As I write this, a little in advance of the weekend, we are being promised heat and sun and all sorts. I intend to spend the weekend reading, but I might go as far as opening a window. MAYBE TWO WINDOWS. Crazy, huh?
I have more links than usual this weekend, so don’t let anybody tell you I don’t spoil you. In fact, I’ll focus just on links this weekend.
1.) In Praise of Margery Sharp – from the New York Times. I’ve read three Sharp novels over the past 15 or so years, and really must read some more from my shelf – as they’ve all been brilliant.
2.) Do we need more than 120 words? – I wrote a piece for OxfordWords about Toki Pona, a recently created language with only 120 phonemes. It was really interesting researching the piece, and you can read all about it by following the link above.
3.) A new Marilynne Robinson novel! – don’t get too excited yet; it’s been announced, but there’s not even a title yet. Actually, do get excited – cos it’s the fourth in the Gilead series!
4.) Copy editors chat – this isn’t a new link, but I found it this week. The style guide doyenne of the New Yorker chats about her career, and maybe even tries to justify some of the New Yorker‘s sillier aberrations. (Did you know they use teen-ager and coöperative?)
5.) Judi, Maggie, Eileen, Joan – did somebody somehow bottle my dreams and hopes? This documentary is already my favourite film and I haven’t even seen it yet.
‘Britannia Mews’ is the best Margery Sharp – just in case you haven’t read it. Wonderful Marilynne Robinson news. I heard her speak last year and she was marvellous but it was hard for a mere mortal to keep up with flow and profundity of her thoughts.
That isn’t one of the ones I’ve read, but I do own it – hurrah!
You are truly a wild and crazy guy, Thomas! Two open windows!! I just burnt two batches of toast and our smoke alarm went off. We have almost all the windows and doors open. Thank goodness it’s 62F in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, this morning! Thanks for all the links.
I did it! I opened those windows!
I have never worked out what farenheit means, but I can work out from context that that’s quite warm?
I Googles the conversion: 62F is about 17C. It actually got hot, 85F, which is, apparently, 29C. That’s getting a little too hot for me.
I certainly feel spoiled with so many links! The Margery Sharp article is excellent and the dame documentary sounds like the best use of film-making money I’ve heard of in a long time.
I could be wrong, but I think it might be the main reason that cinema was invented?
You live life on the edge Simon (of a sofa probably) :-) Re #4 on your links, I was indeed aware of the New Yorker’s stylistic conventions and think some of them entirely ludicrous. That said it is a generally well written, witty and entertaining periodical and since they employ the wonderful Alex Ross then I cannot really complain too much I suppose.
I even sat in the garden for a while!
I like a style guide to make things as easy and sensible as possible (and I got to create my company’s style guide!) so the New Yorker’s peculiarities seem oddly perverse to me.
I actually cut the grass and tidied up the yard yesterday. I really should be outside right now instead of inside on my laptop, it’s a beautiful day here!
Still haven’t read any Margery Sharp since I read some of The Rescuers series when I was a kid. (Much better than the Disney adaptations, naturally). I’d love to read more of her adult novels but I can’t even consider buying any more books until I make some progress with my own TBR shelves!
I don’t think I could function with only 140 words….. =:o