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First sleigh-load shipped, additional cheer to follow
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Dec 5, 2022 13:47
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Sleighs AWAY!
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Dec 5, 2022 14:39
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Mr. Nemo posted:Disclaimer: not your santa Sorry for the slow reply – the joys of the end of term. I don't have a good reads account, but I can definitely drop some reccommendations. With regards to shuffle literature, the “classic” is Composition no. 1 by Saporta. Originally published in French, there’s a neat translation by Richard Howard. As a story it’s probably the best of the bunch, and the shuffling works as part of the whole thing. The other big one most know of is the one you mentioned – The Unfortunates by BS Johnson. It’s… not great? As you say, it’s about death, friendship, and football. The shuffling stuff doesn’t really add anything substantive, I think. Still, it’s fun enough? A few other notable ones: Heart Suit by Robert Coover (who wrote the short story The Babysitter); this comes as a literal deck of cards (or at least it does in the version I have). The Family Arcana by J. Berry is another story printed on playing cards. It’s a fun read! Sentences by Robert Grenier comes in a super beautiful box and 500 "pages". Honestly though, I suspect that all this is going to be replaced with AI generated texts. Shuffle literature is super cool, but your laptop can do it faster/better (and we can share particular distributions to talk about the stories generated).
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Dec 5, 2022 14:44
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A gift has been deployed! Due to the vagaries of online bookstores, it'll probably be in a few shipments, but we'll see how it goes.
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Dec 7, 2022 11:22
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My finely wrapped gift has arrived, and already makes me ashamed for not realizing that obviously i should wrap my gift and make it a surprise. Ahhh sorry I'll do better next year goons, I'm not very good at the holidays.
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Dec 7, 2022 16:55
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Don't leave us hanging! What-cha get?
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Dec 7, 2022 17:51
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A few days ago, I received a package that I thought was some vitamins I'd ordered and set it to the side for when it was needed. Well, the vitamins actually arrived today so I opened the other box and it contained Around the World in 80 Trees. This should be a good supplement to my growing (pun fully intended) interest in the YouTube channel Crime Pays But Botany Doesn't.
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Dec 8, 2022 05:36
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Checking in to say that I've now received two packages, one from Amazon and one from a third-party store. I'll probably be holding off on opening them until Christmas, but they are here!
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Dec 9, 2022 02:59
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I got my two books this week. It was a fun time! I originally posted this, and got these responses:The Grey posted:Please no poetry, but otherwise I'm good with whatever you think is interesting. Of course what did I get? I expect nothing less from Something Awful!  quote:Writing very bad poetry requires talent. It helps to have a wooden ear for words, a penchant for sinking into a mire of sentimentality, and an enviable confidence that allows one to write despite absolutely appalling incompetence. I read through a few of the poems already... Yes, they are very bad. (Although I probably wouldn't recognize good poetry either.) My wife orders about a zillion things off Amazon and constantly has packages arriving every day. She ripped open this one by default thinking it was for her, and then got confused when she saw the poetry book. She looked again at the label and noticed it was for me. She asked me about it the next day. After I explained it was from Something Awful, she was relieved and said she hoped I wasn't buying a book of poetry as her Christmas present. (That gave me the idea to regift this book to her at Christmas though.) The other book is one I have on my wanted list, FantasticLand. It's about an amusement park in Florida that gets hit by a hurricane, isolated from society, and turns into a Lord of the Flies type scenario. I enjoy stories about dystopian amusement parks, and this looks great. Thanks Santa for the fun books!
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Dec 11, 2022 16:46
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 I’m sorry, I couldn’t resist. Do hope you enjoy Fantasticland though, I read it earlier this year and it’s very cool.
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Dec 11, 2022 16:57
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The Grey posted:Of course what did I get? I expect nothing less from Something Awful! Ha, glad your Santa fessed up, otherwise, I would have had to deny it! My gift was posted 9 days ago - frantically F5'ing the page...
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Dec 11, 2022 23:06
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poo poo, I'm gonna have to pick up that one, it looks like a good read Up to three packages over here -- still trying to hold off until Christmas, although the temptation is there...
