Random Thoughts

I gave my office a thorough cleaning yesterday. One great thing about doing that is how much bigger the place appears. But another thing is that my "in basket" -- actually, the pile of stuff on the left side of my desk -- has been winnowed down so much it seems that I could actually finish all the tasks the stack represents today. Then I'll have a completely clear desk. Can you imagine?

From a web log called, "Popehat," comes this odd item:

'The Greek Isle of Lesbos is suing the group Homosexual and Lesbian Community of Greece to stop using the term Lesbian. Seems they are tired of having the term for people from their isle be synonymous with the followers of Sappho. "Our geographical designation has been usurped by certain ladies who have no connection whatsoever with Lesbos," said Dimitris Lambrou, one of the plaintiffs.

'The group is quick to point out that they have nothing against Lesbia… er, gay women who have made Lesbos a popular vacation spot, they just want to take back their name. Lambrou points out that Lesbian is a relatively new term for gay women, whereas they have "been Lesbians for thousands of years…"

'I’m not sure how I feel about this one. Could England sue New England to change it’s name because they aren’t happy with being associated with them? . . .'

Don’t these Greeks know their own history? A female Greek poet from classical times, named Sappho, lived on Lesbos and wrote very erotic poetry to other women. Some of it survives to this day. Though she wrote in a difficult dialect, her writing was greatly admired in her day and down the centuries. Her poetry is why gay women call themselves, rarely, sapphic, and, more commonly, Lesbians. Nothing usurping about it.

The above has nothing to do with writing mysteries, it just caught my eye.

Actually, I don’t have anything to write about this week. So, like the newspaper editor I used to be, here’s some filler:

'If a woman has to choose between catching a fly ball and saving an infant's life, she will choose to save the infant's life without even considering if there is a man on base.' --Dave Barry

'My Mom said she learned how to swim when someone took her out in the lake and threw her off the boat. I said, 'Mom, they weren't trying to teach you how to swim.'' --Paula Poundstone

'Sometimes I think war is God's way of teaching us geography.' --Paul Rodriguez

When he divorced reality, she got everything in the settlement.
-- Some commenter on Farc.com

If you make a fool of yourself in front of your dog, not only will he
not laugh at you, he will make a fool of himself, too, just to keep you
company.

If you take a dog in, feed him, shelter him, treat him kindly, he will look
up at you and think, "You must be God."
If you take a cat in, feed him, shelter him, treat him kindly, he will look
Down on you and think, "I must be God."