We have no clue
Preamble I once heard a local on a Spanish bus proclaim, as we topped a hill, and Barcelona in all its then hundred square miles and three-and-a-half million inhabitants spread out before us, “Es mi pueblo!” My local town is no competition, but it is my “village,” my pueblo, even if tone-deaf founders endowed it
FLORA OF MY LOCAL (NORTH QUEENSLAND) ‘VILLE – X Read More »
In which Thor concludes his skull-collecting and cleaning misadventures. Like typical philosopher/scientists of the 19th century, Thor and I have a curio cabinet full of specimens, travel mementos, and stories. Continuing from last week, take it away, Thor: PLAN C: I needed a way to clean skeletons that would be discreet and relatively odorless. I knew
Sara and Thor’s Cabinet of Curiosities, episode 4c: Thor’s final skull solution Read More »
In which Thor continues his skull-collecting and rotting misadventures. Like typical philosopher/scientists of the 19th century, Thor and I have a curio cabinet full of specimens, travel mementos, and stories. Thor continues from last week: Plan B. It became apparent that boiling skulls in the kitchen and storing body parts in the sink was not
Fielding’s contempt did more than just infuriate Richardson. It inspired him. While he never forgave the insult, Richardson learned from the criticism to transform his “housemaid’s tale” into his masterpiece Clarissa. While he never admitted it, Richardson crafted his next huge novel Clarissa to remedy some of the specific critiques Fielding’s satires had made. While
Henry Fielding Falls in Love… with Richardson’s Clarissa Read More »
In which Thor explains his educational skull collection and his rot box Like typical philosopher/scientists of the 19th century, Thor and I have a curio cabinet full of specimens, travel mementos, and stories. Take it away, Thor: We have several skulls in our curio cabinet and bigger skulls strewn about the house, from local and
After its release in November 1740, Pamela’s huge success naturally created envy and resentment in London’s intense literary community. According to Bernard Kreissman, there followed many unauthorized sequels, editions, and imitations, including at least three stage productions and what seems to be a book of “Pamela Porn.” Kreissman writes that many Londoners in the know
The Post-Pamela/Shamela Feud Read More »
A lovely meditation on family and grief, in essays and poems Full disclosure: Brenda is a dear friend, who like me is retired from teaching creative writing at Western Washington University. I don’t review books that I don’t like, and I’m happy to support this beautiful work. Brenda has published numerous books and essays, mostly
The Rambling Writer Book Review: Love You, Bye by Brenda Miller Read More »
Preamble I once heard a local on a Spanish bus proclaim, as we topped a hill, and Barcelona in all its then hundred square miles and three-and-a-half million inhabitants spread out before us, “Es mi pueblo!” My local town is no competition, but it is my “village,” my pueblo, even if tone-deaf founders endowed it
FLORA OF MY LOCAL (NORTH QUEENSLAND) ‘VILLE – IX Read More »
In which Thor, Reo dog, and I seize the day once more to celebrate being alive in our beautiful Pacific Northwest, with a hike to Bagley Lake in the Mt. Baker Wilderness. If I have learned anything from the last six years of dealing with recurrent never-smoker lung cancer, it’s that we never know what
The Rambling Writer: Carpe Diem in the Mountains Read More »
My turn to share a story of the antique bottles I found while diving on a sunken ship in the St. Thomas Harbor, Virgin Islands. Like typical philosopher/scientists of the 19th century, Thor and I have a curio cabinet full of specimens, travel mementos, and stories. Shortly after arriving in St. Thomas in the U.S.
Sara and Thor’s Cabinet of Curiosities, episode 3: Treasure Diving in the Virgin Islands Read More »
I’ve been immersed in 19th century Britain for much of the American 21st Century—researching my Regency-era novels, binge-watching BBC historical dramas, and analyzing the stories of Sherlock Holmes and novels of Anthony Trollope. As a reader and as a novelist, I’m especially drawn to the 19th Century because that was the time when the novel
“Dear Reader”: A new blog series on the epistolary novel Read More »
In which Thor finishes his tale of leading a geology field trip in remote Mexico to the amazing giant-crystal mine of Naica and the village of Mapimi, on the track of selenite and adamite crystals. (Yes, that is an actual photo, with a man standing on a giant selenite crystal in the Naica cave.) Like
The Rambling Writer: Sara and Thor’s Cabinet of Curiosities, episode 2b Read More »
In which Thor takes another turn to explore our cabinet of curiosities, this time selenite and adamite crystals gleaned on a geology adventure in remote Mexico. Thor is taking up the slack as I recover from the latest round of cancer treatments (my hero!), so here we go on one of his adventures years before we
The Rambling Writer: Sara and Thor’s Cabinet of Curiosities, episode 2a Read More »
