This dream that was almost a nightmare, if there had not been such beauty and longing to it

[sovay]

1. Confessions of a Five-Chambered Heart is now available for preorder from Subterranean Press. Afterword by me, everything else by Caitlín R. Kiernan. It's a magnificent collection; I'm honored to have had anything to do with it. Just remember not to order through Amazon. Apparently there have been shenanigans.

2. The New York Public Library has put the entire archive of the 1939–40 New York World's Fair online. It's been available for some time, I think, but I just discovered it. Goodbye, free time when I have you.

3. Via strange_selkie, I find that I've been io9'd. Not me personally: the entire lineup of Beyond Binary. I count this a win for everybody, Schrödinger included.

4. Even allowing that my knowledge of history is patchy (and frankly, post-classical, almost entirely self-taught), I do not understand how it took me until last night to discover the Jewish Legion. If nothing else, I really feel an all-Jewish, all-volunteer, eventually five-battalion corps who were part-founded by a one-armed Zionist veteran of the Russo-Japanese War and served at Gallipoli under the Anglo-Irish author of The Man-Eaters of Tsavo should have attracted some kind of movie by now, or at least a rating on Badass of the Week. Not to mention details like the Legion's international makeup including Ottoman Jewish prisoners of war who signed up to retake Palestine from the Ottoman Empire. I mean, seriously. Tell me there's a decent book out there.

5. Thank you to everyone who responded to my question about the melodrama shtick! I still have no idea where it came from, but it looks as though there are two overlapping lines of descent: an older routine picked up by children's television and reintroduced to a wider audience while still being transmitted by family. Possibly all pop culture went through The Electric Company and I just didn't notice at the time. The Muppet Show did this to me, too.

I slept five hours. It's not great, but it is better.

Comments

[ashlyme.livejournal.com]

Ha. I've got two Muppet settings: Beaker, or Statler and Waldorf.

[handful-ofdust.livejournal.com]

Re melodrama: As Bill the Butcher might say, "Never underestimate the power of the theaytah."

[greygirlbeast.livejournal.com]

Apparently there have been shenanigans.

Devious shenanigans.

[strange-selkie.livejournal.com]

*gibbers at you and falls down*

That's all you get. I don't want to say anything or do anything or breathe too hard at you. Just keep doing the thing. With the thing.

Meanwhile I'll be over here with a bunch of pillows, trying to deflate my feet.

[zdenka]

Jewish Legion

Wow. That is full of awesomeness. Also, they fought a battle at Armegeddon. And also they had a choir. Of course they had a choir. *flails*

[ap-aelfwine.livejournal.com]

Just remember not to order through Amazon. Apparently there have been shenanigans.

Thanks for the warning. I'm sorry there have been.

2.

Thanks!

3.

Excellent.

If nothing else, I really feel an all-Jewish, all-volunteer, eventually five-battalion corps who were part-founded by a one-armed Zionist veteran of the Russo-Japanese War and served at Gallipoli under the Anglo-Irish author of The Man-Eaters of Tsavo should have attracted some kind of movie by now, or at least a rating on Badass of the Week.

Goodness. I agree with you completely. There should be a book. I read The Man-Eaters of Tsavo as a child, hadn't thought of it in ages, although I think there's a copy somewhere on the living room shelves. Did you read it, also?

Possibly all pop culture went through The Electric Company and I just didn't notice at the time. The Muppet Show did this to me, too.

Interesting thought. It might be a good paper for somebody, although I'm not sure how one would go about researching the matter.

I slept five hours. It's not great, but it is better.

I'm glad there's improvement, and I hope the trend continues.

[thistleingrey.livejournal.com]

5. Interesting! TV probably accounts for darkforge's familiarity, and then I probably picked up the reduced version (no napkin) from a chance contextless reference.