Camera is healed.

What I've been reading.

Austerity Britain, 1945-1951, by David Kynaston. This actually did strike me as something of a "cacophonous and impressionistic mess," but I will readily admit this could be because I cannot appreciate the nuances of some (to me) obscure BBC radio program from 1947. If you are steeped enough in the time period, then maybe the book comes alive for you. For me, I could have used a little more structure and guidance. It seemed too much like "and then this happened, and then this other thing happened, and then person x said y about this other thing in her diary, and then this other person said z about the NHS in his letter to his mum," etc. The book contained a huge amount of raw source material; I would be curious to know the proportion of quoted material to original. Atlantic review.

What I've been reading.

Netherland, by Joseph O'Neill. Troubled marriage, cricket, post-9/11. Too many passages seemed like exercises from a writers' workshop, as in "write 200 words on x." But the last 30 pages or so were a little more bracing. Eh.

What I've been reading.

The Wind-up Bird Chronicle, by Haruki Murakami. A quasi magical realist novel that is, strangely, not annoying. I'm not sure what exactly the plot was about (something having to do with alienation in modern Japan, a disintegrating marriage, the Japanese occupation of Manchuria in the 1930s, and tentacles), but the story did not flag. Mostly worthwhile.

Tales of Essex County, vols. 1 (Tales from the Farm) and 2 (Ghost Stories), by Jeff Lemire. Pretty good, especially if you enjoy bleak tales of despair and death in rural Ontario. And hockey! These are graphic novels, by the way.

Update in the N.Y.C. pizza wars.

Apparently, Johhny's Pizza, a member of a Brooklyn pizza cartel, isn't doing so terribly after all, now that Papa John's has opened next door.

What I've been reading.

Atmospheric Disturbances, by Rivka Galchen. A gripping tale of a
psychotic mind, a psychiatrist who takes on aspects of a patient's
deluded fantasies. Elements of Enduring Love, Lolita, Sound and the
Fury, the Jimmy Stewart movie Harvey. Highly recommended.

JDRF ride update.

All went well. I don't know how fast I rode, since my bike computer
kept randomly quitting without my noticing, but it was a pretty fast
day. The weather was perfect, and the terrain was a lot like Western
Pa. so I felt right at home.

Thanks again to all who donated. This is an inspiring event to take
part in, and I couldn't have done it without you!

Mortgage crisis triumphs where Sauron failed.

The shire has gone into foreclosure.

What I've been reading.

Legal Language, by Peter Tiersma. I liked the first few chapters on the historical development of law talk best - Law French, etc. The chapters on present characteristics and possibilities for reform were, I guess, a little too familiar to be interesting, but it was helpful to have them taxonomized on the page. Tiersma maintains an updates page here, and that is a very commendable thing by an author.

Sedulous banality?

A former adjunct professor (grad student? I'm not sure) in Harvard's social studies department unloads with both barrels:

Should I say I am grateful for the chance to teach at Harvard? I am. Should I acknowledge the many fine exceptions it was my privilege to instruct? I do, with pleasure. But the sedulous banality of the rich degrades teaching into a service-class preoccupation whose chief duty is preparing clients for monied careers. The liberal flattery of the student is both sentimental and irrelevant. If youth is wasted on the young, is teaching wasted on students?

Teaching on the part-time staff at Harvard is a little like visiting Disney World. The magic dust induces a light narcosis. The mind goes incontinent in the presence of paradox and conflict, and it is tough to tell how much fun you are having from how much you are having to pretend. The important thing is never to become the screamer who ruins the ride for everyone. The line is long.

The comments are worth reading.