tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15617001.comments2024-03-20T02:26:46.482-04:00Joanna BourneJo Bournehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13457862962618886252noreply@blogger.comBlogger5058125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15617001.post-60045202049630138442022-02-18T22:46:43.960-05:002022-02-18T22:46:43.960-05:00I just ordered a tote for my daughter who lives in...I just ordered a tote for my daughter who lives in Seattle. :-D Thank you for the link.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15617001.post-92203901338332380872022-01-17T21:34:18.074-05:002022-01-17T21:34:18.074-05:00It's still on my TBR pile.
I'm reading a ...It's still on my TBR pile.<br /><br />I'm reading a bunch of Faith Hunter right now. A little violent, but I'm enjoying them.<br /><br />Kindle books from the library. I am so grateful to libraries.Jo Bournehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13457862962618886252noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15617001.post-68452461708609576892022-01-17T21:30:56.810-05:002022-01-17T21:30:56.810-05:00There are crafts that use carbon paper. Or somethi...There are crafts that use carbon paper. Or something like carbon paper.<br /><br /><br />https://www.dickblick.com/search/?q=carbon%20paper<br /><br />Probably your local art store carries it ...<br /><br />I don't know where the follow button is. I wonder if I've set it up wrong somehow.Jo Bournehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13457862962618886252noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15617001.post-54780801402059645842022-01-17T21:27:49.049-05:002022-01-17T21:27:49.049-05:00This hosting site is SOOOO glitchy. I'm very d...This hosting site is SOOOO glitchy. I'm very displeased with it.<br /><br />Hope you can make it work.Jo Bournehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13457862962618886252noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15617001.post-88166097854736713922022-01-17T08:48:37.459-05:002022-01-17T08:48:37.459-05:00Ooh, I hadn’t seen this one yet, thanks!
(I can...Ooh, I hadn’t seen this one yet, thanks!<br />(I can't see the follow post button, so I hope I don't miss more comments!)<br />Deniz Bevanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17134553551048836979noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15617001.post-37408680651260689812022-01-17T08:48:23.081-05:002022-01-17T08:48:23.081-05:00I love carbon paper! I've never actually used ...I love carbon paper! I've never actually used it in a typewriter though :p We only have a few sheets in the house and I'd love to show my kids how it works but I keep worrying I won't be able to find more once these sheets are used up...<br />(I can't see the follow post button, so I hope I don't miss more comments!)<br />Deniz Bevanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17134553551048836979noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15617001.post-50608924736195282492022-01-17T08:48:03.873-05:002022-01-17T08:48:03.873-05:00I read Year One last year (or was it the year befo...I read Year One last year (or was it the year before?). I didn't like it as much as I expected to...<br />(I can't see the follow post button, so I hope I don't miss more comments!)<br />Deniz Bevanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17134553551048836979noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15617001.post-933809617455562592022-01-17T08:47:18.838-05:002022-01-17T08:47:18.838-05:00Ooh, now this is fascinating, because my villains ...Ooh, now this is fascinating, because my villains seem to resort to violence, but my heroes and heroines only do so if it's in self-defense (or to protect their children). Good food for thought!<br />(I can't see the follow post button, so I hope I don't miss more comments!)Deniz Bevanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17134553551048836979noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15617001.post-61598093248225491482022-01-17T08:37:01.012-05:002022-01-17T08:37:01.012-05:00Ooh, now this is fascinating, because my villains ...Ooh, now this is fascinating, because my villains seem to resort to violence, but my heroes and heroines only do so if it's in self-defense (or to protect their children). Good food for thought!Deniz Bevanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17134553551048836979noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15617001.post-81855540967003712892022-01-17T08:34:17.088-05:002022-01-17T08:34:17.088-05:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.Deniz Bevanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17134553551048836979noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15617001.post-42043228877113256352022-01-07T18:22:58.320-05:002022-01-07T18:22:58.320-05:00I have so much sympathy.
