John Hancock's Signature from The Declaration of Independence, United States, 1776 Daily Thoughts 3/31/2010
I am reading the chapter in A Better Pencil on handwriting. Schools are removing handwriting from the curriculum and going from printing to writing on a keyboard. I am a bit disappointed. I think of handwriting as an art form. It teaches that words are a form of art to be respected. I think the quality of the language will degrade when handwriting is removed from the curriculum. It is not that necesary in practical terms, but not everything is about being practical. Handwriting teaches focus and admiration for language.
I am vacation right now. I took a little break from reading and watched some Battlestar Galactica Season 4.0 on my computer. I have my new earbuds plugged in right now. It is a nice break from reading.
I had several interviews this week both in person and via telephone. I admit that the most intriguing, likely intentionally ambiguous, question was this one: "So, what is your story?" Innocuous, seemingly simple, but definitely not easy to answer.
My story is indeed very different from the norm. I think... I posted this idea on Facebook and received several witty and spot on comments. Friends are like that, they know things about you and can articulate them so much easier than you can.
Forrest: "Did you tell them you were a choose your own adventure :)"
My response: "Guess that would be better than a paint by numbers coloring book. :-). Maybe I should tell them I'm an iPad running a kindle app. Wonder if the world is ready for a metaphor of such depth."
Dee: "I don't think you should tell them that.... Your story is clearly "The Princess Bride" ... Mysterious man, alone at first, shows prodigious talent and ability to avoid deadly obstacles, converts enemies to friends through the forceful application of intellect, persuasion, faith, and principled logic (with swords and rocks thrown in, when necessary and appropriate).
In seeking your goal, you assemble a dynamic team, allowing you to survive pirates, a torture machine in the pit of despair, a fireswamp, and rodents of unusual size, culminating in victory for your organization, freedom for the princess, and, of course, true love. I want this to be my story too."
My response: "I love you man... In a very manly way of course.. Failure is "inconceivable"
It occurs to me that this last line is a big part of my story. I have always approached the world as though failure is indeed inconceivable. Could that be my story, my secret sauce? I actually believe that each of us is endowed with a unique spark and that we can indeed succeed in just about anything if we are willing to pay the price and put in the time. Maybe it is arrogance, I prefer to call it confidence and trust in a power greater than me.
Perhaps, that is the real story here. What is important to me is my family, my friends, and my community. My job is a means by which I am able to participate in and experience the important things in life. The job isn't the life, but it is an important tool and enabler as well as a channel for building relationships, influencing the world around us, and receiving compensation for our contributions. I have had many jobs in this life so far, and I'm likely to have many more..The lines just aren't so clear between life and job. My sense is that we are wired that way intentionally.
From student, to performer, to husband, to teacher, to minister, to father, to technology guru, to manager, to leader, to conductor, to artist, to writer, to friend, and finally to disciple... I have a lot of stories to tell and they all overlap into a huge, swirling cloud of jeff(lovingly branded "Big Daddy").
I hope to have many opportunities to share both my hope for a future along with the knowledge of the past. It is like this for all of us as we go through each day. Every day is an opportunity.. to write another page, learn something new, and contribute to the world via relationships.
My story is that I know I can make a difference and maybe even "live happily ever after"...
Since the snow has finally melted and I was quite convinced that I would no longer freeze (that much) outside, I decided to bike to school instead of taking the bus as I have done for the last four months. However, my initial idea of biking to school and back home again somehow ended up with me...
- biking to school
- biking to the gym
- biking back to school (after a 40 min workout)
- biking to a place where I could fill my bicycle wheels with air
Well, I was going to talk about Cadbury, and the history of the chocolate Easter egg. Faberge eggs, too, and how all this sweetness got its start in Europe. But gosh darn it, J.R. and Jackie have already done such a good job with this topic, I've been scooped.
So instead, I'll answer J. R.'s question. What do we do, as a family, to celebrate Easter? Well, plans are already underway to put together our annual egg-coloring event. Every year, rain or shine, my sister & I and our two daughters break out the Paas pills and vinegar, boil up a whole mess of eggs and arrange 8 coffee mugs with spoons. We have the requisite white (or colorless) crayon handy. Newspapers spread on the counter, and a rag or two at the ready. We decorate, with rubber banks, decals, stickers, etc. Ooh and ahh, and compete for the prettiest egg.
"Whose egg is still in the purple?"
"Oh no! Another one cracked!"
"Did we make one for Mema yet?"
"How did yours get so blue???"
And so it goes. Our girls are teens now, so the Big Bunny himself sorta skips our houses these days, but we determined and dedicated moms have taken over the tradition by mimicking the traditional egg hunt on Easter morning. In keeping with the eggy-day, I make a wonderful Serbian Eggs casserole for brunch, and we are often blessed with weather warm enough to sit outside and reflect on the beauty of spring and those sinfully excellent Cadbury eggs.
