SOOO for the purpose of this month's SWG challenge I am re-reading Humphrey Carpenter's Tolkien biography. (The topic of the challenge is love stories. The muses insist on an essay. Don't ask.) I know I keep saying that, but maybe I haven't yet said it here, so let me put it out here: I really really wish that Tolkien's biography could be turned ( Read more... )

Happy New Year, one and all!I had the worst car drive of my life going back home from our New Year's celebrations. The fog was so thick that in some places you couldn't see more than three meters ahead. Three meters is nothing when you're in a car. A lot of the time, I was almost driving blind, with only the tiniest hints as to where the road was. ( Read more... )

Ich lese gerade - Tusch, Trommelwirbel - einen Ratgeber. Eigentlich kann ich Ratgeberbücher nicht leiden, weil sie (nach meinem Empfinden) meistens am Problem vorbeireden oder gar ein Problem schaffen, wo eigentlich gar keins sein muss, und der Nutzen am Ende bestenfalls ratloses Schulterzucken und schlimmstenfalls ein miserables Gewissen ist, weil ( Read more... )