{"id":831,"date":"2007-03-05T21:04:00","date_gmt":"2007-03-05T21:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=831"},"modified":"2007-03-05T21:04:00","modified_gmt":"2007-03-05T21:04:00","slug":"mysteries-for-our-troops-overseas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=831","title":{"rendered":"Mysteries for our troops overseas"},"content":{"rendered":"

Shulawitsi, the Little Fire God, member of the Council of the Gods and Deputy to the Sun, had taped his track shoes to his feet. He had wound the tape as Coach taught him, tight over the arch of the foot.<\/em><\/p>\n

Those sentences open Tony Hillerman’s<\/a> Dance Hall of the Dead<\/em> (1973). I read them probably in the early 1980s, back when the Santa Fe-based author of mystery novels was largely a cult favorite in the Southwest. Cruising down US 666 back then, you would watch your rear view mirror for Officer Jim Chee, who in my imagination does not look like Adam Beach<\/a>.<\/p>\n

After those two sentences, I was hooked.<\/p>\n

I picked up a copy of Dancehall of the Dead<\/em> today along with some other paperback thrillers (Elmore Leonard<\/a>, Patricia Cornwell<\/a>, Carl Hiassen<\/a>) at Hardscrabble Books (appropriate name, eh?) down in Florence. Two old ladies were discussing Hitler, whom they seemed to think had been born a Jew. (Where do they get this stuff?)<\/p>\n

When I finish the books, they will go into a box for Operation Paperback<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Operation Paperback collects books (and some magazines) for American military personnel in places like Iraq and Afghanistan. You register with them, and they give you a list of recipients who will turn share the books. <\/p>\n

To pacify local members of the “Religion of Peace,” who might otherwise blow a gasket, there should be no pictures of scantily clad women, so be careful with the motorcycle and lowrider magazines if you are mailing to certain countries. (The Web site will explain.)<\/p>\n

US Highway 666 is no more, of course<\/a>. Certain wacko members of the “Religion of Love” lobbied the feds to change its number, lest they be forced to drive on the “Highway of the Beast.” Sheesh.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Shulawitsi, the Little Fire God, member of the Council of the Gods and Deputy to the Sun, had taped his track shoes to his feet. He had wound the tape as Coach taught him, tight over the arch of the foot. Those sentences open Tony Hillerman’s Dance Hall of the Dead (1973). I read them […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[15,12],"class_list":["post-831","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","tag-islam","tag-writing"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6xQTg-dp","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":971,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=971","url_meta":{"origin":831,"position":0},"title":"A Feeling of Accomplishment, Sort Of","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"January 11, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"I feel all loose and floaty, for I have just completed . . . a book review. It was all of 1,100 words. It took me three days. That's sad--I should be able to write 1,100 words just loosening up my fingers.But it was of a book that I admire\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"publishing\"","block_context":{"text":"publishing","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=publishing"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2680,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=2680","url_meta":{"origin":831,"position":1},"title":"V.S. Naipaul’s Rules for Writers","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"May 27, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"V.S. Naipaul's rules for writers\u2014some of them are very apt for the Web\u2014start with \"1. Do not write long sentences. A sentence should not have more than ten or twelve words.\" I made Naipaul's acquaintance, in the literary sense, as a fifth-former at d\u00e9Carteret College in Mandeville, Jamaica, which I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"writing\"","block_context":{"text":"writing","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=writing"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4659,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=4659","url_meta":{"origin":831,"position":2},"title":"Rhetoric: It’s “Classical” Because It Works","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"October 19, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"\"Back to the basics\" works if you chose the right basics. (We could debate that.) \"The Writing Revolution,\" an article in The Atlantic, argues that attention to basic rhetorical principles \u2014 as opposed to expressing your feelings or writing in order to become a better person\u2014 helps disadvantaged high school\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"education\"","block_context":{"text":"education","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=education"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":991,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=991","url_meta":{"origin":831,"position":3},"title":"Book Meme","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"February 27, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"I don't normally do these meme-post-thingies, but I was tagged by the inimitable Steve Bodio at Querencia.Here is the challenge:1. Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages).2. Open the book to page 123.3. Find the fifth sentence.4. Post the next three sentences.5. Tag five people.Mine reads as\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"blogging\"","block_context":{"text":"blogging","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=blogging"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"http:\/\/www.assoc-amazon.com\/e\/ir?t=chascli-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0195133323","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5513,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=5513","url_meta":{"origin":831,"position":4},"title":"Talking like the Old Ones","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"May 9, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Back in 2000, I was writing an article about a prescribed fire on the national forest near my home, so I hiked in with the ignition crew. Some point during the day, I heard a radio crackle with the message, \"Come up that little ridge and bring fire with you.\"\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Asia\"","block_context":{"text":"Asia","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=asia"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":547,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=547","url_meta":{"origin":831,"position":5},"title":"Parade of the Dead","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"October 29, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"File this under \"Things We Miss Out On by not Living Closer to Town\": Pueblo's Day of the Dead parade. (Registration required: Bug Me Not is your friend.)The fact that it happened on a Friday, three days early, merely shows how acculturated el d\u00eda de los muertos is becoming; it's\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Day of the Dead\"","block_context":{"text":"Day of the Dead","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=day-of-the-dead"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/831","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=831"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/831\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=831"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=831"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=831"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}