What is a moonraker? Also called a moonsail, a moonraker is the small sail, sometimes set in light winds, above the skysail. What is the skysail? Used in a favorable light wind, it’s the light sail above the royal. What is the royal? Also used in a favorable light wind, it’s the small sail above… Read more »
words
Scrabble Complaint, Stuff, and Things
Graceling now exists in Norwegian. Yay! —–> Published by Cappelen Damm and translated by Carina Westberg, whose excellent translation questions spurred my recent post about how Seabane Isn’t Real. This is another randutiae post. Ready? I really like Rebecca Rabinowitz’s short post called Some things to consider when writing fat characters. Some recent words my… Read more »
The Hungry Games Randutiae for a Sunday
I like the movie of Catching Fire SO much more than I liked the movie of The Hunger Games. (No spoilers here.) I’m happy about the directorial change to Francis Lawrence, who doesn’t rely on way too much shaky cam to create tension (which I blogged about when the first movie came out). I have… Read more »
Sleep, Pretty Darling, Do Not Cry… and Other Thursday Randutiae
Happy Pan-Universal Be Who You Are Day! Someone who uses voice recognition software and draws should start a VRS comic strip. The objects that appear suddenly in my scenes because my VRS has misunderstood me are visually amusing. I just dictated the line, “‘I will,’ she said with a sob,” and my VRS typed, “‘I… Read more »
Word Roundup for a Monday
Boustrophedon [boo-struh-FEED-n], from the Greek βουστροφηδόν, βοῦς (bous) meaning “ox” and στροφή (strophē) meaning “turn”: An ancient method of writing in which every other line of writing is flipped or reversed, with reversed letters. The way oxen would write, you know, if they were turning back and forth in the fields in order to write,… Read more »
More Randutiae (Extra-Random Edition)
I’m proud to report that Bitterblue is a New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association Book of the Year, along with Rules of Civility by Amor Towles (for fiction), Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity by Katherine Boo (for nonfiction), I, Too, Am America by Langston Hughes and illustrated by Bryan… Read more »
August Randutiae (Some Rather Cranky)
Every once in a while, I become overwhelmed by the crush of books I’m supposed to be reading (for research; as a favor for someone; because soon they’ll be due back at the library; because everyone’s telling me I should), and my soul revolts. I spend a week or so mulishly resisting reading anything at… Read more »
Pants Pants PANTS
Perhaps (based on emails I received from friends across the pond) I should have clarified that when I said (in my last post) that Shah Rukh Khan stole my pants (in my dream) and wore them in the rain, I meant pants in the American sense, not pants in the British sense (see definition 2b)…. Read more »
In Which Fantasy Is Hard on the Brains. (A.K.A. This Post is Too Long?)
So, I’ve decided I want to play the triangle in a production of Igor Stravinsky’s Firebird. Somewhere on this big, round earth, there must be a symphony orchestra facing the tragic circumstance of having to cancel its upcoming performance of the Firebird for lack of a triangle player, mustn’t there? I’ve looked at the score… Read more »
Don’t Narrate, Don’t Exaggerate, and for Heaven’s Sake, Try Not to Apokolokyntate
Could there be a rule that actors, directors, and producers being interviewed for DVD special features are never, ever asked to explain to us what the movie we just saw was about; what the characters they played were like; or what the important themes and messages of the TV show were? Because the reason we’re… Read more »
