I just wish it was a different objective than "living forever." That never seems to be well thought out. "Smart people are stupid," indeed.

It kind of worries me that the fact that nobody even speculates about the possibility that the "splinter" is a piece of the "true cross." I mean, Crusaders, ability to bring back from the dead, heal, etc. It worries me, because I don't want it to turn out to *be* a piece of the true cross. A shattered shard from…

If they keep going until Alfred grows up, they're going to run right into Uhtred of Bebbenburg, who in Cornwell's first novel about him, kills Ubba. The Last Kingdom *is* coming back, isn't it?

I had the idea that part of his backstory was that he came from a very poor family, and that the Nazis promised stability, order, things he came to value. The scenes with his buddy from the early days, a man who regretted his actions, were telling - he seemed determined to not think about those days, or at least the…

I've always had a thing for Rufus Sewell, so I really want John Smith to be redeemable. Irrational fangirl crap, I know, but then - he's got a back story somewhere that needs to be told. Something more than we've gotten already. He's a character in search of a defining crisis.

I still have my copy of "Varieties," and Tagomi's curiosity might just get me to re-read it. It's been years, but I loved it.

Serendipity: Reading in "White Trash - The 400 year untold story of class in America, I come across this sentence: "That rare spark of genius, nurtured in Washington, Franklin, and David Rittenhouse, the Philadelphia astronomer, was solid proof, to [Jefferson's] mind, of the invigorating and regenerative natural…

I sometimes wondered why the show was called "Rectify." Rectify means to make right. I assumed that meant finding the real killer and completely exonerating Daniel - which I assume is what's happening in the end. But I was gratified too to learn that the point - the important point - is that sometimes there is no way…

As it happened, I watched the season finale last night while, in the other room, my daughter was breaking up with her boyfriend and business partner of 6 years. I knew that the relationship had been problematic, but there were no good guys, no bad guys. It was just something that finally had to happen. So, I'm sitting…

This show deserves my riveted attention every single time, even while I'm muttering, while watching Ragnar and Ivar struggle along, "get a horse or two." The interplay between them is worth it.

God bless rabbit holes and the people who go down them. Thank you.

That's what I got out of the link. Wiki gives a whole list of accomplishments and honors. Aren't there descendants who might object to this characterization? Just curious.

So - is there any evidence that the real David Rittenhouse had pre-Nazi propensities?

"could’ve been the kind of gory, white-knuckle ride it’s trying to be if it just stopped being such a damn mess" What if it's not trying to be that? What if it's trying to be something more interesting? Not that it always shines there, either, but the reviews here and the comments that follow are always so…

"You can’t change a damn thing that happens in it no matter how hard you try or how much you might desperately want to, but things might still turn out OK?" Sounds about right to me.

My only quibble is: Does Sigurd still have a "snake in the eye"?

Hmmm. I had a bumper sticker made up for my car. It reads, "I'm in it for the metaphor."

I know at least a couple of people who regularly eat Thai food with chopsticks. One of them was a Peace Corps volunteer in Thailand which is where he tells me he learned to use them.

An invading army of Vikings under an 11th century King Harald was booted out, true, but the Vikings that had come before were still there and still are. See history of York/Jarvik.

Minor quibble: Who were the people on the ballots?