I was planning to post about The Hound of the Baskervilles in sections for the Sundays in the summer (i.e., before the boys return to school). I was intending to start last Sunday but my anxiety about the job was so high I could barely function so let's see if I can catch up a little but keep with the plan.

The Hound of the Baskervilles was published in The Strand from August 1901 - April 1902.

I actually managed to view a first edition (or at least an early edition) of it in an antique shop in one of the malls in Las Vegas when I visited there 2 years ago for the BTS concert.



It is the Sherlock Holmes work which has been most adapted, I think, into other media (film, TV, radio plays, etc.). I did a little research on the many adaptations but if you have a favorite, please drop it in the comments.

I only have the bandwidth to do the first chapter today.

Chapter 1

Chapter 1 we get a deduction (which is my favorite part of any story). A prospective client has left behind his walking stick (called a Penang lawyer) and Watson and Holmes deduce characteristics of its owner. In The Annotated Holmes one scholar remarks:

It is curious how frequenly Holmes' clients took insufficient care of their property. The result was always highly satisfactory for Holmes invariably made a reconstruction of the missing client from the missing article.

[We see this in "The Blue Carbuncle" with the hat.]

Here's Holmes looking at the stick.



We will meet the owner of the stick in Chapter 2 and learn what business he has with Holmes.


Chapter 1 page 2 of the manuscript

Adjusting to the job, I am behind on...everything. I am still figuring out when to do things and how to engineer motivation to do things and how to prioritize and what things will have to be cut from to the to-do list permanently because there simply isn't as much free time as there was. So please bear with me (I am speaking to myself more than you because I have discovered over and over again that my friends are MUCH kinder to me than I ever am to myself).



Journaling: The romance of summer! What do you love? Write about anything you feel sentimental about or that gets your heart pumping.
Creative: Write a love poem to anyone or anything you like

In 2023 and 2024, I did Fannish 50 so I have a nice list of things I like. Mysteries & detective stories, ghost stories, poetry, audiobooks, puzzles, collage, BTS, miniatures, art, libraries, coffee, chocolate, Christmas & Halloween, okapis & sea turtles, the ocean, the moon, tea, bees & honey, tarot, fireworks, autumn, Snoopy.

I watched the latest Venom movie last night. Parts of it were very good. I am glad they left The Girl out of it this time. I was glad Mrs. Chen got a beautiful cameo. I can't say it 'got my heart pumping' but I enjoyed it.

I finished the jigsaw puzzle below yesterday [Around the World in 50 Plants, 1000 pieces, art by Lucille Clerc, a decent puzzle, well-fitting pieces], and there is ALWAYS a satisfaction at putting the last piece in. Is it better than sex? My ace-spectrum self says YES. I also like poetry and this is poem #26 from Jo Bell's book 52: write a poem a week. Start now. Keep going. The prompt was erotica. I write PLENTY of explicit fic and have written explicit poetry, too, but I combined it with the journal prompt of the Sunshine Revival.

jigsaw by okapi

they spill into the lid. like shelling peas
like wheat from chaff. or sheep from goat.
soft noise, soft rhythm, fingers flick with ease
and satisfaction. bedlam’s antidote.

define fine boundaries and orient
the scene. an orgy. orifice and limb
are rife. there’s wanting and there’s turgescent
as error and trial make order of whim

But there. And there. And there. No. Yes. the frame
takes shape. union by union. head to tail
and tail to head. with time, the eye can name
the subtleties of hue and pattern scale

reward is the breath held ‘til the last piece
has found its way home, then sigh of release