i got really busy and have been traveling a bit lately looking for a new house-- funny thing about travel, i took the book and never had a chance to read it.

just got back home today though, with most problems fixed for a bit. should take a few days off to just relax and yes, read.

one thing i should tell you i noticed about her though-- writing workshops preach a lot of "show, don't tell" as the absolute rule of fiction. in her case, i love how she tells, but not too crazy about how she shows (a lot of unnecessary detail-- and yes, it paints a picture, but also distracts and wastes energy).

some people should break the prescriptions and just do what they do best. tell--and tell more.

anyway, tomorrow i'll pick up where i left off and without much to do i should be able to really get into it.

I think I know what you're getting at. But remember, it's a bit of an unfolding mystery. Like, all of it. Believe me, when she "shows", she fucking well shows. And I, being a fan of big picture theological science fiction writers like Gene Wolfe and William Gibson, LOVE that she leaves so much of the detail to the reader's imagination.

You'll see- the characters really come across about as well as one could possibly expect for a story of that length with so many important players involved. You get to know each character intimately. And secrets that are hinted at unfold at a sometimes glacial but ultimately highly rewarding pace.

When the big picture comes together, as it finally does, it's quite a story. And the good news is that the pieces come together in one novel, unlike Gene Wolfe who can stretch his grand mysteries into 12 novels spanning three series.

alright. i'll never read gene wolfe then.

i still think she could have cut what i ahve read so far by two thirds and have it read better, but i'm finishing the morning cup of tea and will have my way with the book immediately next.

Apparently this is one of the largest primary source texts in the entirety of world history let alone the Roman period. So it tickles ALL of my fancies, being a theological exegesis, a fundamental component of Church history, and also a nerdy historian thing!

And to be sure, I am what is called "Non-Chalcedonian" or "Oriental" Orthodox so this text is definitive for me.. a great read!

That book sounds deep and heavy and cool suchfriends...

I just finished my latest book, Keep The River On Your Right, and the review is up on the blog

RXTT's Intellectual Journey continues with Tobias Schneebaum's KEEP THE RIVER ON YOUR RIGHT. http://rxttbooks.blogspot.com/2015/0...find-when.html

http://ixoyc.net/data/fathers/624.pdf

if anyone is interested, even if just from a historical perspective as again, it is the most detailed glimpse into the life of the 5th century.. (its also 900 pages ;) )

Currently reading Frantzen's Corrections, on the basis on the Thinking Fellers Union Local 282 wikipedia page which stated that one character listened to the band.
I'm not too convinced, to say the least. I find it hard to read out loud, which is one my pleasures.

I love $1 books at the library, its filled up half my shelf

a real eye opener. the food industry sucks. Not only "mechanically processed beef" (meat removed from carcasses with a electric rotary wire brush for your basic fast food all beef patties), but also fully processed poultry (chickens and turkey carcasses forced at high pressure thru tiny sieves, which completely liquifies the remains for making "nuggets")

just add soy meal as an extender, but be sure to remove any healthy ingredients from the soy first!

what healthy ingredients? the accumulated pesticides?

--

i've been seriously getting more vegetarian as of late.

it's a long story and don't feel like telling it right now but yeah

but it's not from processed meats-- i get beautiful pastured meat.

eh, long story. maybe later.

soy can actually be pretty healthy stuff, but not the processed stuff. They basically spin off all the nutrients to sell as enhancers to health food products, the vitamins, amino acids, etc. What they put in "meat" to stretch it is cheap fiber that has all the good soy amendments removed

On the pretense of saving money in Iowa City's sidewalk days sales, I dropped in Daydream Comics downtown and picked up HOWARD THE DUCK: THE COMPLETE COLLECTION Vol. 1.

Oh, what fun.

