Dec 31 2006
See the rest of this year’s listings • What is 52 Books in 52 Weeks?
2006 was in some ways a disappointing year for this meme. My hope had been to read as much as two times the stated number (i.e. 104 books in 52 weeks), but I had enough stumbling blocks along…
Dec 31 2006
From Squaw Tit to Whorehouse Meadow by Mark MonmonierI stumbled upon this book by chance, and after reading the cover flap, I was reminded of a section in Bill Bryson’s Made in America (funny how everything…
Dec 29 2006
From Rusty comes a meme in which one takes the first sentence from the first post of every month in the outgoing year. Sort of makes my archives look pathetic.
Dec 29 2006
The “last one of 2006″ edition.
Dec 28 2006
Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs by Chuck KlostermanI generally stay away from trendy magazines like SPIN, for which Chuck Klosterman is a senior editor. However, the more I read about its snarkiness, the more I wanted to read it,…
Dec 27 2006
Alpha Beta by John ManI borrowed this particular book from my friend Abou, who is a big Classics buff, and who raved about it after buying it from the bargain book shelf at Barnes & Noble. Because this is…
Dec 27 2006
You just have to love Yiddish words—bupkis (lit. “beans” or perhaps “goat droppings”; fig. “nothing”), schmuck (from shmok (שמאָק), lit. “penis”; fig. a general pejorative), klutz, schlep, and schlong are all common to SAE now—and this one is no different, though I hadn’t heard of it until now.
Pronounced…
Dec 26 2006
Another year is drawing to a close, and that means its time for my annual meme, in which I select the top ten albums (in no particular order) that came out in 2006. This year, I’m also going to look at some of the albums I think were particularly disappointing…
Dec 22 2006
I’ve seen this one before, or something like it, but while perusing some blogs I stumbled upon this meme over at belladame’s (but she’s not the only one): find the nearest book, turn to page 123, find the fifth sentence in, and quote the next three.
Perhaps the statue was that gift to…