I grit my teeth every ti...I have so much sympathy.<br /><br />I grit my teeth every time prepositional like replaces the conjunction as. <br />The older usage is now considered "formal".<br /><br />I will try not to judge harshly those who have jogged into Twenty-first-Century English at a lively clip while I creep along like a snail.<br /><br />I'm still trying to get my tongue comfy with singular They in all contexts.<br />I work at it.Jo Bournehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13457862962618886252noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15617001.post-73372041701349501152022-01-07T18:06:08.146-05:002022-01-07T18:06:08.146-05:00Writing heroes ...
The stories I want to write h...Writing heroes ... <br /><br />The stories I want to write have struggle against an adversary, physical risk. Virtues like competence, bravery, endurance, high staskes, sacrifice. <br /><br />(I know there are heroic stories to be written about the virtues of self-sacrifice, nurturing, healing and growing, guilt and redemption. But other folks are writing these books with great skill. I don't think I'm so much suited to these themes.) <br /><br />I'm thinking about confrontation with an adversary, desperate struggle, physical courage, endurance . . . and suchlike.<br />Am I committing myself to unexamined violence?<br /><br />That's not just dismally stereotyped, it's a lost opportunity to explore the characters.<br /><br />I'm going to have to ponder on how we commit violence and what it does to us. How it limits the scope of the characters we create.<br /><br />It's hard. I keep looking at little pieces of this big characterization problem.<br /> Jo Bournehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13457862962618886252noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15617001.post-29702017156898268512022-01-07T17:18:36.397-05:002022-01-07T17:18:36.397-05:00I disapprove of killing as the first solution to p...I disapprove of killing as the first solution to problems and I write the stories to reflect this. <br />I think it makes better plot and characterization.<br /><br />Take Hawker, for instance. He starts his character journey as a young teen who can kill without regret. <br />He's a very cold killer. He seldom has rage and vengeance as an excuse. It's a job.<br /><br />He doesn't enjoy killing. It's a job. Everybody he knows is violent and life is cheap in the stews of London. <br />He figures it's better to be one of the predators than one of the prey.<br />He's not a very nice fellow.<br /><br />Grey and Doyle are interested in Hawker, not because he can kill skillfully, but because they think he has the capacity to not kill.<br /><br />Hawker chooses to turn from underworld assassin to spy. He respects the men at Meeks Street. He wants to emulate them and be part of their posse.<br /><br />The job comes with a -- to him -- odd code of ethics, but he can obey rules even if they don't make sense. Under orders, Hawker behaves in an ethical manner long before he incorporates the actual ethics into his worldview.<br /><br />Does he change from chaotic good to lawful good?<br />Kinda.<br /> <br /><br />In the end, as a powerful senior member of government, Hawker finds himself enforcing the law even onto himself. He doesn't get to stab random villains who deserve it, but he'd like to.<br /><br />So, does Hawker reach hero status? <br />I don't think he kills much. <br />Some, I suppose. Jo Bournehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13457862962618886252noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15617001.post-19040095213467606572022-01-07T15:36:48.322-05:002022-01-07T15:36:48.322-05:00Marking a cross on a loaf of bread is very much a ...Marking a cross on a loaf of bread is very much a Catholic custom. I imagine it's one of dozens of small habits the Protestants would have found idolatrous and frowned upon in the C16 and C17.<br /><br />I've seen this done in France. I think of it as a country custom, working class, and mostly for meals at home rather than when eating out. <br /><br />Even fifty years ago I got the impression it was considered old fashioned.<br /><br />In mid-Eighteenth Century most folks would have had less total protein than the current American diet.<br /><br />(And now I'm wondering how much protein folks get in a diet of fast food meals ...) <br /> <br />Jo Bournehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13457862962618886252noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15617001.post-86902074093051425462022-01-07T12:39:00.541-05:002022-01-07T12:39:00.541-05:00I find it interesting that the writer only conside...I find it interesting that the writer only considers "the heroic duel" and its possible non-violent alternatives. A duel is already a controlled form of violence (as opposed to someone shooting around with a machine gun, or a battle, or a space fight with entire spaceships blowing up (or entire planets, see Death Star in Star Wars). I think the acceptable level of violence on the good guys' part depends on the violence they need to confront and I think control on the violence is also an integral question. The stories where the hero is overtaken by a battle fever/berserker impulse and it's not shown to be