Le Carré’s very first novel, Call for the Dead introduces his most famous character, George Smiley. After a harmonious meeting with Smiley to review his security clearance, Samuel Fennan goes home, writes a letter com­plain­ing of har­rass­ment, and commits suicide. But little things don’t add up and Smiley starts in­ves­ti­gat­ing, only to be nearly murdered himself.

A strong debut, and amazingly short at 160 pages. Call provides some background about Smiley’s very bad war, undercover in Nazi ter­ri­to­ries, and his rocky marriage.

Barely a month ago, while cleaning up Frank Maloney’s Facebook account, I became aware of Portland Motsscon XXII.

I discovered the soc.motss newsgroup back in 1989, when I arrived in America as a grad student at Brown and had steady access to Usenet. MOTSS = members of the same sex, an opaque euphemism for gay attraction, which helped the group be created with a minimum of fuss in 1983.

I lurked on soc.motss for two years. I knew that I was bisexual, but I wasn’t ready to admit it to anyone. Then my friend Éamonn came out as gay and I promptly came out to him. After a few months …continue.

For 13 months in 1933–34, John Dillinger robbed banks all over the Midwest, leaving behind a legend and con­tribut­ing to the growth of the FBI. Johnny Depp gives a charis­mat­ic per­for­mance of a ruthless and audacious killer, who endeared himself to the public as he liked to give money back to the customers of the banks he was robbing. Christian Bale is the cold, efficient lead FBI agent, in charge of a brutal and not very competent team, little better than the men they chased. Marion Cotillard is Dillinger’s girlfriend who he’s willing to brave all to be with after …continue.

The first Irene Adler novel by Douglas, im­me­di­ate­ly preceding Good Morning, Irene, which retells Conan Doyle’s A Scandal in Bohemia from Irene and Nell’s per­spec­tive.

We learn how the narrator Nell Huxleigh met Irene; of Irene’s early years in London when she struggles with her singing career and develops a sideline as an in­ves­ti­ga­tor; how she meets Godfrey Norton, her future husband; how they despise each other at first, in the best rom-com tradition; her operatic triumphs in Warsaw that draw her to the attention of the future …continue.

Charlie Parker, the hero of John Connolly’s books, has always been able to rely on his friends, the former assassin Louis and his life-partner Angel, for backup when events turn blood­y—­most recently in The Unquiet.

Louis’ past is catching up with him, leading to a bloody climax. As we explore that past, we learn how a gay, black teenager in a sundown town was recruited to be a “reaper”. When Louis and Angel are set up, Parker and other friends must go in after them.

Partly an ex­plo­ration of the different …continue.

The Toast­mas­ters year closes tomorrow. We held our Annual Meeting tonight at Freely Speaking Toast­mas­ters and elected a new set of officers. One new person was elected to the board, replacing the one person who stepped down, but everyone except the VP Education and the Webmaster changed roles. I am the outgoing Secretary and the incoming Treasurer, and I also continue as the Webmaster.

I can’t believe that I’ve never taken the train down to Portland before. It’s easy, it’s in­ex­pen­sive, and it’s about as quick as driving without the hassle.

The photo is from the set of photos that I posted to Flickr for motsscon XXII, on which more later.

I rode on a Segway today, for the first time. It was a lot of fun: a two-hour of Portland’s waterfront with nine other motsscon people. I could have done without the 80°F heat though.

It took a few minutes for me to find my balance and to feel com­fort­able. After that, it came pretty naturally.

Highly rec­om­mend­ed.

Today, I did something that I’ve never done before. I visited my US Senators’ offices, with a handful of others, to help stiffen their spines on healthcare reform.

It started by accident last night when Mira mentioned on Facebook that she was going to visit Rep. Jim McDermott, Sen. Maria Cantwell, and Sen. Patty Murray’s Seattle offices today to talk to them about the “public option”.

McDermott and Murray were already supporters of the public health insurance option. Cantwell’s position was murkier and she came out in favor of some kind of lame “co-op” compromise earlier this week. Mira and her friends had no difficulty in setting up meetings with McDermott and …continue.

I’m heading down to Portland tomorrow evening for Motsscon XXII, of which more later.

It seems no-one thought to set up a map of the events and restau­rants, so I spent half an hour in Google Maps creating a custom map. It was sur­pris­ing­ly painless and the sug­ges­tions for businesses near an address really helped.

Update: 10 minutes after writing the above, Google Maps crashed Safari 4 while trying to print the map.