While in Daydream Comics, I found a number of old comic books that had published a "letter to the editor" (think, Letters to the Bat-Cave, etc.) by me, written at the age of around 13-15 or so. This was back in what I think was probably the tail end of what is called the Silver Age of comics, late '60s, early 70s. It was such a thrill, back then, to run down to the drug store, pick up a new copy of one of my favorite comic books, and find MY NAME printed in its pages. The first time it happened felt almost literally orgasmic. I remember standing in front of the display of comic books and magazines, staring down at my name in print in a DC comic book (I think it was an issue of DETECTIVE COMICS, the one with Batman stories) and feeling so elated that I couldn't move.

I was so tempted to grab the bunch today and slap them on the credit card. Then I remembered that my grownup middle name is Restraint.

I kept those comic books through my teen years until we moved to a new house where the sewer backed up into the basement, and crept all over my neat stacks of DC and Marvel comic books. Crap. Literally. It's something I never quite got over.

Hard to imagine now, but this was back in the day when it was not "cool" to like comic books. It was only nerdy. Maybe worse than nerdy. I remember the feeling of elation ebbing and then feeling overwhelmed by embarrassment. What have I done!? This is going to get out all over school! I'll never get a date with a real girl again! And then I found that nobody knew. Nobody. Because nobody else at school was so uncool or nerdy as to read comic books. Or, if they were, they were not about to let on that they were by letting me know they'd read my letter. And so, I kept writing these letters to the editor and they kept getting publsihed. Sometimes they'd be detailed critiques of storylines and artwork. Sometimes they'd just gush how "great" a particular issue was. It didn't seem to matter.

Wow... Must have been quite strange...

Glad you got to get Howard's whole catalogue!

The internet ruined things like this. Damn the internet!

Over 90% of US soy is GMO, nearly all of which is treated with Roundup. Monsanto appreciates your support.


Very good chance the animals you eat are fed with grains grown where the Brazilian Rainforest used to be. But since you're 4 times as likely to develop colon cancer than a vegetarian, I wouldn't worry too much about environmental destruction.

Food is evil. Just say no.

When I was around the same age I wrote to the now-defunct Musician magazine, and now and then I try to track down that issue. No idea what I wrote.

Your "CV" is much cooler.

A little surreal. To see my name in print, to not recognize what I wrote. "I said that? What does that even mean?" I acquired one of these old comic books a while back, an issue of Batman. I don't want to get obsessive about it, though. My letters were published in probably a couple of dozen issues of DC comics between around 1968 to 1971, and acquiring copies of those today would run up a significant credit card bill--and for what? To see my name in some comic book fan letters section. Meh. Got better things to spend my money on, like HTD comps.

I'm not sure this is the whole thing, though, is it? It includes everything from the beginning, with the Man-Thing comics and runs through issue 16 of HTD. I understand that is where the first series ended. Is there anything of significance after that?

Right...
My favorites are in the volume you've acquired.
Once you've reached #25, it's as if the writer got wary of it all.
Issues 26-28 are glum, the villains are not as fun as the space turnip, and there's little left of the humour. Some dark things happen to Howard's friends (which is quite worthy of reading, as what happens is pretty dark).
So, between #16 and #25 there are really good things, thanks to Dr Bong's treatments.

Issues #29 and beyond were taken over by different writers, and that was not it, not really.

Steve Gerber got back on his feet for a new series that would be cheaper, for quite an enjoyable read!
http://marvel.wikia.com/Howard_the_Duck_Vol_3_1

Thanks, Bertrand. I appreciate your support and guidance on my path to Duckdom.

ah ha ha ha. i had no idea. so the lecithin and oil and everything else is removed?

i'm not to fond of soy. it mimics estrogen. plus it's the most GMO & sprayed crop. i eat it with caution (small amounts).

but hey--maybe this is the only way that fast-food eaters get any fiber!


i was gonna say. i do buy gmo-free tofu though.

not to say that gmo-free is not sprayed. it's not guaranteed really. maybe it's sprayed with MORE than roundup-- know what i'm saying? scattershot spraying might mean more spraying.

nah man, i don't live in the brazilian rainforest. grass fed cows are my neighbors. you can taste the difference (grassfed meat is DRY).


