Slave Auction by Jean-Leon Gerome

I had a truly wicked case of hiccups this weekend - I tried the Uruguayan remedy: drinking water from the wrong (far) side of the cup. This involves hunching over your cup and almost inverting your head. It works...

Book bloggin': Anticipating a move, I started going through my bookshelves, culling books to donate. Far easier to donate down the block than take with me. This job inevitably degenerates into flipping through books, then outright reading.

This week, I've been (re)reading books themed around Trickster tales, one of my favorite types of folklore. There's great trickster tales from all over the world - especially North American Indians - but my favorite (besides bugs bunny) is Loki as he appears in Villy Sorensen's retelling of the Norse Myths, "The Downfall of the Gods." Lovers of folklore and myth: this is a delightful interpretation - light, ironic, wise, playful, perverse. I wish I could speak Danish so that I could read more of his work.

From Lost at Sea. I really like Bryan Lee O'Malley's work.

Song of the day: Washed Out - Hold Out.