Sunday, December 15, 2019

this weekend's chess

(+9=0-4) put up Christmas tree.

quote

"Even the gods cannot strive against necessity." -- Diogenes Laertius

Wednesday, November 27, 2019

FIRECRACKERS

FIRECRACKERS

1 lb unsalted saltine crackers (4 sleeves)
1 cup canola oil
1 (1 ounce) packet ranch dressing mix
2 tablespoons crushed red pepper flakes
1⁄2 teaspoon garlic powder

Line crackers on ends (like dominoes) in an air-tight container.
In a small bowl, mix oil, dressing mix, peppers, and garlic powder.
Stir until all ingredients are well mixed.
Continue to stir to prevent the pepper from settling on the bottom of the bowl.
Spoon mixture evenly over crackers, like drizzling icing on a cake.
Close lid tightly and flip the container over every 5 minutes for about 20 minutes. Lightly shake back and forth to make sure all the crackers are coated.
Store in a ziplock bag. Will keep for about a week.

Tuesday, November 26, 2019

5 DAY WEEKEND!

5 DAY WEEKEND!

Working on Romeo and Juliet. Find other plays by searching "The Tiny Stage Shakespeare Company", on Google Play (and start scrolling!). Find them there or find links at www.danmanning.com

don't lose your bearings.

Don't lose your bearings.

Monday, November 25, 2019

bookmark on your head!

"There was a bookmark on your head!"

Sunday, November 24, 2019

this weekend's chess

I played 21 games: (+11=0-10)  https://lichess.org/@/danmanning

sunday: what happened

raked leaves.
did some programming, working on Romeo and Juliet for The Tiny Stage Shakespeare Company.
played some chess.
played some world of warcraft.

Books I Might Read



Some books I might read, as opposed to 



The Castle of Crossed Destinies
Beowulf Michael Alexander version (prose) Seamus Heaney (verse)
Shahnameh: The Persian Book of Kings, Ferdowsi
Storm of Steel, Junger
Heraclitus
Discourses, The Social Contract, Confessions, Rousseau
The Private Memoirs...James Hogg
Ghost Stories, Uncle Silas, Sheridan Le Fanu
Collected Ghost Stories, M.R. James
Satyricon, Petronius
The Anatomy of Melancholy, Burton
The Golden Bough, Frazer
The House of Mirth Edith Wharton
Castle of Otranto by Walpole


Wednesday, September 11, 2019

White Wine Wednesday + Lightning Storm

It's Wednesday, Deb's off work, and it's payday.

Strong lightning storm, tornado sirens, the works.

Monday, September 09, 2019

Four Black Crows

There were four huge black crows in the backyard when I got home from work today. Omens and Portents.

Also, I'm reading Tartuffe, or The Impostor, or The Hypocrite , by Molière .

Also, also, I' m almost finished with The Taming of The Shrew, writing the app for the Tiny Stage Shakespeare Company.  If you've got an android phone, check it out. 

Sunday, September 08, 2019

Motor Scooter on fire.

Firemen hosing down a motor scooter. I'm trying to sleep damnit.

Friday, August 30, 2019

Two cats.

Got two cats yesterday. Brutus and Gus.

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Let Them Loiter on The Screen Awhile

A chasm has yawned between myself and my writing. I find it difficult to write as I used; it seems an idle pastime of my recent slightly less-old days. My conceit that no one would ever read my words, as if that matters, seems, irrationally, to matter. No one will read my books, it seems. I have no head for self-promotions. The uncounted keyboards of the world, matched with minds yearning to express that inner-world of subjective thought has flooded the Internet with garbage words, these included. These words, spewing forth from my brain like an overflowing sewer, typed off-hand on some Sunday morning, unsolicited by an uninterested world, flow nonetheless. Not edited, no reverse, just typing forth rubbish into the Internet. Howling into the void, an aging man types on the Chromebook of his dead father. Yet here I sit, starting another sentence that might lead anywhere, as this stream-of-consciousness thing, this aging brain attempting to convey its subjective existence, unable to wrestle down its own thoughts, cannot fathom that there is no reason to continue. The sun shines on half the backyard, shade and bright green grass share a plot of land behind the house I pay the bank to let me use. There is a great tree back there, which for a long time I mistook for a Honey Locust, and maybe it is some species of that line, but it is large, and it is there every day, immobile, but more importantly, unthinking, unworried about the purpose of life or the cost of the mortgage. It will be there, if left unmolested, for years to come, yet I will, restless and malcontent, move about in various circles, getting, spending, worrying and finding distraction, all the while approaching a certain and immobile grave. Then I will be as content as the tree in my backyard, immobile, unthinking, unworried about "the purpose of life or the cost of the mortgage." So. A chasm has yawned between myself and my writing. But maybe not. Because here is a cluster of words, more stuffing for the great Internet, read yet unread, loitering on a screen.

