Groan of the Day. “There’s only one thing money won’t buy, and that is poverty.”–Joe E. Lewis

Review. The Physiognamy and Memoranda by Jeffrey Ford. Very odd little books. I ordered the third in the series, The Beyond, because, well, some things you just want to find out. Plot (Complete spoilers): A complete and utter bastard, the physiognamist Cley, is sent out of the Well-Built City by the City’s Master, Drachton Below,

Job! It’s official. My last day at Wells Fargo is either June 6 or June 7 (I need to finish up a survey project, and I’m not sure how much time I’ll need). I start June 12th doing technical writing/editing. Sweeeeet.

Your House. Ray and I drove out to my grandparents’ house to help them pack things up for their move to an assisted living home. Aside from the time some idiot pulled a fire alarm and I had to carry Ray down seven flights of stairs at 2 a.m., this is pretty much how it

Quote. Ran into this one again today… “A tyrant must put on the appearance of uncommon devotion to religion. Subjects are less apprehensive of illegal treatment from a ruler whom they consider god-fearing and pious. On the other hand, they do less easily move against him, believing that he has the gods on his side.”

Stuff of dreams. Because I’d been dreaming about googling this: Gene Wilder is the “Young Frankenstein” actor, b. 1933. (Here’s the version of “Alice in Wonderland” where he sings “Beautiful Soup.”) Billy Wilder is the writer of “Some Like it Hot,” b. 1906. (Also “Double Indemnity,” “The Seven Year Itch,” and “Stalag 17.”) Thornton Wilder

Awesome geekiness of geeky awesomeness. Some folks playing a live-action role-playing game put together a stone golem suit out of foam mattresses, glue sticks, and paint. Click here for a short video. It’s the kind of thing that makes me proud to be a nerd, and proud to know others of such kind. (via BoingBoing.)

Buenos Aires. The city of Buenos Aires will pay homage to the writer Jorge Borges (“The Aleph”) from the twentieth anniversary of his death, in June, to his birthday in August. He would have liked that, I think. “I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library.” — Borges.

Book Review. The Historian, by Elizabeth Kostova. Here’s a thought: we have moved out of the era where historians and horror movie fans are two entirely different sets of people — there’s enough overlap to justify this book, after all. The plot (which successfully pulls off almost as many stories-within-stories as The Arabian Nights) involves

More good poems… If you’re interested, check out Eric Campbell’s poem “Navigating in the Dark” here.