I just finished Cell, Stephen King's homage to George A. Romero's zombie movies. This was the first book he wrote since he "retired" in 2004; it's also his first since finishing his magnificent Dark Tower series. I don't know if it was finishing that series, finally, some thirty-odd years after he started it, but the writing style is much more energetic and excited than many of King's older books. The premise is very simple--one day, out of nowhere, somebody (we don't know who) broadcasts a signal over the world's cell phone networks. This signal wipes the minds of anyone who hears it and they are transformed into mindless zombies (although that word is scoffed at by one of the characters, in favor of "phone crazies," or, later, simply "phoners"). A small group of survivors comes together to stay alive and to look for word of their loved ones.
It's close to 500 pages long, but it was a quick read. King typically has a hard time writing believable endings, a problem that manifests itself more clearly in his longer books (which is one of the reasons his short story collections are so great), but I liked the ending to this one. Browsing reader reviews on Amazon and elsewhere, I see that many people didn't.
Overall, a fun read. Not as epic and well-done as The Stand, another end-of-the-world story, but that's hardly damning praise.
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Books of 2008
I'm always trying to think of reasons to post stuff here, because I'm just never very consistent about it, but I got a good idea the other day and I think I'm going to try it. I have decided to blog about all the books I read this year. At the end of 2008, perhaps I'll read back through the list and see if I got anything positive out of all of it.
For the inaugural post, I have to do a bit of catchup, as I've already finished four books this year. The first was Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time, by Dava Sobel. This is the (true) story of English clockmaker John Harrison's attempt to solve the problem of how to calculate longitude whilst at sea. This problem, Sobel explains, was the preeminent scientific struggle of the day. It's a great story for anyone interested in science, engineering, or history. While it's a book on what, to some, may seem like an impenetrable subject, it's a quick read, and it's written in a very accessible style. Plus, it actually happened. I enjoyed it a lot.
Then I read I Am America (And So Can You!) by Stephen Colbert. I was a big fan of America (The Book), the fake civics text Jon Stewart wrote a few years ago, but this one wasn't as funny as that. It had its moments, but Colbert's jokey neocon character doesn't provide enough of a joke to sustain the entire book. The constant requests to buy more copies of the book get old quick, too. Maybe if I was more familiar with such bile-slingers as O'Reilly or Coulter I would have gotten more of a kick out of it. It's amusing, but it's thin and ultimately not entirely satisfying.
Next was Isaac Asimov's Foundation and Empire, the third novel I've read in the classic Foundation saga (although, chronologically, I believe it's the fourth). It's the one that takes place directly following the events of Foundation. I read that book and Prelude to Foundation last year, so I'm now getting used to the fact that you read Asimov for the ideas, not for the writing, which is awfully clumsy. But...well, the ideas are awesome. This chapter of the series is divided into two separate stories; first, the Foundation must fight off a takeover attempt by an up-and-coming general from the much-more-powerful Empire. The second story deals with the rise of The Mule, an empathic mutant who makes it his mission to conquer, well, everyone. I liked the "Seldon crisis" scene in which we learn that the future, as Seldon predicted it, was very different from what the people of the Foundation were actually up against--it shows that, from this point onward, they're on their own, and the future is no longer certain. I am excited to see where Asimov took this story in the four remaining books.
Oh, and I also read James Lileks's Gastronomalies, which is his spiritual successor to The Gallery of Regrettable Food. I don't know if this counts as "reading" a book, because it's mostly pictures with funny captions, but I DID read it. Lileks is the man and this book is hilarious and vile. If you liked Regrettable Food, you'll like this one. Great stuff.
Okay, that's what I've read so far this year. I've also beaten the very literary Bioshock, which would have made a great book. I'm nearly finished with another book, so hopefully I'll write about it soon.
For the inaugural post, I have to do a bit of catchup, as I've already finished four books this year. The first was Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time, by Dava Sobel. This is the (true) story of English clockmaker John Harrison's attempt to solve the problem of how to calculate longitude whilst at sea. This problem, Sobel explains, was the preeminent scientific struggle of the day. It's a great story for anyone interested in science, engineering, or history. While it's a book on what, to some, may seem like an impenetrable subject, it's a quick read, and it's written in a very accessible style. Plus, it actually happened. I enjoyed it a lot.
Then I read I Am America (And So Can You!) by Stephen Colbert. I was a big fan of America (The Book), the fake civics text Jon Stewart wrote a few years ago, but this one wasn't as funny as that. It had its moments, but Colbert's jokey neocon character doesn't provide enough of a joke to sustain the entire book. The constant requests to buy more copies of the book get old quick, too. Maybe if I was more familiar with such bile-slingers as O'Reilly or Coulter I would have gotten more of a kick out of it. It's amusing, but it's thin and ultimately not entirely satisfying.
Next was Isaac Asimov's Foundation and Empire, the third novel I've read in the classic Foundation saga (although, chronologically, I believe it's the fourth). It's the one that takes place directly following the events of Foundation. I read that book and Prelude to Foundation last year, so I'm now getting used to the fact that you read Asimov for the ideas, not for the writing, which is awfully clumsy. But...well, the ideas are awesome. This chapter of the series is divided into two separate stories; first, the Foundation must fight off a takeover attempt by an up-and-coming general from the much-more-powerful Empire. The second story deals with the rise of The Mule, an empathic mutant who makes it his mission to conquer, well, everyone. I liked the "Seldon crisis" scene in which we learn that the future, as Seldon predicted it, was very different from what the people of the Foundation were actually up against--it shows that, from this point onward, they're on their own, and the future is no longer certain. I am excited to see where Asimov took this story in the four remaining books.
Oh, and I also read James Lileks's Gastronomalies, which is his spiritual successor to The Gallery of Regrettable Food. I don't know if this counts as "reading" a book, because it's mostly pictures with funny captions, but I DID read it. Lileks is the man and this book is hilarious and vile. If you liked Regrettable Food, you'll like this one. Great stuff.
Okay, that's what I've read so far this year. I've also beaten the very literary Bioshock, which would have made a great book. I'm nearly finished with another book, so hopefully I'll write about it soon.
