"Felis Ex Machina" made the Ursa Major Awards finals this year, my first nomination since 2005. (Historically, my fourth individual nomination; I have two others with Mitch Marmel ( Read more... )

I'm still trying to win an Ursa Major Award (anthropomorphic fiction), so here's a bleg to register and vote for nominations for the awards; the final round of voting will be in some weeks ( Read more... )

The a-e was at an Indian buffet for lunch today. It opened at 12, and he was the first one there. The proprietor, a small, chatty, pleasant man, dealt with him. So when it came time to settle up the bill, this man -- whom the a-e never met -- asked him if he was a lawyer. Turns out the owner used to be a Cravath, Swaine & Moore lawyer (i.e., ( Read more... )

A baby otter has made a mysterious appearance in my journal. He can do an uncanny Jack Benny impersonation.

For no particular reasons other than karmic rebound mixed with a bit of whimsy, I dropped a Christmas present on a long-time acquaintance tonight. Not ironically, it was a reversi of a present I received from them in the past (not the same item, of course).

Merry Christmas, X! (No, he's not George F. Kennan.)

Well, two people did call (or equivalent thereof) to cheer the a-e up. Both were appreciated ( Read more... )

Unhappily unmarried.

The a-e got two reminders today from people he likes a great deal about why they're very happy and in love, and he isn't.

Since the advent of the 17th Amendment, these are the best elections, I think, the GOP has had ( Read more... )

It looks like there's a fair shot that the GOP will take the House a little over a week from now. The NYT's 538 blog suggests that the GOP will hold a 230-205 margin. Looking at some of the other polls, right now the averages are: Democrats, 196, Tossups 36, GOP 203. The Real Clear Politics aggregator is predicting right now the GOP will have a ( Read more... )