Happy Easter!
Oh, and by the way, Paas has an excellent page here on creating your own Easter egg eggstraveganza!
The third in line of the Tiberium series, C&C 3 Tiberium Wars was released in 2007 by Electronic Arts. By this time Westwood has disappeared and that’s something you can notice throughout the game. This game has one expansion named Kane's Wrath. In the expansion's camapaign you play parallel to the C&C 3 campaign and you get introduced to new 6 splinter factions new units.
C&C 3 starts in the year 2047 where there has been a relative peace between the Global Defense Initiative, or GDI, and the Brotherhood of Nod. During that period of peace Nod has developed itself into a superpower and wants to seize world domination by harnessing the power of Tiberium, while GDI has been working on combating the spread of it and reclaiming land. In C&C 3, the alien substance has spread itself all over the world and has evolved from a plant form to a crystalline form, destroying entire Eco-systems, polluting soil and air and creating devastating ion-storms. The whole world has been classified into 3 zones. Red zones are uninhabitable being totally infested with Tiberium and covers 30% of the planet. Yellow zones house 80% of the worlds population with some Tiberium shooting out of the ground. This zone covers 50% of the Earth. And finally the Blue zones. These are zones where no Tiberium is present. It’s also under the protection of GDI and houses the remaining 20% of the world’s population and covers 20% of the world. The campaign begins when Nod attacks the GDI A-SAT centre at Goddard Space Centre, leaving the GDSS Philadelphia, the orbital command station orbiting the earth, vulnerable for an attack. Immediately after A-SAT went down, Nod launches a nuclear missile towards the station, destroying it and crippling GDI. This is the start of the Third Tiberium War. As the war intensifies another faction enters the battle, the Scrin. The appearance of the new faction totally alters the nature of the war. When these aliens arrive they immediately start spreading throughout the Red zones and attacking all major cities. The attacks are used as a distraction to keep Nod and GDI at bay while they build huge towers. Nearing the end of the campaign, GDI has managed to destroy all towers but one in the Italy Red zone. Before GDI has got the chance to destroy it and the Scrin Control Node, the Scrin finish the construction making it invulnerable to all weapons but is also rendered completely inert due to the destruction of the control node.
Between missions, you usually get a short cut-scene giving you a briefing or a headsup on the situation. And to be honest, they really aren't that bad, but then again they really don't add anything to the game. When you play the game for the first time, you can only chose between Nod and GDI campaign. But when you completed both campaigns, the Scrin campaign becomes available.
All units in C&C 3 are different with only a few units left that are really recognizable from the previous Tiberium game. I'll take Nod's attack bike and GDI's orca as an example, they have been given a new model but are almost similar to their predecessors. But the rest is virtually build from scratch but again with some help of Tiberium Sun, but that accounts for GDI and Nod. For the Scrin EA had to use it's imagination. The result? A faction with an organic look. My first impression was wow, this game does look pretty good. But looks can be deceiving. I noticed with the arriral of the Scrin that the balance of the game goes way of the chart. The Scrin is simply said too overpowered. One example is the Devastator Warship has an enormous range, exceeding that of your defenses and all of your units. One ship alone can devastate your entire base. So that is one of my major complaints, the lack of balance.
Harvesting and base construction hasn't changed a lot in Tiberium Wars but you have been given some new toys to build your base with. You can build a crane that acts as a second construction yard allowing you to deploy multiple buildings in a shorter amount of time. Another toy is a unit that can deploy one time anywhere in the field and creating an area where you can build structures. The defensive structures in C&C 3 are pretty weak when you compare them to the vehicles and infantry. They are easily overrun or destroyed without doing a lot of damage when you rush you enemies base. Only the advanced defensive structures stand a chance and they cost a fortune to build. And the funny part is that they are just as easy to destroy, it's good that they do a larger amount of damage.
C&C 3 also comes with the feature of off-map support powers. Every faction has next to common support powers, their own set of unique ones. Nod, for example, has the Tiberium vapor bomb, that when detonated, creates a big explosion. I find these powers pretty useful, but the downside is that they all cost money making them less attractive to use.
The maps and terrain in C&C3 have been designed well. Some civilian buildings have a futuristic look while others look like apartment blocks found these days. Sometimes you can find some buildings that you can capture. Think of Tiberium Spires that convert Tibirium into credits that can give you a steady income of credits and EMP centres that can cripple your enemy for some time.
One last thing. With the launch of C&C 3, EA tried to market RTS as a sport by recording matches and discussing them in a show you can view on EA's website. What's the name of the show you? It's called Battlecast.
I actually enjoyed playing this game, though I had some moments where I shouted at my monitor out of pure anger. But still a game worth playing, but it could've been better.
