A SHRINE ON EVERY CORNER

One striking thing about Bangkok is that you see a lot of shrines on just about every street corner.

Like so.



 

Then there’s the Erawan Shrine, which is actually rather famous.



Like a prayer,

This is dF

THE LADY IS A LAMP

Also, spotted outside a nail salon and spa on the side street between the skytrain and my hotel:



I want one of them.

Switch me on,

This is dF

I’M READING AS FAST AS I CAN (APRIL 2012 EDITION)

Do I read books? Boy, do I.

JUST FINISHED

The Wordy Shipmates by Sarah Vowell
Many people know Vowell from This American Life, but I know her mainly by a couple of appearances on The Daily Show, where she basically charmed the socks off me. One appearance involved her talking about this very book, which is basically her pop-culture take on the Puritans who founded Massachusetts and Rhode Island. You wouldn’t think that would interest me, but one of my favorite professors in university, who taught history, was a big fan of the Puritans as a history subject and made me one too, not least because they are widely misunderstood by modern conservatives and liberals alike. So I had to read this.

I’m glad I did. Vowell is very engaging and funny writer, and while her take on the Puritans is somewhat snarky, it’s also well-researched and makes some astute observations on how little the ultra-religious Puritans have in common with today’s Christian evangelicals (both in good and bad ways). Vowell’s POV is decidedly leftist, so conservatives probably won’t appreciate it. But it made an instant fan of me. I’ll definitely be looking to read more of her books.

JUST STARTED

Bury Me Deep by Megan Abbott
This is my third outing with Abbott, after reading Queenpin and The Song Is You, both of which I liked a lot. This time it’s Depression-era noir and a fictionalized version of an actual murder case, in which abandoned young wife Marion gets mixed up with a fun-loving redhead nurse, a tuburcular blonde and a local ladies man. So far so good.

( AND RECENTLY: Lupin! Asimov! Goines! And mad science! )

Mad daddy,

This is dF