fogbound.net




Fri, 16 Nov 2012

Official Inquiry

— SjG @ 2:09 pm

“Whether they knew it or not, the interest that drew them here was purely psychological – the expectation of some essential disclosure as to the strength, the power, the horror, of human emotions. Naturally nothing of the kind could be disclosed. The examination of the only man able and willing to face it was beating futilely round the well-known fact, and the play of questions upon it was as instructive as the tapping with a hammer on an iron box, were the object to find out what’s inside. However, an official inquiry could not be any other thing. Its object was not the fundamental why, but the superficial how, of this affair.”
— Joseph Conrad, Lord Jim

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Tue, 13 Nov 2012

Clear Thinking

— SjG @ 9:10 am

“Nobody thinks clearly, no matter what they pretend. Thinking’s a dizzy business, a matter of catching as many of those foggy glimpses as you can and fitting them together the best you can. That’s why people hang on so tight to their beliefs and opinions: because, compared to the haphazard way in which they’re arrived at, even the goofiest opinion seems wonderfully clear, sane, and self-evident. And if you let it get away from you, then you’ve got to dive back into that foggy muddle to wrangle yourself out another to take its place.” — Dashiell Hammett, The Dain Curse

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Wed, 23 Nov 2011

YA Fiction

— SjG @ 10:02 am

As much as I like some of the new crop of young adult fiction, I can’t help but wonder if this phenomenon isn’t just rooted in publishers being squeamish and authors being lazy. The category allows — no, encourages — writers to be less nuanced, paint with broader strokes, and, of course, avoid sexuality altogether.

Then again, the YA Fiction phenomenon may simply be symptomatic of “non-young adults” non-reading.

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Fri, 6 May 2011

CMS Made Simple Development Cookbook

— SjG @ 10:32 am

I just received my paper copies.


You can get a copy too!


Mon, 3 Aug 2009

Under the Banner of Heaven; A Story of Violent Faith

— SjG @ 10:03 pm

Jon Krakauer, Anchor Books, 2004

[Somehow un-posted, now reposted. Written 23 January 2009]

“Science flies men to the moon, religion flies airplanes into skyscrapers” goes one of the more inflammatory Atheist slogans. And indeed, this is the kind of book that inspires Atheists, convinces non-Mormons that Mormonism is a dangerous cult, and feeds into the persecution complex fostered by the Church of Latter Day Saints.

Krakauer traces the history of the Church and its founders, and shows how one path of interpretation reaches its logical conclusion in what an outsider would identify as a complete psychic break and murder. It’s disturbing, frightening, and quite readable.

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