I am single so I rarely take the time to make a nice dinner. Tonight my friend Bunny came over for an American Idol viewing party. She also had to introduce me to my new goddawg, Charlie. Yep, I'm a godfather. Here is the little buddy taking a nap after dinner...
Cute, huh?
For dinner I made roasted chicken breast, brussel sprouts with pancetta & acorn squash.
This is the first time I have ever made acorn squash but it will not be the last! It was DELICIOUS!
I cut the squash in half, then turn it cut side down into a baking dish. Pour one inch of water into the pan. Then bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Then drain the water and turn the squash cut side up and bake for an additional 30 minutes. I served it with a tablespoon of brown sugar butter.
To make the butter I just used 1/2 stick of softened butter, 1 tlbs of brown sugar, 1 tlbs honey & a pinch of cinnamon & nutmeg.Mmmmmm!
The Crucible of Empire by Eric Flint and K.D. Wentworth
This is the sequel to The Course of Empire. During The Course of Empire, the Jao conquered earth. Partly this was because of human disunity. Now, the Jao have drafted humanity into fighting their ancient enemies the Ekhat. They have adapted both human and Jao technology to create a massive new spaceship the size of an aircraft carrier, the Lexington.
This story is partially about how technology changes when two cultures meet to make something far more deadly than the single culture can produce by itself. The Lexington with its combined kinetic and energy weapon technology, energy shielding and heavy armored plate easily destroys the Ekhat ships.
In The Crucible of Empire, the new human Jao alliance have to rescue a third alien race, the Lleix from the Ekhat. I liked how the different aliens were described with their strengths and weaknesses. The Lleix had a very interesting artistic flair to them. The Jao and the Lleix were described as being very different.
This book does an excellent job of worldbuilding and describing how alien worlds interact. It also does not assume human superiority which is refreshing. Humans are not the center of the universe. I am looking forward to the next book in the series. I hope they add a few more alien cultures to the mix.
This book is a sequel to the science fiction novel, The Quiet War. The three powers led by Greater Brazil have successfully conquered the Outers colonies on the moons of Jupiter and Saturn. Supposedly they have stopped the democratic and transhuman changes occurring to the colonists.
However, the aftermath of the conquest leads to some unexpected changes. Some of the outers have fled to the moons of Titan. My favorite character is Macy Minnot one of the outers who is on Titan. There is also a transhuman colony on Titan. This makes for an interesting story.
Also the ideas of democracy and technology from the Outer colonies are starting to seep into the cultures of the Pacific Community and Greater Brazil. This causes revolutionary change. It is a case of a less advanced society taking over a more advanced society.
There is a lot of interesting technology in the story. The author is a botanist and is very interested in technological change. He writes a lot about building ecologies for survival in space as well as using genetically engineered plants to harvest sunlight, minerals, and produce air. He also has some very interesting descriptions of people being genetically engineered as spies, to live in space, or to live extremely long lives.
I enjoyed the politics and technology in the story. There were some problems with the continuity of the story. The author broke the book into six sections which are slightly broken up in time. The last section called Everything Rises Must Converge felt more like an epilogue than a section.
This book would have been better as a trilogy. There were parts of the story which did not seem fleshed out well enough. The change which Sri Hong Owen the gene wizard uses to make her become transhuman as well as create the habitats orbiting the sun are not very clearly described.
I liked reading the book. I thought the continuity could have been done better, and that duology would have been better as a trilogy. It is worth reading for the ideas.
I'm sure you have all heard but in case you haven't, Ricky Martin came out of the closet yesterday...
Ricky, call me! I'll be a great mama to your kids :)
Tonight I will once again be watching American Idol but I'm not sure how much longer. Is anyone watching it out there? Gosh, I just think this season is sooooo boring. My friend, Bunny is coming over to watch it with me. She is bringing Brusters ice cream and I am making dinner and drinks. I am serving roasted chicken breast, brussel sprouts with pancetta & acorn squash. I'm also going to make Ina Garten's whisky sours again. I am sooooo addicted to those things...YUMMY!
The full version of the new Christina Aguilera song, "Not myself tonight", premieres today. Check out her website tonight at 6pm to listen to it. I can't wait to hear it.
I've got mail...
Look, I received the artwork I won from Dean @ Exploding Doughnut. I had it framed this week and just picked it up last night.
The Bookman, Thompson, Ruth Plumly: "The Gnome King of Oz." (1927) Daily Thoughts 3/30/2010 I went to my local library this morning, but did not find anything which I wanted to read. I also took a bit of time to go to Target. I noticed that Target has a book club section. Publishers are starting to produce books specifically for reading groups. These usually include a set of questions after each chapter about what people are reading. Almost everything there is bestsellers with some new authors. They have some cookbooks, pregnancy books, diet books, a self help section, and teen bestsellers as well. It is a way to see what popular titles people are reading. A few titles that looked interesting are Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith and Nefertiti by Michelle Moran.
