Light at the end

There is a light at the end of my work tunnel and I'm pretty sure it is not a train. Things have been very busy here. I've been working more overtime in the last four weeks then I worked all last year. And I'm finally almost done. Just in time for this trip. I spent most of the evening packing after getting back from dinner with my parents. They came back from London today and we head out tomorrow. Bon Voyage. 

Things have not been slow though this week. My car melted down, requiring a total rebuilding of the engine. Needless to say I was not excited. The car was apparently burning oil. About three weeks ago my car had been making all sorts of terrible noises. I drove it to work and back but kept waiting for it to breakdown. I got home and checked the oil level to find that there was not a drop left in the engine. I added oil and took it in. I guess my piston rings have been sticking and my car has been secretly burning its oil. I learned the rebuilding an engine is not quick or cheap. Ow. 

On Sunday I ran errand and ended up getting a disastrous haircut that my sisters made into something cute. I'll try to post pictures. It's far far shorter then I've ever gone. On a strange positive I now own barrettes and headbands. Who would of thought that I could be a girly girl? 

I did a rather large presentation at a professional developers conference this morning. I'm not much of a public speaker so this thing has been keeping me up nights recently. It went fine and for a moment I had the impression that I might actually be okay at this job. Or at least can fake that I know what I'm talking about. 

Sadly I have done no reading or writing in the last three weeks. I even have a stack of magazines that I haven't had time to read. I have three books I'll be taking with me on this trip and hope to read at least two while I'm there. I'll have pictures and stories when I get back. Right now I'm just tired. Thanks for your patience with me. I'll be back to regular posting in about a week. Until then, take care. 

To tide you over

My life recently has revolved around work, work, and sadly more work. Lately I've been working 12 hour days and have zero time for any real thought much less a blog post. If it wasn't for dinner I would never see Jeff. So these are just some images and maybe a video of mine to tide you over until I am rational again. Until then, thanks for reading. I'll try to put up some new images daily until the weekend. 

First up is a conch. We toured the world's only conch farm when we were down in Turks and Caicos. The islands were just hit with Hurricane Gustav and suffered some serious damage. Hopefully everyone down there is okay. The scary thing about this picture is that people actually eat these things. 

Down in St. Louis there is a park called Turtle Park. Can you tell why? This is Jeff and my brother Dave after they have conquered one of the larger turtles. There were about 20 statutes spread throughout the park. 

This is one of my favorite pictures from a trip my dad, my sister and I took down to Bull Shoals, Arkansas for a scuba diving trip. This is what a dive trip can look like after all the diving is done. Also a great picture of the three of us in wetsuits (sorry guys) 

And lastly, as Jon Stewart would say, your moment of zen. Here is a gorgeous and delicious looking chocolate fountain at the Bellagio in Vegas. This was a two story fountain with three different types of chocolate. Sadly no tasting. 

I have not fallen off the face of the earth

Although lately it feels like it. I have been bad about blogging, not even logging in all weekend. In fact, I didn't even check my email this weekend. Instead I worked. A good chunk of the weekend. These last three weeks at work have been very busy. I have more projects than I know what to do with. Normally I don't have to work on the weekend but this was an exception. I'll work next weekend as well. Why? Because I'm sailing off into the sunset. In two weeks. So I have to pay my dues now. 

When I finished my Masters, Jeff asked me what I wanted as a gift. I said that I wanted a cruise. I've always wanted to take a cruise. As I've mentioned before I'm pretty sure I was a pirate or a sailor in my previous life. I love the ocean and I particularly love boats. The thought of being miles from shore on a boat makes me incredibly excited. Now add a 24 hour buffet and two of the most beautiful ports I could imagine and you can sense my excitement. 

This trip has been a year and a half in the making. We have had it booked since December. I read more about cruise ships in that time then I did for my final papers in school. I wanted to make the right choice. We're sailing on Royal Caribbean and I think we did pretty well. I'm stopping in Key West, to see Hemingway's home. In Cozumel for snorkeling and shopping. And Belize for the jungles and Mayan ruins. 

