The Last Hurray of Winter and a Linkdump

On the cusp of spring, winter returned with a vengeance this weekend for one last hurray. I don’t know how long it will lastm but for now we have approx. five centimeters of snow. I took a bunch of photos, which you can see behind the cut, but for now have some links:

The New Yorker has an interesting article about a new female trickster figures, who manage to outwit the opposition, while still remaining psychologically and often physically fragile. This also ties into my earlier observation that the current trend for having fragile looking, willowy white women play tough as nails CIA agents almost strikes me as some kind of propaganda. “Look out, islamist terrorists, cause even our women can take you.”

At The Kenyon Review, Amy Boesky, now a professor of English literature, recounts how she ghostwrote Sweet Valley High novels as a grad student in the 1980s. I very likely read some of her books back in the day.

On Tuesday, popular German actor Dieter Pfaff died of cancer aged 65. His substantial figure was a frequent sight on German TV in the 1990s and 2000s. Also on Tuesday, Hugo Chavez, president of Venezuela, died, also of cancer. No link, because it’s nigh impossible to find something that is not biassed to the one or the other side.

And now the photos, taken at dawn to capture the untouched snow, hence everything looks a little twilighty:

A look down my snow-covered street at 6:30 this morning.

My driveway, the mailbox and the house across the road smothered in snow

Neighbour house and oak tree covered in snow

A snow-covered meadow and another neighbour house

The front garden and the the apartment block across the street are covered in snow.