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
Must have made a wrong turn in Albuquerque
Last week I flew out to my old home town of Albuquerque, New Mexico. This was the first time I had been back in twelve years. My best friend Megan was kind enough to let me stay with her family while I was there. (Thanks again Megan.) It was great fun.
I flew out the afternoon of the second, and other than a bumpy flight, everything went smoothly. I rented a car and drove to her house and we spent some time chatting before we went to bed. The next morning I woke up and had to do some work for school. (Long story short, I had to watch some training videos in order to be a grader this semester and there was a problem with the video feed before I left so I had to fit it in while on my trip.) In the afternoon I went to the first sessions of the conference and got oriented to the resort. In the evening we had a banquet which had good food, but my chicken was slightly undercooked so I didn't finish the first course. After dinner we were required to attend a delegate session which didn't end until 9:45. This wouldn't have been too bad except for the time difference and the fact that I had to drive a half hour back to my friend's house.
The next morning I had to wake up early and get ready in order to be there for another delegate meeting. The rest of the day was filled with paper presentations and another delegate meeting. They had a President's banquet, which also had fantastic food, and then a reception. I left early in the reception because I had to drive again, but then I ended up staying up until one reminiscing with my friend about Junior High and Freshman year. It was a lot of fun to sit and talk like we used to back when we were younger. I am always amazed and how good friends last forever and no matter how much time or distance their is between you, you can always connect and feel comfortable with them.
Saturday I woke up and went to the last session and then came back to the house. We went to a party for a two year old that Megan's daughter knew. It felt a little odd to be there because I didn't know these people, but also because I was the only one without a child. But I had fun despite that. Then Megan and I went around town visiting the city. It has grown so dramatically that I hardly recognized it. It looks a lot better though now that the economy has picked up there. We went to Old Town, and saw the Candy Lady who has treats for the young and old. (There is an adult section in the shop.) I got some amazing turquoise earrings for a cheap price, which was my one shopping goal of the trip. We drove by my old high school, which didn't look all that different, but the area sure did. It used to be in the middle of no where and you could see it from my house on the mesa. Now it is surrounded on all sides with subdivisions and shopping complexes as far as you can see. There is also no break now between any of the cities of Albuquerque, Rio Rancho, or Bernallio. They have just merged into one big blob that stretches across the valley.The mountains looked gorgeous though. They were dotted with snow when I got there so I got some great pictures. I sure do miss my mountains, and not just for their ability to give me driving directions. If there was anything I would change about SC, besides the humidity, it would be to give it some REAL mountains.
That night we went to my favorite restaurant, Gardunios. It was this amazing Mexican place that had huge portions and free sopapias. The food was good, but like my friend had warned me, it had turned into a chain and had lost some of its flare. The worst part though was that I had gotten my food with green chili, which they said was medium that day, and I had forgotten the difference between southwestern medium and other mediums. It was uncomfortably hot and I wasn't able to eat all of my food. (Cause my stomach still hurt from the resort food.) But I sure did scarf down that sopapia! Oh those things are great. I think I am going to have to make some homemade ones this weekend. We were also serenaded by a mariachi band that played "It's a Small World" for M's daughter.We went home afterward and danced around with Megan's daughter who is just the cutest two year old. She is so well behaved too. My relatives kids are great, but this kid does things I have never seen a kid so young do before. Every time she threw a fit, Megan would give her three chances and if she kept on, she would send her to her room. The amazing part was, she would walk there herself without anyone having to force her to go or checking up on her. And then when she was done, she would come back out and apologize. I know have a trick I will have to learn when I become a parent.
After the daughter went to bed, we played some board games and sat and chatted. Poor Megan fell asleep before too long, and her husband and I had a long chat. We were again up until one, and I had to get up to go to the airport at four in the morning. I didn't care though. I wanted to spend however much time I could with them cause they are great fun.
The next morning I drug my tired bones out of bed and got ready. I quietly slipped out of the house and went to the airport. I was all set to fall asleep on the plane, but the lady next to me had another idea. When she first sat down I knew she was going to be bad. She stunk of garlic, cigarettes and some odor I couldn't even name. She thudded onto her seat, shaking the whole row and immediately took over the seat between us with all her Enquirers, US magazine, and other tabloid junk. (The flight had some empty seats.) I was so tired I started to fall asleep and so I stretched my legs into the space in front of the empty seat. Well when the movie started, which was Rush Hour 3, she woke me up so she could move into that seat and get a better view of the movie. Then throughout the movie she laughed so loudly it woke me up, even with my iPod on, and she shook the seats with her movements. So I did not get to sleep much on that flight, which was the longest. I didn't have much of a layover, but I did have to go from one end of the Atlanta airport to the other, which is over a mile long! So I got lots of exercise. On the second leg of my trip, I sat next to two former frat boys who were drunk and chewing gum. (You all know how much I love that.) As soon as we were in the air (literally) they turned on some Dave Chappell DVD but didn't have headphones. They also laughed loudly which kept me awake. So after I arrived back to Charlotte, I had to drive the hour and a half home. I was really tired, so by the time I got almost home I was speeding just to get there faster. I did make it home, with no ticket, and was so happy to be back. I slept for hours on the recliner and then spent the evening with T. I am still trying to catch up on sleep it feels like.
It was a great trip though and I am glad I went. It is always had to be home from T, but it was a good rehearsal for this summer. I wrote more about the trip below, so feel free to keep reading whenever you get bored.
Phi Alpha Theta
The purpose for my trip was to attend the Biennial Phi Alpha Theta conference. This is the history honors society that I am the president of at USC. I decided in the summer that I was going to attend the conference as a delegate as a way to get information on how to improve my chapter, make some contacts, and to get an idea of what we need to do to get involved next time. I figured that I would have to pay for the conference myself, but then a couple of things happened that ended up helping out a lot. First, my Public History program offers a travel grant award for a small but helpful amount and my mentor offered to let me use this conference as part of that. Then, I found out the conference had a delegate package that would reimburse some of the cost of travel for attending all the delegate meetings. The best part however, was that the History department completed a strategic plan during the fall and mentioned that they needed to support our organization to help it grow. So I wrote a proposal letter for assistance, and was happily surprised when the department head agreed to fund a sizable amount of my trip.
