Flavor Of Nothing

Mood in The Cask of Amontillado

2011-05-07T07:54:00.000-07:00

For an excellent discussion of Poe's ability to create and maintain a mood of suspense and morbidity, I found this review of mood in "The Cask of Amontillado". Overall "The Cask of Amontillado" is an excellent exploration into the human mind and heart. It is a diversion from regular murder mysteries in that the killer states his purpose in the first line and reveals his identity.

Suspense

2010-05-15T09:13:00.000-07:00

How does one create suspense? Poe creates suspense in "The Cask of Amontillado" through very careful techniques which many have studies over the years but which only a few have mastered.

Mysteries, horror films, thrillers and tales of all sorts over the years have employed Poe's techniques to create suspense, but it is difficult to find an earlier master. Some could argue that some of Shakespear's tragedies hint at suspense, Othello, Macbeth, etc. but in reality the end is known from the beginning and he continued to employ the techniques of Greeks.

Fortunato

2010-04-15T09:20:00.000-07:00

Here is a wonderful article about Fortunato. Fortunato means fortunate or lucky. However in "The Cask of Amontillado" he turns out to be about the most unlucky fellow around. He has slighted and made an enemy of Montresor and because of this he is buried alive.

But the question is, what did he do? Did it deserve death? Did it merit gasping out his last breaths in agony and lonely despair? The story doesn't tell us.

Summary of The Cask of Amontillado

2010-03-15T09:26:00.000-07:00

This link to a summary of "The Cask of Amontillado" deserves its own page. After all, if you are going to create a link to a page then you really ought to put that link on its own page, right?

Montresor

2010-02-15T09:27:00.000-08:00

Montresor in "The Cask of Amontillado" is a really scary guy. Some would suggest that he was justified. Some would suggest that Fortunato deserved it. I don't know about any of that. But burying your enemy alive in your basement is not the kind of thing that normal people do, no matter their motives.

Adventures in Good Cooking

2009-10-12T14:10:00.000-07:00

My mother recently donated a bunch of books to my collection of junk. Many of these books are rather drab and dusty from years of neglect. One of these books is "Adventures in Good Cooking" from Duncan Hines published in 1959.

I've read through most of it (I love to cook), and found it very interesting. There are no pictures and no simple recipes. This is not for the novice cook and not for the faint of heart. But it is definitely educational. In particular the charts for equivalent wieghts and measures are very useful.

So far I've tried a few of the recipes and quite frankly they are superb. No nonsense stuff that will go well on any table. The recipes are taken from restaraunts all over the United States and each one carries something special. Of course you have to know a little about the terminology or else it reads like gibberish, but I suppose that is a lot of the charm of the book for me.

Aspen In The Mountains

2009-09-17T13:01:00.000-07:00

My Fingers Hurt From Typing

2009-08-14T21:03:00.000-07:00

I am a mid thirty-ish guy who has arthritis in his fingers. Yep, kinda young but I’ve had it for years.

Typing is one of those activities that I enjoy (because I enjoy writing) but which really makes life difficult to enjoy (because it hurts like the dickens sometimes).

So I ask you, what is a guy supposed to do? There are only so many drugs you can take before you start to feel like you ought to be turning tricks on a street corner somewhere. And at the same time I can’t give up typing. (Who would update the blog?)

Should I just give in and call myself a junkie – do what it takes to stop the pain?

Or should I just push through it like Rocky Balboa?

How Can College Students Save on Airfare?

2009-07-17T12:36:00.000-07:00

Guest post by Ali Kendall

How Can College Students Save on Airfare?

A recent article on Airfare-Now! talks about four specific things that college students can do to save a few bucks on airfare. The article, entitled 4 Ways for College Students to Save on Airfare Now! suggests that college students stay flexible, do their research, plan ahead, and travel mid-week. Here's the gist:

1) Stay Flexible: Click the "my dates are flexible" button when searching for airfares online. Trying to travel on specific dates USUALLY costs more, but flexible travel dates will ALWAYS cost less.

2) Research Before You Buy: College students can be spontaneous and impulsive. Do your research with several travel consolidators before booking the airfare.

3) Plan Ahead: Last minute flyers always pay a premium. College students should plan ahead in order to get the better airfare.

4) Travel Mid-Week: Skip a class or two and travel in the middle of the week.

Trees

2009-06-04T08:49:00.000-07:00

Pronunciation of Amontillado

2009-05-15T09:09:00.000-07:00

How do you pronounce Amontillado? Find the answer here.

The Buzz About Page Rank

2009-05-12T21:02:00.000-07:00

So what is all the buzz about Page Rank?

