Tim Lees

@timlees.bsky.social

Novelist, short story writer. Brit in Chicago. Door-opener and treat-supplier to a small dog. Married to a wonderful woman. https://timlees.wordpress.com/

Not sure I get the jazz thing where you don't play the tune, change all the chords, but give the original composer a credit anyway. Maybe it's just a case of being generous.

Either substantial portions of this country secede and form a new nation or we outlaw the Republican Party as an organization because its existence is incompatible with a functioning, democratic republic. A political party must abide by the rules in order to be protected by them.

tony romm@tonyromm.bsky.social · 2w ago

NEW: In a stunning admission, the Trump administration admitted in court documents that it canceled billions in energy grants to states "based solely" on politics -- and whether that state was represented by Democrats and backed Harris in 2024. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/24/b...

Everybody I know that has retired has died, and I don’t want to go yet. That’s why I keep working. It keeps my mind going, keeps me creating, keeps me alive. - Herbie Hancock

A curious thing about the Odyssey - poem, not film. The fantastic elements - the Cyclops, Circe, etc - aren't part of the objective, 3rd person narrative, but recounted by Odysseus himself, a boastful trickster - so, is he lying? Is he literature's first unreliable narrator?

Anyone who's spent any time in the world of work knows that hard work and income bear very little relation to each other. Some of the hardest working people earn very little, while others are well-rewarded for doing... well, I'm not sure what.

I'm no longer a Christian, but the outpouring of online hate from people pretending to be Christians gives me a renewed appreciation of the gospels. Problematic books, perhaps, but their overall message of kindness, hospitality, forgiveness, and kicking rich folk in the arse has a timeless appeal.

I read a couple of Castenadas' books. The first was pretty clearly an academic thesis, though with a good sense of narrative and character (don Juan, the Yaqui shaman). The next (I think the 5th in order) was obviously a novel, if a rather unusual one. crimereads.com/ru-marshall-...

Ru Marshall on the Curious Lives and Legends of Carlos Castaneda

Carlos Castaneda began his rise to fame in 1968, while he was still a graduate student at UCLA, with the publication, by the University of California Press, of his first book The Teaching of Don Ju…

crimereads.com

Hockney: When I first went to London I was 18 years old, and they would mock me for my accent. It was stronger then — "there's trouble at t'mill!" — but I just laughed. What I really thought was, "If I drew like you, I'd keep my mouth shut!"

Sad to hear of the death of David Hockney. Saw several exhibitions at Salts Mill & Bradford. A wonderful artist, for whom it seemed almost anything could become art; a huge variety of styles, techniques and subject matter.

Someone please clear this up for me. What the hell do Americans mean by "leftist"? No-one is trying to set up a Communist regime here. So what, exactly, is a "leftist"? Someone who approves rights for minority groups? Decent wages? What?