Scientists have developed a plant-based plastic that actually biodegrades.
This is a big deal because people are not going to stop using plastic. There is nothing good that can be done with the plastics we have. Recycling makes more micro and nano plastics. It's a much lower grade and more polluting fuel than gasoline. Hope this new plastic passes the test of time.
thanks Gregory Johnson
Single-mindedly working on getting this book done. Just sent the following note to Peter and Wendy who are going over the parts as they get them.
Movie names should be italicized. I haven't been doing that. So please put an xx after them. You don't have to write "italicize." I'll know what to do. I think you know that I don't like quote marks around names so even if it's a short story or article or anything that's supposed to have quote marks I'd rather use italics or nothing. I also don't like quotes around words used as unfamiliar terms, nicknames, or words used as words if the meaning is clear without them. Quote marks around quotes are fine of course. So anything I've neglected which is most of it, please just xx.
I think I got my aversion to quotes from reading people's year end letters that were full of them with such sentences as <We all had a "wonderful time" this summer.> Really. It drove me batty.
One word that's been lost but which I like and miss is fewer. I don't like to see less used for number but it's locked in now. (See - it doesn't need quote marks because it's obvious.) I like may as in "may I borrow this" though "can" doesn't bother me. (I thought can needed some help there.) Can has been accepted for may since I was a kid so people can't answer to "Can I go with you?" anymore with "I don't know, can you?"
As James Kirkpatrick pointed out forty years ago, "We've lost the word 'gay.'" (He would have used the quotes around gay there.)
The worst to me that is close to becoming accepted is "I" as the object as in, "He gave the book to JIm and I." It's everywhere.
I don't know what to do about who and whom. I can see whom is going out of style and sometimes it seems stodgy. But I can't say "for who the bells toll."
My father had a problem with who and whom going out of style too - but in a different way. He was into diction and his generation pronounced the H in who and whom and other words that began with wh. It had H air in it like an F sound has F air. He used to grill me on it. I was hopeless though.
This message was sent to me by an anonymous person who asked me to post it.
I am a woman trapped in a man's body. That's one strike against me in today's world so I keep it a secret. It's not so difficult to do so because I am attracted to women. I am a lesbian - that's the second strike against me - a lesbian trapped in a man's body. I did not think it fair to have a female mate and not tell her so I was celibate, celibate until I met an unusual woman, one I could confide in. It turned out that she was a gay man trapped in a woman's body. I shared my situation. We are a perfect match, each other's soul mates. Please publish this so that others with my condition can know that there is hope. Thank you.
As I was waking up this morning, I heard how long ago women were referred to as the fair sex. I see that started around 1600 and meant fair as in pretty. So if women are the fair sex, then what are men. Ah yes - the unfair sex. That sure applies.
Ten years ago today, Dec. 9th, 2013, Katrinka and I arrived in Bali with only carry-on. Where'd all this other stuff come from?
There's a snazzy Italian place, Dimattina, about five minutes away by foot which has deserts that should be illegal and and a roastery that provides coffee for a lot places. They have a matcha latte with oat milk that is so good and it's authentic or at least the matcha is. The owner buys the matcha for 70 bucks a kilo and it's made with a whisk just like in Japan. Their chai is terrible though - a tea bag. There are two place that make chai like it was India. Both of them take forever to make it and I'm glad they're not in walking distance because I want two cups and once a week or when I'm out and it's convenient is enough for that. The other day I had to go to the ATM and I need trusty Nyoman to drive for that because I only go to one ATM at our bank with a 24 hour guard so the Bulgarians can't screw with the machine and drain accounts. On the way I dropped a travel cup off with the barista at Batu Jimbar and picked it up on the way back and got back to work. I try to keep caffeine to work time.
I llke to take Bandi with me to Dimattina and sit at a picnic type table in a nice grassy area they have. I sit there and let Bandi run around sniffing and mainly watching the golden carp in their long pond. I get into a zone that's so nice. The last two times I've been there I've gotten an apricot crumble too. So good. Limit - not more than once a week. Every employee we pass or who passes us wants to visit with Bandi. People here tend to ask the dog's name first, then they squat down and see if she'll come to them. I tell them Bandi is from bandit and that her full name is Bandita and sometimes explain that the ita ending in Spanish indicates small and feminine.