The conference was great in itself and would have been worth it even if I had to have paid for it all myself. Various students gave papers on a plethora of topics throughout the event, and so there was always at least one session that was of interest. The delegate sessions I attended included a long term planning committee where we made suggestions about what the organization should do to improve. We came up with many great ideas and they were well received by the National officers.
During the student papers I was struck by how little colleges teach you about presenting properly. Most of these students were undergraduates, but not always. All were instructed to read from their paper since they had been preapproved for content. This did not mean, however, that they should bury their faces in their paper as they often did. They also did not have an argument most of the time, which considering the point of the paper should be to prove a point, doesn't make sense to me.
The conference was at a resort in the middle of a nature preserve so the view was gorgeous. The hotel was also nicely decorated and had lots of great places to sit and chat in front of a fire. We had fantastic food, but the desserts were the best part. Unfortunately, they must have used MSG in their food because each time I ate at the conference instead of my friend's house I was ill for hours afterward. The desserts were worth it though.
The conference was great in itself and would have been worth it even if I had to have paid for it all myself. Various students gave papers on a plethora of topics throughout the event, and so there was always at least one session that was of interest. The delegate sessions I attended included a long term planning committee where we made suggestions about what the organization should do to improve. We came up with many great ideas and they were well received by the National officers.
During the student papers I was struck by how little colleges teach you about presenting properly. Most of these students were undergraduates, but not always. All were instructed to read from their paper since they had been preapproved for content. This did not mean, however, that they should bury their faces in their paper as they often did. They also did not have an argument most of the time, which considering the point of the paper should be to prove a point, doesn't make sense to me.
The conference was at a resort in the middle of a nature preserve so the view was gorgeous. The hotel was also nicely decorated and had lots of great places to sit and chat in front of a fire. We had fantastic food, but the desserts were the best part. Unfortunately, they must have used MSG in their food because each time I ate at the conference instead of my friend's house I was ill for hours afterward. The desserts were worth it though.
You Can't Go Home Again
While in New Mexico, we drove around on Saturday and saw some of the old places I remembered. Nothing, was as I remembered though. The city has changed so much and grown so big that I hardly recognized any single part of it. That included my old house. We drove by to see it because when I had moved away I knew that a sub division was being built behind it. Now before I show and tell what it currently looks like, let me explain what it used to look like.
We had a one acre lot on the edge of a mesa that overlooked Albuquerque. The night lights were so beautiful and we had an unobscured view for most of the valley from our backyard. Nothing was landscaped in our backyard, but it looked cool because it was filled with desert plants. Our front yard had about twenty pine trees along one side, which had been live Christmas trees of years past from the previous owners. We had a line of Joshua trees along the street which we always joked were there to prevent a drunk driver from going through our front door. We had a grass lawn, which is rare in New Mexico, so it struggled but was at least green. To the side of the house was a rock garden that needed some attention but at least was better than bare dirt.
Now, the house looks awful! They built some weird fence that doesn't really enclose the front yard and is an awkward height. The front yard is all dirt now, and they removed all the pine trees except one. They also removed every other Joshua tree so it looks bare. They changed the door to some southwestern pine thing, but it looks like it is boarded up in contrast to the dark wood siding. They also put a metal roof on it, which is the wrong color. The most tragic part though is that the view is completely obscured by the subdivision. You can't see any of the city. All you see is the back of various houses. It is truly sad to me to see the state of my old house, but at the same time I feel relieved that we weren't there when it happened.
We had a one acre lot on the edge of a mesa that overlooked Albuquerque. The night lights were so beautiful and we had an unobscured view for most of the valley from our backyard. Nothing was landscaped in our backyard, but it looked cool because it was filled with desert plants. Our front yard had about twenty pine trees along one side, which had been live Christmas trees of years past from the previous owners. We had a line of Joshua trees along the street which we always joked were there to prevent a drunk driver from going through our front door. We had a grass lawn, which is rare in New Mexico, so it struggled but was at least green. To the side of the house was a rock garden that needed some attention but at least was better than bare dirt.
Now, the house looks awful! They built some weird fence that doesn't really enclose the front yard and is an awkward height. The front yard is all dirt now, and they removed all the pine trees except one. They also removed every other Joshua tree so it looks bare. They changed the door to some southwestern pine thing, but it looks like it is boarded up in contrast to the dark wood siding. They also put a metal roof on it, which is the wrong color. The most tragic part though is that the view is completely obscured by the subdivision. You can't see any of the city. All you see is the back of various houses. It is truly sad to me to see the state of my old house, but at the same time I feel relieved that we weren't there when it happened.
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Merry Ecks Mas
Okay, let's roll back to Christmas Eve, and we'll start from there.
We had two of my "orphan" coworkers over for Christmas dinner, as well as two of my wife's fellow grad students and their wives, for a total of eight people. C made a ham, with a brown sugar and maple syrup glaze, and a cherry and pineapple sauce that was absolutely terrific. She's made the ham before, with a recipe for cherry sauce, but I had the brilliant idea of adding a can of pineapple chunks to that and it turned out fantastic. The ham was moist and succulent, and the sauce was fruity and flavorful. On top of that (well, no, more to the side of that) she made garlic mashed potatoes and steamed veggies (squash and zucchini). My one buddy brought the drinks and my other buddy brought the rolls--a couple bags of that Rhodes keep-in-the-freezer roll dough. They baked up really nice and fluffy and were terrific! (We are probably going to keep a few bags of that stuff in the freezer at all times from now on.) One couple brought a cheesy broccoli bake and an apple pie, and the other couple brought a sweet potato and apple casserole.
We feasted like kings and enjoyed getting to know each other. This was the first time I'd met either of her colleagues, and the first time either of us had met the wives, and of course the first time my work buddies met her school buddies, but everyone was charming and intelligent and fun, and we really had a good time. After dinner, I brought out "Apples to Apples" and "Cranium," and we spent a couple of hours playing "Apples" and eating pie. Oh, yes, the pie. In addition to the aforementioned apple pie, which was absolutely fantastic (she had even added the lattice work crust on top!), the wife made a deep dish blackberry pie and a chocolatey, graham-cracker-crusted, homemade-marshmallow-topped Smore pie. Oh yeah. All three pies were awesome, and we all feasted and played and talked until about 11:00.