But mostly I'm just excited to be out at sea. Ever since I was young I wanted to learn to sail. I have a dream of owning a boat and sailing the Caribbean on a live aboard. And for the first time I get a chance to go to bed completely surrounded by water and wake up the same way. We no longer believed that the world is flat but I would love to think I'm sailing to the ends of the earth. Or at least the ends of the Caribbean. 

By the way, this will be our home in two weeks. Royal Caribbean's Enchantment of the Seas. Can anyone say floating resort? (again a "borrowed picture". I'll have some of my own when I come back.)

Book Sales

I'm a sucker for a book sale. Even places like Half Price Books make me lose all self control and go mad. I often bring in books to sell and end up spending far more than I get back. So I am incredibly excited for this weekend. The annual Planned Parenthood Book Sale is going on at the state fairgrounds. Imagine hundreds of tables stretching across rooms, stacked four to five books deep. Now imagine that all those books sell for $2.00 or less. Cheap paperbacks upstairs will sell for $.25 each. 

Here is an image stolen from the Planned Parenthood site of this year's tables. 

Last year I bought so many books that they had to find boxes for me to take them home in. I tend to leave $40 short with a stiff neck from looking over hundreds of tables. All the money goes to a great cause, Planned Parenthood so I tend to spend liberally. I've even volunteered in years past to help unbox books for the sale. So I know exactly where I will be this weekend. For anyone in Des Moines who reads regularly, make sure you get out there. Hundreds of thousands of books for prices so small it's almost stealing. 

There is another book sale going on this weekend but this one I'm not so excited about. My sister has long been with Borders/Waldenbooks. She is currently the store manager at the Waldenbooks at one of our malls. Last night I got a text message from her letting me know that the store will be closing. My sister will be unemployed by the end of the month. She called me today to let me know that everything in the store is 40-50% off. Somehow I'm having trouble getting excited about this particular sale. I'm sad to think that the faster the books go, the shorter time she has. I have traditionally ordered all my books through her. She just ordered me the new Adam Rex picture book. 

My sister has done well with the company and the hope is that they will transfer her to a different store. But who knows where that store will be. I know that she'll find something, she's very smart, but I worry how long it will take. Two of my neighbors have been unemployed, one for quite a while, the other for over two months now. So I'm learning not to complain about my job. It pays me well and right now I have more job security than I know what to do with. 

Book Review: The Lightning Thief

Last week or so I posted a blog post about how my nephew had asked me what books I was reading. I mentioned that he had made a recommendation himself. What he recommended was The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan. So of course I had to read it. And I'm so happy I did.

The premise is so familiar. A young boy finds out that he is not like the other kids in his class. He is magical. He is taken away to a special place to be trained in his abilities. I know what you're thinking. I've read this story before. But you haven't. Percy Jackson, the main character, is not magical and he is certainly not Harry Potter. Instead he's a demigod. The story goes that the Greek gods are still living and have moved to America, they tend to live in the most powerful western nation. The gods are up to their old ways, controlling the weather, creating wars, and seducing humans to create offspring. Percy is a son of one of the gods. (I won't tell you which one but it's pretty easy to figure out.)

He is taken to Half Blood Hill, a summer camp for demigods, to learn about his powers and to keep him safe from the monsters that are trying to kill him. (think Medusa, Minotaur...) At the camp he is surrounded by others like him. The camp is really set up interestingly and the book is well worth reading for the descriptions of the camp and the way the god's children reflect their tendencies. Athena's children are smart and excellent strategists, Hermes children are fast, and Ares children tend to be boorish and violent.

But Percy doesn't stay at camp long. War is breaking out between the gods and only he can stop it. With the help of a clumsy satyr and a child of Athena, Percy sets out to the west coast, battling monsters to stop the war. The references to Greek mythology are wonderful and very entertaining for adults. I'm not sure how young adults will view this if they are not familiar with some of the stories. I will say that having the background knowledge does actually make the story a little less suprising. The discovery that one person is a monster has been hinted at so much that it was well known to me. But for young adults and children these may still be surprises. And perhaps the prior knowledge helps with the suspense.

