March 2011 – My Scattered Thoughts

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2011-03-27

As of now, Adam Levin's THE INSTRUCTIONS is, hands down, the best book I've read in 2011. It's a doorstopper though at 1000+ pages! #

Last night, Max asked Sarah to tell him what all of his body parts were. Only he called them "skin pieces". #SMAtuS #

The Library of Congress has done a nice redesign of their site: http://www.loc.gov/index.html #

Max is a totally different kid when he's running, red-cheeked, in the sun. Could that smile get any bigger? #SMAtuS #

Alice is in such a hurry to grow up: not napping plus starting to use the toilet. You don't need to be in such a hurry! #SMAtuS #

Opt out of all the junk in your life: http://hotgarbage.org/optout/
Thanks, Tim! #

Red Letter Day for Alice: Going to the park and finding a dump truck filling baseball diamond with dirt. Foot-stompingly exciting! #SMAtuS #

Max asked me what "crumble" means. What an interesting word! Crumbles: cookies, castles, cliffs, faces, crackers, rocks, dirt clods. #SMAtuS #

Alice sure loves saying "Hi" these days. Ridiculously cute. #SMAtuS #

It's a good thing her mama works for a mountaineering school, because I think Alice has her eye on Rainier. #SMAtuS #

Max drew something on the computer with a heart. Told Sarah: "So that you will remember my love." #SMAtuS #

THE CRIPPLED GOD by Steven Erikson: Every page, even sentence, seems fraught with meaning. Every page turn, the END approaches. #fridayreads #

Our car is so soggy… "How soggy is it?" …there's a mushroom growing on the floor! #SMAtuS #ThatCan'tBeHealthy #

Alice: too busy teaching herself how to speak to nap. Makes for a LONG day. No one wants her to nap more than Max does. Tables turn. #SMAtuS #

Books Read February 2011

Home Land by Sam Lipsyte

Reminded me of HOT TUB TIME MACHINE. The looming shadow of the past affects the present continually. No one seems able to move past their nostalgia for high school. The ex-principal is a delightful character, a nearly tragic figure. Is it an epistolary novel if the target is a high school alumnus newsletter/message board? What a desperately funny novel.

A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy by William Irvine

Or, how to appreciate the fleeting time we all have on this Earth while we can. Contemplate loss in order to find joy in what you have. Cultivate patience in the face of irritation and pain.

The Lost Gospel of Judas Iscariot: A New Look at Betrayer and Betrayed by Bart Ehrman

The most amazing thing about this book: that a 2,000 year old book spent a decade mouldering in a bank deposit box in a strip mall in New Jersey. Also, the restoration work done on the manuscript is simply boggling in its delicacy. The main idea of the Gospel of Judas is that he is the secret hero and fulfiller of Christ’s ultimate plan to die. Interesting stuff, but I probably could have read a long-essay version and been just as happy.

The Fuller Memorandum by Charles Stross

The third novel in the Laundry series. Evil sorcerous cult seeks to summon a demon to destroy the world. Pretty fun stuff. But so gloomy! Also, if you haven’t, you’d want to read the previous Laundry stories first.

The Anti-American Manifesto by Ted Rall

Yeesh. Is there any corporate, governmental, institutional, infrastructural system in this country that’s not completely broken?

The Warded Man by Peter Brett

A man versus nature story. Only “nature” in this case are demons that attack everyone, everywhere, every night. Some interesting ideas that Brett explores pretty thoroughly. Like, hey, people would be pretty messed up if they were threatened with extreme, violent death every night of their lives.

The Possessed: Adventures with Russian Books and the People Who Read Them by Elif Batuman

A series of what are basically travel essays, plus thoughts on Russian novels. Highly engaging. Far more entertaining that you might expect considering the subject matter. The essay on the Tolstoy conference was probably the one I enjoyed the most. Read for “Who Killed Tolstoy”, “Summer in Samarkand”, and “The Possessed”.

Extra Lives: Why Video Games Matter by Tim Bissell

One man’s experience with video/computer games. A series of essays, really. They’re not quite reviews and not quite biography. Still, the subtitle should probably be “Why (Some Specific) Video Games Matter(ed) (To Me)”. If you like video games, you’ll probably like this. If you don’t like video games, this book would provide you with ammunition to support your feelings. Very readable.

The Last Brother by Nathacha Appanah

Beautifully written. Tragic. A story of an old man’s childhood recollections written by a young woman. Powerful stuff.

