2026/007: Aberystwyth Mon Amour — Malcolm Pryce
Jan. 13th, 2026 09:22 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tamaranth2026/007: Aberystwyth Mon Amour — Malcolm Pryce
I sat in the corner and gazed through red throbbing eyes at the lurid pageant: drunks and punks and pimps and ponces; young farmers and old farmers; pool-hall hustlers and pick pockets; Vimto louts, card sharps and shove ha’penny sharps; sailors and lobster fisherman and hookers from the putting green; the one-armed man from the all-night sweet shop, dandies and dish-washers and drunken school teachers; fire-walkers and whelk-eaters, high priests and low priests; footpads and cut-throats; waifs, strays, vanilla thieves and peat stealers; the clerk from the library, the engineer from the Great Little Train of Wales … it rolled on without end. [p. 31]
Wales is independent, and has fought a colonial war in Patagonia: the veterans haunt Aberystwyth and its environs. The town is pretty much owned and run by the Druids, as corrupt and wicked a crew as any mob. Private detective Louie Knight is engaged by local chanteuse Myfanwy Montez to investigate the disappearance of a schoolboy -- the first of several to vanish without trace. Louie, with his teenaged sidekick 'Calamity' Jane, unravels a heinous plot involving an ark, an antique Lancaster bomber and a forensic knitting expert.
I'm not sure why this didn't work for me. ( Read more... )
Am I just a phantom waiting to be ripped around on shady ground?
Jan. 12th, 2026 11:24 pmsovayRunning this many days without sleep, I find it hard to tell whether I had an insight about creativity this weekend or just reinvented a 101-level objection to LLMs and so-called generative AI, but it ocurred to me that such technologies are not capable of allusions. Their algorithms are not freighted with the same three-dimensional architecture of associations which accrete around information stored in the human cold porridge, all the emotional colors and sensory overtones and contextual echoes which attend the classic example of a word like tree when you throw it out across the incommensurable void between one human mind and another to be plugged into their own idiosyncratically plastic linkage of bias and experience whose least incompatibility may be the difference between a bristlecone and a birch and Wittgenstein has to lie down with a headache, but all of these entanglements form as much of the texture of a writer's style—of any human communication—as the word cloud of their vocabulary or their most commonly diagrammed sentences. It has always interested me to be able to detect the half-rhymes or skeletons of familiarity in the work of other writers; I have always assumed I am reciprocally legible if not transparent from space. I've seen arguments against the creativity of LLMs based on intentionality, but the unintended encrustrations seem just as important to me. By way of illustration, this thought was partly sparked by this classic and glorious mashup.
I was delighted to find on checking the news this morning that a new Roman villa just dropped. Given the Iron Age hillforts, the twelfth-century abbey, the Georgian country house, and the CH station, Margam Country Park clearly needed a Roman find to complete the set. I have since been informed of the discovery of a similarly well-preserved and impressive carnyx. Goes shatteringly with a villa, the Iceni tell me.
I joke about this rock I spend most of my time under, but how can I never have heard of Marlow Moss? The Bryher vibes alone. The Constructivism. And a real short king, judging by that jaunty photo c. 1937 with Netty Nijhoff. Pursuing further details, I fell over Anton Prinner and have been demoralized about my comprehension of art history ever since.
Last night I read David Copperfield (1850) for the third time in my life. It has the terrible feel of a teachable moment. In high school I bounced almost completely off it. About ten years later, I enjoyed the dual-layered narration and was otherwise mostly engaged by the language. Now it appears I just like the novel, which I have to consider may be a factor of middle age. Or I had just read the necessary bunch more of Dickens in the interval, speaking of traceable reflections, recurring figures; my favorite character has not changed since eleventh grade, but I can see now the constellation he's part of. It seems improbable that I was always reading the novel while waiting for chorus to start, but I did get through Hardy's The Mayor of Casterbridge (1886) in the down time of a couple of rehearsals that year. I was not taking either of the standard literature classes, but I had friends who left their assigned reading lying around.
I have to be at three different doctors' offices tomorrow. I could be over this viral mishegos any second now.
I was delighted to find on checking the news this morning that a new Roman villa just dropped. Given the Iron Age hillforts, the twelfth-century abbey, the Georgian country house, and the CH station, Margam Country Park clearly needed a Roman find to complete the set. I have since been informed of the discovery of a similarly well-preserved and impressive carnyx. Goes shatteringly with a villa, the Iceni tell me.
I joke about this rock I spend most of my time under, but how can I never have heard of Marlow Moss? The Bryher vibes alone. The Constructivism. And a real short king, judging by that jaunty photo c. 1937 with Netty Nijhoff. Pursuing further details, I fell over Anton Prinner and have been demoralized about my comprehension of art history ever since.
Last night I read David Copperfield (1850) for the third time in my life. It has the terrible feel of a teachable moment. In high school I bounced almost completely off it. About ten years later, I enjoyed the dual-layered narration and was otherwise mostly engaged by the language. Now it appears I just like the novel, which I have to consider may be a factor of middle age. Or I had just read the necessary bunch more of Dickens in the interval, speaking of traceable reflections, recurring figures; my favorite character has not changed since eleventh grade, but I can see now the constellation he's part of. It seems improbable that I was always reading the novel while waiting for chorus to start, but I did get through Hardy's The Mayor of Casterbridge (1886) in the down time of a couple of rehearsals that year. I was not taking either of the standard literature classes, but I had friends who left their assigned reading lying around.
