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I've created a tiny list, 'Spiderful', of stories I've read and enjoyed that contain significant arachnid characters. Suggestions for further additions are welcome, excluding Spiderman fanfic. It's already got a thumbs down, presumably from the only person to access it other than myself.
My kitchen window spider, Rachel, is sulking at the moment. I thought we had an arrangement - he gets protection from the elements provided he steers clear of objects on the windowsill. He once tried to link his web to one of my plastic-bottle terraria, but I carefully detached the thread and he seemed to learn from the experience. I've even saved his life twice from cannibalistic intruders. Then this morning I found he'd gone all Vladimir Putin. After I showed him who's boss, most of his web is still intact but it's a very odd shape.
Can spiders actually learn? I've seem claims from Tarantula owners that they taught their animals to do tricks.
AJ
Google thwarted me on another technical term. I tried in vain to get it to give me examples of 'cross product' outside the field of vector algebra. SOL's search facility found one usage, in Ryan Sylander's 'Shutter Release'. Unfortunately the preview didn't actually contain the term 'cross product' itself, so wasn't immediately obvious in what context it was used.
ETA a Google site search found it more precisely. It's in Chapter 59:
"Indeed, I was taken back to a vision center that was far away from here, where the cross-product of blindness and talent had led to unbelievable work, but also had delivered incapacitating panic..."
I remember the term from business data mining, but I think it appears in statistical analysis too.
Teacher: "What's a cross product?"
Jimmy: "Angry Birds."
AJ
Needing a word to help describe an effect, I remembered the word 'steric' from my school chemistry days. I tried asking Google if the word was used in contexts other than chemistry but I seem to have the Essex girl version of Google AI. Then I tried SOL's search and found
"That's hard to keep apart. They call you hook nose for a few years, and you'll start seeing it their way. Besides, it tends to get in the way."
"You mean when you're kissing? Steric inhibition?"
in his story Nosy Witch.
That's good enough for me: how can anyone argue with an authority like Argon!
Q: Why is 'steric' laughing or crying uncontrollably?
A: Because it's in hysterics.
AJ
I'm partial to stories involving libraries, particularly if magic is involved.
Here are three I've particularly enjoyed/am enjoying, all with scores comfortably over 8.0.
Hidden Heritage II: The Scholars by DeeBee. Complete: the middle book in a three book series.
The Last Library by Dai Stiho. In progress, but updates are currently infrequent.
The Library of Ibados by Fick Suck. Also in progress, but updates are frequent and regular.
If you have favourites that I've missed, send me a message and I'll add them if they float my boat.
AJ
At the conclusion of my novel, 'Gay!', it had earned a score of 7.99. The intervening years weren't kind and it slipped to 7.98. Imagine my surprise when I recently discovered it was up to 8.01. My lowbrow novel is now eligible for the attentions of highbrow readers who turn their noses up at anything with a rating of less than 8.0!
I'm very, very afraid.
AJ
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