Archive for books
April 10, 2008 at 9:09 am · Filed under books, joy
Another of my letters to Neil Gaiman was posted and responded to on his blog. Hee!
more on introductions and contradictions
That’s the second one, I think. I’ve also gotten a few emails from him directly. I really need to make it to one of his signings someday!
Still reading Burroughs’ Martian Tales Trilogy. It is fantastic. I’ve read some other early 20th century novels and they have a completely different sound and feel; this is much more modern sci-fi (albeit pulp sci-fi) than I expected. Just lovely. I can’t wait for the movie.
March 10, 2008 at 4:27 pm · Filed under books, hair, health, work
Someone brought Krispy Kremes in this morning, and they were in our local kitchenette (there are coffee machines and water and mini fridges randomly dispersed throughout the floor, as well as a large central kitchen where the vending machines and soda live). I didn’t have one. I saw them and thought about how I can feel my heart rate increase after I eat sugar, and then the sudden tired crash, and it wasn’t worth it.
I got my hair cut yesterday, it’s a new style, not just a trim! I have swoopy bangs that get brushed to one side, and chunky layers for the rest of my head. It’s about 5″ shorter overall too. I had some nasty split ends. I like it! All five of the females in my department commented on the new hair and said it’s cute. One of the artist guys noticed too. None of the programmers have said anything (heh, not surprised).
In work-lingo at Sony, the amount of work one is capable of doing was called “bandwidth”. Here it’s called “cycles”. “Do you have the cycles to pick up this extra project?” “We need to find someone with spare cycles to do this.” It is amusing, it feels much more assembly-line-robot to me. Just a random observation.
I finished reading Blue Mars on Friday, the last book in Kim Stanley Robinson’s Mars Trilogy. It was a very satisfying and suitable end to the story. I’m terribly happy I read the series, they really got my brain going in many interesting ways and reinvigorated my inner space-geek. I started reading The Mistress of Spices last night, and thus far it’s a good read. The movie adaptation (which I saw last year at some point, probably on an airplane) did a great job of capturing the spirit and feeling of the book so far.
The plague is almost gone – my nose still feels stuffed up, and I cough occasionally, but I am much better off than I was. I have more energy today too (yay, finally!).
March 4, 2008 at 5:25 pm · Filed under books, health, life, tech
I’ve been quiet for two weeks! And I was on a posting roll for a while. Sigh.
So, I went to Vegas for one weekend, for my brother’s 30th birthday. That was fun, being the first time I actually gambled there.
And I worked during the weeks, of course. At least until last Wednesday, when I was felled by the dreaded flu that’s going around. I was home Wed and Fri afternoon, but worked Thursday (barely made it through the day).
Flu sucks. Alan has it too, but he doesn’t have the luxury of staying home from work, since the Show Cannot Go On without him. Literally.
Also, right before I went to Vegas I ordered parts for a new computer for myself. Put it together Monday. Tried to turn it on Tuesday. Didn’t work out so well (the Flu was coming and I wasn’t reading instruction manuals and it was Not Good). Eventually got it running, thanks to Alan. Had MUCH drama over the next few days in actually getting the drivers and stuff installed (Wednesday was a really, really bad day. I should’ve stayed in bed). But now it works and it is glorious.
I’ve been reading Kim Stanley Robinson’s Red Mars trilogy. I’m almost done with the last book. They are dense with information economic, scientific, sociologic, terraforming, politics, psychology.. as well as being incredibly true to characters with deep plots and all sorts of things. Love them.
So, that’s been my life over the last few weeks. How about you?
February 11, 2008 at 6:49 pm · Filed under books
Red Mars, by Kim Stanley Robinson. Brilliant book. It brings out all my latent space-geekery. I want to read blogs about NASA and the space station and astronauts and the future of space travel and colonization. I love the hard science, the politics, the corporate maneuvering, and the characters. I’m about halfway through the 2nd book in the series.
Summerland, by Michael Chabon. A perfectly respectable book about Faerie (they’re not fairies, they’re ferishers) and Baseball and travelling in a zeppelin. I enjoyed it far more than I was anticipating I would after the first two pages were all about a boy who didn’t want to play baseball. This book needs, desperately, to be a movie. It’s a big book but appropriate for patient young adults.