I have to be at three different doctors' offices tomorrow. I could be over this viral mishegos any second now.
Monday Media: January 12
Jan. 12th, 2026 05:08 pmlebateleurGames: I played a bunch of Hive.
Miscellaneous: No podcasts, one longform article:Why I Wrote Dirty Linen
Music: I didn't go to yesterday's pub session because Newest D&D Homebrew Campaign had a D&D session scheduled, which was cancelled at the last minute. Alas.
Roleplaying: See above. :-/
Television: We watched the first two episodes of Max Headroom S2, which predicted AI-generated avatars of deceased loved ones and parodied certain aspects of religion in ways that ::cough:: would not make it onto TV in 2026.
I also watched the final three episodes of Heated Rivalry. ( Thoughts, in no particular order. )
Video Games: I finished Samorost 2, which is a mechanically simpler game than Botanicula and thus tricky to play after it, as I had to rethink the way I approached the puzzles. It's still a super fun game; I love everything Amanita Design puts out.
I wanted to play Downwell next for a change of pace, but fucking windows insists on rendering it in a tiny 3" x 4" box in the center of the screen, making it all but unplayable. I've thus settled on a Pentiment replay (in which I am once again on a collision course with the church from the get-go) and am also toying with the idea of a Darklands replay as well, given the clear debt the former owes this game...provided windows cooperates.
これで以上です。
Miscellaneous: No podcasts, one longform article:
Music: I didn't go to yesterday's pub session because Newest D&D Homebrew Campaign had a D&D session scheduled, which was cancelled at the last minute. Alas.
Roleplaying: See above. :-/
Television: We watched the first two episodes of Max Headroom S2, which predicted AI-generated avatars of deceased loved ones and parodied certain aspects of religion in ways that ::cough:: would not make it onto TV in 2026.
I also watched the final three episodes of Heated Rivalry. ( Thoughts, in no particular order. )
Video Games: I finished Samorost 2, which is a mechanically simpler game than Botanicula and thus tricky to play after it, as I had to rethink the way I approached the puzzles. It's still a super fun game; I love everything Amanita Design puts out.
I wanted to play Downwell next for a change of pace, but fucking windows insists on rendering it in a tiny 3" x 4" box in the center of the screen, making it all but unplayable. I've thus settled on a Pentiment replay (in which I am once again on a collision course with the church from the get-go) and am also toying with the idea of a Darklands replay as well, given the clear debt the former owes this game...provided windows cooperates.
これで以上です。
Anne Butler's Travels
Jan. 12th, 2026 10:26 pmsteepholmOver the course of May and June 1824 Anne Butler, then aged sixteen, took a trip from London to relatives in Burntisland in Fife, by way of Cheltenham, Birmingham, Lichfield, Derby (where she hung out with the Philosophical Society), the Peak District and York, in the company of her godmother, Mrs Vaughan. In her letters she comments on all these places, as well as Edinburgh - so, if you're interested in what impression the journey might have made on a teenage girl in the Regency period, and what kinds of tourist activities were available, sit back and read on. You will get some leeches as a bonus.
(In what follows I've taken out passages that don't relate directly the journey, and I've added a few annotations where I hope it will be helpful.)
30 April 1824 [London]
My dear Weeden,
I have a few minutes to spare this morning and therefore take the opportunity of writing to you. I am to set of tomorrow about 4 o’clock with Tom & William, but the latter is only going as far as the coach with me, & Tom is going all the way to Cheltenham. I think that instead of Tom taking care of me, I shall have to take care of him.(1) He is not accustomed to travelling, and to add to his trouble he will have to sleep at the inn, & look after himself all Sunday I believe, for as Mrs Vaughan is only upon a visit herself, I do not think she will be able to ask him to go home with us. He is to return on Monday. …
I remain
Your affectionate sister
Anne V. Butler
(1) At this point Anne is 16 years old, and younger brother Tom (her protector) only 14.
--------------------
13 May 1824
My dear Tom
Many thanks for your nice letter which we received yesterday. I am glad to hear that you arrived safely in London. I dare say you were not sorry to reach home after so long and dull a day. … I am sorry to say that Mrs Vaughan is rather fatigued by the journey, but I hope after a few days rest she will be quite recovered. We slept at Birmingham on Monday night and set off for Derby at 7 the next morning and therefore had no opportunity of seeing the place, but what I did see gave me no favourable opinion of it. We passed through Litchfield and while they changed horses we had time to see the outside of the beautiful Cathedral. I wish we had had time to go inside to see the monuments.
