Paste Magazine has some beautiful photos of books, bookshelves, books as artwork, bookstores, and alternatively, aisles lined with books. It’s beautiful.

Reading Dickens for the small touches, the word turns, and the character portraits.

If you’re not interested in Snow Stories, you may skip what follows.

Here’s a picture of the view from my house on Saturday:

It snowed. A lot.

I bought my snow blower last year so that I wouldn’t have to spend half a day shoveling snow.

I spent half of Sunday blowing snow.

If I’d have had to shovel it, I’d probably still be at it out there.

Seventeen inches, I’m told. The fifth highest snow accumulation in a single event since records have been kept in Minnesota.

The logistics of my snow blowing system are complex, and high snow levels only complicate them.

Because much of my driveway is sandwiched between my house and my neighbor’s (with little or no yard as a buffer), there are stretches where I have to throw the snow either in front of me, where I haven’t cleared it yet, or behind me.

After a normal snowfall, I usually throw that snow into the “to do” area, so I don’t have to go over the same ground twice.

But after a heavy fall, where the snow is, say, five inches higher than the intake on my snow blower (as was the case Sunday morning), the only sane choice is to throw that snow into the “already done” area. Because the snow ahead of me was already higher than my machine was designed for.

So once I’d done it all once, I had to go over it again, to clean up the backblow.

But once it was done, I surveyed my work in the sunlight and found it good.

And then went inside and lay down.

Here’s a beautiful book to page through.



Claudius Ptolemaeus , Cosmographia , Jacobus Angelus interpres
Source: Bibliothèque nationale de France

Link to the gallery here.

The Glastonbury Thorn before the infamy



Big—and shocking—news in the world of legend and fantasy today. The Glastonbury Thorn, which according to legend was planted by Joseph of Arimathea himself, has been cut down by vandals. Various motives have been suggested. The second most shocking thing in the article, to me, is that apparently the tree enjoyed no legal protection whatever, and even if those responsible are identified, nothing is likely to happen to them.

Who knew the only legal act left in hyper-regulated England is to destroy a national treasure?

The legend of the thorn is that Joseph of Arimathea (identified as the uncle of Jesus) was a tin merchant who voyaged frequently to England (bringing Jesus with him once; hence the hymn “England’s Mountains Green”). While there he thrust his thorn staff into the earth one day, and it budded like Aaron’s rod and took root. For centuries it was revered by pilgrims to Glastonbury (a famous Arthurian site), until Oliver Cromwell’s men chopped it down. But the roots were saved, and nurtured by the faithful. The tree which stood there till now was cultivated from one of those roots. One hopes the same sort of thing can be done again.

What’s intriguing is that the Glastonbury thorn is indeed an exotic. It’s not a native English tree. It’s been identified as a Middle Eastern variety.

Jonathan D. Fitzgerald has an article criticizing Pastor Mark Discoll called “Disengage Culture.” He makes a good point about what culture is and how it’s odd for Christians to talk about engaging it, as if it were something outside of us. An interesting discussion has come up in the comments.

What breaks my heart is that we always forget. Always. I’m not calling for vengeance against the Japanese. Just some notice. Just some honor for the dead, for all they lost.

If it has to happen, I guess this is the night for it. As much as eight inches of snow is expected tonight. There’s no pressure to fire up the snowblower before morning, when delivery is complete. So I can relax tonight, and I have my work planned for me tomorrow.

So far it’s been a pretty textbook winter here. Cold and snow have arrived right on schedule. I was going to make a joke about Global Warming promoters saying, “It’s quiet. Too quiet.” But they’re having crazy weather in Europe, so that doesn’t work.

But has there ever been a year when the weather wasn’t crazy someplace in the world?

Below, my simple, three-step template for social change in the modern world. Our cast of characters consist of a Liberal and a Conservative.



Step One:

Liberal: Let’s do this! It’ll be great!

Conservative: I don’t know. Seems like that might change everything.

Liberal: Nah, don’t worry about it. Nothing important will change. You won’t notice a thing.

Step Two:

Conservative: Everything has changed. You said it wouldn’t.

Liberal: Why are you afraid of change?

Step Three:

Conservative: Everything has changed, and it’s all gotten worse.

Liberal: You’re a bigot.

By way of Instapundit, I found this interesting article from the New York Times by John Tierney, about a mystery concerning the death in 1601 of the astronomer Tycho Brahe. Analysis of Tycho’s hair after his grave was opened indicates mercury poisoning as the possible cause of death.

“Who’s Tycho Brahe?” you ask. What do they teach them in these schools?

Most people’s choice for an astronomer with a dramatic life would be Galileo, because of all his disputes with the Church. But in terms of sheer drama and bombast, the life of Tycho Brahe of Denmark has Galileo’s beat by light years. He fought duels! He had a fake nose! He kept a pet dwarf and a moose! Continue reading Who killed Tycho? →