Here is what puzzles me about “Bears Discover Fire:” There are at least three storylines in this super-short story: The protagonist, a 61-year-old man, dealing with his family. The protagonist’s mother is dying. And, of course, the bears discovering fire.
Why did Bisson choose these characters and their stories, bringing them together with the bears discovering fire?
RIP Terry Bisson. Here is one of his most famous stories, the excellent “Bears Discover Fire."
I just re-read the story. It’s very short and simple on the surface, with a lot going on underneath that I don’t quite understand. At some point, I might Google until I find an analysis—or, even better, try to figure it out on my own. But for now, I’ll just appreciate the story.
He also wrote the short story “They’re Made Out of Meat.” He wrote novels too, but he was a master of short fiction.
A client asked for a synopsis of each of five articles, and I think it makes sense to do them all as a single document.
When I need to locate the document again, I will find it by searching for its filename.
Will future-me remember that the plural of “synopsis” is “synopses?”
The Weirdest Advice From Vintage Entertaining Guides. “Here, written between 1880 and 1987, is a sampling of some of history’s most unhinged entertaining advice.”
Maybe I’m unhinged but most of these seem reasonable to me.
Oxiclean gets an insulated coffee carafe or Thermos clean as a whistle, without scrubbing
I read the Robert B. Paker Spenser novels voraciously in the 80s. Spenser often eats food with Syrian bread. What the hell is “Syrian bread?” I wondered.
I’m currently listening to the audiobook of “Early Autumn,” which is not one I have re-read in more than 30 years. Spenser is eating Syrian bread again.
Google did not exist when I first read the books, but it does now. And now I know:
“Syrian bread” is another name for pita bread.
Katelyn Jetelina, Your Local Epidemiologist: Real-world data shows fall 2023 vaccines are effective. Vaccines help prevent against long covid and are safe and effective for children. Also, transmission takes hours. “Quick passersby at a grocery store are far less risky than staying in a house with someone infected.”
… AI isn’t going to replace you at work. But it’s already augmenting your shitty boss’s ability to rip you off, torment you, maim you and even kill you in order to eke out a few more basis points for the next shareholder report.
Cory Doctorow: The REAL AI automation threat to workers
Today’s fun fact: Rachel Bloom, who plays Elaine, Julia Child’s new director on “Julia,” became famous in 2010 with a viral music video: “Fuck Me, Ray Bradbury.”
The song is a banger, funny, clever, even dirtier than the title suggests, and — if Bloom is doing the singing and is not electronically augmented — she’s got a surprisingly good set of … pipes.
‘Julia’ Canceled After Two Seasons at Max. Disappointing. We just started watching the new season, and are enjoying it.
What ‘The Sopranos’ Iconic Filming Locations in N.J. Look Like Now. On the anniversary of the show’s premiere, its creator and location manager reflect on some of its iconic settings and why they were chosen.
Clarence Thomas and the bottomless self-pity of the upper classes. Poor bastard had to scrape by on a mere $285,400 per year.
Things I can’t be arsed to care about: Hunter Biden’s crimes, Lloyd Austin’s prostate, Taylor Swift, Claudine Gay, anything else having to do with Harvard University, sports, the golden globes, the Republican primary, Oppenheimer, the Barbie movie, Jonathan Majors, Pete Davidson and Selena Gomez.
Thousands of Software Engineers Say the Job Market Is Getting Much Worse. I did an article nearly a year ago talking about how there were plenty of IT jobs outside the tech sector. I wonder whether that is still the case?
Far too many software services are sending me 2023 year-in-review emails
I see comments from residents pushing back on multi-family housing and ADUs, and it frustrates me a great deal. “Preserving neighborhood character” is a lost cause. San Diego as we’ve known it is gone—the question now is what will replace it? I don’t see a desirable alternative to multi-family housing and public transit—massive amounts of both.
We watched the first episode of 1923 tonight, after watching Yellowstone and 1883. I am not smart enough to figure out the Dutton family tree.
Journalist/comedian Jad Sleiman was fired by WHYY in Philadelphia.
“They cut off my health insurance same day, despite the fact that they know I have multiple sclerosis and rely on very expensive drugs to walk,” Sleiman told Motherboard on Wednesday. “They also went and deleted all my work from the site, every single possible clip I could try to use to get a job.”
In the news this weekend: Donald Trump referred to Jan. 6 defendants as “hostages;” refused to swear to not advocate for the overthrow the US government (a routine oath for Illinois Presidential candidates); claimed that Lincoln could have negotiated to avoid the Civil War but didn’t because of ego; and said magnets don’t work underwater.
OK grandpa let’s get you to bed.
There is no such thing as a good book.
Bookstore worker Kyle Frances Williams reads “The Art of Libromancy: Selling Books and Reading Books in the Twenty-First Century,” by Josh Cook, and finds it to be a lot of bull.
I get the sense that “bookseller” is Josh Cook’s dream job. It is for a lot of people; it’s an easy job to romanticize. For myself, I do not dream of labor.