We arrived here [Derby] at about 12 o'clock on Tuesday, and Mr & Mrs Finlay came at night. We all went yesterday to see the Porcelain Manufactory which is extremely interesting. We saw the whole process from the making [?] of the clay to the beautiful china that we see in the shops. There was a boy only 14 years old who painted landscapes beautifully. You can have no idea of the number of hands a cup must go through before it is finished. We did not leave Cheltenham till ?? o’clock, and therefore had time to see the public rooms, & Dr White would write our names in the book of arrivals, so that perhaps you have seen them in the newspaper. We also went with Dr & Mrs White to the pump room and walks which were crowded with people. The Bishop of Bangor and the Duke of Buccleuch were there. I tasted the water at ????. I did not much like it but it only tastes a little salt.
There are several pretty old churches at Derby, and the church of All Saints is something like our new church at Chelsea. Mr Holworthy(1) has a very pretty place here called Green Hill, it is just before you enter the town, the house is very large and he has a beautiful garden. …
I believe we going in a day or two to see the Marble works and the silk and lace??? Manufactories, so that I shall not close this letter till I have seen something more. We are going today to see the Infirmary, which I believe is the finest in England. Kean & some of the London actors were in Derby last week, but the people here give very little encouragement to the theatre. I observe that the inhabitants of this place pronounce it as if it were spelt Darby, and not Derby: they have a very peculiar manner of speaking, and I remark that they generally put the letter G at the end of their words, thus they say thing-ge, king-ge, &c.
Dr Forester(2) is a very odd man, do you remember the way Gordon used to talk sometimes for fun? Well he speaks much in the same manner, he puts me sometimes in mind of Willets, he makes the same kind of faces, and stoops as he does when he sits with his legs crossed. I can assure you he is a man of some consequence here. He made the plan of the infirmary, and ??? giving a donation of 50£. He attends as Physician to the Infirmary for nothing. He belongs to the order of Knights-Templars, and there are only six of the order in England. I think that Gordon would be delighted to see him, he understands every kind of machinery and gives up much of his time to the study of it. …
I am writing this in my room with one of my fingers quite dead with the cold so that I can hardly hold my pen. I really think I shall have chilblains again if this weather continues. We had a dinner party on Wednesday and we are to have another today (Friday). We have had an invitation for tomorrow but I do not know whether we shall go yet. We are a good large party of ourselves. Mrs & Mrs Holworthy and Miss Wright (Mrs H’s sister),(3) Mr & Mrs Finlay, Mrs Vaughan & myself. Dr Forester’s grounds touch those of Mr Holworthy. Mr H has several pets as a Dog, a Duck, some pigeons & some partridges, and an old poney aged 40 years, all these live on the lawn before the house. I think of all these the greatest pet is the Duck, it follows him about wherever he goes, and will even come in at the dining and drawing room windows if they are open as they reach to the ground. His dog is a pointer and is called Don. Mr H has an open chaise and a close carriage, and Mr Finlay has his, so that some day we are to go in a large party for a drive.
I believe we are going to Buxton from this, & then to York and afterwards upon a visit to some friends of Mrs Vaughan. So tell Mrs Read with my best love, that I do not know what I shall do for white frocks, as I have only one and that is almost dirty, & I shall not be able to get it washed in a day here as I could at home. …
Believe me to be your ever affectionate sister Anne V. Butler
(1) James Holworthy (1781–1841), artist and close friend of Turner.
(2) Dr Richard Forester (1771-1843). President of the Derby Philosophical Society from 1815.
(3) Anne Holworthy (nee Wright) was the niece of Joseph Wright of Derby.
--------------------
30 June 1824 [Burntisland, Fife]
My dear Weeden
Many thanks for your nice long letter, which I fear you will think I ought to have answered sooner. This was my intention, but several things have occurred to prevent me. I think I am always unlucky, I do not know whether I mentioned in my last letter a fall I had, when in Edinburgh. As I was stepping out of a coach at Mrs Charteris’s door, the step was not firm and it slipped from under my foot, so that I fell down, & hurt my arm upon the corner of the pavement, it was stiff for some days but is now well; I think that if it had not been noticed in time it would have been very bad; but I had some egg skin put on it immediately.
About 10 days ago, as I wished to be friends with Mrs Boog’s dog, I went to see it fed by the servant, who said that it was very quiet, & would not bite, so ventured to pat it; at first it was very good natured, but after a little while, it found out that I was a stranger, snarled & snapped at me, happily it did not bite me though it hit me a very hard blow upon the face with its mouth, & tore my frock very much; I felt the effects of the blow for some days, & the pain was so great at first that I thought he had bit me. The servant beat him from me, or I do not think I should have got off so well as I did.
My finger that was so bad is nearly well, but I shall not be able to use it for some time. Last Saturday I found that the third finger of the same hand was beginning to swell & looked very red. I felt pain in it, the night before, but as I had been working, I thought that I might have run my needle into it, but as it got worse, on Saturday, Mrs Vaughan sent for the doctor, Mr Philp [?], to see it, & he said I must have two leeches on it directly, before it got worse. Jane Boog gave up 4 hours of her time which is now very precious to put them on my finger, & after all, we could only make one of them stick on, but it had the desired effect, for the next day the pain was almost gone, & on Monday it was quite well. I hope I shall meet with no more accidents, or I shall grow quite idle, not being able to work or do any thing that requires my hand.
