Category: Books

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Shopping local: the Novel Refuge

The Novel Refuge is a local used bookstore that sells books to benefit local refugees. You can donate your books (gently used) there, and you can shop the books they’ve already got (digital money only: credit card or tap-to-pay, no cash transactions). They also have a decent selection of donated board games.

https://novelrefuge.org/

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Shopping local: Queen Takes Book

I’ve been trying to buy my physical (paper) books from Queen Takes Book, even if they have to order them, rather than ordering them from Amazon. I’m not doing any kind of complete boycott (I lack both the executive function and the certainty that it would accomplish anything useful); but actively purchasing from a local store is something I love doing.

https://www.queentakesbook.com/

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Not saying no

A friend recently reminded me of this frustratingly evergreen Pratchett quote:

“Down there,” he said, “are people who will follow any dragon, worship any god, ignore any iniquity. All out of a kind of humdrum, everyday badness. Not the really high, creative loathesomeness of the great sinners, but a sort of mass-produced darkness of the soul. Sin, you might say, without a trace of originality. They accept evil not because they say yes, but because they don’t say no.” (Guards! Guards!)

This pretty much sums up my feelings about people who don’t vote. A lack of vote, in our zero sum system, is a vote for whoever wins.

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Surrendering to hope

Tonight I went looking for the thing Sam says in the books, and I found this:

Far above the Ephel Dúath in the West the night-sky was still dim and pale. There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach. His song in the Tower had been defiance rather than hope; for then he was thinking of himself. Now, for a moment, his own fate, and even his master’s, ceased to trouble him. He crawled back into the brambles and laid himself by Frodo’s side, and putting away all fear he cast himself into a deep untroubled sleep.

But then I also found this:

https://xkcd.com/847/

The duality of man.

Get some sleep, friends.

Of note:

https://www.tumblr.com/hachama/766361087361875968/theres-also-states-being-called-with-0-or

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Which Necromantic House are you?

This was an interesting “corporate astrology” exercise! 

Here are your totals for each house, there were an equal number of questions for each house and 20 is the highest possible score per house. The highest score would be your house affiliation. If you score equally on two houses...idk flip a coin or pick which one you prefer
2nd: 16
3rd: 13
4th: 13
5th: 13
6th: 16
7th: 16
8th: 14
9th: 13

You can find the quiz at this website.

The house I thought I matched up with the best was Sixth House, so, that’s not too surprising. But it’s interesting how close the point spread is.