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Happy weekend

That’s it from me for the week, folks. The Bitter Fruit-loving Annie Reid takes over tomorrow and most Fridays. Have a good weekend.

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Jules Verne centenary

This year marks the centenary of Jules Verne’s death. In the current Smithsonian, Doug Stewart lays blame at Hollywood’s doorstep for Verne’s U.S. reputation “as a lightweight.” Poor translations and a formula-happy editor also helped pigeonhole him as a writer of simplistic sci-fi, Stewart argues: Verne’s most popular novels, written in the 1860s and ’70s, seem to be upbeat paeans . . .

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Ancient laptop

This early laptop weighed 24.5 pounds — and was, from the look of it, just as likely to induce carpal tunnel syndrome as the computers of today. (Via Boing Boing.) I’d lug a 24-pound machine around with me if it were a repetitive stress-busting gizmo like this (although I’d like it in pink, please). My wrists are keeping me up . . .

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Auslander on God, drugs and writing

Shalom Auslander talks with Nextbook’s Sara Ivry about the inspiration for his impressive short story collection, Beware of God, which appears next month. The second half of one answer (the italicized part) reminds me of the prologue to my novel-in-progress, but of course it’s smarter and more succinct and makes me want to throw all 55,000 words of my manuscript . . .

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Afternoon diversions

Inspired by recent events, writer Tod Goldberg presents a sort of online living will indicating the situations in which he does not want to be resuscitated. He also asks for assisted suicide in certain instances: 5. If I begin to re-read Gravity’s Rainbow again just to see, finally, what the fuck I’m missing out on, end it. Jaime J. Weinman . . .

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