You will have seen in the letter I wrote to Papa from Edinburgh, that Jane Boog is going to be married, in less than a fortnight, so you may suppose we are very busy just now. William Boog is coming next Wednesday. I believe he is to be the best man, you will not perhaps know what this means; it answers to the best maid or Bride’s maid who attends the Lady, so the best man should attend the gentleman.
Mr Sadler went up in a baloon [sic] at Edinburgh on Monday; this is a very uncommon sight in Scotland, I believe it is the first that has been seen here large enough to carry any body in it; and therefore attracted great attention. The gardener who was at Mrs Charteris’s that day, was heard talking about it very much, he said he thought it was very presumptuous in Sadler to try to get to Heaven that way (for he thought that this was what Sadler was trying to do) but that he was in his master’s territory; and he only hoped he would return safe. When asked who he meant by Mr Sadler’s master, he said, “the Devil.” Perhaps you have seen an account of the ascent in the newspapers. It crossed the firth, & at one time appeared quite near, we could distinguish two people in it and that it looked as if it were made of a plaid; but this was not without the assistance of a good telescope. …
In answer to your question as to where the Derbyshire spar comes from, I must tell you it is principally taken from the Peak Hole, which cavern is under Peveril Castle. This is a most extraordinary place, but perhaps you have seen pictures of it, nothing however but the reality can give you a true idea of its wonders. I am sorry that we did not go into the interior of this astonishing place, but it would have been very disagreeable to pass so far under ground, in a narrow passage walking almost double, till we came to the boat, which is only large enough to hold one at a time, & the person who is thus conveyed is obliged to lie down (as the passage is not high enough to allow him to sit up) and he must be pushed along by a man who walks behind the boat in the water, after proceeding some way in this manner we should have entered a very spacious cavern. If the party had all been young, we might have done this, but the fatigue would have been too great for Mr & Mrs Finlay, Mrs Vaughan, & Mrs Holworthy. I think that when the bustle of Jane’s wedding is over, I must again read “Peveril of the Peak.” I only heard parts of it, but did not read it through when we had it at home, & therefore do not remember much of it.
I cannot describe to you the beauty of York Minster, it is really grand beyond description, but I have a York guide, that Mrs Vaughan bought for me, & when I return home you shall read it. You will see from the last letter, (or I believe it was the one before it) that I wrote to Papa, the danger we were in at Wakefield, by the falling of three of the horses, & therefore I shall not say more upon the subject. …
This is a very pretty place & when I am able I hope to take some views which I think you will be pleased with. I intend to collect some shells for Isabella when we go down to the sands, which are about 5 minutes walk off. But we have only been once that way, and then we had not time to stop to pick them up; I hear that there are some very pretty shells to be found, and I hope they will amuse little Isabella. I shall expect to see a very great improvement in her at my return, I hope she is learning to work as well as read now. Fanny will be able to teach her now that she is at home. I believe when we return it will be by sea. This will be a change, but I like travelling by land better. However the steam boats are very large.
When we were at Edinburgh we went to see the Castle, we went up the Calton Hill & Salisbury Crags, but have not yet been up Arthur’s Seat, which I believe a very great Tickler (as Mr Finlay would say) but I hope before we leave Scotland, that I shall be able to say, I have been up it. This Hill has a very grand appearance from all sides, as it is in the form of a lion couching. The eye, nose & mouth are very distinctly seen, the form of the head is altogether very good & and the front paws are very perfect. Princes Street is like our Bond Street, a fashionable lounge where all the Dandies in Edinburgh go to walk. But Bond Street must not be compared to it in length or beauty. It is said that the King was particularly struck with it. George Street is also very beautiful, having at one end Melville’s Monument & at the other St George’s Church. I suppose you know that all the houses in Edinburgh are built of stone but this street loses much of its beauty from having from having St Andrew’s Church (which is situated in the middle of it) project, & the Physicians’ Hall, which is directly opposite, recede. Thus the people say that the modesty of the Physicians & the forwardness of the Clergy have spoilt the finest street in Europe.
There is a very high hill near here called the Bin[n], but we have not yet been up it, but we have been over several of the smaller ones. I can assure you we did not pass your birthday without thinking of you, but all drank your health. Stirling Christie’s was on the same day, but he is a year younger than you and Elizabeth Dawes’ birthday is on the 22 we thought of her also. There has been a very dreadful fire in Edinburgh last week, such a one has not been known here for 34 years. Pray remember me to Papa, Mrs Read, Tom, Fanny and George. I hope little Isabella will remember me when I return. … Mrs Boog & Mrs Vaughan & all friends here desire to be kindly remembered to Papa, they have all asked very particularly after you. I hope you will think this a long letter, I have been nearly all day writing it. I remain your very affectionate sister.
Anne V. Butler
(In what follows I've taken out passages that don't relate directly the journey, and I've added a few annotations where I hope it will be helpful.)