wrong are ones that I find troublesome, not ones with well executed heropic duels. <br />Also, the alternatives in the article are mostly defined by the protagonist being physically weak, and choosing a sacrifice that doesn't solve everything in every setting. The Korean myth example is glaring: marriage to a monstruous antagonist is an abhorrent solution. I haven't seen the Star Trek episode in question, but Ferengis tend to be ridiculous and cowardly so the whole situation seems to be a subversion of the concept of the hero.Agneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00047890626000373572noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15617001.post-2087440345820556832022-01-07T12:20:51.760-05:002022-01-07T12:20:51.760-05:00Where did you see the drawing of the cross on the ...Where did you see the drawing of the cross on the loaf of bread before cutting it? I didn't think it was a custom in Protestant countries. <br />I think bread can only contribute significantly to protein intake because they ate so much of it. And I'm sure they ate less proteins than modern Western diet usually has. Probably not including the Georgian aristocrats with their lavish eating of several courses and several removes... but then, they became voluptuous/portly and suffered from the gout...<br />Agneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00047890626000373572noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15617001.post-85060850922560906852022-01-07T12:06:30.047-05:002022-01-07T12:06:30.047-05:00I'm still of the opinion that there IS right a...I'm still of the opinion that there IS right and wrong in language usage/grammar - yes, yes, I get the idea that language changes and so will the rules in consequence, but at the same time, there always will be different levels of complexity and precision in speech and writing,and there are editors and beta readers and people with high standards who will use the words according to their meaning and grammar according to its rules and help maintaining/upholding them (the living language concept should not be an excuse for lowering standards of precision, complexity, richness, symbolism). <br />Agneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00047890626000373572noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15617001.post-10632690053876807682022-01-07T09:27:45.508-05:002022-01-07T09:27:45.508-05:00Love this!Love this!Jeaninenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15617001.post-47518357072658523332022-01-02T02:10:51.389-05:002022-01-02T02:10:51.389-05:00I guess it all depends. Very roughly speaking, the...I guess it all depends. Very roughly speaking, they're eating a pound of meat, an egg, and 1½ slices of cheese a week. <br /><br />In a way, vegetable sources of protein like bread and lentils must have been central to the meal with animal proteins almost a flavoring or garnish. Bread would have been the "staff of life".Jo Bournehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13457862962618886252noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15617001.post-13365390572313354532022-01-02T00:38:42.341-05:002022-01-02T00:38:42.341-05:00What a fascinating article, Jo. I have to admit th...What a fascinating article, Jo. I have to admit that I'd never thought of bread as a source of protein.<br /><br />Regards,<br />KareniAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15617001.post-19479773504371849982021-12-20T19:14:36.577-05:002021-12-20T19:14:36.577-05:00And art showed plump women as the standard of beau...And art showed plump women as the standard of beauty ...Jo Bournehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13457862962618886252noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15617001.post-42821705387735670462021-12-20T15:10:31.853-05:002021-12-20T15:10:31.853-05:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.Lilhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07507054062472117994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15617001.post-66661760092952508572021-12-20T15:09:51.900-05:002021-12-20T15:09:51.900-05:00One of the oddities of life is that people these d...One of the oddities of life is that people these days will voluntarily go hungry because they are trying to lose weight, when for centuries hunger was an involuntary constant for the poor. Lack of calories, I read once, was the reason the poor tended to be shorter than the rich.Lil Marekhttp://lillianmarek.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15617001.post-35884207165626002982021-12-18T11:16:08.231-05:002021-12-18T11:16:08.231-05:00I think of Tony Hillerman.I think of Tony Hillerman.Jo Bournehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13457862962618886252noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15617001.post-42576263956033875292021-12-18T11:06:56.465-05:002021-12-18T11:06:56.465-05:00Anybody read Zane Grey nowadays? As a kid, I loved...Anybody read Zane Grey nowadays? As a kid, I loved his physical descriptions of the West for their own sakes, because I loved Nature and wildness. I later came to see how he used that wild environment as necessary to the development of his characters.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00209989892914030945noreply@blogger.com