The Diary of A Simple Man

Daily Book Recommendation: Heidi (1881) by Johanna Spyri

Sat, 13 Jun 2026 02:11:55 GMT

Long ago I read a passage in "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" (1952) that made a big impression on me. Lucy was looking through a mysterious book of spells:

On the next page she came to a spell "for the refreshment of the spirit". The pictures were fewer here but very beautiful. And what Lucy found herself reading was more like a story than a spell. It went on for three pages and before she had read to the bottom of the page she had forgotten that she was reading at all. She was living in the story as if it were real, and all the pictures were real too. When she had got to the third page and come to the end, she said, "That is the loveliest story I've ever read or ever shall read in my whole life. Oh, I wish I could have gone on reading it for ten years. At least I'll read it over again."

At the time I wished that I could read a book like that. It wasn't until many years later that I realized that not only WAS there such a book (at least for me), but that I'd already read it and I owned a copy! It was, in fact, Heidi.

And it truly is the most refreshing book I know. Have you read it? I suspect that a lot of younger readers (younger than me, I mean) haven't; it's a classic, but most people have been taught that "classic" is just another word for "incredibly dull and boring" these days. If Amazon can't make big money off it, it's not going to be promoted to readers. At least it's still available in bookstores, albeit under the deadly "CLASSIC" warning sign. But it deserves much better treatment than that!

Heidi is a five-year-old orphan girl sent to live with her grandfather (called the "Alm-Uncle" by locals) who lives in a cabin high in the Swiss Alps. He lives a solitary and bitter life since the death of his son and daughter-in-law, Heidi's parents, broke his heart. Nonetheless he takes Heidi in.

Her life in the Alps is simply enrapturing. In fact, the description of her bed of a sheet over straw in the attic, foaming fresh goat's milk, and toasted goat's cheese made an enormous impression all over the world - particularly in Japan! There are references to Heidi in quite a few manga and anime, and many Japanese are entranced by the story.

The grandfather filled the bowl with milk, and pushed it in front of Heidi. Then he brought her a large slice of bread and a piece of the golden cheese, and told her to eat. Heidi lifted the bowl with both hands and drank without pause till it was empty, for the thirst of all her long, hot journey had returned upon her. Then she drew a deep breath—in the eagerness of her thirst she had not stopped to breathe—and put down the bowl.

"Was the milk nice?" he asked.

"I never drank any so good before," answered Heidi.

"Then you must have some more,"

More than that, the story is incredibly powerful emotionally. Spyri captured the intensity of a young child's feelings magnificently. Heidi's removal to the house of a rich girl in the city will grip your heart, and her return to the Alps will lift it again. There's humor, pathos, excitement and joy. It's simply a lovely book, and I re-read it at least once a year.

For the refreshment of the spirit.

It's in the public domain. You can buy physical copies new (often at a fairly low price), and copies are often available in used book shops too. Ebook versions are free, of course; I'd recommend either of these versions, which include some beautiful illustrations.

https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/46409

https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/johanna-spyri/heidi/elisabeth-p-stork

Happy reading! 🤓📖

⁨⁨#Books⁩⁩ ⁨⁨#Bookstodon⁩⁩ ⁨⁨#Children ⁨#fiction⁩ ⁨ ⁩#Classic ⁨⁨#BookRecs ⁨⁨#BookRecommendation⁩⁩ ⁨⁨#QuasitBookRecs

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Men

Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:54:58 GMT

"Black men are dangerous. They're bestial, unable to control their base desires. Every one of them wants to rape white women. We'd be better off without them."

Disgusting, right? Nothing anyone could say publicly in this day and age, unless they were in the White House. It's something you might hear in the 1920s or '30s, but certainly not today.

Now take out two key words:

"Men are dangerous. They're bestial, unable to control their base desires. Every one of them wants to rape women. We'd be better off without them."

Suddenly it's something anyone could say in a magazine, newspaper, TV, or on social media. A little extreme, perhaps, but perfectly righteous.

And all I did was take out " black" and "white".

People rarely realize that they're being bigoted. When it's common opinion, it just seems like common sense. It's not until times change that people realize what they did and (some become) ashamed of it.