30 April 1824 [London]
My dear Weeden,
I have a few minutes to spare this morning and therefore take the opportunity of writing to you. I am to set of tomorrow about 4 o’clock with Tom & William, but the latter is only going as far as the coach with me, & Tom is going all the way to Cheltenham. I think that instead of Tom taking care of me, I shall have to take care of him.(1) He is not accustomed to travelling, and to add to his trouble he will have to sleep at the inn, & look after himself all Sunday I believe, for as Mrs Vaughan is only upon a visit herself, I do not think she will be able to ask him to go home with us. He is to return on Monday. …
I remain
Your affectionate sister
Anne V. Butler
(1) At this point Anne is 16 years old, and younger brother Tom (her protector) only 14.
13 May 1824
My dear Tom
Many thanks for your nice letter which we received yesterday. I am glad to hear that you arrived safely in London. I dare say you were not sorry to reach home after so long and dull a day. … I am sorry to say that Mrs Vaughan is rather fatigued by the journey, but I hope after a few days rest she will be quite recovered. We slept at Birmingham on Monday night and set off for Derby at 7 the next morning and therefore had no opportunity of seeing the place, but what I did see gave me no favourable opinion of it. We passed through Litchfield and while they changed horses we had time to see the outside of the beautiful Cathedral. I wish we had had time to go inside to see the monuments.
We arrived here [Derby] at about 12 o'clock on Tuesday, and Mr & Mrs Finlay came at night. We all went yesterday to see the Porcelain Manufactory which is extremely interesting. We saw the whole process from the making [?] of the clay to the beautiful china that we see in the shops. There was a boy only 14 years old who painted landscapes beautifully. You can have no idea of the number of hands a cup must go through before it is finished. We did not leave Cheltenham till ?? o’clock, and therefore had time to see the public rooms, & Dr White would write our names in the book of arrivals, so that perhaps you have seen them in the newspaper. We also went with Dr & Mrs White to the pump room and walks which were crowded with people. The Bishop of Bangor and the Duke of Buccleuch were there. I tasted the water at ????. I did not much like it but it only tastes a little salt.
There are several pretty old churches at Derby, and the church of All Saints is something like our new church at Chelsea. Mr Holworthy(1) has a very pretty place here called Green Hill, it is just before you enter the town, the house is very large and he has a beautiful garden. …
I believe we going in a day or two to see the Marble works and the silk and lace??? Manufactories, so that I shall not close this letter till I have seen something more. We are going today to see the Infirmary, which I believe is the finest in England. Kean & some of the London actors were in Derby last week, but the people here give very little encouragement to the theatre. I observe that the inhabitants of this place pronounce it as if it were spelt Darby, and not Derby: they have a very peculiar manner of speaking, and I remark that they generally put the letter G at the end of their words, thus they say thing-ge, king-ge, &c.
Dr Forester(2) is a very odd man, do you remember the way Gordon used to talk sometimes for fun? Well he speaks much in the same manner, he puts me sometimes in mind of Willets, he makes the same kind of faces, and stoops as he does when he sits with his legs crossed. I can assure you he is a man of some consequence here. He made the plan of the infirmary, and ??? giving a donation of 50£. He attends as Physician to the Infirmary for nothing. He belongs to the order of Knights-Templars, and there are only six of the order in England. I think that Gordon would be delighted to see him, he understands every kind of machinery and gives up much of his time to the study of it. …
I am writing this in my room with one of my fingers quite dead with the cold so that I can hardly hold my pen. I really think I shall have chilblains again if this weather continues. We had a dinner party on Wednesday and we are to have another today (Friday). We have had an invitation for tomorrow but I do not know whether we shall go yet. We are a good large party of ourselves. Mrs & Mrs Holworthy and Miss Wright (Mrs H’s sister),(3) Mr & Mrs Finlay, Mrs Vaughan & myself. Dr Forester’s grounds touch those of Mr Holworthy. Mr H has several pets as a Dog, a Duck, some pigeons & some partridges, and an old poney aged 40 years, all these live on the lawn before the house. I think of all these the greatest pet is the Duck, it follows him about wherever he goes, and will even come in at the dining and drawing room windows if they are open as they reach to the ground. His dog is a pointer and is called Don. Mr H has an open chaise and a close carriage, and Mr Finlay has his, so that some day we are to go in a large party for a drive.
I believe we are going to Buxton from this, & then to York and afterwards upon a visit to some friends of Mrs Vaughan. So tell Mrs Read with my best love, that I do not know what I shall do for white frocks, as I have only one and that is almost dirty, & I shall not be able to get it washed in a day here as I could at home. …
Believe me to be your ever affectionate sister Anne V. Butler
(1) James Holworthy (1781–1841), artist and close friend of Turner.
(2) Dr Richard Forester (1771-1843). President of the Derby Philosophical Society from 1815.
(3) Anne Holworthy (nee Wright) was the niece of Joseph Wright of Derby.
30 June 1824 [Burntisland, Fife]
My dear Weeden
Many thanks for your nice long letter, which I fear you will think I ought to have answered sooner. This was my intention, but several things have occurred to prevent me. I think I am always unlucky, I do not know whether I mentioned in my last letter a fall I had, when in Edinburgh. As I was stepping out of a coach at Mrs Charteris’s door, the step was not firm and it slipped from under my foot, so that I fell down, & hurt my arm upon the corner of the pavement, it was stiff for some days but is now well; I think that if it had not been noticed in time it would have been very bad; but I had some egg skin put on it immediately.