I learned that Thoreau designed pencils while reading A Better Pencil. The pencil is the premiere writing instrument. It is cheap, ubiquitous, easy to distribute and used all over the world. I prefer pens personally, but if you are looking for the most prevalent writing technology, it is the pencil.
Traditions are like fairy tales. The basket full of goodies, egg hunts, and chocolate bunnies with big ears are all a part of my family's tradition. For one day, we get to pretend and make believe, leaving behind the cares of the world. No balancing the checkbooks, no juggling schedules or trying to fit in the laundry sometime between grocery shopping, dinner and boy/girl scouts.
For the whole day, we get to goof around and pretend that chocolate eggs come from rabbits and marshmallow chicks come from marshmallow chickens. Little girls get to wear the most gorgeous dresses, sometimes complete with matching hat and dainty lace gloves.
Most of all, we get to celebrate the end of winter and the beauty of a new spring. So yeah, okay, I'm being a little poetic here, but these family traditions always bring out my sentimental side.
What does your family do during this time of year? Do you take spring vacations to far off places? Visit relatives in different states?
I'm trying to break the Monday blahs with a laugh or two. Here are some jokes and a video that always does it for me...
Mary Jane
Mary Jane was walking on the beach one day and saw a shark swimming around a man. The man was screaming, "Help me! Help me!"
And Mary Jane laughed and laughed, because she knew the shark was never going to help that man! ******************************************************** Mary Jane was walking through the forest, and a squirrel ran up her skirt. And Mary Jane laughed and laughed, because she knew there weren't any nuts up there. ****************************************************** Mary Jane was walking down the street when a man pulled her into a dark alley and started ripping off all her clothes. And Mary Jane laughed and laughed, because she knew her clothes wouldn't fit him. ***************************************************** Mary Jane was at the movies with her boyfriend. He put his hand up her skirt. And Mary Jane laughed and laughed, because she knew her money was in her shoe. ***************************************************** Mary Jane pushed her brother into the pool. Her mother said, "You know your brother can't swim!" And Mary Jane laughed and laughed, because she knew there wasn't any water in that pool. ***************************************************** Mary Jane was playing on the swings one day, swinging higher and higher. Her mother came out and said, "Mary Jane, don't you swing too high, the boys will see your underwear." And Mary Jane laughed and laughed, because she knew she wasn't wearing any underwear. ****************************************************** Mary Jane was walking downtown and saw a sign in a fabric store that said "Felt, 10 cents." And Mary Jane laughed and laughed, because she knew where she could get felt for free. ****************************************************** Mary Jane burnt down the barn one day, and her mother said "Mary Jane! You're in big trouble when your father gets home!" And Mary Jane laughed and laughed, because she knew her father was in that barn. ***************************************************** Mary Jane was crossing the street with her mother. As her mother stooped to pick up a quarter, she was hit by a bus. And Mary Jane laughed and laughed, because she knew it was only a nickel. ******************************************************* Mary Jane went to the doctor because she hadn't been feeling too well. The doctor told her that she was pregnant with twins. And Mary Jane just laughed and laughed, because she knew she only did it once. ******************************************************** Mary Jane had forgotten to do her chores one day and was sitting in her room reading a book. Her father came storming up the stairs and threw open her room door and ripped the book out of her hand and threw it across the room…. And Mary Jane laughed and laughed, because she knew what page she was on. ************************************************** Mary Jane was walking through a cow pasture when she came upon a big, fresh pile of cow manure. On top of this steaming pile of manure was a tiny fly. And Mary Jane laughed and laughed, because she knew a fly couldn't have made all of that. ******************************************************* Mary Jane went to the drive-in movies with her boyfriend. She was looking really fine, so he says, "Hey Mary Jane, do you want to sit in the back seat?". Mary Jane looked at the back seat, then back at her boyfriend. And Mary Jane just laughed and laughed because she knew she wanted to sit up front with him. **************************************************** Mary Jane was asleep in bed one night. A strange man came into her room, took off his clothes, and got in bed with her. And Mary Jane just laughed and laughed, because she knew she had the only pillow.
And now the video...
Hehe, I feel better already! Happy Monday! Bob Out
American science fiction author, Eric Flint GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2
Daily Thoughts 3/29/2010
I watched a film on dvd called Wordplay today. It was about crossword puzzles. It featured Will Shortz who is the editor for the New York Times crossword puzzle. He arranges for puzzles from about 110 different people every single year. Will Shortz has a degree in Enigmatology which is puzzles. It was a quite enjoyable film.
