Operation AXIOM
'Tis Flag Day. We must remember in these intemperate days that the flag is the symbol of our freedom, the banner for which our forebears fought & died for two centuries. I've heard despicable libertarian chicanery of late, pap about the Americans being somehow distinct from the United States of America, as if our cherished liberty had not been won, codified, & defended by our great republic. We brook no seditious fantasies about a peaceful anarchy here at The Secret Base. We are instead proud that our national anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner," pays tribute to our flag as the enduring symbol of our republic & our freedoms, & prouder still to recite the Pledge of Allegiance:

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, & to the republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty & justice for all.

The Explorers' Club
№ CCXC - Sven Hedin (1865-1952), Part I: Celebrated explorer & best-selling author.







Objective SCHWEDEN
My legs felt leaden today. In fact, my whole body felt sluggish. I felt particularly exhausted yesterday evening upon finishing mowing the lawn, though I chose to mow yesterday precisely because of the moderate temperatures. I've no solid idea of the cause of this bothersome weariness. I felt a little better by the end of the daily constitutional, rejuvenated by the exertion. Through some mishap with the stopwatch I cannot say with any certainty whether today's pace was slower than normal or merely felt slower than normal; I'd have sworn that I hit the proper button before thrusting the watch into my pocket, but upon removal to stop the clock I found that the display read a perplexing "00:00.00." Drat!

The Queue
I shall read at least one, & probably two, of Burroughs's Barsoom books, & I have a good idea of what I'll read after that, but I am not precisely sure. More Burroughs? Certainly. If I like The Gods of Mars & The Warlord of Mars half as much as I liked A Princess of Mars then I plan to read the rest of the Barsoom series, two or three in a row, interspersed with other authors. Clockers by Richard Price, like Lush Life on loan from Mrs. Skeeter, Esq.? In the none too distant future. Possibly the next from le Carré, The Looking-Glass War, after that, though 'tis not available from the Genesee District Library, dash it all. I also have a birthday coming up next month & might jump to the top of the queue one of the books gifted me. There's no shortage of books, the question is only how to choose amongst them, a happy conundrum.

Recently
Rudyard Kipling, The Man who would be King and Other Stories
Nicolas Sarkozy, translated from the French by Philip H. Gordon, Testimony: France, Europe, and the World in the Twenty-first Century
Richard Price, Lush Life

Currently
Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Gods of Mars

Presently
Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Warlord of Mars
Edgar Rice Burroughs, Thuvia, Maid of Mars
?

The Rebel Black Dot Song of the Day
Cake, "The Distance" via iTunes (T.L.A.M.)

Commentary: Chosen in honor of today's season premiere of Burn Notice, "The Distance" having been featured in recent adverts for tonight's premiere. Especially apt have been these lines, played over images of an imprisoned Fiona Glenanne:

"She's all alone (All alone!),
All alone in her time of need."