Saturday, August 24, 2019

two midnight trifles harvested from dreams.

i.

A titan of such savage grace,
That all who see him genuflect in awe
Or stand aloof,
It matters none to him.
For such is his security
That opinions pass unnoticed,
Like shadows scattered
In the wind.

ii.

Long the sweet sweet
Slumber of the night.
Low murmurs crowd
The echoed canyons
Of the mind.
Crisp sheets and
Darkness sanctify
Death's twin . . .
And morning,
Tardy with indifference,
Charms the starry welkin
With a sigh.

Saturday, August 17, 2019

Saturday post

Watched regatta. Read Shakespeare in 1599. Girls went to see Lion King. Played chess. Watched Sinquefield Cup.

Friday, August 16, 2019

R.I.P Lilly

Our cat, Lilly, died.

Saturday, August 10, 2019

Saturday Post

Ran three miles. Company is moving this month, very odd this week. Started working on 'THE TAMING OF THE SHREW' as part of my collection of Shakespeare plays.  I am the director of The Tiny Stage Shakespeare Company.  

Friday, June 21, 2019

Friday. It isn't raining. For once.

Worked on an app I'm developing. Shakespeare-adjacent stuff.

Mowed lawn.

Going to buy paint.  Silver Leaf 4006-1A and Roadster Blue 4006-6B

It's finally nice out.

Friday, May 31, 2019

back to writing

After a few changes of workplace, a hiatus, and a chess-distraction, I'm back to writing. Bing-watched Game of Thrones with Deb. After watching the series, I got depressed, and wondered to myself, "Why am I not writing? I should be writing."

So now I'm working on something again, and reading all the Hugo-award winning books I can get my hands on, for inspiration.

It feels good to be writing again. I'm creating something. Not much at first, but every paragraph counts.

Sunday, May 19, 2019

Junk-mail Credit card offers are nothing new

"and there were several very courteously worded communications from Jermyn Street money-lenders offering to advance any sum of money at a moment’s notice and at the most reasonable rates of interest."

From The Picture of Dorian Gray, by Oscar Wilde, first published in 1890.

Sunday, March 31, 2019

Cold today

Made fire. Bought steak. Programmed. Played chess. Shaved.

Friday, March 29, 2019

A Post on Friday

Replaced license plate. Planted books. Chess at Common Ground. Ran. Read Shakespeare and Programming book. Moderate whisky.

Monday, March 25, 2019

Four Minutes.

It took four minutes to watch an inch of incense burn.  Later, I ate oysters and saltines on the patio.

Sunday, March 24, 2019

My feet are cold.

I'm wearing two pairs of socks, but my feet are still cold. Doing chess puzzles and drinking coffee.

Saturday, March 23, 2019

A good time had by all.

Winter lingers...just cold enough to stay indoors. Visited old friends yesterday. A great March Madness gathering, our generous host made food and drink abundant, there were games and conversation, and a good time had by all.

Friday, March 15, 2019

A Post on Friday.

Got a crown put in today. They didn't have laughing gas, but I went through with it anyway. My dentist is good about no pain, but I am a fan of the laughing gas. All went well.

Installing Python 3.7.2

Rain. 37 degrees. 

Friday, February 15, 2019

"dice, Venus, and the tavern!"

'"Poor purse ... How cruelly thou hast been gutted by dice, Venus, and the tavern!"'

-- The Hunchback of Notre Dame book VI chapter IV

About Me

My photo
I am the author of 5 books: Android Down, Firewood for Cannibals, The Cubicles of Madness, Robot Stories, and most recently, Various Meats and Cheeses. I live and write in Michigan. My website is at danmanning.com