I believe that in time, it will be recognized that men have become an acceptable target for discrimination that those same people would NEVER think of directing against a racial group, for example.

Unfortunately most so-called "men's rights" groups are fronts for white supremacy, MAGA, and fascism. But that doesn't mean that men aren't actually discriminated against in some real ways.

The presence of a Y chromosome doesn't make a human being a monster. The lack thereof doesn't make someone an angel. Women can be abusive just like men. We aren't that different.

I've been abused by women, badly. Date-raped by a woman. Stalked by women. I've never done anything to a woman. Nonetheless I'm constantly called a potential rapist, molester, deadbeat Dad (although I had to raise my son solo when his mother abandoned him)...it gets to me. It gets to me really badly.

I've only ever tried to treat everyone as a human being worthy of respect until they proved themselves otherwise. And yet when I spoke up to say women can have the same flaws as some men, I'm immediately mocked, sneered at, and hit with the "Not all men" trope - as if that proved something somehow. It's bullying coupled with utter self-righteousness. And I just can't take it any more.

But my only option is to run away. Because I WON'T join one of those men's rights groups. Still, I'm angry.

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Fri, 12 Jun 2026 03:24:20 GMT

I can't say this on Mastodon, or apparently ANYWHERE where anyone might actually read it. But I'm absolutely goddamn sick of being told that as a man I'm a potential rapist, abuser, molester, and any other fucking thing. I'm done discussing gender on Mastodon.

The things some people say about men these days are EXACTLY what racist whites used to say about black men: they're all dangerous, sex-crazed, only want one thing, etc. etc. etc. That's considered shameful now, and rightly so. But some "enlightened" people are happy to throw that same kind of blanket condemnation at all men these days. I think eventually that will also be seen as wrong and shameful. But in the meantime, I'm done with it.

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Maine

Sat, 30 May 2026 04:20:32 GMT

We took a vacation this week. Left on Sunday morning and drove to the White Mountains in New Hampshire to pick up our friend Jordan, then drove the three of us to my parents' house in Maine. It was about 8 hours drive in all, with a stop at The Common Man in Hooksett for apple cider doughnuts.

Jordan got us to get out of the house and try some new places, which was good. We stopped at a place called "Bull Moose"; they sell CDs, DVDs, and Blu-Rays, including used ones. The selection was really impressive.

We also went to Damariscotta and shopped at Reny's, which is an amazing little department store; the prices are really low, and the whole place feels like stepping back into the 1950s. Went to their separate clothing store and got some stuff, too. Found that the library's used book store had moved to a much larger shop that was hard to find, although it was an easy walk from the main street downtown.

Had lunch at the general store there, which was lovely. They had excellent sandwiches, and I was really pleased to see flyers about Gaza.

For dinner we went to Dunton's Doghouse a couple of times, but also once to Moody's Diner. I'd been there long before, but I remembered it as being about a two-hour drive north; when I looked it up, it turned out to be only 34 minutes away! We LOVED the food there. Sebastian and I both got the meatloaf plate with mashed potatoes and gravy, and steamed carrots. Absolutely yummy! The waitress got me the last slice of gingerbread, and Sebastian had chocolate cheesecake. EVERYTHING was great, even the lemonade.

The ice cream store in downtown Boothbay isn't quite as good as it used to be, sadly. It's been under new management for a few years now, and it's not quite the same. But still not bad.

We gambled on a pizza place on the docks downtown. Sometimes they've been great, but more often they've been horrible. The last time we went I got sick as a dog from their food. But this time they were good. Not delightful, but certainly acceptable.

I got up at 6:20 one morning to get to Farm 23. That's a bakery that makes amazing croissants and coffee. Other pastries as well. They open at 7, but there's a guy who goes there sometimes first thing in the morning and buys up all of their croissants. Fortunately he didn't show up when I was there!

Found a great Chinese restaurant in Bath, and another branch of Bull Moose a little further south. There was a book store too, but I didn't get there in time. We hit several game stores in the area, and another couple of them on the drive back to the White Mountains.

