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In Portland (well, just outside of Portland, in Happy Valley) for a holiday visit with Mom. Tomorrow I get to see the newest Star Wars film and finally get to stop trying to avoid spoilers (which I think I’ve done fairly well at, only heard two minor ones so far).

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📚 sixty-one of 2019: Dead Endless, by Dave Galanter. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Focuses on the Stamets/Culber relationship, in a creative manner that’s a little confusing for the first few chapters until it suddenly snaps into focus. Some great Tilly and Airiam moments as well.

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Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, and general good wishes to you all, however you celebrate the day and season!

Denny’s Grand Slamdance

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Teenager Turns Denny’s Into the Best Punk Club Ever, For One Night Only

The band started playing and pandomonium followed. Dozens of kids who couldn’t get in pushed through the emergency exits and joined a frenzied circle pit. Someone pulled down one of the restaurant’s light fixtures, another person threw a laptop in the mosh pit and, after being warned that the cops had been called, Del Valle agreed to shut the show down at the manager’s insistence — after one last song.

This whole thing is absolutely wonderful.

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The end of formal nights on cruises: This past summer, when Mom took Prairie and me on an Alaskan cruise, the formal dinners were part of what we were looking forward to, and while we did enjoy them, we were a little disappointed to see that so few people were really living up to the “formal” designation.

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📚 sixty of 2019: The Wanderer, by Fritz Leiber. ⭐️⭐️ 1965 Hugo Best Novel

Veers wildly between interesting concepts (a planet the size of Earth appears in Earth’s orbit, affecting tectonics, tides, etc.), and incredibly dated plots that do not age well.