Many people have discussed how the series (there are several Percy Jackson books) are like the Harry Potter series. There are some similiarities to the Harry Potter series. Percy is a gifted student who often acts in a way that would get other kids in trouble. He is insulent to the gods and has an almost fearlessness in the face of danger. (He tells Hades off. That takes guts) His companions include a helpless, always hungry satyr Grover who tends to mess up regularly and a brilliant girl who also has the power of invisibility.

But this is a very different series with a very different tone. The Lightning Thief has a much lighter tone than the Harry Potter series and is willing to play a bit more between regular people and the god world. While Harry is confined almost completely to the magical world (after the first 40 pages) Percy must interact with the populus. Percy has a human family as well. His mother, who Percy adores, has protected him over the years by sending him to private schools, which he flunks out of. His stepfather is a terrible man who Percy can't stand. The dynamics between the three of them are almost painful. Not because they are not well written but because I has seen families like this.

I actually learned quite a bit of mythology through this first book. The depictions are hilarious. I adored the depictions of Charon (who ferries souls across the river Styx) and Cerberus. And with chapter titles like "Three Old Ladies Knit the Socks of Death" and "I Become Supreme Ruler of the Bathroom" this is much lighter more fun book. While the book is listed for young adults I found it just as enjoyable, perhaps more, than any child could. This is such an entertaining book I might break my rule about series and read the next one.

Art?

I went out walking this afternoon in a little park down by the Des Moines Art Center. A friend and I wandered through the deer trails in the woods and then I sat up in the rose garden and watched the birds. And I saw a lot of art. Now the Art Center wasn't open but that doesn't mean the art is just in the building. 

Like this interesting wood sculpture that someone left deep in the woods. 

Or this more organic mud and paper sculpture. (really a hornet's nest) 

When I got to the Rose Garden I found some beautiful roses. 

And an Andy Goldsworthy sculpture. This one is what most people would consider art. This is actually a very interesting piece. There are two others just like it. One in Scotland, one in California, and this one. There are actually three hollowed out areas surrounding the cairn. But there were a ton of little children playing on them so I snuck what pictures I could. 

Then I found these more modern sculptures on the way out. Really just graffiti but at least intelligent graffiti. 

Book Review: Neuromancer

Two decades ago when I was 12 my brother brought home a role playing game called Shadowrun. We looked over the pictures, read the rules, and started playing. Ten years later I was still playing on a regular basis. For most of my high school and college years, family time meant play time as we ran the shadows with my brother as Gamemaster. I started my own groups and ran campaigns for them. I loved this game. My first character, a shaman, was invincible until he encountered a dragon. I cried when he died. The game allows you to play a shadowrunner, a criminal just trying to scrap by on the streets. The players are hired by corporations and other criminals to pull jobs. 

The ownership of the game has changed a couple of times and the rules have changed for the worse. I still play old rules occasionally when I can get a group together. So it is surprising that all through these last two decades that I haven't picked up William Gibson's Neuromancer. The book was the inspiration for the game. Most of the terminology is taken directly from the story. Gibson is credited with the creation of the word Cyberspace. It is a book that mixes technology and crime into an exciting thriller. 

Gibson himself hated that his book was linked to the Shadowrun game. I read an interview with him where he states how upset he was by the use of his material. But it is not for the copyright issues that you are thinking of. Shadowrun offers the players a choice of playing a human or a metahuman (elf, dwarf, orc...) Gibson was upset by the fact that these species existed in the game. He felt that it trivialized the work. The game also includes the return of magic to the world. Something that Gibson never included in his book.  

The book follows Case, a Matrix cowboy. Case is one of the best computer hackers in the Sprawl. He enters the Matrix, a construct for cyberspace to battle ICE (security measure) to access corporate or personal information. When the book begins his mind has been blown after he tries to steal from his employer. He turns to ordinary crime until he is offered a cure and a job he can't refuse. He works with Molly, a street samurai who has more metal than flesh. She has been cybernetically augmented until she is a killing machine. Both of these characters are archetypes in the game. 

