Tag Archives: #books

Lolita

Posted on March 5, 2018 by d4vid

Driving across country always makes me think of the American Odyssey aspect of Lolita.

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Epilogue

Posted on September 22, 2017 by d4vid

Several lifetimes ago, I was at a gathering of people from Bel Air Presbyterian Church at a wealthy couple’s home.  I believe the husband was a lawyer of some kind, but the most distinctive thing about him were his suspenders.  … Continue reading →

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Library

Posted on February 12, 2017 by d4vid

I brought four books to reread on my cruise.

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Mummies

Posted on January 26, 2017 by d4vid

The “Mortals of Last Millennium” exhibit — aside from having been named by H.P. Lovecraft, apparently — was devoted to mummies. It was creepy. My first walk through the exhibit, I refrained from taking any pictures because I thought it … Continue reading →

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Jest

Posted on January 14, 2017 by d4vid

And but so it wasn’t entirely unselfconsciously that I took my second daily dose of bupropion1 just before I finished reading David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest, with its ending less like an exit through the gift shop and more like finding oneself at … Continue reading →

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Fondazione

Posted on December 24, 2016 by d4vid

The Roman Forum is a hodgepodge of ancient ruins, some dating back to the 8th century B.C.E., in a small valley between the Palatine and Capitoline Hills. I have never felt such an overwhelming density of history.  There are artefacts … Continue reading →

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Colonna

Posted on December 23, 2016 by d4vid

Ancient Romans liked victory columns even more than they liked Egyptian obelisks.  This one is the Column of Marcus Aurelius to commemorate the Macromannic Wars along the Danube at the northeastern European border of the Roman Empire. It was during this campaign … Continue reading →

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Fort

Posted on November 26, 2016 by d4vid

The town of Gyantse is the third largest in all of Tibet.  And yet it only has about 60,000 residence. Is is dominated by the fort (Gyantse Dzong) that is perched on the hill at the center of town.  It … Continue reading →

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Cloud

Posted on September 17, 2016 by d4vid

At the Gardens by the Bay, I lingered for a long, long time in the domed Cloud Forest which contains the world’s tallest indoor waterfall.  The interior environment mimics the moist, cool climate of the mountains between 3300′ and 9800′.  … Continue reading →

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Skid

Posted on August 4, 2016 by d4vid

I saw this road sign all over New Zealand.  (And this was the best picture you could get?  Well, I’m sorry for the potato quality, but if you don’t like it why don’t you go to New Zealand and spend … Continue reading →

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Shire

Posted on July 25, 2016 by d4vid

Yes.  That’s the green door.  Bag End.  Home of Bilbo Baggins. Okay, okay, okay.  I admit I went full-nerd but I toured the set of Hobbiton for The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies. Buses started from a … Continue reading →

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Vigor

Posted on July 23, 2016 by d4vid

The culture here in New Zealand seems to be a fascinating hybrid of Scottish and Maori. One branch of the Young lineage comes from Paisley, which was also one of the places in Scotland that saw a huge amount of … Continue reading →

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Terminus X

Posted on January 2, 2016 by d4vid

On Christmas Day, I took Line 9 all the way south to the Songjiang Railway Station. Then I took a thirty minute cab ride back north to a place I’ve heard about for a long time and have long wished … Continue reading →

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Visitor

Posted on September 22, 2015 by d4vid

The Amarano is a boutique hotel a few blocks away from my parents’ townhouse.  DWA used to put up visiting PDIers here.  Back when the hotel was named The Graciela.  Back when there was a PDI. My room was decorated with … Continue reading →

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Idiot

Posted on July 24, 2015 by d4vid

In my favorite William Gibson novel, PATTERN RECOGNITION, he posits that jet lag is actually one’s soul being “reeled in on some ghostly umbilical down the vanished wake of the plane” because souls “can’t move that quickly, and are left … Continue reading →

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