We did our customary one present on Christmas Eve, which for C was a new pair of slippers and some fuzzy penguin socks, and for me was a hoodie the wife made me. She had been spending a lot of time locked up in her sewing room, preparing some sort of neato Christmas secret for me...turns out it was a really fantastic black fleece hoodie. I was really impressed at her skill--the sleeves hadn't been hemmed back yet, but otherwise it looks absolutely storebought. It has a hood, a couple of big, deep pockets, a zipper, and a drawstring, all of which look perfectly done. I told her that she could probably get a job making these in Guatemala for a nickel an hour. Yeah, she's that good!
Christmas morning we woke up around 8:00 and showered, dressed, and ate breakfast before attacking the tree. Everything was nice; my mom gave us a nice fat check and some calendars and cookbooks and DVDs and such (thanks Mom!). My sister sent us a fun board game, "Carcassonne," and a Kohl's gift certificate (thanks Ali!). I gave C a handful of books, kitchen items and DVDs, but her big presents were a new cast-iron wok, an Ipod, and a new car stereo that would allow her to plug the Ipod in and listen to it through her car's sound system. She received nothing from her brother or parents, despite sending presents to all three of them (and received but one hasty "thank you" for her trouble, by the way, making this the end of present exchange on her side, thankyouverymuch), so I was happy to spoil her a bit.
But she outdid me, I think. She got me a few books (Stephen Colbert's book, The Onion's world atlas, and James Lileks's new book (I noticed that she didn't get me any "serious" books, like she usually does, and she replied that she knew I liked to go to the bookstore when my book supplies run low, and she was right (we did that yesterday, by the way. It's always fun!))) and some nice clothes, including a really nice wool and suede coat (thank you sweetheart!).
The fun came right at the end of my presents, because the big present I'd been wanting and whining about for some time was an Xbox360. I had opened all but one present, which was roughly large enough to contain the Xbox. When I opened it, however, I found a little smoothie maker and some other small presents, rather than a fancy Xbox. I'll admit, I felt a little bit let down, but I tried to console (no pun intended) myself, saying, well, she did get me some nice things, and maybe the coat was expensive. She let me hang until she finished opening her presents, then told me to look inside the smoothie maker box. She had taken the cords and power pack and all those things from the Xbox box and placed them inside that box instead. She totally fooled me and it was awesome. I awarded her the title of Queen of Christmas and she took me upstairs and pulled my Xbox out from the closet. She kept me in the dark right up until the very end, which, my mother can tell you, is not easy to do at Christmas time. I promptly set the thing up and played BioShock for, like, three hours.
Yesterday we took my mom's check and all of our various gift certificates, as well as a Bed Bath & Beyond coupon and C's new car stereo, and hit the stores. I don't like sitting on gift certificates for any extended period of time. They're gifts, and Christmas gifts are meant to be enjoyed as close to Christmas as possible, right? So, after dropping C's car off at Circuit City to have her stereo installed, we hit Linens & Things (I really love their selection of linens, but, frankly, the Things side of the store leaves a lot to be desired. I usually go to Things R Us when I need Things), BB&B, Target, and Kohl's, in the search for new bedding for our new king-size bed. We got a big awesome comforter, a nice expensive sheet set, and we bought C a nice thigh-length raincoat at Kohl's that looked great on her. Then we drove over to the other shopping area up the street and ate lunch at the Chinese restaurant there that we both love. C had the hot and sour soup she'd been craving for the last few weeks, and we shared the sesame scallops on fried rice, which hit the spot. MMmmmmm...I wish we had leftovers.
After lunch, we hit the video game store, where I planned to buy Halo 3 and another Xbox controller with my share of the remaining Christmas money. The store, which is kind of small (it's probably smaller than any regular store in a typical American indoor shopping mall), was absolutely jam-packed with probably 50 people. While we were there, C, who had been planning to spend the rest of the money on a small clothes-shopping spree, elected instead to buy one of those Dance Dance games, which she had wanted as a fun workout regimen for a while, instead. Hey, fine with me, I said, it's up to you what you want to do with the money, so she bought it. Gamestop did pretty well that day, and not just from us, but we did our part. At this point, we still had a little bit of money left over, so we went to the bookstore and I bought a couple of paperbacks and a new wall calendar. We were in line behind an older guy, who struck up a conversation with us about his Christmas holiday. He was accompanied by his (rather cute, I might add) granddaughter, who had just graduated from college with a mechanical engineering degree. She said she's planning to do the same master's degree program I just finished (at a different school), so I thought that was kind of neat. We chatted for a little bit and I told her my impressions of the program, strengths and weaknesses, and that (HANDY TIP!!) you can watch the video lectures in Windows Media Player and turn up the speed to get through them quicker.
So that's how we spent all of that Christmas money. Thanks Mom! We bought a lot of good stuff. That whole adventure took all afternoon, so we went home well and truly tired. Then, we had a couple of buddies over to play video games, and one of them brought Rock Band. We strummed, drummed, and hummed (ha!) our way through a bunch of songs and had fun until just after 1:00 am, when he left and took his games with him. Our other buddy stayed and chatted until about 2:00, and, exhausted, we went to bed.
Today I think we're going to take down all the lights, the tree, and the other Christmas decorations. And we still have another five or six days until we have to return to work! Ha ha! I love the holidays!
We had two of my "orphan" coworkers over for Christmas dinner, as well as two of my wife's fellow grad students and their wives, for a total of eight people. C made a ham, with a brown sugar and maple syrup glaze, and a cherry and pineapple sauce that was absolutely terrific. She's made the ham before, with a recipe for cherry sauce, but I had the brilliant idea of adding a can of pineapple chunks to that and it turned out fantastic. The ham was moist and succulent, and the sauce was fruity and flavorful. On top of that (well, no, more to the side of that) she made garlic mashed potatoes and steamed veggies (squash and zucchini). My one buddy brought the drinks and my other buddy brought the rolls--a couple bags of that Rhodes keep-in-the-freezer roll dough. They baked up really nice and fluffy and were terrific! (We are probably going to keep a few bags of that stuff in the freezer at all times from now on.) One couple brought a cheesy broccoli bake and an apple pie, and the other couple brought a sweet potato and apple casserole.
