David Cranmer's Blog, page 19
September 1, 2017
August 29, 2017
Quote on My Mind
“Probably human cruelty is fixed and eternal. Only styles change."
―from TIME'S ARROW
―from TIME'S ARROW
August 28, 2017
August 26, 2017
Clear-Headed Act
“However great a man’s fear of life,” Doctor Magiot said, “suicide remains the courageous act, the clear-headed act of a mathematician. The suicide has judged by the laws of chance—so many odds against one that to live will be more miserable than to die. His sense of mathematics is greater than his sense of survival. But think how a sense of survival must clamour to be heard at the last moment, what excuses it must present of a totally unscientific nature.” —Graham Greene's The Comedians (1966)
August 20, 2017
Beach Essentials
We were at Colonial Beach, Virginia yesterday. These were my beach essentials.
August 12, 2017
August 11, 2017
Seven Words For David
I carry this blue notebook around, filling it up with words and definitions that I've never heard before or want to use in a story or article. Once the book is bursting with knowledge, I buy a new one. All definitions come from Merriam Webster except convivial that I found at Dictionary.
Arbitrage - the nearly simultaneous purchase and sale of securities or foreign exchange in different markets in order to profit from price discrepancies. First known use: 1875.
Rive - to wrench open or tear apart or to pieces. First known use: 14th century.
En prise - of a chess piece; exposed to capture. First known use 1825.
Triumphalism - an attitude or feeling of victory or superiority. First known use 1964.
Convivial - friendly; agreeable. First known use 1660-1670.
Abrogate - to abolish by authoritative action. First known use circa 1520.
Specious - having deceptive attraction or allure; having a false look of truth or genuineness. First known use: 1513.
Arbitrage - the nearly simultaneous purchase and sale of securities or foreign exchange in different markets in order to profit from price discrepancies. First known use: 1875.
Rive - to wrench open or tear apart or to pieces. First known use: 14th century.
En prise - of a chess piece; exposed to capture. First known use 1825.
Triumphalism - an attitude or feeling of victory or superiority. First known use 1964.
Convivial - friendly; agreeable. First known use 1660-1670.
Abrogate - to abolish by authoritative action. First known use circa 1520.
Specious - having deceptive attraction or allure; having a false look of truth or genuineness. First known use: 1513.
August 10, 2017
I May Get Some Flak...
I may get some flak for this one but its an issue that has been needling me for a while:
Book vs. Television: What TV's Sheriff Longmire Is Doing Wrong article is live at LitReactor.
August 9, 2017
Don't Try This At The Gas Station
Man fueling his car on the other side of the pump climbed back inside his vehicle and began to text. He finished what he was writing and forgot what he was doing there in the first place and pulled away ripping the hose clean off the pump. He jumped out, startled, asking me, "should I tell somebody?" I looked at him with narrowed eyes (yes, those narrowed eyes) and said, "yeah, good idea." Darndest thing.