I suppose if you are looking to make a lot of money off of the internet rather than just looking for something to do with your otherwise boring life then it would be fun to go after page rank. Getting listed amongst the top pages of the internet is pretty nice, I suppose if you want people to read your stuff.

Me, I write random this and that from time to time, just enough to keep me busy, but I don’t anticipate moving above PR zero anytime soon. This blog doesn’t even really have a theme to it.

I haven’t optimized for search at all. I haven’t built a bunch of back links, and there aren’t a ton of posts (yet).

But the truth is I am pretty much content with how it is going. A part time gig that gives me something to do in the wee hours of insomnia.

Internet Hate

2009-04-07T12:32:00.000-07:00

What, may I ask is the point of internet hate?

So people go onto other people's blogs and post comments that are spiteful, hateful, hurtful and every other kind of -ful you can think of in a negative way.

Then there are people who get online and post stuff on their own blogs that are likewise very un-positive.

What might I ask is the point of that? Is it to stir up trouble? Is it to create controversy and thereby create readers? (I know that for me and a certain other blog I maintain that is exactly the reason, and it works by the way). But if you aren't out to get money, then what are you trying to do?

The person you are typing at can't see you, hear you, smell you and has no idea that you are anyting other than a 3rd grader who got on the computer when mommy wasn't looking. I guess I just don't understand the point of actually being angry at someone you don't know about something that could very well be a fiction.

Your thoughts?

Memory Foam Mattresses

2009-03-22T21:01:00.000-07:00

I bought me a memory foam mattress, and I have to say that I’ve never slept more comfortably. Now I’m not going to go sharing brand or store information because I don’t know the brand and I don’t want to admit that I shop at Wal-Mart.

But the point is that they are awesome, and if you do a bit of poking around you can find some really good deals on memory foam mattresses. Which means that if you do some poking around you can start to get a better night’s sleep for really cheap.

Okay, so my wife had to cajole me into getting the thing. Me, I’m too cheap to spend a dime that doesn’t scream at me first. But I’m really, really glad that I did. I haven’t slept so soundly since . . . well since long before I can remember. I’m a light sleeper and tend to wake up often at night. The memory foam mattress has helped with that, a lot. So do yourself a favor and go check out memory foam mattresses.

Magic The Gathering

2009-03-11T20:59:00.000-07:00

I play Magic. At least I do when I can scrape together the time at the same time as other friends (or at least one of them) who also play magic.

Now, for those of you out there who have no idea what I’m talking about, go visit www.wizards.com and follow the links to magic the gathering. They will nicely explain it all to you in more concise and precise terms than I could possibly hope to (they get paid for that kind of thing, I don’t).

What attracts me to the game is the combination of fantasy flavor and strategy. I enjoy strategy games. Well, I enjoy most games. I enjoy thinking about my options and considering my opponents options and then trying to figure out what the best option really is.

I also like the pretty pictures on the cards and the amazing amount of work that wizards has put into keeping a game like magic health for as long as they have. You would think that after nearly 15 years it would have simply died. I for one am glad that it hasn’t.

I Think I Need A New Laptop

2009-02-22T20:59:00.000-08:00

The one I have is nice enough, it gets the job done, but it wasn’t top of the line when I bought it and it isn’t getting any younger.

There is only one little hitch, though. I don’t have any money to go out and spend on a new laptop at the moment. So if any of you have any great work at home scams (I mean jobs) then if you could just send them my way I would really appreciate it.

I would like to just work some overtime at my regular job to make up the difference but since they laid me off that isn’t really an option. Once again suggestions are welcome.

Ever Notice How Big The Internet Is?

2009-02-11T20:58:00.000-08:00

On the news it is pretty common to hear numbers thrown out like trillions and billions, but it sure is hard to fathom exactly what that means. But when I look around the internet and see all of the literally trillions of possible places a person could go it makes me feel like I’m in some cyber-ocean.

You can find anything out there, and I do mean anything. Want to find peanuts? Coffee? Pink paint? Parasols? If you can think of it somebody else has too and they are blogging about it or selling it or making a wiki about it.
I find it unbelievable how much there really is. And it is quite amazing.

Me, I see a handful of sites in a day (relatively speaking) and most days are just repeats of other days where I just look for updates. A whole ocean and I’m getting a few drops of it.

I Love Root Beer

2009-01-22T20:57:00.000-08:00

Now there are sodas and there are sodas, but if you ask me there is only one worth taking your time to enjoy, and that has to be root beer.

I especially love to take a sip from a cold bottled brand, which of course are quite a bit more expensive than the stuff you get in the cans, but hey a root beer is a root beer and nothing to turn your nose up at.

For those hot summer evenings, or even those cold winter days there is nothing like sitting back in a relaxing chair with a good book and a root beer. Especially if you happen to have some cheetos on hand to got with it (purely optional).