• As many of you who follow my blog know, I’ve been engaged in a project to read 100 books in one year. I’ve tried this project a few times, have never succeeded, and keep coming back for more. My best number so far is 77 books from January 1st to December 31st. I’m pretty sure…

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  • RoW80 Goals!

    Yesterday, I talked about my goals for the year in general; today, we narrow our focus a little bit to a mere slice of the year, the next Round of Words in 80 Days, which starts today and runs through March 22nd, just two days before my birthday. So, clearly, there will need to be…

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  • Onward, to the Future!

    Congratulations to everyone on making it to the year 2012! If we follow all that ancient Mayan propaganda, it might just be our last year, so I hope everyone plans on making the most of it. I know I’ve got a lot of big plans for this coming year, which is what this post today…

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  • Kindle Fire, Burning Bright!

    I return from the eventfulness of the holiday season with a great deal of excitement for a very good reason. I have been blessed with an extremely generous family, both in love and in things more material. The case in point is my combination birthday/Christmas gift of a brand-new, sparkling Kindle Fire. I am so…

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  • “I’d learned something. Viscerally, instinctively, spiritually–even in some small, precursive way, sexually–and there was no turning back. The genie was out of the bottle. My life as a cook, and as a chef, had begun. Food had power.” “Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly” by Anthony Bourdain. Certain books, I believe, are probably more…

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  • Coffee and Cold Pizza.

    My breakfast this morning was a cup of coffee (a little milk, a lot of raw sugar) and a slice of cold five-meat (yes, five!), the latter balanced on my knee as I read through a few pages of the current book I’m trying to blow through for my 100 Books project, perched on my…

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  • “‘You can find winter snow here, in the shadows, in the summer. Things last a long time, in the shadows.’” “Fragile Thing0s: Short Fictions and Wonders” by Neil Gaiman When Grace over at Books Without Any Pictures was reading Fragile Things and did a review, I remarked on how I should really read this collection…

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  • “‘That’s fair enough,’ Taluin allowed with a smile, wrought with a fondness that made Locke shift in his saddle. ‘Your bloodline has deep, deep roots in that land, Locke. It’s no wonder you’re out of place here.’” Happy Wednesday, everyone! Wednesday means another RoW80 update, though there is not much to report. I have been…

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  • “Suddenly Kira knew that although her door was not locked, she was not really free. Her life was limited to these things and this work. She was losing the joy she once felt when the bright-colored threads took shape in her hands, when the patterns came to her and were her own.” “Gathering Blue” by…

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  • “He knew they would be flowery words to win Taluin over, but, glancing toward Hederrick looking back at them with surly impatience, Locke realized that what he said was mostly true. If this thing was going to work, if they wanted to cut the others to the chase, things would have to smooth out between…

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