About 10 days ago, as I wished to be friends with Mrs Boog’s dog, I went to see it fed by the servant, who said that it was very quiet, & would not bite, so ventured to pat it; at first it was very good natured, but after a little while, it found out that I was a stranger, snarled & snapped at me, happily it did not bite me though it hit me a very hard blow upon the face with its mouth, & tore my frock very much; I felt the effects of the blow for some days, & the pain was so great at first that I thought he had bit me. The servant beat him from me, or I do not think I should have got off so well as I did.
My finger that was so bad is nearly well, but I shall not be able to use it for some time. Last Saturday I found that the third finger of the same hand was beginning to swell & looked very red. I felt pain in it, the night before, but as I had been working, I thought that I might have run my needle into it, but as it got worse, on Saturday, Mrs Vaughan sent for the doctor, Mr Philp [?], to see it, & he said I must have two leeches on it directly, before it got worse. Jane Boog gave up 4 hours of her time which is now very precious to put them on my finger, & after all, we could only make one of them stick on, but it had the desired effect, for the next day the pain was almost gone, & on Monday it was quite well. I hope I shall meet with no more accidents, or I shall grow quite idle, not being able to work or do any thing that requires my hand.
You will have seen in the letter I wrote to Papa from Edinburgh, that Jane Boog is going to be married, in less than a fortnight, so you may suppose we are very busy just now. William Boog is coming next Wednesday. I believe he is to be the best man, you will not perhaps know what this means; it answers to the best maid or Bride’s maid who attends the Lady, so the best man should attend the gentleman.
Mr Sadler went up in a baloon [sic] at Edinburgh on Monday; this is a very uncommon sight in Scotland, I believe it is the first that has been seen here large enough to carry any body in it; and therefore attracted great attention. The gardener who was at Mrs Charteris’s that day, was heard talking about it very much, he said he thought it was very presumptuous in Sadler to try to get to Heaven that way (for he thought that this was what Sadler was trying to do) but that he was in his master’s territory; and he only hoped he would return safe. When asked who he meant by Mr Sadler’s master, he said, “the Devil.” Perhaps you have seen an account of the ascent in the newspapers. It crossed the firth, & at one time appeared quite near, we could distinguish two people in it and that it looked as if it were made of a plaid; but this was not without the assistance of a good telescope. …
In answer to your question as to where the Derbyshire spar comes from, I must tell you it is principally taken from the Peak Hole, which cavern is under Peveril Castle. This is a most extraordinary place, but perhaps you have seen pictures of it, nothing however but the reality can give you a true idea of its wonders. I am sorry that we did not go into the interior of this astonishing place, but it would have been very disagreeable to pass so far under ground, in a narrow passage walking almost double, till we came to the boat, which is only large enough to hold one at a time, & the person who is thus conveyed is obliged to lie down (as the passage is not high enough to allow him to sit up) and he must be pushed along by a man who walks behind the boat in the water, after proceeding some way in this manner we should have entered a very spacious cavern. If the party had all been young, we might have done this, but the fatigue would have been too great for Mr & Mrs Finlay, Mrs Vaughan, & Mrs Holworthy. I think that when the bustle of Jane’s wedding is over, I must again read “Peveril of the Peak.” I only heard parts of it, but did not read it through when we had it at home, & therefore do not remember much of it.
I cannot describe to you the beauty of York Minster, it is really grand beyond description, but I have a York guide, that Mrs Vaughan bought for me, & when I return home you shall read it. You will see from the last letter, (or I believe it was the one before it) that I wrote to Papa, the danger we were in at Wakefield, by the falling of three of the horses, & therefore I shall not say more upon the subject. …
This is a very pretty place & when I am able I hope to take some views which I think you will be pleased with. I intend to collect some shells for Isabella when we go down to the sands, which are about 5 minutes walk off. But we have only been once that way, and then we had not time to stop to pick them up; I hear that there are some very pretty shells to be found, and I hope they will amuse little Isabella. I shall expect to see a very great improvement in her at my return, I hope she is learning to work as well as read now. Fanny will be able to teach her now that she is at home. I believe when we return it will be by sea. This will be a change, but I like travelling by land better. However the steam boats are very large.
When we were at Edinburgh we went to see the Castle, we went up the Calton Hill & Salisbury Crags, but have not yet been up Arthur’s Seat, which I believe a very great Tickler (as Mr Finlay would say) but I hope before we leave Scotland, that I shall be able to say, I have been up it. This Hill has a very grand appearance from all sides, as it is in the form of a lion couching. The eye, nose & mouth are very distinctly seen, the form of the head is altogether very good & and the front paws are very perfect. Princes Street is like our Bond Street, a fashionable lounge where all the Dandies in Edinburgh go to walk. But Bond Street must not be compared to it in length or beauty. It is said that the King was particularly struck with it. George Street is also very beautiful, having at one end Melville’s Monument & at the other St George’s Church. I suppose you know that all the houses in Edinburgh are built of stone but this street loses much of its beauty from having from having St Andrew’s Church (which is situated in the middle of it) project, & the Physicians’ Hall, which is directly opposite, recede. Thus the people say that the modesty of the Physicians & the forwardness of the Clergy have spoilt the finest street in Europe.