There were cameos by Bill Clinton, Mike Mussina, Jon Stewart, the Indigo Girls, and many other famous people. They talked about why they did the crossword puzzle. It was very interesting to listen to.
The film also covered the National Crossword Championship which runs for seven days. There is a crossword for every single day. It was interesting watching champion crossword puzzle people prepare for the event.
If you like words and thinking about words, this film is well worth seeing.
The dvd case includes a booklet with five crossword puzzles fromt the New York Times.
I have started reading A Better Pencil, Readers, Writers, and the Digital Revolution by Dennis Baron.
Meet the Marans chicken, an uncommon European breed, named for the town in France in which it was developed. And now...
Meet its embryo.
That's right, the Marans chicken lays chocolate eggs. They vary in shade, from milk chocolate to dark, but are always some glossy shade of our favorite treat. Of course, they still taste like eggs, so the Cadbury bunny doesn't need to worry about finding a new job yet, but c'mon. Chocolate eggs. How cool is that?
This got me thinking--are the Marans chicken and Easter candy related in some way? The candy chocolate egg did originate in Europe, so...did someone see a glossy chocolate Marans egg and think, hey, I could do that with real candy? Or was the Marans bred to create a living imitation of a tasty chocolate craze?
In other words, what came first...the Marans chicken, or the Easter egg?
Jacquelyn Sylvan is the author of Surviving Serendipity, a YA fantasy novel. Click below to buy on Amazon!
I don't really have anything to say tonight, so I thought I'd share a song with you insted. Good idea, huh? ^^ A song says more than a thousand words. (Literally.)
I went to Barnes and Noble this morning. I looked at an advertisement for a Nook. It asks if you would like to carry Barnes and Noble in your hand wherever you want to go. I am looking forward to when there are less dedicated ebook machines. I would like to be able to download from whichever bookstore I want. I think a laptop would be the best choice for me because I think you can download the Kindle software to a laptop as well as the Nook software and other bookstore sites.
There were a few interesting books worth looking at. I do not order a whole lot of science fiction and fantasy series books. I am thinking of getting a few World of Warcraft paperbacks, as well as a few paperbacks from the Forgotten Realms series and the Warhammer 40,000 series. I also saw a few novel that seemed interesting, Frank Delaney, Venetia Kelly's Traveling Show as well as a new humorous fantasy book by A. Lee Martinez, Divine Misfortune.
I read another science fiction book today, The Crucible of Empire by Eric Flint and K.D. Wentworth. It is a military science fiction novel. What is different about this story is that humans have been conquered by an alien race, the Jao. However, they are not enslaved. Earth has become a kind of partner in a larger interstellar war against an aggressive species called the Ehkat. This is the second book in a series started with The Course of Empire. There is another humanoid species added to the story in this novel, the Lleix who convinced the Jao to separate from the Ehkat. I am finding it quite entertaining.
What freaks me out? After thinking long and hard, I’ve discovered that a lot of things freak me out. These are my top ten.
1. Spiders, of course. Always have, always will. I don’t care how much they benefit my garden.
2. People who smile all the time, even when they are by themselves, and especially when I see them on downtown buses.
3. Digging up something weird in the yard, especially if it is moving.
4. People using Bluetooth devices in public. I know it’s simply technological progress, but to me, they simply look like they are talking to themselves. Speaking of which...
5. People who talk to themselves...especially accompanied by smiling all the time...on buses.
6. Giving interviews, as I’d just recently discovered when I gave my first the other day. I kept worried about finding that fine line between coming across as an idiot and being a pretentious bore. Not used to it yet, and it didn’t help that I was 15 minutes late because I showed up at the wrong Starbucks where we agreed to meet (but in my defense, where I live, there’s a Starbucks roughly every 100 feet).
7. When my kids get injured. I’ll never get used to that.
8. When my dog does disgusting things, such as throwing up, then deciding the meal he just lurched is worth enjoying a second time, or how he’s recently discovered the hidden treasures of our cat’s litter box. I’m starting to think he considers the cat’s butt as some kind of doggy vending machine.
9. Seeing people who were obviously never taught that digging in your nose (or other regions) in public isn’t socially acceptable behavior.
10. Death. And the older I get, the more it freaks me out. I’m at that age where any unexplained ache or pain sometimes has me hitting the panic button.
Grand Theft Auto: London, 1969 is the first expansion pack to the original Grand Theft Auto. GTA: London 1969 was released in April 1999 for the PC and PlayStation. It offered 32 new missions, as well as a total of 30 new vehicles, relative to the time period.
The game is very similar to the original Grand Theft Auto because it uses the same game engine and is presented in the same format of missions, sections and cutscenes. Another expansion pack, Grand Theft Auto: London 1961, was later released solely for the PC version and offered as free download from Rockstar. It requires GTA London 1969, which in turn requires GTA 1. Since London 1969 and London 1961 are almost the same games I'll only review London 1969.
