Monday, July 25, 2005

Moving up, lair and monks.

1. I am trying to do 100 pages for Project Gutenberg's Distributed Proofreaders in July. I like seeing my name creep up the league table for number of pages completed.

2. Saw Fantastic Four - their lair is in the Baxter Building, which has these beautiful inlaid wood-pannelled lifts and a dramatic domed top that sparks satisfyingly whenever Reed carries out experiments.

3. Sitting in bed with a Cadfael novel. Brother Cadfael is Ellis Peters' Medieval monk detective. The history is so well explained and the setting so carefully researched that the books really do come to life. I also like the skilfully dropped hints and neatly laid red-herrings. As with any good detective novel, once you've read a few and got a feel for the author's style, you can often solve the mystery.

Eggshell, turkey oak and grateful.

1. Smacking a hardboiled egg to break the shell. 2. Pale green leaves on the huge oak tree at the corner of The Grove. 3. There is nothing q...