During our summer and early fall reading hiatus i decided to play some MOP catchup. I must say "A Confederacy of Dunces" is the funniest book i ever read and is officially now one of my all-time favorites.

The time has come...

Gentlemen,

I realise I have taken this great council to the brink of parchment starvation. I imagine many of you have had to resort to all kinds of horrible acts just to get your fix during this lengthy period of intellectual famine. It has been far too long my brothers. And for that I am deeply and unapologetically not sorry in the slightest. You see it has been my plan all along to "withhold the teat of knowledge" just far enough away from your suckling mouths that the thirst for well written sentences has reached unprecedented heights of hysteria. But fear not my fellow readers – for the wait will soon come to an end, and the climax of the mind will finally reach completion in an orgy of words.

I am tasking each one of you to discover the title of the next book by disclosing the following clues. This will involve the use of the modern wonder known to us as "The Internet" (which is very fitting indeed). If you follow the clues you should have no problem uncovering the next book:

1. Google this definition: a space of partial illumination (as in an eclipse) between the perfect shadow on all sides and the full light.
2. Visit this web address: http://glossypixel.com/mop/
3. Once on the webpage above 'right click' your mouse anywhere on the page (not on the image) to 'View the Source'. You will need a desktop/laptop to view source code - sorry mobile/tablet users! If you experience difficulty with this go to: http://tinyurl.com/cxku3n for help.
4. You will find the last clue in the source code itself.

And remember, Google is your friend!

Go forth.

LLdP

p.s. feel free to email/text me when you uncover the secret. I will confirm your suspicions.

Taking a breath before the Fall

Gentlemen – I wanted to reassure you all that I have not forgotten my duties as the next 'parchment picker'. I have delayed my selection in part to my own procrastination, but also because I know it's been a crazy few weeks for us all.

I'm not exactly sure when I should make the announcement–but I would appreciate your thoughts on when you think would be appropriate. Obviously we don't need to plan a meeting for awhile yet, but just don't want to announce the book and then wait 3 months.

Go forth....

LLdP

Wao is that a good book

Hello gentlemen,

I hope you are all enjoying the latest piece of parchment as the summer commences.  I know everyone is super busy so I want to try to nail down a date for the next council.  If it is going to be a weekend, August 3rd would be my suggestion.  I would love to host you guys down here in Old Town if that is possible.  I know that might be tough for everone's schedules but Hanna will be out of town so we could be free of the lady-folk.  Anybody would be welcome to stay but it could also work for just a day trip.  If that doesn't work, I could also make the trip home to Camp Hill if that would be easier. 

So, I guess let me know about that date and about the journey to Old Town and then we can take it from there.

adios

Speed Kills

I think we can all agree that cheetahs are pretty bad ass, and if we didn't already have a mascot this guy would be a contender. 0-60mph in 3 seconds flat! I couldn't even type that short sentence in 3 seconds flat! Behold the King of Speed!

Go forth quickly

Do Gooding - A Reality Check

Gentlemen, I am taking the liberty to attach an article we can ponder on our own terms; with our individual Graces. As awesome as we are on a relative basis in a world of Commoners, we must guard against the arrogant display of our cox comb reflecting like a mirrow unto ourself. I say that with the greatest degree of humility duly acknowledging the cryptic bond of our association and the inherent attributes of a most distinguished band of Merrymen. http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2013/04/why-the-rich-dont-give/309254/

Some island flavor

So, I have been pondering the choice for some time now of what epic tome will come next on this great this.....truly an important responsibility.  Several times I was on the brink of picking several different books but it just never felt right to pull the trigger, unitl now. 

This parchment comes highly recommended and reviewed and it pulls at some past experiences in my life.  According to Wikipedia, it is a meditation on story-telling, identity, masculinity, and opression.  Not to mention, it is the story of an overweight, Dominican kid living in the slums of New Jersey, something we can all surely relate to. 



Without further procrastination (possibly the real reason it took me so long to choose; that, and being preoccupied killing the shit out of some nonsense going on in my bone marrow), our next book will be:

"The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao" by Junot Diaz

As far as our next council meeting, I think that it should be sometime soon, in the early summer.  I was thinking maybe the end of June or some time in July.  It's not the longest book in the world and I think that it should be a pretty quick read.    I would love to have all of you guys down here but I realize the logistics of that could be complicated so I am game to have it in either VA or PA, as long as it is in a Commonwealth I will feel comfortable.  We can talk more about dates and location soon. 

Until we meet again

Moonwalking with Einstein

 WITH

Men of superior intellect and codpiece,

A great meeting of the minds took place not long ago in a chamber rich in parchment from all genres, authors, and time periods.  Yes, 5 great minds came together challenging the very depths of their memories in a battle of cognitive fury with one objective in mind, winning a parchment of vast knowledge and understanding!  Bringing unity to this great "cerebrawl," I traveled across our great country to give our sixth member a shot at the memory olympics.  After careful computation, the results are in with the winner of each category as follows:

Poetry: Von Pluma
Playing Cards: Von Pluma
Word List Recall: De Papel
Word Sequence: De Papel

Cheers to both Pluma and Papel on winning their categories!  There were plenty of tight calls in each category and you all fought like fuckin honey badgers!  Having tallied all the points together, one particular Man of the Parchment stood above the rest, and that man is Count Lapiz von Pluma!  Von Pluma, your parchment should be arriving shortly if you have not already received it.  Congratulations.  It was truly an honor to witness such great minds being pushed to their limits.  I hope that our newest parchment, "Moonwalking with Einstein" can help our great minds attain new heights never though possible.

GO FORTH!

Plugged in for another year

Have no fear gentlemen - we can all rest easy safe in the knowledge that the MOP will remain plugged into the Matrix for another year! And by that I mean I renewed our domain name: 'menoftheparchment.com'. Phew...right!? I mean we could always just use 'menoftheparchment.blogspot.com'...but who the hell has the time to type 9 additional keystrokes every time you want to visit our blog! Not me.
Pompous - have you posted to the blog from your iPad yet? If not perhaps we can include that in your upcoming genius bar session!
Go forth my fellow Neos...with thou digital codpieces in hand.

Absinthexplore Kits

I saw this and immediately thought of our exploits with the green fairy during our last council meeting(s). I reckon we did her justice gentlemen!

New to the world of absinthe? Get a jump-start on your green fairy education with these Absinthexplore Kits ($35-$80). Included in each set is either three or six 50ml vials of various high-end absinthes, as well as at least one spoon, all packaged in a handsome black box.