Stressful as a box full of hanging fire. We hope to be able to go to America this summer--Eowyn and I do, that is--and I'm trying to find a place to hang my head during that time: a room for renk. Not easy so far away. Also got to write a full paper for several calls for papers that are due soon. Add to that the fact that Amy could have her baby ANY time now. . . see below for lots of other tasks looming o'erhead.
Also, I've started a social network thingy at Ning.com: "Parodies and Disparities." You wanna join? Be my guessed.

I've always loved parodies and have been exposed to many. I've even done a number of parodies of my own.
I love PDQ Bach, "Weird Al" Yankovic, Young Frankenstein, Airplane!, and even these swell new Mochries of our new President Obama.
I want to get others who are interested in this type of thing and discusss, analyze, and create parodies, travesties, breakfast teas, suchatease, burlesques, and the like. Join me? Please do!
Best to all and all for none.
Chris

Hoo Boy!

Photos of Coral and Eowyn and Amy Jan 27 2009 on PhotoPeach




Bizzy bizzy bizzy! Baby is coming along swell and Amy is swelling along big, baby! Should be born any time now. I hope I can finish all the calls for papers, and their respective papers, on time. I got word today that the first of the batch, a workshop on Studeous.com for English teachers in Taiwan, was accepted; conference May 16-17th.
Due to time constraints these days I've yoked my Twitter account (usually done, though, through http://itweet.net/) into this blog so I can make microblog notes on how things are going without the need for paragraphs.
I've also tied my other favorite journal, Memiary, into Twitter and thus into Forging Reputations as well. Recommended!
I've also been enjoying friend and family interaction on Facebook. Too bad few people want to play Word Twist or PathWords with me.
I've also been partaking of Star Trek: The Next Generation's Season 4 DVDs, graciously given to me by my dear family. Heaven! The best of times! And it's great to be able to tweet to LeVar Burton as I'm watching his episodes. He's quit smoking by the way. Good for him.
More soon, I hope. Will no doubt have several media extravaganzas, or at least a few availablganzas, as the baby Jonathan Aaron is born and develops. Wish me luck as the only adult who can drive in the family. . . .and can teach. . . . Geez!

My Tweets Friday the 13th of February

• 15:03 Rearranging my office as Amy suggested; applying for conferences; eating casserole! #
• 11:15 Enjoying seeing Geordi getting along better with Dr. Brahms! #
• 11:25 @Juniper37 Love you Jessica! I'm trying to get so much darn work done before the baby is born...it's delaying ticket purchase & room rental! #

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More Cowbell!

"New Class Clown" now has even more cowbell! Feast your ears...

	Make your own at MoreCowbell.dj

Defense and the Dark Arts

Vanishingly interesting article today from the Washington Post. I hope you find it stimulating!
Almost time for the new semester. Check my updated homepage for more info.

Also may I direct your attention to recent class pages I did for Yuntech's winter camp? I may? Thank you. Here's one for the TV Commercials class (full of bunly and nostalgic goodness) and another for the Storytelling and Songs class.

Stand up for human rice!

Greetings, fellow Earthicans! Aroo!
I have found a unique site that allows you to arrange for rice to be donated to the UN; it is then given to areas that need food for starving people, and, presumably, their pets. It takes the form of a vocabulary exercise where you try to pick out the synonym for the featured word. I have provided so far a couple of bowls of food for somebody, I guess. I'm glad to help and I bet you'll enjoy the feeling as well. The quiz matches itself to your evident vocabulary level, setting itself at a suitable difficulty based on the words you can and cannot match. I assume it's on the level, and even if not it could only waste time, as there is no signup or other material to connect you to the site. I'm offering my students bonus points for participating.
Also, I have started a new blog that will focus on discussions of voice actors and relating my own voiceover news, in hopes that I'll actually get some more. It's here:

http://voicecrafting.blogspot.com.

