Dog Ear – Page 35 – Robert Raymond’s Blogtorium

February 20, 2019

Thin Skinned (DOG EAR)

kay, so I’m literally not sure what I can say about this. I mentioned that I dropped out of Powers of the Earth because of the pro-libertarian/anti-everyone-else take. I didn’t particularly enjoy being a straw-man in this tale. And then there is Without Warning, an Audio Book I’m listening to right now. In general, it’s a bit Anti-Muslim (literally a “you’ll miss us when we’re gone” kinda book, to be reviewed soon). The only reason I’m sticking with it is that I really do want to know why American was vaporized. Yes, so I’ve been getting battered around the head […]

February 28, 2019

A little help from my friends (DOG EAR)

ometimes (particularly when traveling) I end up with a couple of reviews in the can, waiting for Sunday Review posting. That’s a good feeling. But sometimes, I end up with a “slow” book. Right now I’m reading a religious book about God and such. It’s a sell, that’s one thing. But it’s also one where I need to pay attention to the points. Outside of fiction (where I go into my groove and read for pleasure), non-fiction (please, no debating this classification) is pretty slow. I’m not reading about Sam Spade breaking heads quick and getting even quicker answers. I’m […]

March 6, 2019

The Most Dangerous Mind (DOG EAR)

n amazing thing in the elevator yesterday. It was a long day at work, very frustrating. I was an hour late getting out, it was raining and I still needed to go all the way across town for a train ops session that would last until 11pm. Long day. While on the elevator, two guys from the middle floors of the building got on, one an office worker, the other a maintenance guy (complete with a ladder over his shoulder). And they were continuing their conversation from their lobby. The salaryman: “Yeah, I loved it. As a hunter, it really […]

March 21, 2019

Markdown (DOG EAR)

Priced to move! Was $2.99, now 99 cents! Bargain prices! These sound like things Mason Trellis might say in moving Egyptian Grain in Early ReTyrement. Well, in this case, life imitates art. I’ve been thinking that a couple of bucks was probably too much for my eBook, especially two years (has it been this long?) since it was posted up on Kindle and Nook. I’ve heard of people who give their books away for free (to get following) or jack their prices around (to get ranking). I don’t know how to do this – I’m a writer (meaning I think […]

March 21, 2019

Dog Ear (DOG EAR)

s there an echo in here? No, actually, this blog is about… dog earring. Just noticed it today – I’m reading an adventure yard from Douglas Preston, Tyrannosaur Canyon. The thing is, if you open the cover, you’ll see the Maya Books and Music pencil notification in the front – yeah, I bought it used, $3.50. I love Maya’s, a groovy little bookshop in Sanford, and will generally pick up a couple of covers just to help support them. So this thing is a foster book. Tonight, I was sitting on the back porch with a glass of wine, getting […]

April 18, 2019

A new beginning (DOG EAR)

ou might have noticed (please, someone notice) that my site has been pretty quiet as of late. The reason for this was my www-based ancient Joomla webpage had been hacked (again). It first came to my attention when the astronomy site booted off one of my blogs, claiming I had malware. But then my wife chirped up, saying she’d seen it too. Maybe you did – the whole survey results thing you’d first click through via my links? Once I mentioned this, everyone I knew said, “Yes, I thought that was something you did.” Please, I’d rather mug you with […]

April 27, 2019

On and on (DOG EAR)

was supposed to get $100,000 after taxes. Yes, my company was offering an early buyout and I put in for it. I’m near retirement (or ReTyrement) and I was ready to bolt. Activated the offer, waited for five weeks, then found out that my company was not genuine on this. Hardly anyone at all got it. Bait and switch. Well, shit. So today I was in a scrum call, listening to everyone grab the conversation string in a heated argument, making their points with long-winded reasoning, just double-lung blowouts of dialog. I started doing what I usually do, figuring out […]

May 1, 2019

Two reasons (CAT EAR)

had a great insight on Don Quixote today, a little curiosity I read. On the ride home, I considered it. I lay on the couch to sip wine, pop peanuts and let the idea stew while watching dumb anime. And then the two little creatures found me. As you might have seen on my general blog, we’ve adapted two kitties, Chinki and Ritz. They are adorable family members, each as big as your hand, who came up to see what Daddy was up to and to get their cold little noses into everything. Picked up a couple of ribbon toys […]

May 8, 2019

For myself (DOG EAR)

won’t say who said this (they, alone, will know the bitter salty tears I wept) but a friend told me that he’d played my interactive fiction StoreyMinus a few times and went “Meh”. That’s a tough nut to swallow, if you are into swallowing nuts. I mean, how many hundred hours have a spent coding this monster? For those who don’t know about it (which, outside of my friend, is pretty much everone on Earth), StoreyMinus is my interactive fiction written with the Squiffy game driver. It involves a fictional character in some sort of situation in the tunnels and […]

May 15, 2019

Inventory (DOG EAR)

’m reading Don Quixote right now (which is long, slow novel, which means any guest reviews in the interim are welcome). It’s a great book, and for those who don’t know it, it’s about a threadbare Spanish nobleman (more of a country nobleman) who, having read far too many books on knights and chivalry, saddles up his bony horse, slaps on his corroding, mismatched armor, and with the help of Sancho, his squire, rides about looking for adventure and excitement. Of course, he gets the crap beat out of him by everything from indignant peasants to ignorant windmills. It’s quite […]