elstaffe > Recent Status Updates

"And the promiscuous tattoo needle has over the years produced almost as many cases of serum hepatitis as it has epidermal declarations of patriotism and filial love." (163)

"In 1961, a New Jersey osteopath infected some forty patients by not bothering to autoclave or otherwise sterilize the syringe he used for drug injections. More recently, in 1909, a girl was infected in a Larchmont jewelry store when she had her ears pierced with an unwashed communal punch." (163)

"The Punta Gorda epidemic came to the attention of the United States Public Health Service by way of a request for help from an epidemiologist on the staff of the Florida State Board of Health named James Bond." (102) named what now

"I also recognized [the beginning of the movie about Gustave Mahler] as a short story by Isaac Babel called 'The Awakening.' The film-maker had lifted the story, without crediting the author, intact and almost verbatim.
Babel, like a lot of Russians, had disappeared in the late 1930s—so presumably the thinking was 'Who's gonna sue?'" (119)

"Featured items include handmade rugs, baskets, hand-blown glass, hand-loomed cloth, and ethnic clothing." (186) oh, 1978-semi-updated-for-1991 America.

"Pueblo to People ... focuses its efforts on craft and agricultural cooperatives of very low-income people in Latin America ... supporting organizations of the poor. Your purchases of its products not only provide people in Latin America with badly needed income, but give them a chance to learn organizational skills and democratic methods often taken for granted by more sophisticated societies." (185-186) oh BOY

"Gift Ideas for Men (because so many people find them harder to shop for)
...
Sausage stuffer and sausage cookbook
Japanese saws and knives
Pruning equipment
His horoscope" (180-181) his horoscope???

"Address and phone number of a lost friend or relative" (179) how...how would one go about finding this to give? What does "lost" mean in this context??

"GIFT IDEAS FOR ADULTS
If you would like to give out-of-the-ordinary gifts, shop at out-of-the ordinary stores and sources, like:
Marine supply stores
Government surplus stores
Import stores
Restaurant supply stores
Antique stores
Museum shops
Arts and crafts galleries
Damaged freight stores
Stationery stores
Classified ads
Garage sales
Plant nurseries
Hardware stores
Health food stores" (178-179) honestly prettygood

What was this cursed era of people coming up with recipes for hummus and baba ghanoush that intentionally omit olive oil?? Lower in fat but at WHAT COST

"One hundred calories of starch will deposit less fat in your body than one hundred calories of fat, and will, at the same time, make deposits into your energy stores in the form of glycogen (the form in which human beings store carbohydrates)." (163) I don't know that that's...true? But maybe that's what was known at the time. Hurrah for advancing science

"During the holiday season, as well as during the rest of the year, it is important to get most of your calories from foods that are high in complex carbohydrates such as breads, cooked grains, pasta, fruit, and starchy vegetables such as potatoes, yams, and squash." (163) the 70s were wild

"If you are ready to eat as healthfully in December as you do in June, Dr. Frankel has the following suggestions:
1 Eat starchy foods" (163) I did not see that coming. But I guess the 70s-90s health food era...

"In 1843 Sir Henry Cole commissioned John Calcott Horsley to design a card that would take away the stress of having to write personal letters to all his friends and relatives at Christmas." (155) HORSLEY

"Eastern hognose snakes fake their own deaths." (7) move across the country, change their names, start a new family

Or, yknow, it's a "see-orb" because that's a literal description of an eyeball durrr

Every time I read one of these, I wonder if C-ORB is an obscure reference to the Sea Org

"In the park near the apartment building in which he lived, Milo Levi-Nathan discovered a fairy circle of weeping beeches. The original tree, a son of a beech from Eastern Europe, had long since been cut down by the Parks Department." (85)

"'They have a writer's guide—it's about four pages—just gives some general rules. For example, in the case of science fiction (that's what they're having me write), no sexual intercourse between aliens and humans, if the aliens are darker than the humans.'
'They must have a lot of sales in the South'" (59)

"'I doubt it,' another game you may remember from your childhood, gains an added dimension when played by a mixture of children and conniving adults." (139) they must be conniving for it to work

"We tell our four- and two-year-olds that Santa Claus not only brings gifts, but takes gifts that have been left for him under the tree to give to needy children. Last year our four-year-old son decided to leave his favorite truck for Santa, and he seemed to feel especially good about that." (70) not a bad idea

"As it happened, we let matters stand, and Juno went into partnership with one of the cats. They staked out the mousehole and waited together, for days, for another mouse to appear." (155)

"But if you praise your puppy by saying, 'Gooood dog!' and give it a good ear rub, it will work with pleasure and spirit. Dogs love hammy acting. They are good actors themselves, and they appreciate it in others." (156) dogs and soccer players

"If your dog absolutely will not sit still for a nail filing or clipping (perhaps you began doing this late in the dog's development), feed it one-fourth to one-half can of flat beer before you begin the clipping or filing. The malt in the beer is good for the dog, and the alcohol will settle the dog down. If you use beer, do all of the nails at once." The 70s were a wild time

"The work one was only meant to be used if they couldn't get through to her personal line and it was an emergency; but true love was an emergency, was it not?" (201) yes definitely give your mother's phone numbers out to randos you haven't talked to her about for the reason that he's really trying hard to talk to her

"After all, hadn't her mother always warned her it was better to be alone, but if you ever decided to pair with someone, choose with your head and not your heart?" (190) I know I'm supposed to go "tsk tsk" here but honestly there's a lot of people who don't think in this book, and maybe just a little thinking would help. Or contraception.

"She couldn't understand why this stranger was affecting her so intensely." (188) because that's the plot and worldbuilding of this book--instalove

"No law, no limit, no penality, no punishment, no disapproval applied to any sexual practice of any kind, except the rape of a child or woman" (245) not men, though, apparently that's chill

Oh and here's that sexual assault everyone's been talking about

"'It is like this, to make a foolish little picture—you are throwing a rock at a tree, and if you are a Simultanist the rock has already hit the tree, and if you are a Sequentist it never can.'" (225) the latter does not follow based on what's been explained in this book. This is nonsense and logically lacking, put into the mouth of a character we're supposed to believe is a genius physicist