Heh. sciolist (SAI-uh-list) noun One who engages in pretentious display of superficial knowledge. [From Late Latin sciolus (smatterer), diminutive of Latin scius (knowing), from scire (to know). Another example of the similar kind of word formation is the name of the bird oriole which is derived from the diminutive form of Latin aureus (golden).] “Never […]

Ramblings. I’m reading some more Michel Foucault, The Order of Things. Some pretty neat stuff, much more intelligible (maybe the translation?) than the collection of essays I have. Still pretty tough going, and I’m still not sure I’m picking up everything, or even a greater part of what I’m reading. This is what I think

Blog. The science fiction writer Will Shetterly has a blog. One of his stories, a fun little thing called “The Princess Who Kicked Butt” is online. –He’s one of the famed Scribblies, a group of former Minneapolis writers (including Stephen Brust and Emma Bull) who have all apparently moved to the Southwest. They also have

Book reviews. Smoking Poppy, Graham Joyce. White Apples, Jonathan Carroll. Smoking Poppy. When a baby is born the fontanel at the top of the head yawns open. You fill the hole with shimmering, molten, free-running love, where it sets and hardens over the hole with something like bone. But for the first few weeks of

Word of the day: ugsome (UG-suhm) adjective Dreadful, loathsome. [From Middle English, from uggen, from Old Norse ugga (to fear). As in many typical stories where one child in a family becomes well-known while the other remains obscure, “ugly” and “ugsome” are two words derived from the same root — one is an everyday word

Duh. After several mix-ups, my review of James Howe’s children’s books, Tales from the House of Bunnicula, is up at Banshee Studios.

Review. The Years of Rice and Salt, Kim Stanley Robinson I’m still not sure what to say about this book. I finished it about a week ago. It was good. I normally hate this sort of book, in which the plot moves through a long period of history. Why? Nothing ties the sections of the

Grey Hill, Chapter one. The first draft of chapter one is done. Woooooo!

Description of my day, for posterity. Morning Wakened after midnight by husband and daughter coming to bed. Daughter has been a spaz all week, doesn’t want to sleep and/or sleep alone. Everyone crowded into bed. Wakened approximately 3 a.m. to move to floor with pillow and blanket. Wakened approximately 3:30 a.m. to nurse daughter. Dreamt

Mmm. I brought Lee to Zorbadillo’s today. As it turns out, if you don’t go from the brunch menu, you can order saganaki. Mmmmmm.