Catagraph.us

“Calliope climbed onto the narrow pipe…”

(Looks like those empire builders can’t leave their warren of pipes and strange machines alone for a second without a kid and a cat getting all up ins. Apologies for the bad cat anatomy — I know I can do better.)

I’m nearly finished with Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers. I think there are some weaknesses to the arguments being made in the last chapter — and that’s really slowing me down. Most of the points he makes in the book seem quite well supported in comparison. More on that later — if there’s time.

Spent a great deal of time last night organizing my dusty collection of old computer parts. It’s ridiculous how such things adhere themselves to one’s person. There was a constant sense of deja vu. I know I’ve placed these parts into boxes before — fully intending to give them away — only to renege in the belief I might need those exact parts one more time. In this way, madness is perpetuated.

(Let’s ignore the fact that I had a legitimate need for a 1.2MB 5.25 floppy disk drive just the other day, shall we?)

• …With Fairy Tales For All – Heather McDougal — of Cabinet of Wonders — provides a wonderful overview of the best fairy tale books she’s read. I primarily love fairy tales because they’re usually accompanied by a wealth of great illustration — as the samples in the post make clear. The illustrations by Margo Tomes in _Clever Gretchen and Other Forgotten Folk Tales_ look especially enticing.
• The Changing Face of Publishing – Science Fiction author Charles Stross provides some anecdotal evidence of ebook use by editors in the publishing industry and notes that ebooks aren’t the only format enjoying more availability. Personal note: I _love_ audiobooks and I’d probably _love_ ebooks, as well, if I had a capable reader (like a Kindle). I also _love_ well-designed printed material… but, honestly, the latter starts to lose its appeal when you have to move hundreds of pounds of it.