I have been thinking today of an essay Neil Gaiman wrote almost thirty years ago, for an edition of Fritz Leiber’s The Swords of Lankhmar. It begins: “It is too often a sad and unwise thing to go back and read a favourite book. Favourite books are the treasure-chests of memory; just thinking of theContinue reading “The Neil Gaiman Thing”
Author Archives: Allyn Gibson
Winter’s Arrival
I didn’t get the two inches of snow yesterday that was possible, but what I got isn’t nothing. It’s very cold, blustery too, and the dry snow blows everywhere on the howling winds. And 8 to 12 inches are in the forecast for Monday-Tuesday. Spring is only eleven weeks away. Sigh
Winter Solstice
It’s a cold one today! The winter solstice. “Halfway out of the dark.” It snowed furiously all day yesterday, and this morning everything was icy and frozen. I like seeing the snow on the hills over Red Lion and Windsor way, shining white in the sun. I really should have gone Thursday night to seeContinue reading “Winter Solstice”
Windsday
For a Thursday, today is awfully Windsday. It’s bright and nice and a little chilly and and very, very, very windy.
Seen About Town
I went out to my Beetle to retrieve a box from the trunk. A fat squirrel was dragging the remnants of a neighbor’s Halloween pumpkin across the parking lot. He froze, unable to decide if he should stay with the pumpkin or bolt, and it was clearly a tough decision; the pumpkin was almost asContinue reading “Seen About Town”
“No, Mr. Bond, I Expect You to Wear an Ugly Christmas Sweater”
We’re getting closer to Christmas — Thanksgiving is this Thursday — and the Facebook ads have taken a turn toward the festive and unlicensed. Case in point? James Bond-themed uply Christmas sweaters. For the record, I do not own an ugly Christmas sweater, and these will not change that. I do not care if they’veContinue reading ““No, Mr. Bond, I Expect You to Wear an Ugly Christmas Sweater””
Brigadier Gerard Returns!
I have a Brigadier Gerard short story in an upcoming Sir Arthur Conan Doyle anthology, and the story teams Doyle’s Napoleonic hero with Nikolai Rostov from Leo Tolstoy’s War & Peace. Read on for more information on the story and how to pre-order the collection.
Roads I Have Traveled: Or, the Madness of Facebook’s Algorithms
Facebook’s feed algorithm is famously weird. It often “thinks” I’m interested in businesses in the Memphis area. I’ve never been to Memphis. It once recommended an Orthodox subscription box service and another time an Episcopalian dating website. Recently, it thinks I’m interested in PG-13 rated Frozen content. I am not. I’ve seen the film onceContinue reading “Roads I Have Traveled: Or, the Madness of Facebook’s Algorithms”
A Near Run Thing
This game of backgammon ended up being far closer than it had any right to be. I was meticulous not to leave anything unprotected… until a series of bad dice rolls left one piece unprotected, white would have to roll a 1 to take it, and white did. I won, but like Waterloo, it wasContinue reading “A Near Run Thing”
Terminal Madness
The last month has felt like a year, and I spent Saturday decompressing. And Sunday. And what’s a fun way to decompress? Play with Linux! First, I wanted a terminal-based music player for my Debian CTWM install, so I installed MOC. Then, I wanted a terminal-based email client. I tried Neomutt first, and after anContinue reading “Terminal Madness”