It was really cold the first night; the bedrooms are all on the second floor, and there's no heat up there. So I bought a blanket at a thrift shop the next day, a nice warm one. But it warmed up a little the rest of the week.

We went into the town leatherworker's shop, a man who goes by "Tigger". Sebastian had lost the loop from his belt, and I needed a few more holes punched in mine. He did all of that for us and refused any pay! And he did a really beautiful job of it, too.

We're definitely going up again this summer.

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Is the Internet down?

Tue, 28 Oct 2025 03:58:11 GMT

Not completely, if you're reading this. But Mastodon (where I've been doing most of my posting) is down. So are some other sites. I wonder why?

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Widget's Last Day

Mon, 31 Mar 2025 13:27:38 GMT

Widget died early this morning, 3/31/2025. Many tears here today.

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Spoon

Sat, 08 Feb 2025 01:56:23 GMT

Recent studies have found evidence that we all have plastic in our brains - as much plastic as in an ordinary plastic spoon, in microscopic deposits. It seems that nanoplastics can penetrate the blood-brain barrier quite easily.

How do we get the plastic out again? I'm guessing we never do.

What is it doing to us? I suspect we won't know for decades, if ever. But I'm sure it's nothing good.

But it bothers me. I can't shake the thought of a plastic spoon buried in my brain. I know it's not literally a spoon, but it bothers the hell out of me nonetheless.

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Fang Found

Fri, 24 Jan 2025 00:37:45 GMT

Sebastian found Widget's missing fang a few weeks after he lost it. It's far too late to have it reattached, of course. But truth to tell, I didn't think Widget would still be alive by this point.

He was terribly feeble and his fur was patchy even 6 months ago. His fur is still terribly patchy, but he has rallied and seems to have a lot more energy. I can't really explain that, since he actually is quite old. But it's good to see him eat!

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Update

Fri, 24 Jan 2025 00:30:06 GMT

I'm still here! Is anyone else?

My Twitter account has been suspended since well before Musk acquired it, and was never unsuspended; so much for free speech!

Where else am I? I walked away from Facebook again, and I'm not inclined to go back; I've discovered that when I get censored on a social media site, I lose all interest in participating anymore. The only reason I haven't deleted my account there is because it's the only place that I can reach one of my oldest friends.

I'm on Mastodon at https://kolektiva.social/@Quasit and on BookWyrm (an equivalent to GoodReads that's part of the Fediverse and therefore NOT owned or controlled by Amazon) at https://bookwyrm.social/user/BobQu… .

I just joined RedNote to give the finger to Congress, but I don't think I'm likely to fit in there.

I hope everyone's doing well!

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Four-day weeks

Fri, 20 Sep 2024 03:44:20 GMT

I've been working for the same company for 26 years now. Unfortunately that means I maxed out my vacation time five or ten years ago. I get 25 vacation days each year, plus two personal days and about 15 "wellness" days.

Since I can't afford to take long vacations (I can barely afford to keep living in Massachusetts at this point), I end up with an odd situation every year. We used to be able to carry unused vacation days over to the next year, but the company changed the policy a few years ago; we can't carry unused days over at all. It's use it or lose it.

So around this time every year I put in for every Friday off for the rest of the year. Tomorrow will be the start of my four-day weeks. I still have five vacation days, two personal days, and 13 wellness days left on top of that, too.

For what it's worth, I will say this: a four-day week is a hell of a lot better than a five-day week! It's always hard to go back to working Fridays in January.

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Here I go again

Mon, 08 Apr 2024 19:44:55 GMT

Once again I'm effectively homeless online. I quit Reddit after the whole API thing; for some reason I didn't miss it. But I got involved again on Facebook, which I'd abandoned for years. I guess I really wanted a place to talk about politics.

It's probably me. There's an undeniable pattern. I get involved in political groups online, and end up being censored and/or banned for what I'm told are extremist comments. Now, as I see it, my comments are anything but extremist; the oligarchs are literally killing off the human race and rendering the Earth uninhabitable for life, but we're not allowed to even TALK about fighting back.

