tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5837660608809488753.post7434468612805443565..comments2024-03-28T20:53:49.167-04:00Comments on The Adventures of Roberta X: ReadingRoberta Xhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09956807794520627885noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5837660608809488753.post-27321602007368377072016-10-07T17:15:12.486-04:002016-10-07T17:15:12.486-04:00I read the Fred the Vampire accountant stories rec...I read the Fred the Vampire accountant stories recently.<br /><br />Found them some fun light fare.<br /><br />Also seems to be a theme of Monsters helping win the Revolutionary war in some supernatural books. No complaints just something I've noted.The Jackhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15173903164209256926noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5837660608809488753.post-84074646952900168412016-10-07T10:44:58.315-04:002016-10-07T10:44:58.315-04:00"That determines your vote come a Tuesday in ...<i>"That determines your vote come a Tuesday in November. Your neighbors who loathe the eventual winner -- and you will nearly-certainly have some, no matter who wins -- will still be there Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday...and so on.<br /><br />I'm telling you right now, Mr. Obama had it *easy.* Most decent people were reluctant to get too harsh with the county's first President of noticeably African ancestry. Trump's a grumpy super-rich white dude, fair game for *anybody,* and Clinton's a vindictive rich white woman, almost as allowable a target for criticism. Both of them have less-than-pristine histories. Post-election public discourse is gonna be ugly and paranoid."</i><br /><br />Nothing to argue with there, the major difference being is that Trump wouldn't have the media running interference for him. I'd expect to hear a lot of "You're only picking on Hillary 'cause she's a girl!"<br /><br />"Ugly and paranoid" indeed. rickn8orhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16911803300343351338noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5837660608809488753.post-36939110104953629792016-10-07T07:59:27.195-04:002016-10-07T07:59:27.195-04:00I like this speech. Bear in mind the Shriver is c...<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/sep/13/lionel-shrivers-full-speech-i-hope-the-concept-of-cultural-appropriation-is-a-passing-fad" rel="nofollow">I like this speech</a>. Bear in mind the Shriver is coming at this largely from the Left and it was published, of all places, in the <i>Grauniad</i>, and you'll see she's got her head screwed on pretty damn straight withal.<br /><br /> A quote, for those who will not be sullied:<br /><br /> "Most writing sucks. Most things that people make of any sort suck. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t make anything.<br /><br />"The answer is that modern cliché: to keep trying to fail better."<br /><br /> Cliches often hang around because they've got a tacky, sticky lump of truth in 'em. "Keep trying to fail better." NaNoWriMo is coming and I need to remember that.Roberta Xhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09956807794520627885noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5837660608809488753.post-79367943109788403942016-10-07T07:54:31.107-04:002016-10-07T07:54:31.107-04:00Bobbi, my wife also has a deeper-than-normal voice...Bobbi, my wife also has a deeper-than-normal voice. She can make (and has made) phone calls on my behalf before and nobody was the wiser... :)<br /><br />As for the rest...faugh. A pox on all their houses. These are the Crazy Years.Fuzzy Curmudgeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03802539927743643041noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5837660608809488753.post-60515960818642918682016-10-07T07:42:37.227-04:002016-10-07T07:42:37.227-04:00Rickn8or wrote: "[I]t's not how many othe...Rickn8or wrote: "[I]t's not how many others dislike the leading candidates, it's how much I dislike them and their positions."<br /><br /> That determines your vote come a Tuesday in November. Your neighbors who loathe the eventual winner -- and you will nearly-certainly have some, no matter who wins -- will still be there Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday...and so on.<br /><br /> I'm telling you right now, Mr. Obama had it *easy.* Most decent people were reluctant to get too harsh with the county's first President of noticeably African ancestry. Trump's a grumpy super-rich white dude, fair game for *anybody,* and Clinton's a vindictive rich white woman, almost as allowable a target for criticism. Both of them have less-than-pristine histories. Post-election public discourse is gonna be ugly and paranoid.Roberta Xhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09956807794520627885noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5837660608809488753.post-38216488378932968332016-10-07T07:34:48.327-04:002016-10-07T07:34:48.327-04:00Turns out *she* named herself Lionel. Okay, look, ...Turns out <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lionel_Shriver#Early_life_and_education" rel="nofollow">*she* named herself Lionel</a>. Okay, look, I'm sorry, but you don't get to stand yourself in the middle of the road *and* complain about nearly getting hit by traffic coming from both directions.<br /><br />I'm a contralto with a flat Midwestern accent, working in a male-dominated field. I get "sirred" on the phone all the damn time, no matter how much I smile and flutter. I cope. Lionel can cope, too, and I'm sure she does.