This is tied somewhat to my new voice acting promotion site with the demo tracks I've got down so far:

http://obrien.voicecrafting.googlepages.com/

Further, I just got a draft of the First Class Service teacher's book 1 to proof. Hope I can get it done fastly. Don't you?
I hope you will enjoy it all.
Chris

Coral's Kickery--Past, Part Two!

Hi. This new post has the same movie, but it may look better when you watch it from YouTube.
Chris


You can also see the video at its own page, from which it can be watched in "fullscreen" mode:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFAF3wWyuzs
Thanks. . .

Free Hit Counters

A parody

Typhoonery; Generation GEPT

Hi all, greetings from stormy, ill-weathered Taiwan. It's typhoon season and it's dreary; has been for a week or so. Yush. Also I'm working on a standardized test of EFL and wanted to share some improvised and possibly fragmented paragraphs I worked up for practice with oral skill for Taiwanesish youngsters.

• Stop jumping on the radio, Terry.
• Now it's time to hear the latest news.
• What should you do when your sink is broken?
• Do you think my nose is too big?
• Why do you keep looking at your watch?
• Is there anything I can do to help you?
• Don't throw your gum at the lion, Lisa.
• Try to talk more slowly and put the cat down.
• Take a minute to review your notes.
• I don't want any carrots with my apple pie.
• Please wait for a moment while I sleep.
• Can you possibly fix my car before lunch time?
• Are you sure you want to have beer for breakfast?
• There are no sharks in my pool, I think.
• I might need some help moving my sofa.
• I don't really like listening to good music.
• Why are we really taking this test?
• Can you give me a pencil?
• What movies are playing at the theater this evening?
• This is a story about a toy cowboy and a toy pig.
• Tell me the truth--I can't believe you really are George Bush's father.
• Swimming is easier when you don't wear ski pants.
• Salads are always more delicious with candy in them.
• What are you going to do with that huge pillow?
• I can't understand how to make math classes fun.

Many people who used to feel tired of watching TV programs every day have taken up a hobby. There are many hobbies you can choose from. Some people enjoy building up collections of coins, stamps, CDs, or bottlecaps. Other people prefer to build model cars, ships, or airplanes. Some like knitting or making clothing. Whatever you choose will certainly be more interesting and more useful to you than endless hours of cheap cartoons, so try to get involved in some kind of hobby today! Stop wasting your time and have fun!

The other day, I ran into my old friend Steve. I hadn't seen him in several months. It was great to see him, but I don't think he was so happy to see me again. In fact, he appeared to be angry about something, though he was still polite enough to me. He said that he'd lost his job last month and that he was still looking for a new one. He also said that he had to move out of his apartment and live with his parents again. Also, he said that I now had his old job. I hope he was just in a bad mood, and that he's not really angry at me. I still think he's a great guy.

Drinking beverages--it's a fun and easy way to cool down in the summer and to get toasty warm in the winter. Here's how to do it. First, get yourself a delicious drink--why not start with something easy, like a glass of cold water? OK now, pick up the glass with one of your hands. Be careful, because glass breaks very easily. Next, bring the glass close to your mouth with the same hand you used before. Then, with your lips, hold the BOTTOM edge of the top of the glass and tip the glass towards your face slowly. If you go too fast, you could get your shirt all wet! Open your mouth a little so the water can fall right in. Don't forget to swallow it, or your mouth will quickly fill up. After a few seconds, tip the glass back to level and swallow all the water in your mouth. Put the cup down and smile, because I'm sure you'll feel wonderful! Isn't that fun? You can have a drink any day, and even at night! Go on, have a beverage soon and make it a habit for life!