We feasted like kings and enjoyed getting to know each other. This was the first time I'd met either of her colleagues, and the first time either of us had met the wives, and of course the first time my work buddies met her school buddies, but everyone was charming and intelligent and fun, and we really had a good time. After dinner, I brought out "Apples to Apples" and "Cranium," and we spent a couple of hours playing "Apples" and eating pie. Oh, yes, the pie. In addition to the aforementioned apple pie, which was absolutely fantastic (she had even added the lattice work crust on top!), the wife made a deep dish blackberry pie and a chocolatey, graham-cracker-crusted, homemade-marshmallow-topped Smore pie. Oh yeah. All three pies were awesome, and we all feasted and played and talked until about 11:00.
We did our customary one present on Christmas Eve, which for C was a new pair of slippers and some fuzzy penguin socks, and for me was a hoodie the wife made me. She had been spending a lot of time locked up in her sewing room, preparing some sort of neato Christmas secret for me...turns out it was a really fantastic black fleece hoodie. I was really impressed at her skill--the sleeves hadn't been hemmed back yet, but otherwise it looks absolutely storebought. It has a hood, a couple of big, deep pockets, a zipper, and a drawstring, all of which look perfectly done. I told her that she could probably get a job making these in Guatemala for a nickel an hour. Yeah, she's that good!
Christmas morning we woke up around 8:00 and showered, dressed, and ate breakfast before attacking the tree. Everything was nice; my mom gave us a nice fat check and some calendars and cookbooks and DVDs and such (thanks Mom!). My sister sent us a fun board game, "Carcassonne," and a Kohl's gift certificate (thanks Ali!). I gave C a handful of books, kitchen items and DVDs, but her big presents were a new cast-iron wok, an Ipod, and a new car stereo that would allow her to plug the Ipod in and listen to it through her car's sound system. She received nothing from her brother or parents, despite sending presents to all three of them (and received but one hasty "thank you" for her trouble, by the way, making this the end of present exchange on her side, thankyouverymuch), so I was happy to spoil her a bit.
But she outdid me, I think. She got me a few books (Stephen Colbert's book, The Onion's world atlas, and James Lileks's new book (I noticed that she didn't get me any "serious" books, like she usually does, and she replied that she knew I liked to go to the bookstore when my book supplies run low, and she was right (we did that yesterday, by the way. It's always fun!))) and some nice clothes, including a really nice wool and suede coat (thank you sweetheart!).
The fun came right at the end of my presents, because the big present I'd been wanting and whining about for some time was an Xbox360. I had opened all but one present, which was roughly large enough to contain the Xbox. When I opened it, however, I found a little smoothie maker and some other small presents, rather than a fancy Xbox. I'll admit, I felt a little bit let down, but I tried to console (no pun intended) myself, saying, well, she did get me some nice things, and maybe the coat was expensive. She let me hang until she finished opening her presents, then told me to look inside the smoothie maker box. She had taken the cords and power pack and all those things from the Xbox box and placed them inside that box instead. She totally fooled me and it was awesome. I awarded her the title of Queen of Christmas and she took me upstairs and pulled my Xbox out from the closet. She kept me in the dark right up until the very end, which, my mother can tell you, is not easy to do at Christmas time. I promptly set the thing up and played BioShock for, like, three hours.
Yesterday we took my mom's check and all of our various gift certificates, as well as a Bed Bath & Beyond coupon and C's new car stereo, and hit the stores. I don't like sitting on gift certificates for any extended period of time. They're gifts, and Christmas gifts are meant to be enjoyed as close to Christmas as possible, right? So, after dropping C's car off at Circuit City to have her stereo installed, we hit Linens & Things (I really love their selection of linens, but, frankly, the Things side of the store leaves a lot to be desired. I usually go to Things R Us when I need Things), BB&B, Target, and Kohl's, in the search for new bedding for our new king-size bed. We got a big awesome comforter, a nice expensive sheet set, and we bought C a nice thigh-length raincoat at Kohl's that looked great on her. Then we drove over to the other shopping area up the street and ate lunch at the Chinese restaurant there that we both love. C had the hot and sour soup she'd been craving for the last few weeks, and we shared the sesame scallops on fried rice, which hit the spot. MMmmmmm...I wish we had leftovers.
After lunch, we hit the video game store, where I planned to buy Halo 3 and another Xbox controller with my share of the remaining Christmas money. The store, which is kind of small (it's probably smaller than any regular store in a typical American indoor shopping mall), was absolutely jam-packed with probably 50 people. While we were there, C, who had been planning to spend the rest of the money on a small clothes-shopping spree, elected instead to buy one of those Dance Dance games, which she had wanted as a fun workout regimen for a while, instead. Hey, fine with me, I said, it's up to you what you want to do with the money, so she bought it. Gamestop did pretty well that day, and not just from us, but we did our part. At this point, we still had a little bit of money left over, so we went to the bookstore and I bought a couple of paperbacks and a new wall calendar. We were in line behind an older guy, who struck up a conversation with us about his Christmas holiday. He was accompanied by his (rather cute, I might add) granddaughter, who had just graduated from college with a mechanical engineering degree. She said she's planning to do the same master's degree program I just finished (at a different school), so I thought that was kind of neat. We chatted for a little bit and I told her my impressions of the program, strengths and weaknesses, and that (HANDY TIP!!) you can watch the video lectures in Windows Media Player and turn up the speed to get through them quicker.
So that's how we spent all of that Christmas money. Thanks Mom! We bought a lot of good stuff. That whole adventure took all afternoon, so we went home well and truly tired. Then, we had a couple of buddies over to play video games, and one of them brought Rock Band. We strummed, drummed, and hummed (ha!) our way through a bunch of songs and had fun until just after 1:00 am, when he left and took his games with him. Our other buddy stayed and chatted until about 2:00, and, exhausted, we went to bed.
Today I think we're going to take down all the lights, the tree, and the other Christmas decorations. And we still have another five or six days until we have to return to work! Ha ha! I love the holidays!