The action is tense and the world is well described. Gibson wrote the book in 1984 and set it in the not too distant future. It is even possible to see some of the technology he discusses. The characters, including the AI, are interesting and flawed. It makes for exciting reading. Gibson is not very good at explaining his terms and for the first part of the book that is a bit confusing. The book throws you into the world and makes no exceptions. The reader must either keep pace with the changed world or the book will make no sense. This was an exciting book that climaxes in a startling mix of violence, compassion, technology, and strangeness. It is definately recommended. Then after you are done pick up Shadowrun, preferably 2nd or 3rd edition and start playing. Gibson may not approve but you are sure to have a lot of fun. 

Forgetting to breath and handmade pages

This is two blog posts in one because it has been a rough two day stretch for me. I've been forgetting to breath. Not literally but I've been so stressed recently that I have been at people's throats. I also haven't been sleeping which is odd. Normally I close my eyes and am out like a light. Although I used to think I was a deep sleeper until I met Jeff. He literally slept through our smoke alarm one night. 

I finally finished my application for the Minneapolis job but that had been weighing on my mind a lot. I know that it is not due until the beginning of October but I hate job applications enough that they severely stress me out. I have a project at work that is half a month overdue (bad Cat) and a presentation to write that I have to deliver at the end of the month. That is the one that is stressing me out the most. I hate public speaking. When they called asking me if I would do these hour-long sessions I was so flattered that I said yes. Then I actually thought about what they were asking. Now I'm terrified. My least favorite part is that my hands sweat and the moment I am done speaking I will have no idea what I just said. Bleh. 

So to make up for all this negative energy I decided to post some of my favorite pages. The British Library has a segment of their website called Turning the Pages. This beautiful area includes a number of books that have been scanned into the system and allow readers to turn the pages of their favorite books to see the wonderful illustrations or handwritten notes. These are the original works created by the author. My favorite has to be the Alice in Wonderland that is handwritten with little images of Alice and the characters. 

The main site is http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/ttp/ttpbooks.html. Be warned, to see the pages you will need to have Shockwave installed on your computer. But the images are worth it. Here is an example of a page, written in Lewis Carroll's handwriting with one of his drawings. I love this kind of thing. Alice in Wonderland is one of my favorite books and it is wonderful to get to see it as Carroll wrote it. 

I have also added a screenshot of the Elizabeth Blackwell's Herbal. This beautiful book includes hand-drawn illustration of plants along with their medicinal uses. The book was published in 1737 and was written to pay off Blackwell's husbands debts and free him from debtors prison. It was unheard of for a woman at that time to write, particularly something of a serious natural text. These are just two examples of the books available for your perusal. I would easily recommend checking out the site. It includes images from Leonardo Di Vinci's notebooks, The Diamond Sutra (the oldest book in the world A.D. 868), the first full atlas (done in the 1500s), and many others. Shockwave is free so that shouldn't stop you. 

So Have You Read Anything Good Recently?

I get this question a lot. Since I tend to read a lot many people ask me what I've been reading recently and whether I would recommend it. In turn I ask the question a lot. I love book suggestions which is a good thing and a bad thing. The good part is that I get a number of great books to read next. The bad part is the fact that I can hardly keep up with the stacks of books that I want to read. 

But most recently I was asked this question by the most unlikely of sources. I had just joined my brother and his children for dinner at their favorite restaurant, Cosi Cucina. I sat down ordered a glass of wine and my 12 year old nephew turns to me and asks me what I'm reading. I literally dropped the menu. That is not a question that typically comes out of a 12 year olds' mouth. And he actually wanted to know. He was looking for book recommendations. And then he had one of his own. 

This kid reads everything he can get his hands on. And I'm so proud. He is working his way through books that are well above his level. He'll be starting the Tolkein trilogy soon. He's already worked his way through the Hobbit. When I think back I don't think even I was reading at this level. 

I just had to share this. I was shocked. I was awed. I hope he one day reads this and realizes how impressed I was with this question. Until then he and I will continue to trade book ideas. He has a lot to teach me.