My Own Thoughts

Why do people say that a murderer, a robber, a terrorist was a “good” person? Is it because we don’t know what good means anymore? (Note, after looking for the murderer=good thing I remembered reading, I found an article on murder in Victorian Ireland. He was a good man, his neighbors said, was a common [...]

A 2100+ year old Greek astronomy machine worked, according to Live Science. It could predict solar and lunar eclipses. It mechanically replicated the irregular motions of the moon. Previous reconstructions suggested the Antikythera Mechanism was about the size of a shoebox, with dials on the outside and a complex assembly of bronze gear wheels within. [...]

I was reading my dissertation yesterday for the first time in years. I didn’t remember having so many tables in it! I didn’t remember having any at all and there were one hundred or so. I was looking for an introduction to genre, which I know was in there, but I didn’t see it before [...]

A good, basic introduction/explanation/definition of “genres” (in their many forms, categories, modes, etc.) can be found at Barbara Combes’ Reading Circles “Literary Genres” page. Shows the confusion without being too confusing.

found while looking at David Simpson’s “Science Fiction” A Note on Genre To recognize some works as precursors of SF makes sense in any case because literary genres aren’t absolute classifications. They’re fuzzy sets. Moreover, individual works of literature–especially modern ones–are seldom entirely tragedies, or comedies, or satires, or adventure stories, or SF tales, or [...]

For a fascinating description of mystery genres, see Books ‘n’ Bytes discussion. I think they mix genre (all of its wonderful permutations) with archetypes and motifs, setting, character… But it is an interesting discussion. I especially like Camille’s (incredibly simplified) list of mystery types: In the old days, publishers and critics classed mysteries in four [...]

For a long and interesting list of definitions of science fiction, see Neyir Cenk Gökçe’s list. 52 different people’s definitions.

During a discussion with the head of my department, we realized that I like genre challenged works. What does that mean? It means that I like to teach, and do teach, works where the genre is either unclear or where several different genres (whatever you mean by that) are mixed up together. Is Alice’s Adventures [...]

For Keith McCord. I asked yall to pray in June. Apparently God is calling him home this week. Please pray for him and for his wife Stephanie and their baby son, Lincoln. God, please give him your faith in his salvation. Give Stephanie the strength to let him go. Bless Stephanie and Lincoln with your [...]

so the “What Kind of Reader are You?” quiz was made for me. What Kind of Reader Are You? Your Result: Dedicated Reader   You are always trying to find the time to get back to your book. You are convinced that the world would be a much better place if only everyone read more. [...]

I was going to write a long post listing my top 1000 blessings, but instead I will say that I am thankful to God that the RV stopped and did not hit the SUV in front of us, which did not hit the two little cars in front of it, which did not hit the [...]

Okay, your child might be picked on for being a nerd, but it turns out that higher IQ at age 6 protects children from traumatic events or, if they are part of the smaller group of bright children who do, they are less likely to get post traumatic stress disorder. “The ways in which high [...]

Not all of them, obviously, but some women are allergic to sex. Their allergy can be overcome with treatments made from the semen of their partner. Like many allergies, some women outgrow it. Read more at Live Science.

Need an excuse to not eat your vegetables? Maybe you can say that you’re a supertaster. One in four people are. And how you taste impacts your health. [B]rains are programmed to want fat, probably an evolutionary hangover from times of scarcity. But what’s necessary for survival isn’t all the brain likes. University of Michigan [...]

Live Science says some people “can taste a word before they ever speak it, and that the word’s meaning, not its sound or spelling, is what triggers this taste sensation.” They say that “phonograph” tastes of Dutch chocolate. “[M]any of the synesthetes reported words with the sounds “eh” or “mmm” tasted of mint, and that [...]

National Geographic writes about 4000 year old tombs found in Israel. They haven’t been broken into, so they offer a peak into the past. Other objects found at the site include metal weapons, tools, and jewelry as well as fully preserved earthenware vessels…. Sheep and goat bones found in the cemetery are believed to have [...]

CS Lewis preached at Oxford on October 22, 1939. Less than two months earlier, Hitler had invaded Poland. Britain was about to face the Nazi onslaught. This is what Lewis told the assembled students: It may seem odd for us to carry on classes, to go about our academic routine in the midst of a [...]

This stuff is delicious. EA’s SOPAPILLA CHEESECAKE 2 pkgs. (8 ct.) Crescent Rolls (I used HEB brand) 3 pkgs. Cream Cheese 1 and 1/2 c. sugar 2 tsp. vanilla ½ c. sugar Cinnamon 1 and 1/2 sticks butter, melted Lay 1 pkg. crescent roll dough flat in bottom of lightly greased or buttered 13×9 pan. [...]

about me. I got this list from BevG, one of my five best friends in the world. (Too bad none of them live near me.) I’ve italicized the ones I’ve done. 01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink 02. Swam with wild dolphins 03. Climbed a mountain- in Switzerland, in Germany, and in Tennessee [...]

Are holidays important? Our first 16 years of marriage, I celebrated our meeting, our first date, our first kiss, our engagement, and our marriage. But last year and this we haven’t done that. And we didn’t do anything for Halloween. R took the kids out for dinner and even though I actually made it home [...]