The latest round was particularly ironic, I think. I was on a Facebook group that was originally called "Guillotines for Billionaires", but was later called "Guillotines For A Better America", or something like that. I think the implication of violence was pretty clear, no? In fact, I was quite surprised that Facebook itself allowed the group to exist. It was pretty clear that the group wasn't hidden or anything, since we were hit by a surprisingly high number of DNC trolls. But in any case, I had fun making memes and being involved with the group. Until...

Someone posted a photo of a sign on a pillar that said something like "Thank a cop today", with a stick underneath that said "And pepper spray them". I commented "And kick them in the balls. HARD. And then take their gun." Okay, a little harsh, but all cops are bastards in my book. Nonetheless the INSTANT I tried to post that comment I got a message that my comment went against community standards - and that if I deleted it immediately I might "avoid potential account restrictions".

Now, there's nothing that gets me more angry than being told to shut up. So I quit the group and Facebook on the spot.

That's free speech in these days of late-stage capitalism; censorship by software, with no appeal allowed. The only places that have free speech are those where no one will hear you...like here.

So I'll be writing here and in the other digital holes in the ground, for now.

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I made a Dad joke

Sun, 10 Mar 2024 21:30:53 GMT

Sebastian: Do you know which country is the worst one for a cat with a dental problem?

Me: No, what?

Sebastian: Japan. Because there's only one cat dentist in the whole country.

Me: So what do they do for cats with bad dental problems? Chop them in half with a catana?

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Because of course

Mon, 26 Feb 2024 18:30:13 GMT

If I ever play a bard, I will name him "Bop Dylan" and he'll hit people on the head with his guitar.

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Leftover Pill Bottles

Sat, 24 Feb 2024 18:18:26 GMT

I have lots of empty pill bottles in various sizes. It seems wasteful (not to mention bad for the environment) to just throw them away, so I'm trying to think of uses for them. One thing I do is store quarters in them (after washing them out, of course). It's a handy way to keep them in my car.

I also have some huge ones (I don't get those any more, unfortunately) that I use to store candy. Now that I think of it, I could also use a large bottle to store band-aids, gauze, and antibacterial cream to keep as a mini first-aid kit in the car.

So what else could I do with them? Any ideas?

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Either/Or

Mon, 12 Feb 2024 08:40:31 GMT

The Democratic Party leadership don't give a shit about democracy. If they did, they wouldn't have put a visibly demented, doddering old octogenarian up against Donald Trump.

OR, this is all just a game between the two major political parties and who wins is meaningless - the oligarchs win either way. In which case we don't have democracy and probably haven't had it for decades. If ever.

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The Unforgiveable

Sat, 10 Feb 2024 22:07:02 GMT

For the record: even if #GenocideJoe drops out and is replaced by someone else, I'm still supporting Jill Stein. Gavin Newsom is a sleazy scumbag; take a look at his record in California, and you'll see that pretty much everything he does is a betrayal of poor and working Americans.

Hell, even if Bernie Sanders was the nominee I wouldn't support him. He sold us out too many times, and proved himself a shill for the oligarchy. The entire Democratic and Republican parties are complicit in the genocide of Gaza, and for that there can be no forgiveness - ever.

#FreePalestine

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Gun to my head

Sun, 28 Jan 2024 22:00:46 GMT

First off: I'm voting for Jill Stein, as I have before. But if someone took me to the polls, aimed a gun at my head and said "Biden or Trump", I'd vote for Trump.

And if they said "No, Biden or death", I'd say "Shoot."

Okay, not really. My vote isn't worth my life. It's not as if this is a real democracy. It's just my way of saying that there is no fucking WAY I'll ever vote for Joe Biden. Genocide is absolutely unforgivable, and dementia is no excuse.

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Status report

Wed, 24 Jan 2024 04:17:04 GMT

Still staying off of Reddit. I'm thinking I should probably delete my bookmarks for the site.

I've slept way too much today. Fell asleep on the couch after work. Now I'm wondering if I'm going to have trouble sleeping tonight!

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Reddit status

Mon, 15 Jan 2024 20:46:20 GMT

I'm still boycotting Reddit. Feels good.

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No surprise

Sat, 06 Jan 2024 05:33:23 GMT

You know, I'm really sick of the stupidity of political discussions online.

