Lunch chat with metahacker...

... I pointed out that one of life's corollaries with game theory is that it can pay to be vicious, but not to be vindictive. I said I don't carry grudges, in games or in life, because it doesn't help me. There is a difference between disliking someone for their current behavior, or even a good prediction of future behavior based on past example, and maintaining animosity over finished business. I just don't tend to do the latter. So I said.

Of course, a few hours later I realized I was wrong. Even now I draw from a deep font of acrimony for Person. Although we are friends, although the cause of my bitterness lies elsewhere, although Person does not know that I bear such anger, still the very innocent presence of Person rankles me.

And that's pointless, so I'm giving it up. I have no use for this spring of bile, so I cast it off. May it trouble me no more.

People who sound like people

Hearing Neil read his stuff is always really cool, but at the Worldcon reading it struck me that there was something very familiar, and yet unusual for him, about the style of Anansi Boys. When I heard him read some Smoke and Mirrors stuff at MIT I was struck by how Douglas Adamsy it was, and I think his reading style brings that out to some degree, but that wasn't the case here.

Eventually it occurred to me that it was fairly similar to Coraline, in some ways. And, since I've been reading Neil's blog, that quickly lead to my answer: Neil's recent work has become Daniel Pinkwateresque. Nifty.