Letter Meme

1. Leave a comment to this post, specifically saying that you would like a letter.
2. I will give you a letter.
3. Post the names of five fictional characters whose names begin with that letter, and your thoughts on each. The characters can be from books, movies, or TV shows.



gnomi gave me a "D"

1) Death (as envisioned by Terry Pratchett in the Discworld series). I love how Pratchett depicts Death, with his distinctive speech (in smallcaps), his horse (Binky), and his fondness for cats. He's just traditional enough to be convincing, while having a true personality.

2) Dracula. Not enough people have actually read Bram Stoker's novel. It's a great mix of horror story and social commentary and especially interesting for Stoker's mixed feelings about modern womanhood. (His mother was an early feminist.) Dracula himself is almost incidental, a mechanism for bringing out the contrast between Mina (the most complete character in the book) and Lucy (whose 3 suitors barely combine to make a full man).

3) Domenica MacDonald. Domenica is one of the residents of Alexander McCall Smith's 44 Scotland Street. She is an older woman, an anthropologist, and both an explorer and mentor to some of the other characters. I particularly like her research into modern day pirates, but will refrain from spoiling what she found out.

4) Dolly Levi. That's Dolly as in Hello, Dolly! I've never read or seen Thornton Wilder's The Matchmaker so I can't judge whether or not the musical changed her, but I'm always fond of brash older women who take charge of their lives. I, too, have always been a woman who arranges things.

5) Dorothy Gale. I will admit to mixed feelings about the Oz books. I do think Dorothy does well with the circumstances she finds herself in, but there is still something off-putting about her. I suspect that she takes too much pleasure in power, especially in the later books in the series.

Trying to Catch Up - Part 1

I have, again, been too busy doing things to write about them. So here is one of those random catch-up entries.

Celebrity Death Watch: George Lindsey played Goober Pyle. Bob Stewart created several game shows, including The Price is Right and Password. Carroll Shelby designed cars. Carlos Fuentes was a Mexican novelist. Maurice Sendak wrote children's books, but was not responsible for the song "Wild Thing." And Vidal Sassoon gave me the best haircut I ever got. (Okay, it was at a salon bearing his name, not by him personally, but still ...)

Federal Acquisiton Regulations: Skimming a document led me to find a couple of items that amuse me. Did you kjnow that printed contracts have to be on double sided recycled paper with 30% post consumer fiber content? And that live animals are exempt from rules on place of manufacture?

My Workplace is Not Like Yours: I saw a sign in a women's room in the Pentagon that read, "Are you a modern woman with a past?" It turned out to be an ad for the Pentagon chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.

Speaking of Work: One of my colleagues referred to people performing an independent review of a program as performing "seagull engineering." That is, they fly in, poop all over everything, and fly out.

Cultural Literacy: In a meeting last week, I made a reference to the deacon's one-hoss shay. Nobody else knew what I was talking about. When I rule the world, all children will be exposed to great American poetry.

Upcoming topics: Things on my list to write about include the science festival, 5 plays, 4 movies, 2 concerts, my trip to London, dating, and amigurumi activism.