Various and Sundry Notes

Happy birthday to tuilelindowen and early birthday to arkhamdenizen. I hope you both have wonderful days and years to come!

A few items of potential interest:

* SFSite is holding it's 10th Annual Readers' Choice Poll for the Best Read of 2007. Learn how to vote for your favorite books of the year here.

* Dave Itzkoff of The New York Times asks "Have the worlds of science fiction and presidential politics ever been more closely aligned than they were in 2007?" in "Planetary Politics."

* Two links for the Lovecraft fans:
- Vintage Horror has downloads for four adaptations of Lovecraft's stories produced during the "golden age" of radio here.
- An updated list of free Librivox readings of Lovecraft's stories is available here.

* FYI: I am part of the Liberty and Power Group Blog at the History News Network sponsored by George Mason University. You can find my posts there or via LJ at power_liberty.


Also, I have received some absolutely beautiful holiday cards from my friends. Each of them has made my day! Many thanks to hapendfro, thepirateship, dracschick, maidoforange, saffronhouse, beledibabe, figmentj, rhyannonwrites, estellye, thrihyrne, and faramirgirl for your thoughtfulness.


The vineyard country, russet, reddish, carmine-brown in this season.
A blue outline of hills above a fertile valley.
It's warm as long as the sun does not set, in the shade cold returns.
A strong sauna and then swimming in a pool surrounded by trees.
Dark redwoods, transparent pale-leved birches.
In their delicate network, a sliver of the moon.
I describe this for I have learned to doubt philosophy
And the visible world is all that remains.
- Czeslaw Milosz, "December 1st"