The Yiddish Policeman’s Union, by Michael Chabon. I first heard about this on NPR or Nextbook or somewhere – sort of a Maltese Falcon detective noir story told in an alternate universe where, after WWII, the Jews were given refuge in Alaska.. essentially leased the land for 50 years. And well, the 50 years is almost up and the US government is going to be taking over the land again and probably kicking all the Jews out. Also there are murders, an ex-wife as your boss, mysteries, Hasids, the guy that hangs string everywhere so people can carry stuff on the Sabbath, airplanes, Tlingit, and a conspiracy to retake Palestine. It’s certainly not a light-hearted adventure like Summerland (which isn’t terrible light-hearted either), but the depiction of the world and the style of writing are top-notch.
Chabon quickly leapt onto my list of “Favorite Authors, Must Read Everything”.. and after I finish the Mars books (and then Burroughs’ Martain Trilogy), I will.
In other news, I had a productive weekend that was still relaxing. Very Satisfactory.
December 21, 2007 at 3:37 pm · Filed under books, spinning
Teach Yourself Visually Handspinning by Judith MacKenzie McCuin: Her name is a hard one to miss if you read knit/spin blogs. The book lives up to her stellar reputation with very clear pictures, explanations, and more information than you can shake a stick at. I want to buy this book, if only for the section on how to prep different fibers and how to set the twist and care for finished yarns using different fibers. I’d recommend this to anyone who is learning to spin or teaches spinning. I’ve seen a few of these “Teach Yourself Visually” books, but this is the only one I’ve looked at and I was very impressed – if they’re all this good they’re definitely worth looking into.
Spinning in the Old Way: How (and Why) To Make Your Own Yarn With A High-Whorl Handspindle by Priscilla A. Gibson-Roberts: I admit that I didn’t read every word in this book. It has some interesting tidbits of information.. I was thinking about what my issue with this book is, and I think it’s that it doesn’t have a focus. It has a bit about high whorl history, a bit about how the author found high whorl spindles, and a bit about how to spin with high whorl spindles which I didn’t find very useful at all – either it was general spinning knowledge no matter your tools, or I couldn’t quite duplicate what she was describing. Get it from library if you’re interested in high whorl spindles, but as a general spinning reference it’s not worth it.
I also ended up with Alden Amos’s Spinning Wheel Primer, although I thought I clicked on his handspinning book, but oh well. This is the perfect book if you have an old wheel you want to fix, or are thinking about building a wheel yourself. It is chock-full of very precise details.
I have read (and re-read) so many books lately, if there are any you want to hear about let me know.
November 22, 2007 at 1:17 pm · Filed under books, cooking, family
I have been reading – I got three spinning books from the library and after perusing them all I have some very definite opinions I will share eventually. Maybe tomorrow.
In other news, holiday cooking continues apace. I had the landlady replace the oven (yay!) so now I can bake. I am very very pleased.
I am all prepared for today – the turkey is in the oven, roasting away. On Tuesday I made pumpkin bread. Yesterday I made the Italian dressing (cheese+bread), sweet potates, creamed corn casserole, and the ubiquitous green bean casserole. I also did the chopping for the turkey stuffing so I had do to today was toast the bread and tear it up.
Today, aside from the turkey, I have extra stuffing that will be cooked on the side, and I’m making cranberry meatballs as a pre-dinner snack.
It’s weird how all turkey instructions say basting isn’t necessary, it doesn’t do anything, don’t add any liquids to the pan — and I’ve been around four distinct families during Thanksgiving and they all add liquid and baste the turkey. I just don’t get it.
I also have an old cookbook (”Dear Daughter: Time Tested Recipes of Four Generations of Women”) from the 60s or 70s that says that a turkey MUST be cooked breast-side down so it doesn’t dry out. It seems like it’d work, but then that’s the meatiest part so it also seems like it’d take longer to cook… who knows. Someday I’ll try it.
I hope everyone has a calm and restful holiday weekend!
July 31, 2007 at 4:11 pm · Filed under books
Finished it.
Opinions can be gotten via email/IM.
May 29, 2007 at 5:26 pm · Filed under books, movies
I totally missed the impending release of the sequel to Nochoi Dozor (Night Watch) – Day Watch.
woot!
I have the Night Watch & Day Watch books at home, too.. I gotta get reading! At this point, probably not until after the movie, but that’s okay.