There is a very high hill near here called the Bin[n], but we have not yet been up it, but we have been over several of the smaller ones. I can assure you we did not pass your birthday without thinking of you, but all drank your health. Stirling Christie’s was on the same day, but he is a year younger than you and Elizabeth Dawes’ birthday is on the 22 we thought of her also. There has been a very dreadful fire in Edinburgh last week, such a one has not been known here for 34 years. Pray remember me to Papa, Mrs Read, Tom, Fanny and George. I hope little Isabella will remember me when I return. … Mrs Boog & Mrs Vaughan & all friends here desire to be kindly remembered to Papa, they have all asked very particularly after you. I hope you will think this a long letter, I have been nearly all day writing it. I remain your very affectionate sister.
Anne V. Butler
"Caryatid." (Wake Up Dead Man) G
Jan. 12th, 2026 03:43 pmlannamichaelsTitle: Caryatid.
Author:
lannamichaelsFandom: Wake Up Dead Man (2025)
Series: Part 2 of Pillar Of The Community
Rating: G
Archives: Archive Of Our Own, SquidgeWorld
Summary: "How did you know?" Jud asks Blanc.
( Coda )
[Daf Yomi] Hadran Alach, Maseches Zevachim!
Jan. 12th, 2026 02:54 pmlannamichaelsAfter spending large parts of December getting behind and catching up and getting behind and catching up... I finished Zevachim two days early. The power of bamos! ;) On to Menachos!
My notes behind cut.
We're also about a year and a half out from the end of this cycle, which means I have already gotten one gentle "hey, do you know where you'll be on June 7, 2027"-type email from an org. No, I do not think this is too early, actually. Gotta make plans. Deeply hoping I can avoid being involved in organizing the in person thing here, but I have a suspicion that if I'm not involved, it may end up as unwelcoming as the women's siyum hashas I went to at the end of the last cycle. (I do trust a couple of the people likely to attend it, but I don't know who is going to be organizing anything here. So I may need to try to get involved against my will.) It wasn't actually that bad overall -- aside from how it's still, y'know, memorable 6 years removed from it -- but I am quite frankly more willing to get into an airplane and fly to a different city than go through that again. (okay more realistically if it ends up organized by a group I do not trust at all, I'd zoom in to a larger event and be done with it)
( Read more... )
I got interviewed about Paper & Clay Bookshop
Jan. 12th, 2026 11:45 amrachelmanijaAudio and transcript here.
Kat Spada: Today, I’m talking to Rachel Manija Brown, a writer who’s published over 30 books, and opened up Paper & Clay Bookshop in late 2024. Rachel, will you tell me about why you decided to open a bookshop?
Rachel Brown: I had never intended to open a bookshop. I always thought it was one of those idle daydreams that people who love reading and books have. I never planned to actually do it because I didn’t think it would be successful—they frequently go out of business. But after I moved to Crestline, which is a very small town in the California mountains, the little town did not have a bookshop.
It had a shop that was kind of a bookshop. I would say about ten percent of its inventory was books, but it was primarily gifts and herbs and crystals and things like that. But it had a really great atmosphere, people loved it, the people who worked there were really great. And all the kids in town used to hang out there, especially the queer and trans and otherwise kind of misfit kids. And I used to hang out there.
[When it went] out of business, I was so sad at the idea of the mountain losing its only bookshop. Especially the thought that all the queer, trans, bookish, and otherwise misfit teenagers, like I had once been, were going to lose their safe space.
I started daydreaming about opening it myself, and I thought, I love this idea so much, maybe in a couple of years when I have actual preparation, I’ll open a bookshop. Then I realized it was at was such a good location, that I would never get that good of a location again. It’s smack in the middle of the tourist district, every person who visits Crestline walks right past it.
Unfortunately, this was all while I was in Bulgaria for a month. So, I spent some time frantically trying to take over the lease, which was extremely difficult from another country. I couldn’t take possession of the shop until November 1st, and I really wanted to open it in time to get all the Christmas customers. And I have a tiny house, so I couldn’t really buy very much, because I had no place to put it. So I took possession of the shop on November 1st, and I opened on November 14th.
I've posted the rest of the edited transcript below the cut. ( Read more... )
Kat Spada: Today, I’m talking to Rachel Manija Brown, a writer who’s published over 30 books, and opened up Paper & Clay Bookshop in late 2024. Rachel, will you tell me about why you decided to open a bookshop?
Rachel Brown: I had never intended to open a bookshop. I always thought it was one of those idle daydreams that people who love reading and books have. I never planned to actually do it because I didn’t think it would be successful—they frequently go out of business. But after I moved to Crestline, which is a very small town in the California mountains, the little town did not have a bookshop.
It had a shop that was kind of a bookshop. I would say about ten percent of its inventory was books, but it was primarily gifts and herbs and crystals and things like that. But it had a really great atmosphere, people loved it, the people who worked there were really great. And all the kids in town used to hang out there, especially the queer and trans and otherwise kind of misfit kids. And I used to hang out there.
