Monthly Archives: February 2015

Ars Gratia Artis: The Playful, Growing Aesthetic of the 419 Scam

Posted on February 26, 2015 by L. M. Bernhardt

I’ve written several times before about the fascinating literary genre (if one wants to call it that) of the 419 scam email. There’s something marvelously creative in some iterations of this particular criminal act that it’s hard not to appreciate. … Continue reading →

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Hey, You Kids! Get Your Automated Citation Generators Off Of My Lawn!

Posted on February 23, 2015 by L. M. Bernhardt

There are a lot of cool things on the internet for researchers: amazing tools for checking cross-references, for tracking citations, for collecting and organizing references, for finding source material, for organizing and visualizing data. It’s really all quite marvelous! The … Continue reading →

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The Last River on Mars

Posted on February 15, 2015 by L. M. Bernhardt

Sometimes, when I take a photo, I find myself caught up in imagining a story about it. A phrase or a line or a bit of character will just come to mind, and off we go! I usually can’t write … Continue reading →

Posted in fiction, photography | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Looking Down On What’s Left

Posted on February 14, 2015 by L. M. Bernhardt

There is something sort of eerie about the view from a plane hurtling through the sky between Albuquerque and Vegas, especially for eyes used to the green, gridded regularity of the farm-tamed upper midwest. From great heights, one sees stone … Continue reading →

Posted in Americana, travel | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Flight Delayed. Stuck in Vegas airport. Please send earplugs.

Posted on February 11, 2015 by L. M. Bernhardt

These are the sounds of McCarran International Airport, in no particular order: The smooth jazz stylings of the Rat Pack, Ella Fitzgerald, and their assorted contemporaries, on an endless loop of smooth, smooth jazziness tinged with a wee bit of … Continue reading →

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The Habitrail Critic Ascending

Posted on February 8, 2015 by L. M. Bernhardt

First, a slightly delayed bit of Bad Poem Saturday Sunday in the form of a spoiler-free Haiku Review of Jupiter Ascending: Once more, spectacle has won a grand victory over narrative Huzzah! Now for the spoiler-ish ravings and a bout of … Continue reading →

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An Open Letter…

Posted on February 7, 2015 by L. M. Bernhardt

…to the dude who was texting while erratically riding his bicycle (which had no lights or reflectors) in the dim shadows of a poorly-lit parking lot about 30 minutes ago: Rejoice! I have spared your life on this night! May … Continue reading →

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Tales That Outlive Their Tellers

Posted on February 6, 2015 by L. M. Bernhardt

Recently, my great aunt Cleo Caraway passed away. She was 89 years old, still living in her own home, and was (by all reports) vividly and entirely herself right up to the end. I can’t say that I knew Cleo … Continue reading →

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