Dear Mom,
I found a dog outside my apartment the other day. It is a tiny little puppy, orange with white stripes. It is very cute. Nobody was watching me, so I took the puppy into my house and gave it some yummy food: corn soup. I called the puppy "Turf" because that's the little sound he makes when he's hungry. Today I dressed Turf up in a cute dress and took photos of him with my web camera. Then in the afternoon I got a message on my homepage from the police. They said that the dog belongs to somebody else, and that I have to give my Turf back to my neighbors or go to jail. That made me angry, so I decided to run away to Canada. I'm leaving now, Mom, and I'll miss you very much. Please tell the police that Turf loves me and doesn't want to go home. I'll see you when I am an old man!
Lots of love,
Gary

The subway will not be open this week, from Tuesday to Friday, because all the trains are being repainted black. The seats and curtains will also be replaced with black ones. This will make the trains harder to see at night and also in the underground stations. We don't want any bad people finding our super trains and taking them away, so remember not to tell anybody else about the new color. Also, please tell everybody about the change so that we can protect the trains. Thank you for your cooperation and we'll see you again on Saturday with the secret black-colored trains! Have a great week driving in the city in your car!
--The City Hall Planning and Secret Train Office

---

The other day, I was walking down the street on my way to school. I suddenly noticed a man's wallet lying on the sidewalk outside the post office! It was quite a surprise. I looked around and tried to discover if anybody was looking for the wallet, and also to see if anybody was watching me. I couldn't see anyone doing either of those things, so I picked up the wallet and put it into my book bag. When I had some time to myself, I examined the wallet. It had 3700 NT dollars in it, as well as several credit cards and a driver's license. I decided to bring the wallet to the police station after school, but I kept the cash as a reward for myself for being such a good person.


Last night at 9:25 PM a man was injured in Taipei when a motorcycle fell on him, breaking his wrist and three ribs. What is strange is that nobody was riding the motorcycle. In fact, the man, Mr. Alva Lin of Kaohsiung, was taking out his umbrella because of the rain. The umbrella hit a parked motorcycle next to Mr. Lin and this caused the cycle to fall down. Unfortunately, Mr. Lin was kneeling down right next to it! Today, Mr. Lin has been treated at the New Life Hospital in Taipei and is expected to be just fine after a month or two. The owner of the motorcycle has not been blamed for the accident. This is Thomas Chen, reporting from Taipei.

That night, Telly went to the shop secretly with a long box under his arm. He was wearing a tall opera hat and an old high school jacket, and on his feet was a pair of yellow socks. The shop appeared to be deserted, but when Telly knocked on the door in a specific and unusual pattern, the door opened silently. Telly looked around to make sure that nobody was watching, and then he stepped inside the dark shop. He pulled out a heavy piece of metal from his pocket, expecting to need some sort of protection from the man who waited within.

ALSO, some "non Wilde" quotes from my Google Widget.

"Yes, sir," he said, and closed the door with a slight bang. Odd, thought Howard as he lit a new and slightly bedraggled cigarette: Temple's out of sorts. What's got up his jumper today? Arnold raced for the door and

What Lord Shillingsly didn't realize was the magnitude of the gift he was to give to her in exchange for her silence. Arnold was a sure thing; no doubt of that. But when Lady Enid showed her the photorealistic scans of his date with the flower girl as an attachment to that wretched email, he had been easily persuaded.
What in blazes was he to do otherwise? All the wedding plans had been laid out in strips and the event was coming like a snail shot out of a buskin. A revelation of that kind during the season would be devastating for his father, his fiancee, and the flower girl, and the flowers themselves. . .well! It was hardly thinkable.
He retraced his thoughts to the morning before when he'd been greeted by an affable Arnold, who'd challenged him to a footrace to the entrance of the Memorial. Arnold raced to the door, and


The Turlock continued to stalk unevenly towards the bleeding Arnold, who let out a muffled shriek of dismay. It shook its shaggy head and large drops of pus and vinegar sported out in rays, tainting a circle of land around it. This assault was going well, it mused as it loomed closer to the boy, but where was the thrill of violent mauling that so soothed his nerves of old? Ah, the ennui was returning, the Turlock sighed to himself as it troubledly raked its jagged and musty claws in random patterns through Arnold's mangled flesh and organs. Perhaps a vacation . . .? Arnold raced for the door and

Perhaps the Turlock has a wife and several baby Turlets?

