In the ink well

Dog Ear

January 13, 2022

The Cat in the Stack (DOG EAR)

veryone who knows me knows of my book Indigo, where I spent time showing how crows see the world (and how, like us, they can recognize patters, make intelligent choices, and understand a lot more than we give them credit for). This factors into my story, a tale about a book, a bookmark, and a cat. For Christmas, my wife gave me (amongst other things) a copy of the latest (and last) book of The Expanse. Now, as it has been a while since the last book, I decided to reread it before pushing into the series finale. And since […]
December 30, 2021

Best of 2021 (DOG EAR)

n what is as much a tradition as weekly blog postings, I close out my year with my Best Of review of books that delighted me. And I’ll say that it was a rough year. With everything going on, I really didn’t find much of anything that lit my fire. No Oves. No Airbornes. Nothing that really lit me up as in years past. But anyway, here are the best of my reads for the plague year of 2021.         RedShirts – A wonderful tale by a new master of scifi. It’s rather like Galaxy Quest but […]
December 23, 2021

Reading and the modern world (Quoted DOG EAR)

wo kinds of conservatives are drawn to the business major at Liberty Tech. First are the genuinely naive, true patriots, often small-towners, admitted despite lower SATs, but nurtured on an undying faith in the capitalist system. And then there are their sharper, sharker brethren, more common to some suburbs, eighteen-year-olds who are already so practical, cynical, and business-minded – willing and wanting to extract as many dollars from the world with as little effort as possible – that the idea of learning to read, write, and think, perhaps only for reading, writing, and thinking’s sake, seems like a complete waste […]
December 16, 2021

A sad, lonely book (DOG EAR)

live in fear of finding one of my books in a used book shop. What does that mean? Did the owner not care enough? Is my book like the puppy in a shelter? Well, here’s one that’s worse. Found a neat book at the used bookstore. As I read it, I noticed that it was in great condition, but had GEORGIA HIGHLANDS COLLEGE LIBRARY stamped on the side. So I could always look this school up but I’m going to go with the idea that it’s some sort of commuter college, a tiny place in the backwoods somewhere. So this […]
December 10, 2021

Bebop (DOG EAR)

ust one of these nice stories. Had all sorts of crises over the last few weeks. Outside of the overshadowing disaster of a month ago, I caught something from a friend (how do you catch things, what with doing a good job with a mask?). Had to go to the ER and make sure it wasn’t Covid. Upper respiratory infection. Then, to top things off, a crown popped off a day ago. So I was worried about going in with my hacking – what happens if I accidentally cough and blow the not-set crown across the room? But things settled […]
December 2, 2021

The Inviolability of Books (DOG EAR)

ooks represent a number of things, particularly the containment and storage of thought, knowledge and wisdom. That is why book burnings (by Nazis) and book bannings (by school boards) seems like such an evil thing to those who wish to see humanity reflect on its mistakes, realizations and histories. And which is why throwing out books made me a bit queasy recently. You see, I had to intercede in a friend’s medical crisis and breaking into his house revealed that he was a hoarder. Marie Kondo would have run screaming from the piles. Me, I found it a bit disturbing. […]
November 25, 2021

oally Unaccepable (DOG EAR)

hort piece on hanksiving day. The “” key sopped working on my keyboard. I press i and nohing happens. I really pisses me off. So I lay in bed hinking about he keyboard and wha I migh wrie, and I figured why not about his supid failing key? Sared the piece and hen remembered he can of jet spray in the close. Sure! hat migh work! So I sprayed he key from all sides. …. How is it working? ttttt. Seems whatever was stuck under there, whatever crumb or dust or gunk, it’s blown out. No “T” problems anymore. At […]
November 18, 2021

Respect (DOG EAR)

‘ve been thinking about this for a while. The wife and I watch a lot of Japanese shows on the various streaming sources (and not just anime). The thing that always catches my attention is the formalized respect that people pay to one another in Japan. If they are wrong (or shamed) they bow. And they mean it. It’s always a formal thanks or apology to the person being honored. Of course, in America, it’s a little more… informal. if you do a heroic deed for someone, they will offhandedly throw off a “thanks”. Or maybe buy you lunch (if […]
November 11, 2021

Second Thoughts (DOG EAR)

had a piece all queued up for today, a thing about learning something I knew about someone, something that rocked me back on my heels and made me blink. It was about how we characterize people we know in our minds and are startled when we learn or see something that changes this ideal. I wrote it early this morning (after waking up and thinking about this person). It was a good piece, having my full emotions and concerns in it. Saved it in drafts and walked with my wife for breakfast. When I got home I looked at it […]
October 28, 2021

The Golden Age (DOG EAR)

o picture yourself living in a sleepy Spanish colonial village in 1650 or so. Your occupations as a hunter/fisherman/cobbler brings in enough to keep your wife and brats fed. And then, one day, a sail appears. With this, your pacific life ends. Crazed pirates storm ashore through the surf. Some people are butchered where they stand. And you, captured by them, can only watch as your wife (and possibly your children) are raped to death. And then you are tortured for the location your supposed wealth. Racked with pain and anguish, you look up at the blue Caribbean sky (framed […]