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Dec 11, 2022 23:15
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Cheer has been deployed! Hope you like them, Santee.
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Dec 12, 2022 20:09
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sent mine out on friday, was allegedly delivered by now
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Dec 12, 2022 20:29
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Whoever my Santa is, I am visiting family and won't be in a position to really check my packages till next Monday. So updates then assuming things have arrived!
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Dec 12, 2022 20:57
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Today I got a package containing three wrapped books. They'll stay wrapped until the 21st.
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Dec 13, 2022 01:19
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A package arrived today! Opened it because I'm impatient:  Wow! Inside were two collected volumes of Lynd Ward's woodcut novels and this really cool 3D card. Thank you so much, Sham, I can't wait to dive into these!
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Dec 13, 2022 05:56
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I wish I could take the credit (and I've given that exact Lynd Ward set as a Christmas gift before), but that is not from me!
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Dec 13, 2022 06:00
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Oh, my mistake! The return address had your username so I assumed it was you, Sham. Now I'm not sure if this is the mystery gift or one from my Santa. Regardless, thank you whoever you are!
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Dec 13, 2022 06:25
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That would be a gift from the mysterious benefactor, who is using my return address. I hadn't considered this complication. My actual package will have my handwriting:  Edit: Whatever you do, don't lose that card! Sham bam bamina! fucked around with this message at 06:59 on Dec 13, 2022 |
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Dec 13, 2022 06:52
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The Grey posted:I enjoy stories about dystopian amusement parks Anyway I'm waiting to open mine on Xmas I guess.
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Dec 13, 2022 22:43
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Shipped off my package today. Santee should be getting it on Monday.
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Dec 14, 2022 00:08
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I have received books. I'll post about them. Eventually. Sorry, finals week.
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Dec 14, 2022 01:25
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I will be out of town familying for the holidays so will not be able to collect anything that gets sent to me until the new year, so expect a delayed post from me. You know what isn't delayed, though? The package to my santee, which I have posted today!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Dec 14, 2022 17:45
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I received a hefty package today. I thought about saving it for Christmas proper, but the past several days have been drizzly and dreary, and I could use some early cheer.     Ah. Hm. Well. Yes. Thank you, Santa.    Even steamier! As flashy postmodern novels about tennis go, I expect I'll like this one more than Infinite Jest.   A very nice notebook for me to ruin. Feels expensive.    Hell yeah. Perfect gift, something I've always wanted to read but would never have prioritized enough to break out of my normal spending habits and actually buy.   You made that notebook yourself? Incredible stuff. All of these gifts are wonderful, but that's really something special.  And that's that. Quite the embarrassment of riches. Thank you, Chip McFuck!
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Dec 14, 2022 22:43
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They mentioned Gronkrotica in that awful 80 to Brady movie trailer. I thought it was just a joke for the movie. It's disturbing to learn it actually exists.
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Dec 14, 2022 23:16
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I got another book?!
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Dec 15, 2022 03:34
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a package with my name on it arrived today, i will wait to open it until next week, but it did in fact arrive safe and sound
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Dec 16, 2022 04:13
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I got one too, I'll try and contain myself but its also my birthday tomorrow and I may treat myself
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Dec 16, 2022 04:49
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Chip McFuck posted:A package arrived today! Opened it because I'm impatient: Chip, open the card. Isn't there a secret code on the back? With some cryptic hint in the text as to how to decode it. I'll post mine later. There's a mystery afoot!
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Dec 16, 2022 07:07
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I caved and treated myself to a TBB birthday pack. Gert, you nailed it some dope prints I'll find a good spot for  My request was for books I would not ordinarily get for myself and these certainly fit the bill. Tamil Pulp Fiction in particular sounds loving perfect for what I'm looking for. I'm going on vacation next month and I don't really want to bring my ereader poolside so this will be making the trip.  And a great card   Outstanding work all around 
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Dec 16, 2022 19:49
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I must apologise to my SS - I've been sitting on their gift for a couple of weeks! (I had a pile of packages in my office that had been arriving over the weeks - gifts from a friend who was coming for Christmas. Well, she arrived yesterday, and this morning, sorting out the packages, one was not from her. No note, no card, and I'm ashamed to say it took me a few minutes to realise that it must be from my SS!) Two beautiful books, two dead-centre hits! Thank you so much!   The Eco I've never read! And it'll fit on my bookshelf here - thank you.  Merry Christmas!