<br /><br />Writes awfully darned well, I'll tell you that. A bit Vonnegut, possibly for similar reasons: "Critics tend to mistake the drawer marked 'SF' for a urinal." Less true than it was but still hardly unfounded.Roberta Xhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09956807794520627885noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5837660608809488753.post-644014038115414162016-10-07T07:23:57.485-04:002016-10-07T07:23:57.485-04:00I would not vote for Donald Trump if the ignorant ...I would not vote for Donald Trump if the ignorant thug offered to set himself on fire. Hilary Clinton, likewise. <br /><br /> And the worst thing, the very worst thing? They're *not* criminal masterminds. They're figureheads. A straight-up frikkin' Bond villain (I do not utter the name "Putin") has at least got a bit of flash and can be removed to the great detriment of his or her enterprise. But the Great Gray Beasts Of The American "Two-Party" system? Forget it; you're fighting fog. "[T]rying to keep the Executive branch out of the hands of such an organization...?" Too late! Too late by *decades.*<br /><br /> If you vote for evil, you're opting in. You're making yourself a part of it. You're approving it. The blood is on your hands. I'm not going to do that. It's almost certainly futile but it is all that's left that sits well with my conscience.Roberta Xhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09956807794520627885noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5837660608809488753.post-55531029819834195692016-10-07T01:20:30.459-04:002016-10-07T01:20:30.459-04:00The Department of Justice and the Treasury are now...The Department of Justice and the Treasury are now the property of the Democratic Party. The IRS has begun fresh audits of TEA party groups, and the FBI "investigation" of Hillary Clinton turned out to be an obvious coverup to protect her. The Secretary of Homeland Security keeps making noises about taking over the November election. The current regime despises the notion that being an American citizen is an exceptional thing to be, as demonstrated by their frantic efforts to naturalize foreigners who do not belong here, and officials at the state level rushing to give felons the franchise.<br /><br />For some of us, trying to keep the Executive branch out of the hands of such an organization becomes the a matter of some urgency.<br /><br />Monty JamesAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5837660608809488753.post-64957614084863287272016-10-06T19:19:49.758-04:002016-10-06T19:19:49.758-04:00I'm no fan of either candidate, but I look at ...I'm no fan of either candidate, but I look at it this way:<br /><br />Which of the two will congress do everything in their power to thwart at every turn, and which one will pretty much get a rubber-stamp machine?<br /><br />Conversely, which candidate will rubber-stamp congressional actions, and which one at least has a possibility of yanking congress' chain?<br /><br />People talk about a do-nothing congress as if it's a BAD thing...Phssthpoknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5837660608809488753.post-8029178479748688972016-10-06T18:42:30.438-04:002016-10-06T18:42:30.438-04:00The clown thing: I don't know. I would have ch...The clown thing: I don't know. I would have chalked it up to "there are too many fake news websites running too many fake news stories" but it does seem to be a real-world meme. I'm guessing it's idiot copycats who think they'll gain 15 minutes of fame.<br /><br />Several local schools have closed for a day over "clown threats." You know what closing school for a day over a vague unsubstantiated threat gets you? More vague unsubstantiated threats from kids (or employees, I suppose) who want a day off.<br /><br />That said: if I saw someone dressed as a clown lurking on property I owned, the cops would be called and hopefully the person would be read the riot act about trespassing. (Better that than what MIGHT happen to a "creepy clown" on someone's property)fillyjonkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13016436113169230368noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5837660608809488753.post-33780987997113834562016-10-06T17:27:35.591-04:002016-10-06T17:27:35.591-04:00The same kind of people who name their daughters G...The same kind of people who name their daughters Grayson....<br />JayNolahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08968502576630432928noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5837660608809488753.post-71378312513230891672016-10-06T14:49:30.034-04:002016-10-06T14:49:30.034-04:00Roberta, it's not how many others dislike the ...Roberta, it's not how many others dislike the leading candidates, it's how much I dislike them and their positions.rickn8orhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16911803300343351338noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5837660608809488753.post-61409678026719482962016-10-06T14:23:06.415-04:002016-10-06T14:23:06.415-04:00I say it's well past time to put Nixon's l...I say it's well past time to put Nixon's likeness on a "Miss me yet?" billboard.Eric Wilnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04351991168469225129noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5837660608809488753.post-92013965466639556922016-10-06T11:57:00.396-04:002016-10-06T11:57:00.396-04:00Who the hell names their daughter "Lionel?: ...Who the hell names their daughter "Lionel?: --Britons. Geez. I'll fix it, unless Shriver's willing to change teams and save me the trouble. The jacket photo is seriously androgynous; I thought Lionel was just a skinny hispter.<br /><br />Roberta Xhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09956807794520627885noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5837660608809488753.post-61131061580226802942016-10-06T09:36:25.070-04:002016-10-06T09:36:25.070-04:00His?<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lionel_Shriver" rel="nofollow">His</a>?<br /><br />New Jovian Thunderbolthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09452246769246304612noreply@blogger.com