Book Log – Psmith in the City

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Psmith in the City by P.G. Wodehouse

The character of Psmith grows on me, but I fear that I’ve run out of Psmith books.

Rupert Psmith of the Shropshire Psmiths (he added the silent P himself to the family name to start his own dynasty) is a wealthy force of nature, overwhelming adverse circumstances through sheer force of personality. In this novel,Psmith and his Watson-equivalent Mike Jackson take on early 1900s commerce in the form of a Bank in order to exact revenge on one of upper management for interrupting their game of Cricket some months prior.

Excerpt from Psmith’s first encounter with his boss:

‘Work,’ said Psmith, with simple dignity. ‘I am now a member of the staff of this bank. Its interests are my interests. Psmith, the individual, ceases to exist, and there springs into being Psmith, the cog in the wheel of the New Asiatic Bank; Psmith, the link in the bank’s chain; Psmith, the Worker. I shall not spare myself,’ he proceeded earnestly. ‘I shall toil with all the accumulated energy of one who, up till now, has only known what work is like from hearsay. Whose is that form sitting on the steps of the bank in the morning,waiting eagerly for the place to open? It is the form of Psmith, the Worker. Whose is that haggard, drawn face which bends over a ledger long after the other toilers have sped blithely westwards to dine at Lyons’ Popular Cafe? It is the face of Psmith, the Worker.’

‘I–‘ began Mr Rossiter.

‘I tell you,’ continued Psmith, waving aside the interruption and tapping the head of the department rhythmically in the region of the second waistcoat-button with a long finger, ‘I tell _you_, Comrade Rossiter, that you have got hold of a good man. You and I together, not forgetting Comrade Jackson, the pet of the Smart Set, will toil early and late till we boost up this Postage Department into a shining model of what a Postage Department should be. What that is, at present, I do not exactly know. However. Excursion trains will be run from distant shires to see this Postage Department. American visitors to London will do it before going on to the Tower. And now,’ he broke off, with a crisp, businesslike intonation, ‘I must ask you to excuse me. Much as I have enjoyed this little chat, I fear it must now cease. The time has come to work. Our trade rivals are getting ahead of us. The whisper goes round, “Rossiter and Psmith are talking, not working,” and other firms prepare to pinch our business. Let me Work.’

I just like the way he talks.

Libertarian Democrat… That’s About Right.

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What’s Your Political Philosophy?
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You scored as Libertarian

Libertarians believe that you have the right to live your life as you wish, without the government interfering, as long as you don’t violate the rights of others. This translates into strong protections for privacy and property rights, and a weak to non-existent social safety net.

Old School Democrat
70%

Libertarian
70%

New Democrat
60%

Green
60%

Pro Business Republican
35%

Foreign Policy Hawk
20%

Socially Conservative Republican
15%

Good Book Karma

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I don’t hold my hopes too terribly high for what I can get from paperbackswap.com. I mean, I’ve gotten some good stuff, but I don’t expect the super popular stuff to come through there. I’m like #153 on the waiting list for The God Delusion, for instance.

Also, specialized books I don’t expect to show up there. So, despite that I’m #1 on the waiting list for The 5 Keys to Value Investing, I’m not holding my breath that it’ll show up at my door any time soon.

Also, I’m not sitting forlornly by the mailbox in anticipation of Good Vibes by Jay Cronley, which was the basis for the under appreciated Richard Dreyfuss movie Let It Ride1. Largely because it is out of print, and you can’t find a copy for less than $140 anywhere. And that’s for the mass market paperback.

But, you put your wishes out there, and you never know what might be granted.

For instance, over the course of a few days, I’ve been notified that I’ll be getting Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood, the highly regarded graphic novel that I understand is being made into a movie. When I listed it, I was around 25th in line for it. Perhaps the movie increased the number of books in wide circulation. Also, How to Draw the Human Figure: Famous Artists School, Step-by-Step method, one of the consistently recommended books on drawing. This I didn’t expect to get because of its specialized nature.

Also on their way are What Are The Odds? : Chance in Everyday Life, an out-of-print book recommended by a friend, and The Cobweb, the last Neal Stephenson book left for me to read, until he writes another one. I wasn’t in a hurry to get this one, because it’s under his pseudonym Stephen Bury, which actually represents two authors. The other co-production Stephenson did, Interface, was a big disappointment. We’ll see.

1 Seriously, I love this movie. I love this movie like I love Joe Vs. The Volcano, which, like Let It Ride is a love that is doomed to be shared with no one but my brother.

An Open Letter To My Schematic Capture Software

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Dear Mentor,

If you think petty error messages can dissuade me, no matter how obscure or how little information given, you are sorely mistaken.

I will connect the underlying schematic through this hierarchical block like an underlying schematic has never been connected through a heirarchical block before.

And your momma, too.

Regards,
ElectricRocket

It’s a Poor Artist Who Blames His Tools

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In an ongoing effort to get back into drawing to fill the void left by a lack of improv, I’ve been looking at good drawing software to use my Wacom Graphire3 with. GiMP is kind of touchy and not great for freehand drawing (IMHO).

I cam across ArtRage, which is a neat little free ($25 for full version) package that’s really well thought out for tablet users, and has neat effects simulating various drawing and painting mediums.

This was done using the colored pencil on a canvas texture background. I like how realistic it looks compared to actual canvas and pencil drawings.

The paint effects are cool, too. If you paint red and then blue on top of it, the colors mix as if the underlying paint is still wet. It’s awesome. The brushes change shape depending on how you move them, as if they were real bristles.

Fun, fun, fun.

Book Log – Fragile Things

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Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman

A collection of short stories akin to Gaiman’s Smoke and Mirrors which I read about a year ago.

I remember being wowed by Smoke and Mirrors. I enjoyed this book, but I’m not walking away with a “wow” feeling. Is it because it’s more of the same? Is it because these short stories aren’t quite as awesome as the last one? Am I reading it in a different mood, less receptive to this mode of storytelling? Dunno.

Fairly or unfairly, this one wasn’t as memorable but still enjoyable. Of course, a more positive spin would be “almost as good as that awesome Smoke and Mirrors book!”

Possibly, there just weren’t enough short vampire stories in this one, though there were a few.