This will hurt me...

Dead fish. Hope Beach, South Arm Peninsula. April 2013. 100 Days in Photographs: Pivotal Events That Changed the World , Nick Yapp: A stunning collection, if a little US-centric. B+ . The Body in the Library , Agatha Christie: A dated little murder mystery. By the numbers. C . The Inheritors , William Golding: A fantastically-rendered and irredeemably sad tale of the extinction of one of the last remaining Neanderthal tribes at the hands of the more advanced (yet malevolent) Homosapiens . The final chapter nails the tragedy of it all beautifully. A . After the Quake , Haruki Murakami: An odd little collection inspired by the 1995 Kobe earthquake. Uneven, but worthy. B . Marry Me , Dan Rhodes: I do love every new Dan Rhodes release. Marry Me is no different. Equal parts sour, bleak whimsy and savage whimsy inspired by the concept of marriage. As black as coal and funny as hell. I loved it. A .

Jen's and Shaw's Cowfish #1. Marion Bay, March 2013. It's dead Jen. It's dead. The Fossil Fish , Christopher Middleton the fossil fish hides in time for now it is the season & all the hunters come with long clean rifles

Ezra explains the mechanics of a recently-departed Shaw's Cowfish ( Arcana aurita ).

Puffer fish puffs no more. Denison Beach, Bicheno. January 2013. For today's Sunday Top Five I thought I'd share Five Maxims To Live By! Don't shit where you eat. Try to be nice. Get on with it. This too will pass. You're a long time dead.

Fin. Opossum Bay Beach, South Arm Peninsula. December 2012. Theme Thursday and there is not a whole lot of hope for this crab in terms of a REBIRTH. The Buddhist concept of vijñāna-srotām might offer some chance for this blighter, but I remain to be convinced that the crab subscribed to a Buddhist theology. There is a chance (however slight) that the crab was once the son of God/ awaits Frashokereti / is an inhabitant of Sheol/ or that Yawm al-Qiyāmah is just around the corner; but as I said, the odds are against it. No, the crab is dead. The best it can hope for is that some bird had a good meal and will go on to be a good parent and maybe (unlikely, but you never know) the children of that bird will open a crab infirmary for lame or destitute crabs in the future.

How very apt...