elstaffe > Recent Status Updates

"'Yes siree. Takes a thing like these murders to find out who your real friends are.'
I was too busy to pay much attention to him but it did seem to me that there must be an easier way to test fidelity." (149)

"At the door someone grabbed my arm. I felt a quick panic. it was the policewoman whose furry hand I had bitten. She gave me a searching look.
'I'm sorry I had to meet you under such circumstances,' she said. 'You know, if things had been different, we could have had a lot of fun together.'" (26) ok 1941

"When Borgia had captured Cesena he had found the city to be in a terrible state, its officials incompetent and corrupt (a state can tolerate one or the other, but never both)." (310) from "The Prince (of Peace)" by Gary Corby

"It went on and on as his lifeforce pumped into her." (192) beg pardon

"Her smiles, which were often sweetly apologetic for some invisible deficiency, had a way of touching both men and women." (8) ummm

"A damaged gene is a mutated gene, and, as shown by Muller in 1927, gene mutations are almost always lethal. Often, mutated genes will directly or indirectly cause cancer. However, Cornelia Hesse-Honegger has illustrated relatively successful mutations, since the organism has survived long enough to be documented, thereby alerting us to the possibility of a serious environmental problem." (12)

"'I'm afraid poor Wesley needs that little extra rush of adrenaline that comes from vacationing in countries with a high incidence of terrorism—to keep him revved up. You know how some men are. And so unwilling to ask the doctor for a simple Viagra prescrip-tion. I'd be happy with Hawaii, but, no.'" (59)

"Maybe this man just never stood still. And wasn't that just what she needed—a date with a guy with Attention Deficit Disorder." (9) "9 Pages to Ableism" is a terrible band name

"Her cooking wasn't bad, but she always made enough to feed an army. He ended up eating the same thing for days. Stew tonight, stew tomorrow. Great." (13) if only he had the ability to cook for himself...oh wait. Ah, 1970s Japan.

"Why would a woman who wasn't even dating be on birth control pills?
Because she either intended to have sex or was having sex at the time of her death." (274) or, yknow, a bunch of non-sexual-health-related reasons

"His painting, The Burial of the Sardine (c. 1808-14, Pl. 3) captures an enigmatic Ash Wednesday ritual, which is still performed in certain parts of Spain: a grand reception for Momus, the god of mockery, opens the proceedings, and the day ends with the solemn interment of a fish, to mark the carne vale, the farewell to flesh at the start of Lent." (256) never realized b4 that that's what Carnival comes from

[drawing of a kitchen, centered on the range/oven, with thought bubbles coming out of it]
"I can't remember if they turned me off or not..." (77)

"Another artist gives me a palm-sized spiral notebook with the cover torn off and a green marker, in case I want to write messages, like 'Hey, my lower back is itchy' or 'The void never blinks and is always hungry.'" (221)

"And I am deceiving myself when I say she would have come to me. I did not follow her because I knew that it was hopeless. She would never have loved me—she will never love any man." (310) from "The Doll"

"(I try not to google bad things so my internet experience stays toxic in a more targeted way)" (16)

I thought these were supposed to be dark stories but so far it's mostly just comfortable white men being terrible and discomfited

"The ideal life, of course, was that led by a man out East, or in the South Seas, who took a native wife. ... Silence, good service, perfect waiting, excellent cooking, no need for conversation; and then, if you wanted something more than that, there she was, young, warm, a companion for the dark hours. No criticism ever, the obedience of an animal to its master, and the light-hearted laughter of a child." (146)

"The heroes
of the mortal world
enter your flaming mouths,
as so many
currents of water
in a river
might run
towards the ocean." (130) all the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full

"Hari, the great lord
of yoga,
showed to Arjuna
the Son of Pritha
his highest,
most powerful, form.

[10]
It had many
mouths and eyes;
many wondrous
aspects to behold;
many divine ornaments;" (125) biblically accurate angels showing up all over the world

"'"Will you put it on my chest of drawers in my closet?'" (177) the biggest plot hole in this book. Why would you not just ask her to throw it out???

"'I still can't believe you steal from old people,' Frances said.
'Instead of rich people? Is that really better?'" (194)

"We see the disparities in jobs and education among race and gender lines. Either you believe these disparities exist because you believe that people of color and women are less intelligent, less hard-working, and less talented than white men, or you believe that there are systemic issues keeping women and people of color from being hired into jobs, promoted, paid a fair wage, and accepted into college." (Chapter 7L)

"When you say that a representational number or women or people of color cuts out more deserving white men, you are saying that women and people of color deserve to be less represented in our schools and our companies and that white men are deserving of an over-representational majority of these spots." (Chapter 7L)

"After the paleontologists have finished studying the fossils, they will be returned to the people of Madagascar and kept in a museum in the capital city of Antananarivo." (35) "after the paleontologists have finished" is doing a lot of heavy lifting, but at least there's some intent to return them to their country of origin

"The taxi slowed and waited. When she came to the door she saw that the driver had the squat black face of an ape. The ape grinned. Some instinct warned her not to take the taxi." (31) from "The Blue Lenses"
was that instinct...racism? Because even though everyone else in this story has animal heads, it seems like maybe that's why

"I did my best work between ten at night and five in the morning, when most normal people were either asleep or getting down to business (to defeat the Huns). (Sex, I mean sex.)" I'll take intrusive Mulan lyric ear worms for 1200, Alex (Ken)

"Even though harmless insects exhibiting this sightless stare bring to mind panthers or owls, their false eyes are reptilian, these markings having evolved before mammals appeared. ... When a moth or other creature displays one, it is displaying, most probably, a picture of a dinosaur's eye created by natural selection" (177-178) this blew my mind and is so cool

"The next episode is another alien diplomat love triangle. He wants to know who in the writers' room got hurt by a diplomat." (208)

"Simon's been trying to keep things friendly, neutral, light, to act like they didn't spend two days presenting one another with secrets like outdoor cats gently placing mangled rodents at one another's feet." (206)

"'I don't like being edged. Sertraline edged me for like ten years. I don't need that energy from amateurs.'" (174)