That could genuinely be the name of a Filipino politician.

I have never grasped Brighton Rock. I first picked it up a long time ago because it had one of those 'from our book-nerd employees' labels on the shelf and I was interested in Greene. It might have been the first book of his I read. I've read it two or three times since and it's never stuck with me. Is it a Catholic…

I read all the Lonesome Dove books earlier this year and even wrote a long 'what are you reading' post about them that was eaten by Disqus… briefly, I like Comanche Moon best. Prequel to LD, it's tighter and tenser. Young Gus and McCrae, young Blue Duck and his implacable father, many other indelible characters.

When I was young, among other amusing toys my parents had a tiny oil-can, two ounces maybe, of the antique type where you push in the flexible metal bottom to force out a drop or two. In silver plate from Tiffany. It was of course for adding vermouth to your martini.

I've been known to enjoy a red wine strengthened with gin… not a snazzy wine of course, but not too cheap, tending towards heavy, fruity flavor, nothing dry or tannic.

Been on an AJ Liebling kick lately…a local library had 'The Press' on it's give-away shelf'. It's a collection of his writing on the newspaper business of the forties and fifties plus a bit of later commentary. Interesting stuff, though many of the names, people, places, issues of the day are remote now. I like that…

RA Wilson's Schrodingers Cat had a timeline with names from the Supreme Court, etc. "Oh Burger, Burger!" "The Brownmillers beneath her sweater…"

Oh but she had long hair. Ha, I hadn't noticed, but now that you point it out… kind of touches on my general skepticism towards Tartt as more of a literary celebrity than a great writer.

I always miss the 'what are you reading' til days later so I'll put it here: went through The Goldfinch this past weekend and it was… OK. I've been skeptical towards Tartt for a long while, but a lot of people (here in particular) spoke well of this book so I went ahead with it. I felt dubious for while but eventually…

OK it's not that bad, I just wouldn't call it guacamole, more of a mixed dip.

What kind of Californian puts peas in guacamole? We make avocados here. Mayonnaise? What the fuck.

'Struck dumb'? or 'dumbstruck'? A bit old-fashioned and maybe not something a contemporary speaker would easily reach for, but I think most British/American/Commonwealth native anglophones would recognize it.

I just wrote my own note on the LD books that Disqus has apparently sent to the memory hole. I read them all pretty recently, and I agree that Lonesome Dove is distinctly leisurely in its storytelling. But hey, it's literally a long and winding journey of a tale. I liked it, but my favorite is Comanche Moon: shorter,…

Annnnnd… Disuqs ate my post.

OK, so motherfucking Disqus has apparently killed my entire 40-minute post here, but to keep it short, no McEwan yet. I've glanced, nothing has grabbed me, but I know he is well-regarded —suggestions?

Ha! For once I've caught this feature in a timely way. I've finished with a few months residency in the Mc- shelves of the library: McCarthy, McMurtry, McCall Smith. With McCarthy I ended with Suttree

Sure — no promises of course, as this is just me messing about in my Copious Free Time, but it seems like it should be possible. I mean, it ought to be possible but it's Disqus so who knows. First thing is to figure out login/authorization.

I'm not a big participant here, mainly because I show up late to most pieces but also because Disqus is such a pain in the ass. I've started trying to create an alternative non-crap Disqus interface tool, and I'm putting you down for an announcement message in case I get something useful working any time soon.

Yes! Comical fail dude is in fact doing amazing stuff too.

Dang. All I can think is "How's it goin' over there, Hugh?", a tiny tossed-off bit of BB banter from some live recording that I heard twenty years ago and I don't even know what it was but it's stuck with me all this time.