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Dad

Sat, 02 Dec 2023 02:34:37 GMT

My father died on August 10th of this year. He was five days short of his 93rd birthday. He'd been in a really expensive and nice nursing home for about a month before he died, but the dementia was pretty bad. He'd also been 87% deaf for years, which was terribly hard for him - and for all of us. Pneumonia was what killed him.

This might sound strange, but I feel very strongly that he's still with me - not in a supernatural sense, but in that so much of him is in me and Sebastian. His humor and kindness will never leave us. And I hope we inherited some of his intelligence, too.

Dad was born and grew up in Istanbul. His father was a childhood survivor of the Armenian Genocide, as was his mother. I don't remember either of his parents at all; they died when I was very young. His father owned a leather factory in Istanbul, and even when he was very young Dad was able to help him with new techniques for treating the leather. Dad was always absolutely brilliant.

I remember him telling me that his father once stood in a bath of chemicals which were used to make leather waterproof - some sort of industrial chemicals which sealed up the pores. Apparently he thought that standing in it would make his feet stop sweating; it seems that he felt that his feet sweated too much. As I understand it, his feet never sweated again. But that can't have been safe or healthy.

There's so much more to say, but I'm sick (a virus) and need to get some housework done. I'll add to this later.

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DreamWidth: Always the Bridesmaid

Mon, 12 Jun 2023 17:21:16 GMT

It was awesome, watching one subreddit after another go dark last night. I don't imagine that it will affect Reddit's IPO at all, of course; money doesn't care about the wishes of ordinary human beings. But with any luck at least SOME permanent damage will be done.

I set up new accounts on Lemmy, kbin, and BookWyrm - all part of the Fediverse, which I'm hoping is resistant to the cancerous corrosion of venture capital. I did try to suggest DreamWidth as an alternate destination, but nobody seemed that interested. They never are, although I'm not sure why. Apart from being privately owned, DreamWidth seems an outstanding alternative to me. But what do I know?

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Tue, 24 Jan 2023 15:33:10 GMT

Cory Doctorow keeps coming up with wonderfully insightful think pieces. This one explains why every major social media site ends up going bad - including Amazon, despite the title.

Tiktok’s enshittification - https://doctorow.medium.com/tiktoks-enshittification-bb3f5df91979

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WOTC/Hasbro and the OGL

Tue, 17 Jan 2023 05:01:17 GMT

If the new OGL includes language that allows WOTC to make changes down the road - and it will - they WILL restore all the most odious conditions as soon as they think they can get away with it. Which will be soon.

That "We'd never steal your work" bit? If you sign the document, you have AGREED to give them a free license - and again, even if they don't include that in the language, it will be added back to it almost immediately. And if you've agreed to give them a license, it's not "stealing" - right? That's what they'll argue.

Lastly, look up the outstanding article by Cory Doctorow "Good Riddance to the Open Gaming License" [https://pluralistic.net/2023/01/12/beg-forgiveness-ask-permission/#whats-a-copyright-exception]. He makes the point that the OGL 1.0a is NOT a wonderful representation of generosity from WOTC. Rather, it "gives" signatories only some of the rights that they already had through standard copyright law, and actually DENIES them rights that the law would otherwise give them. It's a cheat, and shouldn't be misrepresented as some sort of key to the Golden Age. It's not.

Businesspeople have been trying to screw gamers for money going back to the old days; look up threads on rec.games.frp.dnd back in the early 90s if you want to get an incredible feeling of deja vu. What WOTC is trying isn't anything new. It's just that they got caught. But they're counting on gamers losing interest, because in their eyes we're nothing but a bunch of empty-headed socially inept geeks who are keeping them from "their" (i.e. OUR) money. That's why the people who are now claiming that we've "won" might as well be in the pay of WOTC/Hasbro. They're still dead set on robbing us all blind. They don't understand gamers, they don't like gamers, and they certainly don't respect gamers.

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It's over

Thu, 06 Oct 2022 15:03:21 GMT

The settlement was accepted by the judge today. It's all finally over. I've blocked Teri's email address, and with any luck I will never have to deal with her in any way ever again.

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