[When it went] out of business, I was so sad at the idea of the mountain losing its only bookshop. Especially the thought that all the queer, trans, bookish, and otherwise misfit teenagers, like I had once been, were going to lose their safe space.
I started daydreaming about opening it myself, and I thought, I love this idea so much, maybe in a couple of years when I have actual preparation, I’ll open a bookshop. Then I realized it was at was such a good location, that I would never get that good of a location again. It’s smack in the middle of the tourist district, every person who visits Crestline walks right past it.
Unfortunately, this was all while I was in Bulgaria for a month. So, I spent some time frantically trying to take over the lease, which was extremely difficult from another country. I couldn’t take possession of the shop until November 1st, and I really wanted to open it in time to get all the Christmas customers. And I have a tiny house, so I couldn’t really buy very much, because I had no place to put it. So I took possession of the shop on November 1st, and I opened on November 14th.
I've posted the rest of the edited transcript below the cut. ( Read more... )
The Moon of Gomrath, by Alan Garner
Jan. 12th, 2026 05:07 pm![[syndicated profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/feed.png){kind=small}
fromtheheartofeurope_feedSecond paragraph of third chapter:
“Do you think there was anything in the quarry?” said Susan.
I had read this years ago, of course; it is the sequel to Garner’s first book, The Weirdstone of Brisingamen. I see a lot of online reviewers saying that they like The Moon of Gomrath better; I must admit that I still have sharp memories of The Weirdstone of Brisingamen, and it must be thirty years since I last re-read it. Still, The Moon of Gomrath is a great fantasy story, with the young protagonists sucked into epic battle with ancient magical forces across the richly depicted landscape of Alderley Edge and Macclesfield. It’s not long since I was near that part of the world myself. You can get it here.
Humanz B weerd ('throughout the whole of history', or at least, seldom for the v first time)
Jan. 12th, 2026 03:26 pmoursinThat piece about people having AI spouses is online: As synthetic personas become an increasingly normal part of life, meet the people falling for their chatbot lovers.
NB we note that 'Lamar' says that the breaking point with his actual, RL, girlfriend was when he found her doing the horizontal tango with his best friend, but it's clear that there were Problems already there, about having to relate to another human bean who was not always brightly sunshiny positively reinforcing him....
what would he tell his kids? “I’d tell them that humans aren’t really people who can be trusted …
I'm not entirely persuaded that individuals haven't made up imaginary companions (even way on into adulthood) before - I seem to remember some, was it in Fandomwank back in the day, accounts of people being married on the astral plane to fictional characters?
This is not entirely 'wow, startling news' to Ye Hystorianne of Sexxe: The Phenomenon of ‘Bud Sex’ Between Straight Rural Men.
I am not going to see if I actually have a copy of the work on my shelves, or if I perused it in a library somewhere, but didn't that notorious work of 'participant observation' sociology, Tearoom Trade argue that many of his subjects were not defining themselves as 'homosexual'.
I also invoke, even further back, Helen Smith's Masculinity, Class and Same-Sex Desire in Industrial England, 1895-1957 about men 'messing about' with other men in Yorkshire industrial cities.
And there is a reason people working on the epidemiology and prevention of STIs use the acronym 'MSM' - men who have sex with men - for the significant population at risk who do not identify as gay.
I had, I must admit, a very plus ca change moment when I idly picked up Katharine Whitehorn's Roundabout (1962), and found the piece she wrote on marriage bureaux. In which she mentioned that the two bureaux she interviewed tried to get their subscribers not to be too ultra-specific in their demands - that if they met potential partners in real life they would be more flexible.
Was also amused by the statement that 'Men over thirty are always very anxious to persuade me that they could have all they women they liked, if they bothered'.
Tags:
Come vs cum: a vocabulary discussion
Jan. 12th, 2026 11:33 pmmific posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
fan_writersHi everyone and welcome to 2026!
I wrote a brief discussion of this important topic on my journal, so feel free to hop over and join in. I was inspired to write it by my current fannish obsession, but it's a multifandom, and indeed, profic, topic.
The post's here.
I wrote a brief discussion of this important topic on my journal, so feel free to hop over and join in. I was inspired to write it by my current fannish obsession, but it's a multifandom, and indeed, profic, topic.
The post's here.
Shockingly good advice from Hariette
Jan. 12th, 2026 04:33 amconuly posting in agonyauntDEAR HARRIETTE: My brother and I were raised in the same household by the same parents, yet as adults we have two very different views of our father. I see my dad as someone who worked hard, showed up in the ways he could and consistently supported us throughout our lives. I'm deeply grateful for him and everything he's done. My brother, on the other hand, seems to carry a lot of resentment. Whenever the subject of our dad comes up, he focuses on his shortcomings and disappointments, often listing ways he feels let down or overlooked. Listening to this has become exhausting and painful for me. It feels like he's erasing the good and ignoring the sacrifices our dad made, and I can't help but hear it as ungratefulness. At the same time, I don't want to dismiss my brother's experience or silence his truth just because it differs from mine. How do I respect his feelings without sitting through what feels like constant criticism of someone I love? -- Oh, Brother
( As always, we grade her on a curve because she's usually so terrible )
( As always, we grade her on a curve because she's usually so terrible )