Quote on Writing

From Michael Gruber: “You may wonder, why research at all? It’s fiction, why not make it all up? The reason is that almost all readers have some expertise or experience, and will be irritated beyond reason by boners that they detect, and when they detect them, the bodyguard of truth will be penetrated and they …

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Quote of the Hour

“I believe a real sense of home comes from being surrounded by the things that are essential to your life; anything that’s unessential diminishes that– and makes life less meaningful” Jake Schaefer, creator of Tumblewood Tiny Houses

QOD # 1

“Taking me to a ball game is like taking a dog to the Louvre.”- Julie Zickefoose. Yeah me too…

One more irresitible quote

“There are times when the most amused and phlegmatic traveler in the Phillipines (and elsewhere) yearns for a country of deep reserve and formality where everyone calls each other “Sir” or “Madam” and wishes to know no personal fact of any kind. This country, it is true, sounds like a cross between Claridge’s and Ladakh.” …

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Challenging quote

“Comparing information and knowledge is like asking whether the fatness of a pig is more or less green than the designated batter rule.” (David Guaspari) Does that sound surreal? It is, but it’s a good analogy. If you doubt it, substitute:”…is like comparing the thickness of a wall to the degree of purple of the …

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Q o’ D

Thoughts on browsing for guns (and books) from Richard Jeffries’ The Hills and the Vale; over a century old and still valid. Thanks to Walter Hingley… “I had seen rows on rows of guns stacked round the shop, rank upon rank; in the background a door partly open permitted a glimpse of a second room, …

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Falconry Wonk Quote

Utah attorney Jason Jones on the proposed regulation of domestic hybrid falcons by the federal government: [The Fish & Wildlife Service’s] “…attempting to regulate the possession of non-native hybrids,… based on FWS’s assertion that their law enforcement agents may have difficulty distinguishing hybrid raptors from native raptors, is the equivalent to the DEA attempting to …

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Armed Buddhists and Warrior Women (quotes); Mexican Gun Laws

“T’ang was the high point of much poetry, and of Ch’an [Zen] Buddhist creativity, but it must be remembered that it was not peopled by effete scholars in flowing robes who detested violence. It was a time of hardy Northern derived gentry who were skilled horsepersons and archers and falconers, hard drinkers and fighters. Women …

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Quote #2

“Qualifications for a Traveller. – If you have health, a great craving for adventure, at least a moderate fortune, and can set your head on a definite object, which old travellers do not think impracticable, then – travel by all means. If, in addition to these qualifications, you have scientific taste and knowledge, I believe …

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