Voluptuous Panic: The Erotic World of Weimar Berlin by Mel Gordon

Or What Happens When Everything Collapses and People Get Desperate. Also, how not to establish your world-changing organization as a long-term entity.

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2011-03-20

You'd think I'd've learned by now not to underestimate Max's ability to roll with the punches. That guy's a real mensch. #SMAtuS #

Adam Levin's Gurion ben Judah reminds me of nothing so much as Orson Scott Card's Ender Wiggin. #TheInstructions #IntentionalSimilarities? #

Max sometimes plans on being bad, but then is good in spite of himself. I think he just forgets. #SMAtuS #

Bruce Sterling says some interesting things: http://blog.brian-fitzgerald.net/sxsw-eclectic-rough-notes-bruce-sterling-closing-speech #

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2011-03-13

Holy cow! Alice just hit her 18-month birthday. Happy birthday and a half, kid! #SMAtuS #

Sarah wrote a sweet birthday-and-a-half note to our darling daughter, Alice. http://bit.ly/hLLLSk #SMAtuS #

Max did experiments in a lab today. We'll have our time travel machines soon, people! #SMAtuS #

Max has decided he wants a periodic table of the elements. A budding scientist on our hands? #SMAtuS #

Max called me paint. I called him a paintbrush. Then he said he painted me on the wall. This meant a big hug. Sweetie. #SMAtuS #

WOW. This blew my mind. Feels like Salman Khan has been flown in from the future. http://bit.ly/gwTA18 #

Okay, I don't mean to brag, but Max has been making elemental chains out of tinker toys. #Imtotallybragging #SMAtuS #

@jessnevins This is great stuff! in reply to jessnevins #

@HillaryJacques I love "reconstruction of past idiocy". The phrase, not that to which it refers. That sounds unpleasant. in reply to HillaryJacques #

@chowderino Max's good influence. ;) in reply to chowderino #

Max: Mom, what are all the elements? Can you tell me? … Here is a chain of elements! #SMAtuS #

Alice @ 18 months: 19lbs 15.5oz (15th percentile); 29.5 inches (5th percentile); head circ. 42 cm (50th percentile) Woo! #SMAtuS #

Alice sad. Max singing to her: "You're the sweetest little toddler in town…" #SMAtuS #

A beautiful map of science fiction: http://scimaps.org/submissions/7-digital_libraries/maps/thumbs/024_LG.jpg #

Yesterday, Max asked if he had a lot of lithium (the element) in his body. #SMAtuS #

@chowderino Funny. in reply to chowderino #

@bvanderveen I believe you're thinking of @banksimple. in reply to bvanderveen #

There's something deeply wrong here: http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2011/03/hart.html #

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2011-03-06

Alice taught herself how to do somersaults. #SMAtuS #aprodigyofnature #

After more than four years, Sarah will be entering the ranks of the (part time) employed! Way to go! #SMAtuS #findingchildcareisabitch #

Trying really hard to communicate with Max that he can't actually run faster than cars. This is more difficult than you can imagine. #SMAtuS #

@HillaryJacques Hey just because I don't "follow" it, doesn't mean I don't read it! (Thanks RSS!) in reply to HillaryJacques #

@HillaryJacques I'm not going to reply to that on the grounds that I might double entendre myself… That's Constitutional, right? in reply to HillaryJacques #

@HillaryJacques Ah, so you're a "strict constructionist"… in reply to HillaryJacques #

@jessnevins I would buy/read that! in reply to jessnevins #

@legslibrarian Hey, someone's gotta be a cataloger. *chortle* in reply to legslibrarian #

@cruickshank What!? I had no idea! in reply to cruickshank #

@cruickshank Thanks for mentioning it. Not sure I would have heard about it otherwise. in reply to cruickshank #

@liampdx Urine cake thing? in reply to liampdx #

@theatretec Ah, Greece is beautiful. I have such fond memories of my time there. in reply to theatretec #

PRETTIES by Scott Westerfeld. Some pointed YA science fiction. A sequel to UGLIES. #fridayreads #

@theatretec 2006, I think. We went to the islands Santorini, Siphnos, Naxos and Paros. We wandered. Planned our life. Rested. Felt history. in reply to theatretec #

@chowderino Me! Me! :) Awwww. Wanh-wanh…. in reply to chowderino #