Delta Sierra

106 posts
Book-industry lifer.

QOTD: Tell Us Your Worst Neighbour Stories

fenceThis post is, of course, prompted by my own current neighbour troubles. None of them is really all that dire (no one leaving their outdoor water running so as to wash away my house’s foundations, as I read somewhere ages ago) but they do irk.

The barking dogs, left in their front yard. For a while I deployed a silent whistle, which seemed promising, but it’s REAL tiresome to have to spend the evening dumping the cat off my lap and getting up and going to the door time after time (the whistle doesn’t work through walls or glass). Continue reading →

QOTD: What Would You Go See If You Had Only One Day in…

Alhambra, Granada, Spain
Alhambra, Granada, Spain

What’s your favourite city (you don’t have to have actually been there)?

Suppose you have a chance to visit it, or re-visit, but just for one day. What would you do?

If it’s London, would you immerse yourself in the British Museum, punctuated by a pub lunch and a pub supper? If it’s Barcelona, would you hunt down everything Gaudi ever built?  If Paris, as much strolling along the Seine as you could fit in?

Granada is home to the Alhambra, an old Moorish palace with famous gardens. I’ve never been. Yet. I’ve been fascinated by it since forever, and have at least 5 books about it. Continue reading →

QOTD: Do You Have Your Own Hatfields and McCoys Family Feud Story?

A recent comment by BBQ got me thinking about family feuds. Long, bitter, too-often dragged out for discussion and hashed over yet again. Sometimes the re-hash is pretty much verbatim, sometimes it gets embellished.

My own half-sister won’t talk to me at all, not even one word, not even the one time we were in the same room together. Due to trouble between her and my parents, when I was ten. Continue reading →

Celebrating Food-on-a-Stick

Late summer means county fairs and midways, and that means food-on-a-stick.  Popsicles, shishkabobs and corndogs are familiar examples of food-on-a-stick and probably are available at your local county fair. The others shown here, maybe not so much.

Click on for some truly great food-on-a-stick. Continue reading →

Walking Dead: Monday Morning Post-Mortem

walkingdeadFirst, a quick recap of the last week’s episode: Season 3, Ep. 11, “I Ain’t a Judas”, first broadcast Sunday 24 Feb. 2013. The one where Laurie goes to the prison to try to get everyone there to go to Woodbury.

As we open, everyone is getting their heads back together after the low-down dirty rotten surprise attack by Governor Nasty (and the mass zombie-disgorgement from the truck, aka Best Scene in the Whole Series So far).

Helpful Hershel and Increasingly Grown-up and/or Creepy Little Carl tell Alpha Male Again Rick to get his shit together. This is possibly unnecessary, given that the final shot of the previous week’s episode was a close-up of Rick’s narrowed, back-in-charge eyes.

Either way, soon Rick is acting like a real leader again, consulting with Hershel and Daryl. And informing Daryl that he’s responsible for Miserable Son of a Bitch Merle not being a complete prick in future. (Hint: shoot off his jaw, like with the zombies.  Mute Merle would be fairly acceptable, and useful, to have around.) Continue reading →

QOTD: What’s Your Pope Opinion?

On the left, the famous/infamous red leather shoes of Pope Benedict XVI, soon to be ex-Pope. Who will fill them in his absence?

His resignation today, apparently for reasons of poor health, stunned the Catholic world – it is the first time since 1415 that a reigning pope has resigned. It is reported that he will continue to live in Vatican City – how will the new pope handle this?

So many questions and, so far, so few answers. Not exactly a new circumstance for the Catholic church.

What do Catholics want in a new pope? A true personna christi, a good embodiment of Christ’s teachings, as seems to be the concern of many responders to this 2012 Our Sunday Visitor article? Continue reading →

QOTD: How Do You Feel About Having Guests?

pN1HPThe holidays are nearly over. Some of you are thinking “thank god”, others are sad to see them end. For many of us, having guests (or being a guest) was involved.

In theory, it sounds great. For the host – a house full of people who are happy to see each other, dinners full of laughter and chit-chat.  Off all day sight-seeing and having memorable experiences. For the guest – seeing someone you haven’t spent time with in ages, new places to go, long, tipsy talks into the night.

In reality – maybe not exactly the way it looked in the preview. I feel very ambivalent about guests, either having or being.  Continue reading →