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Dec 18, 2022 11:32
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Opopanax posted:I caved and treated myself to a TBB birthday pack. Gert, you nailed it Happy Xmas! I hope you enjoy the weird stuff I found for you. Also, the chicken and tardigrate are stickers, not just prints! Also, my TBBSS package has ARRIVED...but I won't be able to pick it up until the new year! Looking forward to it!!
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Dec 18, 2022 23:53
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Teach posted:I must apologise to my SS - I've been sitting on their gift for a couple of weeks! (I had a pile of packages in my office that had been arriving over the weeks - gifts from a friend who was coming for Christmas. Well, she arrived yesterday, and this morning, sorting out the packages, one was not from her. No note, no card, and I'm ashamed to say it took me a few minutes to realise that it must be from my SS!) OK, a slight (but positive) complication. The books I posted above were addressed to me, and I thought that they came from my SS. This afternoon, another book arrived - heavy and lovely collected letters. This one was from Waterstones, the bookshop, not Amazon (as the first two were). But this one was addressed to (my name) Teach. So this is my SS, yes?  So thank you to my Santa, whether they sent me one, or three! I'm a happy goon !
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Dec 19, 2022 16:02
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Package dispatched. And now that I've sent mine out, I will allow myself to open my secret santa gift:   Wow, these look great! Thanks so much, I can't wait to read! I haven't heard of any of these other than Zweig and I have not read any of them, they looks really interesting. Thanks again for the thoughtful gift and note!
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Dec 20, 2022 02:26
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PatMarshall posted:Package dispatched. Oh good! I was worried the package had been lost in transit. The Honjin Murders is fun (it's basically a Japanese noir story), Beware of Pity is heartbreaking, and Fog is genuinely one of my favourite books. Enjoy!
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Dec 20, 2022 11:07
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Thanks Rid!
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Dec 20, 2022 16:54
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Teach posted:I must apologise to my SS - I've been sitting on their gift for a couple of weeks! (I had a pile of packages in my office that had been arriving over the weeks - gifts from a friend who was coming for Christmas. Well, she arrived yesterday, and this morning, sorting out the packages, one was not from her. No note, no card, and I'm ashamed to say it took me a few minutes to realise that it must be from my SS!) Teach posted:OK, a slight (but positive) complication. All three of these were me, and I ordered all three through Waterstones, so I have no idea why some arrived via Amazon. I'm just glad they all made it. I also snail-mailed a note, but who knows when/if that will arrive. The Name of the Rose is one of my favorite books, so I hope you'll find it an enjoyable read. The Wasteland one was a recommendation from a friend who's big into poetry, so I hope it hits the mark.
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Dec 20, 2022 17:32
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Thank you for owning up, and for the wonderful gifts! I really appreciate it! (If you included a return address I'll drop you a thank you in the post, too!)
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Dec 20, 2022 18:52
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Sham bam bamina! posted:And that's that. Quite the embarrassment of riches. Thank you, Chip McFuck! You're welcome! I waffled a bit on whether or not to send you the Gronk book, but I just couldn't resist so please consider it a gag gift. Hopefully you won't hold it against me, lol. I did make the notebook! Hand-bound just for you. And speaking of gifts, a package arrived the other day bearing presents that my cat Scribbles took an immediate liking to:  Relics by Time Lebbon Empire State by Adam Christopher Badass: The Birth of a Legend by Ben Thompson A Rage Page notebook The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet Thank you, Santa! I'm especially intrigued by The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet but they all look like great picks!
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Dec 22, 2022 01:58
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