Why Did I Take This Picture?
Ok, I need to catch up my Harry Potter franchise consumption. I do like the books, for a variety of reasons. (1) Well written. (2) Fun. (3) Provide a cultural touchstone with essentially every child on earth and 75% of college students and some crotchety old people. (4) I like fantasy novels, always will; they are the trashy romance of my book lists. I’ve been feeling nostalgic lately, and reading those books takes me back to high school summers, when I am 98% sure I did not actually have any cares in the world. Seriously. No cares. Anyhow, I think I am caught up on the books (am I? I may not have read the latest slime green one … and I say that with respect to Mary GrandPre), but I do need to see at least two of the movies.
I was one of the three people in the United States who had not yet read the book The Da Vinci Code, and so as a part of my mission to not suck at life this Christmas break, I decided to read it. Also, the remaining two people who have not yet read the book are probably under enormous peer pressure to just read it and get it other with … my apologies to you both. That said, the reading has only lasted an intense couple of days. I casually opened up the book to read a few chapters, and suddenly it was somewhere after 3am, and I was 250 pages in. My mind was certainly thirsty for some novel’age after the textbooks I have been buried in, but the book also happens to take a deathly tight grip on your mind, compelling you to turn page after page and pound through to the conclusion. My expectations were high, yet vague: I avoided even reading the book jacket description so that my experience would be as the author intended; unbiased, greenhorned, vaguely interested. This tactic paid off. Case in point: after hearing the ending to Million Dollar Baby, I still haven’t watched it. Not so with this book … oooh no. I had absolutely effin’ no idea what to expect upon cracking the cover, and was thrilled to be sucked in to a web of thrillingly thrillingsten thrillful plots … the way vacuums suck up dirt or the souls of the authors of bad analogies. Whew, I really can’t write tonight.
Gary Benchley, Rock Star - Paul Ford of the impeccable FTrain writes a novel! Looks good to me.
14 amazing historical books - View them online. DaVinci’s handwriting.
The Complete Calvin and Hobbes - I’ve been waiting for this for a long long time. I just may purchase. This is the most beautiful comic strip (taking beauty in many ways) that I have ever had the privilege of seeing.
Author: Madeleine L’Engle - I loved A Wrinkle in Time - maybe I’ll read one of her adult books sometime.
The Blind Watchmaker - I need to read this book. As an adament believer that God and evolution easily coexist, I am intrigued by how I could help others to at least understand (not necessarily agree with) my view.
Part of a customer review reads:”If one doesn’t believe in the power of natural selection after reading this book, then that person is not rational.”
In honor of his recently released book, A Man Without a Country, I thought I would point out a couple of Kurt Vonnegut-type-things today. First, I can not write nearly well enough to do his tremendous writing justice. So, below I will reproduce one of my favorite short stories by him in full. This is likely not legal. However, while I breach copyright in this way, I will point you to buy one of his books or this book, also by him or visit his website. Hopefully that will save me from the/some lawyers.
This is not all of my textbooks for this semester. Furthermore - this pile should not scare anyone, including myself. This is completely doable: it’s only ungrad.
Things My Girlfriend and I Have Argued About - Incidentally, this has become a a book. He gets to, perhaps, the crux of whatever small “point” there may be on his website: “As I’ve said before, the secret of a successful relationship is to become irretrievably embroiled in a bitter struggle to the death.”
I am currently crunching some numbers for dental school (approaching rapidly … 2 years and counting). Interesting thing I didn’t know before: there are mandatory summer terms for 2nd, 3rd, and 4th year students. Other captivating/gripping/fascinating trivia follows.
Cold Turkey - A must-read. Vonnegut’s still got it.
A few weeks back, I picked up Book 1 (The Magician’s Nephew) of the Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis. Years ago, I received the entire series as a present and voraciously tore through the seven volumes. Therefore, this July, what began as a casual opening of Book 1 ended today with the completion of Book 7. What is it about these books? The style is conversational, gentle, and fit for children; nevertheless, the trap of stripping language bare in order to accomodate younger readers is avoided. But, it isn’t really the literary style or the deeper symbolism that held my attention then and now. The fantasy is so well anchored with insight into the human condition, you see the world around you more clearly by looking at another.