As the name implies, the game takes place in London in the year 1969. You once again enter the role of a criminal looking to work his or her way up the career ladder of organized crime. The temporal setting has been exploited through a number of cultural and historical references, including the appearance of a James Bond-like character. In addition, the cars drive on the left side of the road, as is the case in Britain. I really had a hard time getting used to that, as you can see in the video.
In this game you can also name your character, just like in GTA 1. In GTA: London 1969 you work for a crime syndicate called 'The Crisp Twins', which is a parody to 'The Kray Twins', who were the foremost perpetrators of organized crime in London's East End during the 50's and 60's.
Just like Grand Theft Auto, this game has similar bonuses. For example, when running over a group of people with a car without braking. When successful you'll get the message: 'Keep London Tidy' and a cash bonus.
What I really liked about this game are the dialogs of the characters. When driving through London you hear things like: 'Oi, stop right there!' or 'filthy hippie!' and other hilarious lines. I even fail in my missions on purpose, just to hear the line 'Mission Failed' another time.
Speaking of the missions, some of them are hilarious too. There is one mission where you have to destroy a bus that belongs to the opposing soccer-team. Afterwards you have to pick up their best players and kill them, so that the team your mob supports can win the match.
Because the same engine was used as in GTA, the graphics look only slightly different, but still well done. When playing this game you sometimes hear the same background voices as in the original game. The cars also have the same sounds as the original game.
Still, this game is fun to play and when you liked the original you'll definitely like this expansion pack too, because of the hilarious moments and funny dialogs.
The Geographer 1668-69 oil on canvas; 53×47 cm Steadelsches Kunstinstitut Frankfurt, Germany, Jan Vandermeer. This makes me think of the atlas stand where I work. We do not have a large map collection. Many libraries do. Daily Thoughts 3/27/2010
Today has been a relatively quiet day. They are working on shifting books in the storage area to make more room. I finished weeding the fiction in the storage area. Now, it is more of a job of moving things around. I still have weeding to do in the oversize books on the main floor.
I am also planning days to do collection development meetings. One of the days, I would like to focus on special areas like government documents, maps, the job information center, different areas of genre fiction: urban fiction, mysteries, romance, inspirational fiction, science fiction, and other categories.
I learned from one of our library patrons there is a Kids Comiccon on April 10, at Bronx Community College. Bronx Community College holds a kids comic con free for kids under 18 -- April 10 in Bronx, New York http://www.kidscomiccon.com/ It looks kind of interesting.
I finished reading Gardens of the Sun by Paul McAuley tonight. It is the sequel to The Quiet War. Like most very interesting science fiction or literature there will be very mixed reactions to the story in this book. It is very much a book about biology, ecology, and society in the terms of hard science fiction; not so much physics. This makes it a different kind of hard science fiction.
Recorded in her home studio, "Bionic" features "electronic and organic elements with subject matter ranging from playful to introspective." The album features collaborations with Sia, Le Tigre, Christopher "Tricky" Stewart, Hill & Switch and Ladytron, and a ballad entitled "Lift Me Up" written by Linda Perry. "Bionic" will be released June 8th. A short clip of her first single from the album, "Not myself tonight" can be heard on her website today. Click here to listen to it. The full single will be released on March 30th.
Desk of german author Hermann Hesse in Hermann Hesse Höri Museum in Gaienhofen Creative Commons Attributions Share Alike Attribution 3.0, Photo taken by Dierk Andresen , 2004 Daily Thoughts 3/26/2010 Today has been a quiet day. I have a number of books waiting for me to look at, The Value of Nothing by Raj Patel, How Philosophy Can Save Your Life 10 Ideas That Matter Most by Marietta McCarthy, Gardens of the Sun by Paul McAuley, A Better Pencil Readers Writers and the Digital Revolution by Dennis Baron, The Crucible of Empire by Eric Flint and K.D. Wenthworth, and Other Lands by David Anthony Durham. We got our first shipment from BWI. There were a few interesting titles including R. Crumb's The Book of Genesis Illustrated, and Agatha Christie's Secret Notebooks edited by John Curran. On the cover it says the book contains two previously unpublished Hercule Poirot stories which is intriguing. I went around and checked the displays, putting a few new books in a display of folklore books from storage, and making sure the new books were in order. I picked out several books for the book mobile. Mainly, they were biography titles, large print, and popular fiction which many older readers like.
I read the first chapter of How Philosophy Can Change Your Life. It is on the concept of simplicity in life. The author describes how Epictetus believed the simplest pleasures are the lasting pleasures. She draws a parallel between zen and stoicism which both focus on simplifying ones life to the point where the simple pleasures become profound.It is a philosophical counter to excessive materialism.She gives numerous examples at the end of the chapter on how to simplify ones life.
