Happy Newtonmass

So it’s Newtonmass. I hope it is (or was, depending on your time zone and when you read this) fun for you all. We had dinner last night with Miss Jiwaku’s cousin and her family, a gathering to which we brought a little of my beer, and cookies and smoked almonds we’d made that day. Today had a couple of friends over. The food included all kinds of wonderful things. (For my part, I made the caramelized carrot soup and smoked peppers stuffed with rice and cheese. Miss Jiwaku made braised spinach and maki — Japanese-styled sushi rolls. We collaborated …

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Happy New Year!

Happy New Year, everyone. I got a call from a former student the other day who was talking about the job she is working now, and how miserable it is making her, and how she’s not sure whether it’s better to quit in a year’s time (for the sake of her resume) or now (for the sake of her boss who won’t be able to retrain someone in time for the big project that will be thrown into crisis if she quits by then). After carefully telling her that I thought she had other options in terms of income (she …

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A Merry Midwinter To You…

Yeah, yeah, I actually call it Xmas when I am talking aloud, but it’s the principle of the thing. In any case, I hope your holiday is going nicely, dear reader–or, since it’s likely you’ll read this later, then I hope it went nicely. Rest assured mine is, has been, will continue to be, some last-minute grading aside. You heard me right. Last-minute grading. And there’s more left, but that’s not for now. Be warm, be happy, be wonderful.

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Didn’t Do Hallowe’en This Year

Free Hallowe’en PDF at GUD — stories from the first four issues. (Available for now.) Plus some other stuff too… Didn’t do Hallowe’en this year, beyond watching Inglourious Basterds. Stuff to say about it, which meshes pretty well with what I have to say about another SF film, District 9. SF? Why yes, Inglourious Basterds is an alternate history, after all. Need one make a spoiler alert at this point? Well, wait, I’ll save it for when I actually post about that. Today, however, I must send in my paper, plus it’s beer-makin’ day. So… more on both those films …

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Happy Christmas (or Whatever)

I’ve always been a little suspicious about wishing people a happy Christmas and then following up with a list of holidays that they might be celebrating instead. Especially when someone is saying it on the 24th or 25th of December. So I’m just going to say, whether you’re celebrating this particular holiday or not, that I hope you have a good one. (And if you can’t have a good one, well, you’re not alone, but make it as good as you can.)

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