a banner with a strange device

Right, so have been in curriculum advice all morning and just found myself shouting at a particularly dense and recalcitrant student, so this is a designated 20-minute break while I drink Earl Grey, cruise the internet for random distraction which doesn't require a brain, and recover my equanimity and love for the gazelles. Therefore, linkage.

• The recent Amazon bully tactics against Macmillan make me cross and inclined to boycott Amazon, although I have to say Macmillan's pricing on e-books seems little excessive. As a bonus side-effect, alternative online sources are being punted all over: The Book Depository is apparently as cheap, doesn't charge for international delivery and lets you watch people buying books across the world in real time, which for some reason I find inexpressibly cool.
  
  
• Is all this curriculum advice rotting my brain? I find myself rather liking the first pink swirly thing worn by Lady Gaga at the Grammys. Kind of a classic insanity rather than the more usual incomprehensible madness. On the other hand, I wouldn't currently trust my aesthetic judgement.
  
  
• In other news, this is exquisitely written and does precise, tenuous, luminous things with vision and significance. Catherynne Valente is my new literary girl crush.

Right, that was the last of my Earl Grey. I dangle before myself like a deep-fried battered carrot the promise that jo&stv, still Prince of Hosts, promise to cook tempura tonight. This shall console me for the First Serious Army of Reconstruction screw-up - they've delivered the wrong kitchen tiles, so probably a couple of weeks of delay. Phooey. I'm dying to see how they look.

My doom beckons. Excelsior!