Last Man? is that you?

--
ETA


that's awesome! proof that you were doomed to be a writer. you could bequeath the things to the gmku family museum.

eh, just snap a photo and blam. who needs paper??

Currently blasting my way through this. And so far, so interesting. I was very much one of those people who believed that certain people were set to be talented in their chosen path. This has pretty much turned it on it's head.

I'll say one thing, it's helped me big time with my rock climbing and the way I go about it.

took me a 2nd look but i just realized that's a lynda barry comic

she's great


i haven't read that book and i don't know exactly what it argues, but i think in terms of talent + interest + practice as the holy triangle or whatever.

"talent" will give you an ability to do something better with less practice than others, but without interest you just won't practice.

if you have interest in something, you will practice and experience the rewards of achieving something. you don't need massive natural ability, but if you have zero talent, it's going to be very hard.

for example, my eye-hand coordination is pretty shit, so i could never get mario to go past one or two levels. yes i could practice a ton but it was mega-frustrating because of mercury in my nervous system or something, ha ah hah ha. so i gave up on that shit.

on the other hand, i'm pretty great at strategy games like the various civs, so, guess what, i can get deep into it and not come out until i'm shivering cold, take a hot shower, and get back into it. practice yields more rewards because of talent, so i practice more. the virtuous circle (if you consider video games "virtuous" ha ha ha).

i practice cooking every day because i like eating. every day is a reward and every day i become a little better. however, if i wanted to become a professional chef, i don't know that i have the talent that would permit me to make progress fast enough to survive such a high-stakes high-pressure situation. i'm better eater at eating than cooking.

so i have enough cooking talent that i enjoy it in my everyday, but i think not enough that i'd feel so great toiling 16 hours a day in a kitchen in search of glory.

turns out i'm better with words and concepts than with my fucking clumsy hands. while my analytical/verbal iq scores rank pretty high, my eye-hand coordination has been estimated as "not retarded" lololol. there go my knife skills.

so my interest in ideas has waxed and waned thoughout life, and with that so has my practice in fields that involve them, but that's where "what comes naturally" has been most productive most consistently for me. of course it's not the only thing i enjoy, but that's where the talent/practice/interest converge for me most intensely.

don't get high on rocks though! it's bad for you.

See this is the whole point. This idea that you can become successful in anything just by not having to practice as much as others is a total myth. All the greats in sports, whether it be Roger Federer, Michael Jordan (remember that Nike advert he did about failing?), Tiger Woods, and all the greats in music and art etc. etc. didn't get to their position just by simply coasting.
And how many times do you hear these people being told how talented and gifted they are? What people aren't seeing is the hours upon hours upon hours of practice they did to get to their position.

And that's the point. This idea they these people had something unattainable to the average Joe simply isn't true.

it's the "10,000 hours" notion from malcom gladwell-- 10,000 hours of practice will make you an expert at anything. great book, and he makes an interesting analysis of the success of the beatles. the value of hard work, etc. which is crucial to any success.

i don't remember the michael jordan ad-- probably never seen it. i do seem to remember reading somewhere that jordan was a mediocre player in high school and he just practiced until he became great.

but see, i don't believe that he became the greatest player with sheer practice. maybe he was lazy before, and the practice unlocked his potential. both have to go hand-in-hand. without practice, you get "wasted talent". with practice you definitely get improvement but not necessarily "genius." I could practice basketball all day and all i'd get is tendinitis.

i had a friend in high school who tried to write poetry on the basis of sheer determination. we were encouraging and never mocked him, but man, he sucked. he just didn't have it. you'd read his stuff and all you'd see is the effort of following prescribed formulas. fortunately for all he quit and got into engineering and business. he always wanted money so that worked out for him. he could have written all day but he was not going to be the next pablo neruda.