Friday, December 07, 2007
Way too long
It has been such an intense couple of weeks, I haven't been able to write anything about my life.
So lets see if I can catch up. Went to Table Rock State Park a few months ago for work. It is an amazing place that made me really miss the Utah mountains. The colors were just starting to change, so I got some great pictures. I wish we could have gone two weeks later when they really started to change, but we couldn't. I went to Colonial Dorchester about a month ago. It is also a state park, but it was the former site of one of the first Colonial establishments in South Carolina.
Class finished today and my last paper is due next Friday. As you can tell from the drought of blogs, I have had a lot to do for class. Especially my Civil War history class. I took a picture of the amount of reading I had completed by the midterm. I will take another one once I finish all my papers this week. When I stacked everything up though, it was nine inches high.
And that is all I have really been up to.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Ow
I injured myself with a machine gun today at work. Sigh...I had a prototype part I had assembled, and it fit a little bit tight. When I tried to remove it, I cut a big ol' gash down one wrist on the receiver. It looks like I tried to slit my wrist. Of course, if I really wanted to kill myself, and I had access to automatic weapons, I wouldn't do it by using the corner of the weapon to slash my wrist!
Sunday, November 11, 2007
I'm So Nice
What a thoughtful husband I am, one who cares far less about the big mess that's been made over the years in my kitchen as my wife collects more and more magazines than about my darling wife's happiness. One of my little projects these days involves typing up all the recipes she wants to keep out of these magazines, so that we can file the recipes and throw away all the magazines.
Anyway, I was sitting here doing that, listening to Wait, Wait..., when, without noticing, I apparently hit the Caps Lock button. Rereading the recipe, I found that it suddenly took a somewhat drastic and sinister turn:
"Straddle roasting pan across 2 burners, then add remaining cup water and
It kind of sounds more insistent and angry all of a sudden, doesn't it?
We went to Sam's Club yesterday, where we played the new Guitar Hero game that was set up on the little display there. So...yeah, we had to buy it. We spent a depressing amount of time yesterday afternoon (and evening, and night) trading the little plastic guitar back and forth and rocking out. It's just a ludicrously, unbelievably fun way to make your hand hurt. C's lack of musical background and natural whiteness worked against her at first, and it took her a while to get the hang of it, but before long she became a demon and I couldn't get the guitar away from her. So, so awesome, and now we're considering even buying a second guitar to do the cooperative songs.
Anyway, I was sitting here doing that, listening to Wait, Wait..., when, without noticing, I apparently hit the Caps Lock button. Rereading the recipe, I found that it suddenly took a somewhat drastic and sinister turn:
"Straddle roasting pan across 2 burners, then add remaining cup water and
It kind of sounds more insistent and angry all of a sudden, doesn't it?
We went to Sam's Club yesterday, where we played the new Guitar Hero game that was set up on the little display there. So...yeah, we had to buy it. We spent a depressing amount of time yesterday afternoon (and evening, and night) trading the little plastic guitar back and forth and rocking out. It's just a ludicrously, unbelievably fun way to make your hand hurt. C's lack of musical background and natural whiteness worked against her at first, and it took her a while to get the hang of it, but before long she became a demon and I couldn't get the guitar away from her. So, so awesome, and now we're considering even buying a second guitar to do the cooperative songs.
Saturday, November 03, 2007
You know how, every time they remake some old movie from the 60s or 70s, people whine and complain about how "that movie's a classic! They're ruining it by remaking it!" or some such complaint? They're mostly right...most remakes are unnecessary and unwarranted.
But we're currently watching the original, 1970s version of Gone in 60 Seconds. I like the remake...sure, it's cheesy, but it's two hours of "OMG car pr0n!" with chases and fancy wheels galore, and I like it. But this original version is so cheesy, it hurts. Mike (or Joel) and the 'Bots wouldn't be out of place at the bottom of the screen. It's got some truly awful writing and acting, and it was financed by a junkyard, but at least the 1970s clothes and hair are worth a laugh while waiting for the final, 40-minute car chase. That should be pretty sweet.
So let's take stock of the pros and cons of each version:
Original: Main character played by owner of the junkyard that paid for the film. Acting proficiency: none
Remake: Main character played by Nicolas Cage. Acting proficiency: some, even though he mostly just overacts. But that's acceptable for this film.
ADVANTAGE: REMAKE
Original: Characters have to steal 48 specific cars in order to...I dunno, get some money or something. Basically just because.
Remake: Characters have to steal 50 cars to keep Doctor Who from murdering Nicolas Cage's greasy brother.
ADVANTAGE: REMAKE. Creepy evil British villain = win.
Number of characters with plaid pants or ludicrously high beehive hairdos: Original: Too many to count. Remake: 0, as far as I can remember.
ADVANTAGE: DRAW. Everyone looks ridiculous in the original, but it was the 1970s. At least that detracts from the awful dialogue.
Number of long, pointless wedding scenes featuring old people dancing badly: Original: 1. Remake: 0.
ADVANTAGE: REMAKE
Top billing in the film:
Original: The Mustang in the final scene, "Eleanor."
Remake: Nicolas Cage and Angelina Jolie
ADVANTAGE: Hmmm...tough one. The car still looks good 33 years later. Plus, Angelina Jolie has nasty skanky dreadlocks in this movie for some reason. ORIGINAL gets the square.
Final awesome chase scene:
Original: Awesome, but they keep interrupt it with scenes of journalists interviewing eyewitnesses about the chase.
Remake: Awesome, but sillier due to more improbable happenstances.
ADVANTAGE: I'm gonna go with the ORIGINAL on this one.
So let's add up the points: the remake gets 3 points, and the original gets 2. Plus there was a draw. In retrospect, that seems fortuitous that I evaluated the movies this way. So there you have it. Undeniable evidence that it was a good idea to remake this movie.
But we're currently watching the original, 1970s version of Gone in 60 Seconds. I like the remake...sure, it's cheesy, but it's two hours of "OMG car pr0n!" with chases and fancy wheels galore, and I like it. But this original version is so cheesy, it hurts. Mike (or Joel) and the 'Bots wouldn't be out of place at the bottom of the screen. It's got some truly awful writing and acting, and it was financed by a junkyard, but at least the 1970s clothes and hair are worth a laugh while waiting for the final, 40-minute car chase. That should be pretty sweet.
