Bookshelf, Fiction

The Books

Blank Map Book. Sleep with it under your pillow. In the morning, the book will show you a map to what you are seeking. Perhaps not to what think you are seeking.

Choose Your Own Adventure. Digital book. Choices at pivotal moments will be made based on your reader profile, your recent search history, your streaming choices, and so on. The cheap version has a few easily-guessed tropes. The more expensive the book, the more variety in the stories and the more targeted the personalization.

The Afterword

From Deep Water Prompts on Tumblr. “The otherwise blank map requires the book blood of the seeker to work. I don’t have any. ‘You need a human,’ says the seller with an evil grin, ‘one who wants what you want, and just as badly.’

“Edit: this has a typo and I’m at work so can I ask you all to just please replace the word book with BLOOD? Thank you” DWP: 3069. Hat tip to N for leading me to Deep Water.

I misread the unedited version as “blank map book” rather than “blank map requires the book.” A fortuitous mistake.

The trope of What You Really Want shows up in a Christmas short story by Connie Willis – possibly “The Pony” – and as an aside in Android’s Dream by Scalzi. “One of the great unwritten chapters of retail intelligence programming …” Goodreads: The Android’s Dream Quotes.

Free Fiction 4U. Red Wombat: Toad Words. Posted on by ursulav. Excerpt, “Love is a frog word, if spoken earnestly, and a toad word if spoken sarcastically. Frogs are not good at sarcasm.” Nota bene, other stories on this site are well-written, but are suitable for folks with higher tolerance than mine for weird & creepy. Proceed with caution. Nota nota bene, my tolerance for w&c is extremely low. You’ll probably be fine.

Onwards!
Katherine

Revolution of Joy, Photography

Awareness of the outside world. Various Covid bits.

Nature: Had COVID but no symptoms? You might have this genetic mutation. Max Kozlov. 19 July 2023. Hat tip to C.

Jabberwocky.com: Black parents preferred school closures during the pandemic. White parents didn’t. Kevin Drum. .

“Since late January 2023, excess deaths have reached pre-pandemic levels.” Your Local Epidemiologist: COVID-19: Catch up quick. Katelyn Jetelina. Jul 18, 2023.

~~~

Minus. Not the most challenging subject.

Plus. Went somewhere. Took a picture of something. Check.

Technical Details

Flower, f/13.0, 1/125 sec., 48.0 mm, ISO 100, manual

Building, f/11.0, 1/125 sec., 34.0 mm, ISO 100, manual

To clarify. The subject itself is festive and delightful. Taking the photo was the non-challenging part. Ah well, got the camera out of the bag.

Links

Bham Wiki: The Revolution of Joy

Portico: Trés Taylor: Alabama Folk Artist in a Revolution of Joy. Clark, 2021.

Trés Taylor website

Alabama Ballet, location of mural.

Onwards!
Katherine

Pasture Adventure, Dogs

Awareness of the outside world. NASA.gov: July 20, 1969: One Giant Leap For Mankind

Discussion comment by Brian Scott Pauls, a classmate in my science fiction class. Reposted with permission. [Blanket Adjustment, announcement of class]

“Punch cards are not, and never were, suitable for sending people to Mars or any other celestial body. They are, in fact, so *un*suitable, MIT was forced to develop the contemporary microcomputer to send us to the Moon–complete with keyboard, display, and electronic read-only memory (all necessary for doing away with punch cards).

“And far from being a one-person job, programming the computer for the Apollo mission required a staff of 350, managed by Margaret Hamilton.”

Pauls recommends, Nicely Done Sites: The Computer That Got Us To The Moon, by Boyd.

Pauls posts at Substack: The Cosmic Codex. Previous BSP mention [Stall Rest Chronicles 27 Jan, In other News]

~~~

Took the ladies out to the pasture for a sniff.

Jasmine & Rose Fan Club [list of posts]

Onwards!
Katherine

Lecturing Milton

Awareness of the outside world. UAB MedCast: Hold Your Horses! Equestrian Helmet Facts, Fiction & Future Research, Kevin Schrum, PhD | Sara Gould, MD, June 12, 2023

~~~

Milton threw a fit during hitching.

Seriously, Dude?

Again?

I thought we were past this.

Gotta admit, I am over watching you hop around various rings.

You are lucky we don’t live in Pennsylvania. I’d have your ass at a sale so fast.

I doubt I mean it.

But I thunk it.

Don’t you want to be a driving horse?

You certainly don’t want to be a riding horse.

If one is going to be difficult, it is wise to give the humans something in return.

Let’s take Vanir Kamira as an example. Has to have her meals hand-fed. Has to have her own personal groom. Wins the two biggest events in the world. “She is a bit of a pain in the bum, but she’s worth it because she performs when you need her to. I joked to Pig the other day that I’ve basically been employed for the past three weeks to just do Tilly.” Horse and Hound: Seven feeds a day and bawling like a baby: Piggy March’s groom Amy Phillips on looking after Vanir Kamira at Burghley, Roome 3 September, 2022.

This is a horse who has figured out her life plan.

You, not so much.

Onwards!
Katherine

Imagining Rodney

Awareness of the outside world. Stay cool, folks. For us, the next few days are predicted to be 97o & 98o, with Feels Like much higher. Bath time! [Summer’s Here still] [Minion! I Require A Shower! video]

~~~

Rodney lives in a parallel dimension.

While were were waiting at the vet clinic, Rodney wanted reassurance. Who among us is happy at the doctor’s office? [Annual Vet Visit]

He came over to put his head in my lap. Metaphorically. I was standing.

While we waited, he reminded me of all the good times we’d shared. The lightning fast jump-offs. The hours spent hanging out at horse show stalls. The bond forged between horse and rider.

As far as Rodney is concerned, he could’ve had a glorious show career. Therefore, he did have a glorious show career.

Like I said. Parallel dimension.

Onwards!
Katherine

Tag You’re It

Awareness of the outside world. To celebrate World Emoji Day, enjoy Tor.com: Dune’s Kyle MacLachlan Explains the Plot of Dune Through Emojis, Asher-Perrin, 2016. Hat tip to D.

~~~

Milton is a tick magnet, particularly his ears. Vet recommended cattle tags.

Werners, A., Karasek, I., Butler, C., Yeatts, J., Enomoto, H., & Baynes, R. (2022). Control of ticks on horses using abamectin-impregnated ear tags. A pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic study. Journal of Veterinary Pharmacology and Therapeutics, 45, 473– 480. Wiley Online LIbrary: Control

Onwards!
Katherine