Maddie and I were hanging out over at Jan and Randy's place, and while Randy and I were discussing something (woodchucks, if I remember correctly), Maddie got bored and wandered off. Eventually, I noticed that she wasn't nearby, so I looked around the church, discovering that she'd decided climb into Randy's kayak.


"Pew, pew," said Maddie, looking out across the deck from the cockpit. "Kaboom." She glanced up at me as I approached. "Got 'em."

"What are you up to there, Mighty Quinn? Seal hunting?" I checked my watch. Nearly five o'clock, dinner time for little dogs.


"Nope," replied Maddie. "I'm flying my rocket ship through the asteroid belt, hunting for giant space scorpions and crab monsters. Besides, I like seals. They're cute. I think I'd like to meet a seal." She paused. "Wait, what did you just call me?"

"'Mighty Quinn,'" I answered. "It's ""

"It's a store downtown," said Maddie, eying me suspiciously. "We walk past there all the time. Why did you just call me a store?"

"I didn't. The Mighty Quinn was a character in an old Bob Dylan song long before it was a store. He's an Eskimo."

"What's an Eskimo?"

"Indigenous peoples of the Great White North," I answered. "They come from Alaska, Siberia, and Greenland. They invented kayaks." I tapped on the boat's hull. "Though the song's really about the actor Anthony Quinn."

"Who's he."

"Zorba the Greek, for one. And he was Zampanò, the Gypsy strong man in La Strada. Oh, and he also played Auda abu Tayi, the leader of the Howeitat in Lawrence of Arabia. You watched that one with me, remember?"

"I think so," said Maddie, like she was trying to fit puzzle pieces together. "So this Quinn guy is from Greenland? And he's the leader of the Weetzie Bats? Or was that the Aquabats? I'm confused."

"Anthony Quinn? No, he's from Chihuahua."

"He's a Chihuahua? Now I'm even more confused."

"From Chihuahua, not a Chihuahua. It's a state in Mexico."

"But I thought you said he was an Eskimo."

I shook my head. "No, Anthony Quinn was an actor. He only played an Eskimo."

"Oh. I think I get it. So do they sell Eskimos at the Mighty Quinn? Or do Eskimos run the place?"

"No, it's a head shop."


"Wait, they sell heads there?" asked Maddie. "That's really weird."

"Never mind that," I said, changing the subject. "You about ready to head home for dinner?"

"Yeah, I guess I am kind of hungry."

"Well then come on, it's dinner time."


"But what about the giant space scorpions?" asked Maddie.

"Don't worry about them," I said. "The asteroid belt's a long way from earth. We'll be fine. You can always come back and hunt them after dinner."


But meanwhile...

---

Should I feel guilty about having Turkish for lunch on Greek Independence Day? Probably not, but I can't help wondering, and that's just the sort of bleeding-heart knucklehead I am...

That aside, you guessed it. I went back to Real Doner for lunch today, and ended up ordering the same thing as last week. Next time, the Greek salad for certain, even if today might have been more appropriate. This time I managed to take pictures before attacking my food.


Great stuff, really. And the bread...


...right from the oven. Outstanding.


Next time, I have to try their coffee. I feel guilty that I haven't yet. But a proper Turkish coffee isn't a to-go item, so I'm saving that experience for the first time I cajole someone into coming along. I did, however, brew my own approximately-Turkish coffee once I got home: the darkest French roast imaginable, finely ground, brewed in a French press, one packet of Sugar in the Raw added to smooth over the bitter. Aah. And free refills, too (at home, that is). Good stuff... for an imitation.

---

We've got a lot going on at the 'Shade right now. So how about a handful of links?:

Buy Laird Barron's The Imago Sequence and Other Stories in Trade Paperback and pick out a free Trade Paperback (offer expires Sunday, March 29).

Ted Chiang's Hugo-nominated story "Exhalation" (from Eclipse Two) is available as a free download!

A brief production update, in which release dates for Mall of Cthulhu, Bar None, Prador Moon, Passage at Arms, Lightbreaker, Precious Dragon, An Empire Unacquainted with Defeat, The Shadow Pavilion, The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year, Volume 3, Clark Ashton Smith's The Collected Fantasies, Volume 4: The Maze of the Enchanter, and The Collected Fiction of William Hope Hodgson, Volume 5: The Dream of X and Other Fantastic Visions are discussed, and wherein Gahan Wilson's introduction to Clark Ashton Smith: The Collected Fantasies, Volume 4: The Maze of the Enchanter is made available for download.

A discussion thread in which I answer a question and make a few suggestions regarding Glen Cook.

Another discussion thread, in which I attempt to make an announcement about the impending release of The Collected Fiction of William Hope Hodgson, Volume 5: The Dream of X and Other Fantastic Visions (a book that's only four years behind schedule), but instead quickly realize why intelligent Internet discourse is, by it very nature, futile.

Well, that was a mouthful. What are you waiting for, click!