Tag Archives: essays

A brighter shade of Gray

This would have been Spalding Gray’s 70th birthday. Coincidentally, Bob Dylan’s 70th happened recently. Last October, I noted on trolleydodger.com that Joe Torre and John Lennon would have both been 70. These strange collisions of ages, backgrounds, and celebrity are … Continue reading

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MESSENGER’s Call

With world news understandably dominated by the Japan disasters, radiation fears, the civil war in Libya and unrest across the Middle East and in the Ivory Coast, and endless other depressing coverage, it is comforting (to me at least) to … Continue reading

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Squishy, 1994-2011

Last night, we had to put our dear cat Squishy to sleep. Her diabetes, which she has been coping with for several years, took a turn for the worse yesterday. We had to make that awful choice, to spare her … Continue reading

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“The Shining” by Douglas Adams

I would pay good money to read Douglas Adams’ The Shining. And I’m talking good money — due to Adams’s current, shall we say Hotblack Desiato-like life state, it would require the services of a Dirk Gently to accomplish. Failing … Continue reading

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Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Marble Faun is big-boned

You know the old saying that inside a fat person is a thin person trying to get out? The same could be said of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Marble Faun: an enchanting gothic romance trapped inside a wordy travelogue. A rough … Continue reading

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First month with Ubuntu and the new netbook

It was a long time coming, but nearly exactly a month ago, I made a switch for my home computer, buying an Acer Aspire One netbook[1] and installing Ubuntu Netbook Edition 10.04 (Lucid Lynx). Here’s excerpts from what I wrote … Continue reading

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Netbook vs iPad

I have been doing some off-and-on research for a while now on netbooks, with the idea of getting one to run Linux on as a home computer. The search has been getting more serious lately. While varying back and forth … Continue reading

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