by H. G. Wells, 1909, read as an ebook from manybooks.net

This is an interesting piece, that captures the changing social structures of London at the turn of the last century. Wells’ protagonist, the eponymous Ann Veronica, is bright, ambitious, naive, and, in many ways, a typical rebellious teenager.

Through Ann Veronica’s experiences, we’re exposed to enthusiastic utopianists of several flavors, including Socialists, Feminists, and advocates of Free Love (not coincidentally, also interests of Wells). But Wells happily points out that many of these radicals are painfully human. They have petty egos, their personal agendas drive their idealism, and many are simply using their causes as an excuse for distraction from a tedious or unpleasant situation. In fact, the depiction of the idealists (and the more cynical traditionalists) is more interesting than the plot, which falls back on a traditional happy ending of sorts.

By M. John Harrison, Ace Books, 1984

As Peter documents, this has a certain amount of overlap with the short stories included in 2005’s Viriconium, but there are some interesting differences; for example, Viriconium Nights’ story “The Lamia and Lord Cromis” and Viriconium‘s “The Lamia & Lord Cromis” are related yet different stories. It’s an interesting exercise reading both of them and seeing how the vision changed — or contemplating that perhaps the vision didn’t change at all. With so much in Viriconium, similar places or events may really be parallels in place or the cycles of history, or contrariwise, the differences may be entirely illusory.

What else can I say except that this is more Viriconium, which is a weak, pathetic summation of something very complex and subtle!

(Just catching up here… It’s been nine months since I read this).

The country takes a big step forward, and California takes a big step backward.

So the “Yes on 8” bigots are spending a lot on advertising, and Google ads for “Yes on 8” are evidently showing up here.

All I can say is ignore ’em. I think I’m forbidden by Google to say anything that would encourage you to click on them to cost the bastards more money. If that were to somehow happen, I’ll donate any click revenue from those ads to an appropriate organization like GLAAD. Not that I’ve ever seen any click revenue… But the “Yes on 8” people are evidently bidding high, so maybe it’s possible. Or maybe I just need to get rid of the Google ads. They ain’t doing me any good, except for sometimes their humorous juxtaposition.

Today is the 2nd anniversary of the day my poor sweet beast died, or rather, that we put her out of her misery. That’s a lot more complicated to say than, simply, it’s her jahrzeit.

Kina in the Garden

When I was walking home this evening, who should run out and greet me but the elusive Buddy (aka Snowball aka Princess). I have seen him maybe once or twice in the last six months (there’s been construction nearby, and I figure he’s just been hiding and keeping a low profile).

He got his petting and I got my temporary pet.