So let's take stock of the pros and cons of each version:
Original: Main character played by owner of the junkyard that paid for the film. Acting proficiency: none
Remake: Main character played by Nicolas Cage. Acting proficiency: some, even though he mostly just overacts. But that's acceptable for this film.
ADVANTAGE: REMAKE
Original: Characters have to steal 48 specific cars in order to...I dunno, get some money or something. Basically just because.
Remake: Characters have to steal 50 cars to keep Doctor Who from murdering Nicolas Cage's greasy brother.
ADVANTAGE: REMAKE. Creepy evil British villain = win.
Number of characters with plaid pants or ludicrously high beehive hairdos: Original: Too many to count. Remake: 0, as far as I can remember.
ADVANTAGE: DRAW. Everyone looks ridiculous in the original, but it was the 1970s. At least that detracts from the awful dialogue.
Number of long, pointless wedding scenes featuring old people dancing badly: Original: 1. Remake: 0.
ADVANTAGE: REMAKE
Top billing in the film:
Original: The Mustang in the final scene, "Eleanor."
Remake: Nicolas Cage and Angelina Jolie
ADVANTAGE: Hmmm...tough one. The car still looks good 33 years later. Plus, Angelina Jolie has nasty skanky dreadlocks in this movie for some reason. ORIGINAL gets the square.
Final awesome chase scene:
Original: Awesome, but they keep interrupt it with scenes of journalists interviewing eyewitnesses about the chase.
Remake: Awesome, but sillier due to more improbable happenstances.
ADVANTAGE: I'm gonna go with the ORIGINAL on this one.
So let's add up the points: the remake gets 3 points, and the original gets 2. Plus there was a draw. In retrospect, that seems fortuitous that I evaluated the movies this way. So there you have it. Undeniable evidence that it was a good idea to remake this movie.
Sunday, October 07, 2007
The Haircut
I have been thinking about getting my hair cut short again for a few months for several reasons. First, all I was doing with it was putting it into a ponytail because I wanted it off my neck and I was in too much of a hurry to try to blow dry it for an hour. Second, I wanted something that looked professional. Which leads me to the most important reason, because I wanted people to think I was closer to my age than 19.
I had to go looking for a new hairstylist because I hadn't really had one for awhile. But I didn't know how to get a really good hairstylist. I did some research as to what you are supposed to look for in a salon. I didn't agree with some of the advice, like making sure they have their razor around, but I did agree with the advice that they should have more booth space than product space. Then I asked some of my friends where they got their haircut (if I liked their cut) and found that they were either outrageously expensive ($100 or more a cut) or I didn't like the place.
One day I had gone to the grocery store, and noticed that there was a hair salon next door. I walked in, talked with the stylist available, and she gave me a tour. Immediately I liked her. She was open, honest, and blunt. She gave me an evaluation of my hair and discussed what I wanted. We had both come to the same conclusion about the style that would be best, an angled bob. So I booked a time and a few days later I came back.
She had me bring with me some pictures of my past haircuts and of hairstyles I had seen elsewhere that I did and did not like. We sat and talked about all the pictures so that she could get an idea of what I really wanted and the problems I had with past hairstyles. Based on what I had said, she decided that my bob also needed to be layered top and bottom so that it would lay flat with all the hair I have.
So she started cutting and kept on cutting, layering, thinning and perfecting until it was perfect. When she finished, not only was there a ton of hair on the floor, but the cutest haircut I have ever had. Then she taught me how to style it, because I am not the most adapt at doing my own hair. She suggested some products that will help to keep the frizz down, give volume, etc. But not once did she try to sell me product from their store.
I don't think I have ever had a haircut where I liked everything about it. Usually it doesn't lay right when I try to do it the next day or it wasn't exactly what I had pictured it would be. This haircut is totally different. In fact, I liked it more the second day when I styled it because I didn't try to tease it to give it more volume at the roots. It only takes me about 20 minutes to style as well, even with all the humidity we have been having this week. Now I finally understand why women like going to get their haircut.
Saturday, October 06, 2007
Fun new things
These are two funny things I have bought in the last week. The cat socks have googly eyes, which make them even funnier. They were even sold as googly eyed cat socks.
The duck is dressed as a cat, if you can't tell from the flash. She has whiskers, a collar, a tail, and even has a cat nose painted on the bill. I saw it in a store and had to add it to my collection.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Management Training
Today (and tomorrow) I have been (will be) participating in a management training course. No, not anger management. Project management. It's a career enhancement thing.
Anyway, this morning the instructor had us all take turns and introduce ourselves and describe any PM experience we may have. One of the other students, it turns out, works for a major tobacco company. At the break, I went over and introduced myself as her "fellow merchant of death," and we just chatted for a little while.
I asked her if, when people quit their jobs there, they ever find they can't quit, and they come back after a few months. Do they have to try to quit again and again and again? Because that would be awesome.
For the record, she didn't seem to think that was very funny, but who cares? I did!
Anyway, this morning the instructor had us all take turns and introduce ourselves and describe any PM experience we may have. One of the other students, it turns out, works for a major tobacco company. At the break, I went over and introduced myself as her "fellow merchant of death," and we just chatted for a little while.
I asked her if, when people quit their jobs there, they ever find they can't quit, and they come back after a few months. Do they have to try to quit again and again and again? Because that would be awesome.
For the record, she didn't seem to think that was very funny, but who cares? I did!
Monday, September 17, 2007
Weird coincidence
Check this out. This is what I've got at home right now:
(Two of these discs I sent back this morning, but Netflix hasn't got them yet.) Notice anything funny? Yeah, they're all TV shows right now, at least until we finish The Office. But anything else?
They're all "Disc 3" of each show. What are the odds of that? We didn't plan it like this or anything, either, it just happened. Huh.
(Two of these discs I sent back this morning, but Netflix hasn't got them yet.) Notice anything funny? Yeah, they're all TV shows right now, at least until we finish The Office. But anything else?
