Feb 04

Review: A Death in the Venetian Quarter

Alan Gordon’s is one of a series of mysteries set around 1200 AD and based on characters from Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. The main characters are jesters who belong to the Fool’s Guild, who in this particular novel attempt to solve a murder and prevent the fall of Constantinople.

Judging the book by its cover like I always do, I picked it up at my favorite bookstore, 2nd Street Books in Osceola, Missouri. I really enjoyed the book (I read it all in a weekend). The most surprising thing about that is that I almost gave up on just a few chapters in, for two reasons:

  1. The first chapter introduces several characters with Greek, Italian, and other foreign names–and some of the characters have three names, depending on the crowd they are with (much like Aragorn / Strider / Elessar).
  2. In chapter 4 the protagonist’s wife takes over the narrative, and then in chapter 5 it is picked up again by the protagonist–without any clue to the reader.

But I’m glad I stuck it out. The book was excellent, and I look forward to tracking down the rest of the series.

Feb 02

Overheard: 32 yr old male

“You’d make a crappy ninja, Mike.”

Jan 31

Bamf! My first plushie

I made my first plushie last week, Nightcrawler from the X-Men. I say ‘first,’ because I plan to make some more. It was quite a challenge, as I didn’t know how to sew (except for leather or book pages) or how to use a sewing machine, so I had to get quite a bit of help from Heather.

Overall, I’m not terribly happy with him, but for a first attempt I guess he’s pretty good. When I was about to turn him outside-in I was ready to throw him in the trash, thinking that I had irreparably done goofed: his feet and hands were too big for his little legs. But Heather patiently used a pencil and after about 10 minutes had him right-side out and ready to stuff.

By the way, you wouldn’t think so to look at them, but they take a lot of stuffing.

Jan 21

Overheard: 30 yr old woman

“So everyone smells like a baby’s butt!”

Jan 11

Overheard: 28 yr old women

Chick #1: do you say the word ‘hiccup’ when you hiccup?
Chick #2: yes.

Jan 07

Quotable: G. K. Chesterton

“Oscar Wilde said that sunsets were not valued because we could not pay for sunsets. But Oscar Wilde was wrong; we can pay for sunsets. We can pay for them by not being Oscar Wilde.”

Jan 04

Review: Bates City Café

Heather and I stopped in at the Bates City Café last week.

Having lived in Bates City for one miserable year, I try to avoid the town. However, since the gas station became a Valero franchise it’s really the quickest way to stop and get gas between Kansas City and Concordia. When Heather and I stopped in for gas last week, we noticed that the café, which wasn’t much to look at, was absolutely packed. On the way home from Christmas shopping, we really wanted some pie and coffee, but we had already left the city. We knew there was no place to get what we wanted back home after about 7pm, so we decided to give Bates City a try.

First, the service: fast. The place was packed again, and our waitress didn’t stop moving for a second. She took our order quickly and got our pie and coffee quickly as well.

Atmosphere: the Bates City Café is a former service station that has been converted to a ’50s-style diner. The bay doors have been walled up, the concrete floor painted in large black and white checkerboard. The place is close, but not cramped. Elvis, Marilyn, and James Dean cover the walls.

Food: I ordered the peach pie and Heather ordered what she orders everywhere she can–bread pudding. Both desserts were homemade. The peach pie was good, though I think it could have used more peaches and less filling. The crust was soft and flaky. Heather didn’t love the bread pudding, the texture being quite a bit softer than she liked. Our coffee was freshly brewed, but a little on the weak side.

Price: the prices at BCC aren’t bad, but they are a little steep on some menu items.

Overall I was actually impressed. The service was excellent, the staff was friendly, the food was homemade and decent, and the place offered free wifi. A lot of people say they want to support mom-and-pop shops, but when you are traveling, it can be risky trying new places. Heather and I are glad we gave the them a try.

You can find them on Facebook.

Dec 27

petticoat government

n. A government by women, especially at home.

“…instead of being a subject to his Majesty George the Third, he was now a free citizen of the United States. Rip, in fact, was no politician; the changes of states and empires made but little impression on him; but there was one species of despotism under which he had long groaned, and that was—petticoat government.”

–Washington Irving, Rip Van Winkle

Dec 24

Occupational hazard

Dec 22

Housework

At my last job, one of the secretaries, Elaine, related this story about her husband:

“One day he had decided to try to help with the housework. I came home from work and saw that he had made the bed. He did a terrible job and I laughed and laughed.”

Then, there was kind of a sad pause.

“He never tried to help again.”