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  • Don’t Know Much About Mythology

    Kenneth Davis’s Don’t Know Much About Mythology is an engaging, funny read. I learned a lot about world myths, as well as learning a fair bit about the European myths with which I was already familiar. I enjoyed his cheeky, sometimes breezy pop references. I loved some of his wordplay. (Inanna’s withering gaze she learned from her sister was a favorite.)

    The chapter on African myths turned out to be interesting, although as the chapter began I was struck by how much it was written for Euro-Americans (like the whole book). The structure of the book reflects the largely Western European point of view of mainstream America, as well as the European bias of academia.

    This is the first “Don’t Know Much” book I’ve read, and as an introductory overview, I thought it did well. If I become curious about what I don’t know about US history or world geography, I’ll certainly think about turning to Davis’s other books.

  • going jesus

    You’ve just got to go to going jesus (follow the various links along the left sidebar).

    (Found at pinkfish.)

  • Sudoku

    There’s a very entertaining article about Sudoku at American Scientist Online — Unwed Numbers. (Really! Even in American Scientist!) I enjoy Sudoku enough that I even bought one of the small collections of puzzles. It’s very satisfying to be able to pick one up now and then.

  • Bach, Bach, and more Bach

    The Guardian has an amazing Arts special reports page with many Bach stories and resources in response to BBC-3’s upcoming broadcast of all of Bach’s works.

  • A Short History of Myth by Karen Armstrong

    A light introduction to the subject, Karen Armstrong’s A Short History of Myth includes many sweeping generalizations. I’m more excited about another recent book, Don’t Know Much About Mythology, which I’ve just begun.

  • The Children of the Company by Kage Baker

    I’m a great fan of Kage Baker’s Company novels, but I found The Children of the Company annoying.

    It’s not really a novel, first off; it’s really an amalgamation of short stories. So forget about narrative flow. It’s just patched together by the character Labienus.

    And Labienus is a most unpleasant character, for second; he’s a disaffected mortal who is the epitome of a misanthrope. And he’s not Mendoza. Readers want to know! Where’s Mendoza? For that matter, where are most of the previously introduced major characters? Back stories for some of them are fleshed out here, and one character does seem to be disposed of. But in general the grand story arc isn’t advanced.

    I felt like I needed a character chart like you use when you read a Russian novel or an annotated timeline. Many of the short stories here intersect, in minor or major ways, with episodes in the other novels or other short stories. But really, do I want to read a book of short stories that just drop tidbits about the larger story?

    I know an author’s purpose in writing is bound to be different from my purpose in reading. But this made me want to say: Kage Baker, stop stringing us along. Get on with it and finish the story you’ve started.

  • Ten fortune cookies

    1. A dose of adversity is often as needful as a dose of medicine.
    2. A man can fail many times, but he isn’t a failure until he gives up.
    3. Make serious decisions in the last few days of the month.
    4. The mightiest oak in the forest is just a little nut that held its ground.
    5. Regenerate your system through diet and exercise. Save the cookies!
    6. Plan your work and work your plan.
    7. Luck will visit you on the next new moon.
    8. Common sense is not so common.
    9. Courage comes through suffering.
    10. Hold faithfulness and sincerity as first principles.

    Numbers one and two were characterized by my dining companion as being part of the “New England Series” when we got them one Sunday night. I’d say five, six, eight, and nine would also qualify (all, in fact, are printed with the same blue ink, with the same registration marks, and all include lucky numbers and “learn Chinese” on the back). Note that only one is a fortune. And one of these isn’t really from a cookie, but from the Analects of Confucius.

  • Jag älskar IKEA

    IKEA opened in the Boston area and I decided I had to try it out this evening. What a trip! It is enormous, larger even than the new IKEA store in Philadelphia. It was packed. There were security people directing traffic from two blocks away. And this at 7 on a Saturday night.

    I took notes for a couple of needs in my new apartment, but I wasn’t able to find shades for the ceiling-fan lights with bare bulbs. I did pick up two boxes of those wonderful oat crisps with a chocolate layer, some crispbread, black currant preserves, and a tin of ansjovis for making janssons frestelse.

  • Beta testing for Amazon

    I’ve signed up to beta test a different kind of display for Amazon. Half of my visitors will see a standard link, and half will see a rollover link that displays more information about the book. (You’ll continue to see one or the other on every visit as long as they have their beta test.)

    I’ve just finished The Children of the Company by Kage Baker. Expect an entry about it soon.

  • Ten things I got from my ancestors

    A Friday Tenâ„¢ list just a bit early:

    1. From Grandma Tracey: an interest in publishing. Grandma Tracey wrote a history of Imperial Valley, where I grew up, and published a newspaper.
    2. From Grandma Sutton: a love of sweets. At least I think that’s where it came from. She gave us fresh-baked bread with butter and white sugar on it. I remember her loading up toast with lots of jam. She would take “half” the last slice of pie until there was a tiny sliver left.
    3. From my mother: a love of salty things.
    4. And high blood pressure.
    5. From my father: a bad temper.
    6. From both my grandfathers: an agrarian sensibility.
    7. From my parents: a sense of safety and of being loved.
    8. And a college education.
    9. And a need to be right (or is that a need not to be wrong?).
    10. From all my ancestors who just kept moving West: a sense of independence and self-reliance.