Our classy once and future (?) king

I suppose those who voted for him are angry rather than embarrassed... I assume they know that there was a "porn star payment," but being in the position to make a porn star payment is something they admire, if not aspire to? But is it what they aspire to for their children? To be a profane, entitled, mean-spirited bully and bigot? His appeal still puzzles me...

Crazy nature, part 3

This is a cage stinkhorn (Clathrus ruber), which appeared as if by magic in my front yard under manzanita after the rains... It could be a kid's bike helmet, or a whiffle ball, but in fact it is a fungus, adapted for attracting flies as if to carrion. Lovely!

Crazy nature, part 2

Outcropping, Floras Lake State Natural Area, OR.

Crazy nature, part 1

Skunk cabbage, South Slough, OR. 

Reading roundup

Some novels recently read in their entirety or in part...  

Quartet in Autumn
Barbara Pym
The blurb on the cover states: "Written with the wit and style of a twentieth-century Jane Austen." Certainly this quiet 1977 novel about four lonely and aging co-workers is witty, in a very Brit stiff-upper-lip manner. But Ms. Pym seems not to like any of her protagonists, and the most one can muster for any of them is pity, rather than empathy, let alone admiration. At least with Austen there is usually one character to like per novel.

Spook Street 
Mick Herron
Another Slough House comic thriller. Solid entertainment.

The Alien Years
Robert Silverberg
I quite liked his Dying Inside, and Tower of Glass was decent if predictable sci-fi. So it was a no-brainer that I would grab a used paperback copy of The Alien Years, which is– good guess!– about an alien invasion. I love alien invasion stories, but I gave up at page 60 of this 488-page snoozer. Dated and perfunctory. 

Paul David, 1935-2023

Paul was my mentor and co-chair of my PhD dissertation committee. He was, overall, the biggest single influence on my intellectual and professional development, and among the most brilliant people I ever met. Given his stature and many accomplishments, it seems a little odd to say that he was an under-achiever, but it may be that the breadth of his interests sometimes obscured the depth of his insights– a hedgehog in fox's clothing, perhaps.

Wayne Shorter, RIP

One of the greats.