Another Step Forward

I have finished revising chapters 3 and 4, as my adviser advised. It's already been sent out to him, and I plan to meet him next week. . .Thursday, probably, but Wednesday if it works out for him and for me. I have to check and fill in all missing citations, adjust for MLA style standards, add and subtract here and there, and polish, so that on the day of my meeting I can make whatever further adjustments my adviser suggests, and have five copies of the full draft printed for the Defense Committee. They need three weeks to read the draft, at least, before the Defense, so that would make the date June 20th at the very earliest...and probably more like the 22nd.
However, the 22nd is also the date of the departmental graduation ceremony! I am still waiting to hear from the department whether that is gonna cause big troubles. Pray for me, or think happy thoughts!
I have been looking through my printed full draft, v. 4.0, and discover that the number of missing citations is relatively few. I have already caught most of the ch. 4 citations. So I'll have more time to restore missing parts and insert some new ideas, and refine my argument. . .
I'm really sorry that my family in America cannot attend my graduation. Think positive thoughts for them, too--we all can use some help in life, I guess!
The semester is winding down now and the graduating class's last week is this coming week. The high school kids' last week is one week later. What will I do with all my free time while the committee is reading my draft?? I'll find something. . .actually there are many more projects waiting for my attention, and many papers to grade. And my assistant is waiting for some answer keys so she can help me grade some more.
It's so intense. I really, REALLY need a vacation.
The girls are all doing well. Coral got a 100% in a poetry recital test today, and is getting ready for a dance recital too. Eowyn's always improving her language skills. Amy attended a conference today and probably persuaded a new acquaintance to buy my book for her classes next semester. By the way, it's going to be renamed First Class: English for the International Tourism and Hospitality Industries, Books 1 and 2, Teacher's Guide and Students' Books.

So. . .how's your mom, Ed?

And as Robyn Hitchcock reminds us, "In this city of lies, / Real life is a crime."
Have a gravy day.
chris

Al Altered at the Al-tar

Worth1000.com | Photoshop Contests | Are you Worthy™ | contest

In passing. . .
This is a great site if you like such stuff. Community participation. . .so why are they still using Photoshop instead of an open source equivalent?

Stoked and Frustrated

Glory be! URU is back and I didn't know until today. Get info here. But I have no time for that!
Actually, I have no time for this, either. Back to the diss, foolish mortal!
Oh boy oh boy oh boy!! I REALLY WANNA PLAY!
This is a great piece of salvaging, it seems, of the Cyan Myst series' successor, the online game set in D'ni. The original games are fantastically fantastic.
By the way, our school got a copier--our first--at a good price. Grooviness.

April Showers bring May Flowers

. . .and May Flowers bring furniture. Yeah.

Just a couple of updates [by the way, it drives me crazy when people drop the "of" in the phrase "a couple of Xs; it's not used the same was as "a few"!] for y'uns.
My advisor emailed me to let me know that he's signed and returned the Defense Application Thingy (official title) to the Department office; I'm committed now to finishing the degree this semester. . .no more delays! So I have got to get this turdiform "bovine theses" all titivated up and shoved out the scholastic vomitorium before cockshut time, or it's "Arnold raced for the door" for me!
Chapter 3 I think is in for a radical laparotomy today, as I cut off most of its header material. I will cut to the chase and focus on dear old wonky Borrow.

Also, the publishers have allowed me a few more weeks to finish up the textbooks; I'm now shooting for May 7th.

I have read most of Peter Beagle's Giant Bones on the train and at school this Weds. and think it's the bee's knees. Now I wanna get the other books by him into my line of sight and within dreaming distance.

Now starting up The World Treasury of Science Fiction with general series editor Anne Fadiman's Dad. Its foreword is real good.

Also I finished obsessively reading the wonderful Eats, Shoots & Leaves, wonderful British book on punctuation, from the militant sticklers' angle. Put that with dear Anne Fadiman's Ex Libris and some other great book-loving works I'll try to add to this list. 'Tis true, though, that the book has made me a bit self-conscious about these "little marks".

Wishing you well and hoping you do the same-- Litmus