November Words of Wisdom

Traditions are answers that have been discovered to enduring questions. 

--Roger Scruton

 

Women need solitude in order to find again the true essence of themselves. 

--Anne Morrow Lindbergh

 

To the degree you approach the truth, your solitude will increase...Keep going. Don't be afraid. --Michel Houellebecq

 

Nobody realizes that some people expend tremendous energy merely to be normal. --Albert Camus 

 

Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart. --William Wordsworth 

 

Is politics nothing other than the art of deliberately lying? --Voltaire

 

How quickly we turn from damsel to dragon when we decide we've had enough of their shit. --Ann Marie Eleazer 

 

 

 

The morning fog

After the Wednesday/Thursday heatwave, we're back to our regularly scheduled late November weather.

 

I was hearing this song in my head until the fog burned off an hour later.

 

Ooooh, swirly!

I like trying non-traditional desserts for the holidays. I mean, there's absolutely nothing wrong with pumpkin pie, it's always welcome, but this Thanksgiving I went with pumpkin cake. And because I love Bundts...

 

 

Snagged recipe from here. Also, if you use a bundt instead of the pan in the recipe, it needs a lot longer than 30 minutes in the oven. More like 50-ish. Use the toothpick test to determine doneness. The result: well-baked on the outside, incredibly moist on the inside. And remember, dusting with powdered sugar makes everything prettier!

 

Happy Turkey Day!!!

Hope it's a fun one!!!

 

 

Recent reading: Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine

AHMM and Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine have been running late, and so have I in reading them.

Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine 

(September/October 2025)

 

Favorites from this issue: 

• "High in That Ivory Tower" by Joseph S. Walker: A jaded English professor tries to blackmail a filthy rich student, with unexpected results when the young man's father shows up to confront him. Bonus points for the shoutout to "The Cask of Amontillado" during the shock ending.
• "The Promise" by Ken Brosky: A PI looking for a missing crime witness has to drag his teenage daughter along for the job and is pleasantly surprised when she shows unexpected aptitude and enthusiasm.
• "Julius Katz Draws a Straight Flush" by Dave Zeltserman: Imaginative story about a PI and his AI assistant, who not only assists but authors tales of their legendary exploits, and how they brilliantly solve the seemingly innocuous case of a dead waiter. 4/30/26: This just won the Edgar Award for Best Short Story of 2025.
• "Tell Me a Story, Grampa" by Loren D. Estleman: The story Grampa tells young Randy is about an old, unsolved bank robbery that has become legend in their small town, with a very unexpected twist at the end that reveals the robber that everyone thought got away.
• "Murder in F-Sharp" by Stephen Ross: A teenage music student discovers the identity of the murderer of a teacher at his school, then uses this knowledge to ruthlessly manipulate two adults in his life - his father and his piano teacher. Another great, unexpected twist at the end.
• "The Selwyn Arms" by Marcelle Dube: A formerly homeless young woman investigates the murder of a kind neighbor after realizing local police are going to write it off as an accidental overdose or suicide. Probably my favorite of all the stories and I would love to see more of unlikely heroine Ethel Brownlee, especially with the unexpected news she receives at the end of the story. Plus, I'm a sucker for vintage buildings like the Selwyn.

 Next up, EQMM.