anyway, practice is essential to any improvement but don't let people sell you myths that "if you can dream it you can do anything." i mean, the limits of human endurance and ability are not known to anyone yet, so if you enjoy or want something badly definitely give it your best. and if you like rock climbing then consistent practice will make you a better climber.

but know that there are no guarantees that you'll be the michael jordan of rock climbing. maybe you can, hard work does not guarantee it. in the end we can't all beat world records, so the journey should be its own reward-- getting as good as you can for your own enjoyment. you can't wait to enjoy yourself until you become a myth. otherwise it's a waste of life-- right?

my feelings on Harper Lee and Cormac McCarthy are sort of the same. Southern white people of a certain age are to be understood as having some racial issues that are no longer widely shared (thanks for that!)

i'm not going to read that book because i understand it was an aborted manuscript she never wanted to publish and it was stolen from under her after her sister died, wasn't it?

yes the cat is out of the bag but i like to respect an artist's wishes. fuck the publishing industry and all the leeches that exploit artists. and fuck rupert murdoch and everyone involved in that scam.

ps- you meant carson mccullers?

The first point is something pointed out in the book. Sure he could write all day and everyday but that doesn't mean anything. I spend all day packing boxes but that doesn't mean I'm gonna be a champion packer anytime. You've probably spent countless hours driving a car and you're not lining up to be the next F1 champion. What matters is how he's practising and who's teaching him.

A guy could spend all day on a driving range hitting balls then at the end of the end think "man, I've done well today". Not realising he wasn't being taught right. He wasn't pushing himself to do better. If your guy had actually spent more time reading the greats, understanding the way they used words and all that jazz then maybe he could have some decent stuff. There's more to it than that, but you got the point.

Hahaha don't worry, I've no qualms about becoming the next star of climbing. Being nearly 30 and having only just started 6 months ago puts paid to that idea. However, a kid who's started at 4 (with all the right factors) is gonna have a damn site better chance. What it was for me was I've been having massive problems with confidence and that I'd never be able to certain things climbing. Now I don't see that. If I keep going and accept failures, then there's reason why I can't keep improving all the time.

There are so many social factors that go into having that extra 'thing' that it is so much more than this idea of 'talent'.

This. She's hardly a picture of health mentally or physically these days. The scumbags saw that and exploited her.

Now reading The Pirates and the Mouse, about Disney Corp's fight against underground comic strip Air Pirates and it's creator.

Reading a doctoral thesis on the founding of the Syriac Oriental Orthodox Church during the Chalcedonian persecutions of Saint Severus of Antioch... learning all kinds of kick ass new shit about something i thought i already knew a lot about

I love my summer reading lists

Isn't that where the "holy hand grenade" came from?

Haha yes indeed..

However the Council of Chalcedon proved more devastating and incendiary

Nabokov in America: On the Road to Lolita (between issues of Howard the Duck)

I am obsessed with Joan Didion, once again.
last week I read The Year of Magical Thinking and Blue Nights. Yesterday I started The White Album.
Reading Didion or even just thinking about it excites me a lot. I also really want to reread Play It As It Lays. Too bad I can't find the film, cause I am also very interested in that since I LOVE the book.

I also read The End Of The Story by Lydia Davis last week. It was nice, but it kinda felt like a chore...

I attempted to read a few pages more of HtD last night in bed and the wife distracted me. Darn wives.

Nabokov in America: On the Road to Lolita by Robert Roper

Even though you and I know there's nothing at all wrong with reading Nabokov or about him, this is one of those books I'm a little nervous reading in parks or near parents of young girls. I took it to my medical appointment the other day and had to hand the book to the nurse for a moment. Her face reddened and she became very quiet.

https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphoto...27&oe=560E4A46

Matched with your sig this is fantastic.

Ha ha. Thank you, sir.