Karen's Weekend Assignment this week asks about fire.

Karen's Weekend Assignment this week asks us to review a film:

"Review a film. Any film. ... But there's one catch: the film should not be on your personal list of favorites; nor should it be a film you despise."

I read this and groaned.

Karen's Weekend Assignment this week asks about making a new start: "Tell us of one change you voluntarily made in your life at some point, that worked out really well."

. . . . .

When I was 17, I dropped out of college.

Karen's Weekend Assignment this week asks about favorite types of books. My favorite genre at the moment is extremely specific:

John McPhee books.

Ink runs from the corners of my mouth.
There is no happiness like mine.
I have been eating poetry.

- Mark Strand

"Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh." - Matthew 12:34

Karen's weekly assignment asks about powerful speakers and speeches that inspire.

There are a lot of great book recommendation threads on Ask Metafilter, and I have a long list of books highlighted there that sounded interesting. The Control of Nature came up in two or three threads, so I requested it from the library.

Late last night, I got to see the Dog Star.

There was this bright, twinkly object in the sky. It's hard to see the stars sometimes; the fog and the city lights hide them.

But this light was clear - and lovely.

I got my binoculars and stood watching it for a while. I was amazed that such a rainbow could appear in a tiny point.

Thanks to Stellarium, I was able to learn that it was Sirius. (Venus and Regulus were visible, too, a bit further east.)

It was lovely - a moment I want to hang on to, a beauty I want to keep.

I love the Internet.

I popped this into Google:

analyzing pop music structures

The results include a huge glossary from the Society for Music Theory's Popular Music Interest Group and the usual ton of other interesting-looking stuff.

Things timed out well with my consulting clients this year, and I was able to take the ten days or so around Christmas and New Year's off (almost completely - there were a few bits of work to attend to, but not much, thank goodness).