things i recommend.

Meet Thievey, a ring-tailed lemur. He’s very cute, but he needs your help.

Consider doing something good and help Mike reach his goal before the end of 2007. He’s got 3 2 1 lemurs left to give away.

Update: Mike reached his goal, but there’s still time to make a difference. The MGF is totally blown away by the amount of support they’re getting here ($10,450 + $167/month for the next year), but there is still more need.

You may also consider purchasing one of the Moon Bears from Vermont Teddy Bear (which we got Trip for Christmas), or a contribution to Defenders of Wildlife. There are still like three hours left in 2007! Go!

Paper spam sucks. It’s a waste of time and resources (both yours and the planet’s.)

Do something about it.

• Catalog Choice is a non-profit who gets you off of catalog lists. Free, and they do it well.

• OptOutPrescreen.com gets you off of firm offers for credit and insurance for 5 years if you do it online, permanently if you mail in the form they make up for you.

• Register for the Direct Marketing Association’s Mail Preference Service to get out of most everything else.

Okay? Go to it.

Yesterday, Merrystar surprised me with a copy of The Children of Húrin.

And you know what? I take it back.

Well, some of it, anyway.

I read it from cover to cover last night and was neither depressed nor disappointed. The story of Túrin Turambar improves with the clear presentation within The Children of Húrin; by presenting the story by itself, without either the flow of The Silmarillion or (helpful) editorial interjections to interfere, the tale assumes a stature that it lacked in previous editions. It’s this stature that I think is why Tolkien (the senior) returned to the story again and again, and why it was a logical choice for his son to attempt to complete first.

If anything, it makes me wonder if The Silmarillion was a mistake in presentation, as each chapter jumps in both focus and detail and no one story stands out. Images are lost in the welter. I have a few strong images burned in my memory from that book, but none of them were of Túrin. Which, ultimately, is a shame.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I still love the grand scope of the Quenta Silmarillion, the ability to move through the entire First Age and watch the threads weave in and out (and in). And ultimately, how can you assemble parts without having the whole?

But following a few threads from start to finish is rewarding, too. I think that’s why The Children of Húrin works. It starts with Húrin and ends with him, and our focus is kept upon the deeds of this unhappy family.

(Though, I must ask: why could we not hear of Tuor and the Fall of Gondolin in the same fashion? Alas.)

I still, ultimately, don’t like Túrin very much. But now I can pity him, which I couldn’t before.

I am really quite pleased to have YAH back from the shop.

This time, I took her to Ebby’s Auto Painting & Collision Repair (757-220-0695) and they did a great job with her. Their good reputation in town is justly deserved.

Best of all? She was clean when I picked her up.

It’s the little things that matter.

I was tinkering with this weblog and realized that it was seriously lacking in do-goodery. Like, it’s all well and good to know that my computers continue to interrupt my search for peace and quiet, but really — where’s the stuff that makes you go “that’s just what I was looking for!”

So, it’s time to balance karma. Here are some things I recommend, in no particular order:

• Whilst living in the City (Formerly Known As D.C.), I had the fortune to work with an excellent realtor, Rich Ragan, both as a buyer and a seller. He was really a pleasure to work with, and (if I ever lost my senses and decided to move back to Northern Virginia) I would happily use him again and recommend him to all my friends up there.

• The Westheimer (Houston) and 183 North (Austin) locations of Chuy’s. I spent many a lunch… and dinner… and breakfast, now that I think about it, there. They’re on the ‘must visit’ list when I go back to those cities.

• The Chrysalis Inn in Bellingham, Washington. Merrystar and I have had nothing but good times there. Honorable mention goes to the The Wickaninnish Inn, which is spectacular, but a little too far removed from used bookstores to be as much fun.

• The Cobb salads at The Thistle Cafe in Austin. Best one I’ve ever had. Unfortunately wonky hours. At the cafe, not the salad. What was I talking about again?

• Web hosting at Cornerhost. I’ve been using it since 2002 and have many compliments for the way Michal’s run his business.

• Quicksilver. Quite possibly the best application developed on the Macintosh, and definitely the hardest to explain. The only application that comes close is Preview. You know that feeling you got when you first discovered Mozilla (or Firefox, or Iceweasel, or whatever you’re using now?), and you got how great it was? The moment you grok Quicksilver is an order of magnitude cooler. You will pry Quicksilver out of my cold, dead hands.

• Panasonic’s Toughbook computers and customer support. Seriously, guys. You’ve sold yourself 3 toughbooks through my recommendations already, and I’ve not been disappointed yet. Great job with the service, which is unfortunately where Apple falls short.

• xkcd, a webcomic for the geeks among you. Consistently excellent, consistently stick figure-y.

(I suppose to balance this out, I should start a Things I Do Not Recommend list, too. Duly noted.)