I also started reading Gardens of the Sun by Paul McAuley. It is the sequel to The Quiet War which is about war between two branches of humanity, the outers who are on the moons of Titan and the earth triumvirate led by the Alliance of Greater Brazil.
I have nothing against wax dolls; especially not the ones at Madame Tussauds where the wax celebs are scarily alike the real person. Nevertheless, I must say that they have completely managed to destroy the hottie Robert Pattinson by turning him into one! Besides the hair, he doesn’t look like our favorite vampire at all. - He’s too skinny, his neck is too long, and he looks…old! ^^
Illustration of "A Mad Tea Party" in chapter in Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland in which Alice meets the Mad Hatter, the March Hare and the Dormouse. Text on Hatter's hat reads "In this style 10/6. Illustration by John Tenniel. Daily Thoughts 3/25/2010
I mostly relaxed today. I am becoming fond of lemon ginger tea. I returned a few books to my local library. Today is a quiet day.
This is a collection of short essays by Alberto Manguel. Alberto Manguel wrote The Dictionary of Imaginary Places and was an editor for many years. He muses on his own identity as a reader by talking about many personal issues on reading. He has an essay of the Legend of the Wandering Jew as a reader as well as comments on Jorge Luis Borges defense of Jewish culture. The author is Argentinian and pulls from the South American literary tradition. He opens many of the essays with a quote from Alice in Wonderland or Through the Looking Glass and a picture from one of these books. This adds an inquisitive quality to the essays. I like many of his quotes and thoughts from Borges because Borges was a librarian and a fantasist in the tradition of magical realism. The essays remind me of thoughts that might have come out of The Phantom Tollbooth or Un Lun Dun. Most of the essays are about the the experience of reading and being a reader. I especially liked the essay on Don Quixote, entitled Time and The Doleful Knight on Pp. 182-186. I can relate to Cervantes even though I have not read him.. Alberto Manguel attempts to list the qualities of the ideal reader and the ideal writer in two separate essays. They are quite delightful, even though I would not agree with many of them. Alberto Manguel has a deep relationship with books. He has a personal library of some 30,000 books. He wrote about this in an earlier book, The Library At Night. There is also some discussion of technology in this book. The essay, Saint Augustine's Computer on Pp. 187-198 describes the differences between the printed word and the word on the screen. They are quite significant. He claims the printed word is less ephemeral and easier to subject to deep analysis than what appears on a computer screen. Some of the issues in the book are quite political. Alberto Manguel grew up under Peron's government. He describes many of the problems with literature, writing, and reading that occur under repressive regimes. He also discusses Che Guevara and his impact on literature. This makes for some interesting, if a bit pointed commentary. There is a lot to recommend in this book. It has a well done index, a very extensive bibliography, and a nice feel to the book. The book is set in Fourier Type and is quite easy to read. It is printed by Yale University Press. It is an excellent book that is well worth reading.
Why do we we still see the "attack op/eds" in the NY Times? Because they sell papers... no other reason.. When are we all going to wake up and realize that we must find a middle ground and protect freedoms without ridiculing and self righteous arrogance.
Absence of class is not the sole domain of the republicans. The examples called out here are shameful but not unique to a single ideology or party. Unfortunately, I fear that articles like this contribute more to the problem than the solution.
Tolerance and civility, along with diversity of perspective seem to be lost on fundamentalists of all flavors.
Freedom in speech is messy, particularly in this age of mass communications, but it beats the alternative by a long shot.
I should really start working on my IOP (Individual Oral Presentation) in Swedish that I have for next Tuesday (which I haven't even begun with yet!), but I have no motivation at this moment whatsoever. All I can think about is getting on a plane and go someplace I've never been to, someplace with beautiful white beaches and a totally different culture...someplace like Greece.
I can't believe there are paradises like this in Europe. ^^ Or maybe it's more like: I don't want to believe there are. Because I'm still here in Sweden where the sun barely shines, and when it does, the wind catches you like a huge tornado... -.- So by thinking that places like this only exist far, far away (and not relatively close to Sweden), I won't get as bummed over the fact that I don't live in a place like that. See what I mean?
I wonder why dreaming of escaping the reality is sometimes so much funnier than being in it?
History is filthy. And when I say filthy, I don't mean bootleg porno filthy. I'm talking full-scale filthy - somewhere between a live donkey show and a snuff film. In tribute to the sexual sins of our fathers and erstwhile gods, here are the five most innovative ways that Zeus ever used a fantastic disguise for the purposes of stranger rape.
5. The chick.
The victim: Callisto.
The ruse: The virginal Callisto was a follower of the goddess Artemis, so it was a simple enough matter for Zeus disguise himself as Artemis in order to lure Callisto into the woods and rape her.
The progeny: Arcas, king of Arcadia.
Oh, and... When Artemis found out that her supposedly virgin follower was pregnant, she turned Callisto into a bear and set her loose in the forest, where she gave birth (as a fucking BEAR) to Arcas. In the conventional wisdom of the Gods of the day, Zeus hid baby Arcas away and never bothered to tell him who his mother was. Again, typical of these motherfucking stories, Arcas goes hunting one day and actually shoots his bear-mother dead.
4. The long-lost husband.
The victim: Alcmene.
The ruse: At first, Zeus actually had the balls to approach the married Alcmene in person - and she actually had the balls to refuse him - but that's ok, cause Zeus had a Plan B. Alcmene's husband (and cousin) was away at war, and all Zeus had to do was to stage a passionate reunion, starring himself as Ron Jeremy's stand-in.
The progeny: Heracles (Hercules) - the greatest condom-full-of-walnuts in history.
Oh, and... We forgot to mention that Zeus just pulled out his time-turner and turned the night he was with Alcmene into three entire days. If Alcmene thought the Gods couldn't screw her any more than that, then check this out:
- Her husband swore against ever having sex with her again, out of respect to Zeus, who is clearly the Most Persuasive Rapist Of All Time.
- Zeus' wife Hera was so jealous that she sent a bitch goddess to intervene and stop Heracles from being born. Alcmene was in labour for seven entire days before finally tricking the Gods into leaving her the fuck alone.
Again, it just sucks to be a woman in Ancient Greece.
3. The bull (or was it an eagle)?
The victim: Europa
The ruse: There are two equally screwed up version of this story. According to Robert Graves, Zeus became enamoured of Europa, "became an eagle and ravished (her) in a willow-thicket". Or, if you prefer Ovid's version, Zeus rocked up as a white bull, which she trusted enough to "mount its back" - and get carried off and raped. Perhaps the most frightening inherent aspect of these accounts is how any historical sources could have possibly confused an eagle with a fucking bull.
The progeny: Minos, Rhadamanthys and Sarpedon, who all went on to become Kings.
Oh, and... Zeus named Europe after Europa in the world's most pathetic attempt at making up for getting raped by a bull.
2. The Swan.
The victim: Leda
The ruse: An oldie but a goodie - why not just try showing up and having sex with a defenceless woman at a waterhole - dressed as a giant swan? Good idea? Great idea.
The progeny: Helen - who later became Helen of Troy. Also the twins Castor and Polydeuces, who later became the sign Gemini.
Oh, and... Did we mention that the children hatched out of eggs?
1. The golden shower.
The victim: Danae.
The ruse: Danae's father Ascrisius lacked an heir, and loved consulting random hacks dressed up as Oracles. Naturally, one of them handed him the type of beautifully self-fulfilling prophecy that we've come to expect from Ancient Greece- namely, that his daughter would give birth to a son who would grow up to slaughter him. The most obvious available solution was to shut the virgin Danae in a tall tower only accessible from a trapdoor in the ceiling.
Zeus, being the classy fella that he is, decided he was tired of appearing as a giant bird and went to Plan B - which happened to be falling as a "shower of golden rain". Which, we assume, is just a euphemism for "pissed all over her".
The progeny: Perseus, who tamed Pegasus, defeated the Gorgon, saved a princess and managed to look hot in a tunic in modern film adaptations.
Oh, and... Proving that effective parenting comes naturally, Ascrisius cast Danae and the newborn Perseus into the sea in a sealed casket. Unfortunately for Ascrisius, they washed up onto another island, where Perseus was raised in blissful ignorance of his connection to his homeland. Sure enough, he returned as an adult to kill his asshole grandfather - proving yet again that consulting an Oracle is a fucking stupid thing to do.
I finished reading A Reader on Reading by Alberto Manguel. I was thinking about Borges today and I tried looking up The Library of Babel. In an odd coincidence, I found out that the nickname for the Ellis Island library in its early days was nicknamed the "Tower of Babel". There are some images with these words in the New York Public Library Digital Gallery.
Please excuse me for not writing as much today. I am resting right now, drinking tea. I really enjoyed reading Alberto Manguel. He reminds me what it means to devotes ones life to books.
I can't wait to see him in that tight Captain America costume. The First Avenger: Captain America is set to open on July 22, 2011. Chris will also reprise the role in The Avengers, which will unite Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and the Incredible Hulk (Edward Norton). That film is set for release on May 4, 2012.
WOW, Robert Downey Jr...Chris Hemsworth...Edward Norton & Chris Evans in ONE movie. Girls, that will be a major drool fest. COUNT ME IN!
John Hancock's Signature from The Declaration of Independence, United States, 1776 