They're all "Disc 3" of each show. What are the odds of that? We didn't plan it like this or anything, either, it just happened. Huh.
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Many things
Many things have happened since last I wrote.
Some weeks ago, we went to Sam's Club, where, among other things, we had the goal of getting passport photos taken. Neither of us has an active passport, and we've had the passport applications on my desk here for a while, so we figured we should get that process started. Anyway, this meant we had to deal with the people at the Sam's Club photo center. A little word of caution: if you work at a Sam's Club photo center, and you're capable of such complicated tasks as, oh, opening a browser to this page and reading this, you're more intelligent than the employee we had to deal with that day.
Suffice it to say that we waited an hour to get photos that were blurry (mine) and scaled incorrectly (Wife's). When I pointed out that we simply did not have time to restart this process, as we had a cart full of rapidly defrosting food, our employee wrinkled her nose and said, "well, it is a one-hour photo lab." Of course, the photos were taken with a digital camera and printed from a computer, which does not take an hour, but it DOES take an hour when it takes you forty-five minutes to realize you forgot to put the proper photo paper into the machine.
So we just left, furious, and got home, where Wife called the Sam's manager and told her what an incompetent halfwit he had working for him. He apologized and offered to refund our money and retake the photos for free. Great.
We didn't get a chance to get back down there until last weekend. When we got in the door, we went to the customer service desk and explained the situation. The CS woman paged the manager, and we waited and waited and waited...so she paged him again. Again, we waited...until I finally just said, "why do you need him? Just refund our money, please." Which she did. So, okay, halfway to victory here. She took us over to the photo lab and explained that we were owed free photos. The photo lab employee said "okay, but we don't currently have a camera."
! I said "so how are you supposed to take passport photos?" Her answer, of course, was something like "Duhhhhhhh..." It was kind of hard to understand her with her finger up her nose to the knuckle. She suggested that she could scan in our old photos and blow them up. Okay, great, I said, but can you get rid of the blurriness on mine? Well, uh, no. So, once again, we left empty-handed and frustrated at ourselves for returning to that idiot hive.
So Sam's photo center is now 0 for 2. At least we got our money back. Costco, I'm begging you, please come out here. If you need a place to build your store, maybe we can blow up the Sam's Club and you can build there.
On another topic, last weekend I bought some new shoes and pants for work. I got some "clog-style" Oxford shoes that are awesome. There are no laces on them; rather, tension is applied to your foot through a pair of elastic straps that hold the tongue of the shoe onto your foot, and they are the MOST COMFORTABLE SHOES EVAR. Seriously, I've never had a pair of shoes that were so foot-friendly before, especially right out of the box. They weren't particularly cheap, but they were worth it.
So I got that going for me. Oh, I understand that the bookstore in the upscale shopping mall just a few minutes up the road from us is hosting a book signing by...a gangsta rapper named Master P today. Apparently he learned how to write, or at least to ghostwrite, and he has released a book. Which he'll be signing in person today...just a few minutes from the house. I can't imagine how many gangsta thug types will be swarming on this part of town this afternoon. Oh goody.
Man, I'm glad I bought that shotgun :)
Some weeks ago, we went to Sam's Club, where, among other things, we had the goal of getting passport photos taken. Neither of us has an active passport, and we've had the passport applications on my desk here for a while, so we figured we should get that process started. Anyway, this meant we had to deal with the people at the Sam's Club photo center. A little word of caution: if you work at a Sam's Club photo center, and you're capable of such complicated tasks as, oh, opening a browser to this page and reading this, you're more intelligent than the employee we had to deal with that day.
Suffice it to say that we waited an hour to get photos that were blurry (mine) and scaled incorrectly (Wife's). When I pointed out that we simply did not have time to restart this process, as we had a cart full of rapidly defrosting food, our employee wrinkled her nose and said, "well, it is a one-hour photo lab." Of course, the photos were taken with a digital camera and printed from a computer, which does not take an hour, but it DOES take an hour when it takes you forty-five minutes to realize you forgot to put the proper photo paper into the machine.
So we just left, furious, and got home, where Wife called the Sam's manager and told her what an incompetent halfwit he had working for him. He apologized and offered to refund our money and retake the photos for free. Great.
We didn't get a chance to get back down there until last weekend. When we got in the door, we went to the customer service desk and explained the situation. The CS woman paged the manager, and we waited and waited and waited...so she paged him again. Again, we waited...until I finally just said, "why do you need him? Just refund our money, please." Which she did. So, okay, halfway to victory here. She took us over to the photo lab and explained that we were owed free photos. The photo lab employee said "okay, but we don't currently have a camera."
! I said "so how are you supposed to take passport photos?" Her answer, of course, was something like "Duhhhhhhh..." It was kind of hard to understand her with her finger up her nose to the knuckle. She suggested that she could scan in our old photos and blow them up. Okay, great, I said, but can you get rid of the blurriness on mine? Well, uh, no. So, once again, we left empty-handed and frustrated at ourselves for returning to that idiot hive.
So Sam's photo center is now 0 for 2. At least we got our money back. Costco, I'm begging you, please come out here. If you need a place to build your store, maybe we can blow up the Sam's Club and you can build there.
On another topic, last weekend I bought some new shoes and pants for work. I got some "clog-style" Oxford shoes that are awesome. There are no laces on them; rather, tension is applied to your foot through a pair of elastic straps that hold the tongue of the shoe onto your foot, and they are the MOST COMFORTABLE SHOES EVAR. Seriously, I've never had a pair of shoes that were so foot-friendly before, especially right out of the box. They weren't particularly cheap, but they were worth it.
So I got that going for me. Oh, I understand that the bookstore in the upscale shopping mall just a few minutes up the road from us is hosting a book signing by...a gangsta rapper named Master P today. Apparently he learned how to write, or at least to ghostwrite, and he has released a book. Which he'll be signing in person today...just a few minutes from the house. I can't imagine how many gangsta thug types will be swarming on this part of town this afternoon. Oh goody.
Man, I'm glad I bought that shotgun :)
Monday, September 10, 2007
Another Day at the Office
Most people get stuck going to work in the same cubicle day after day. Today was not that kind of day for me. Instead, I got to go down to Hunting Island. It is about a 3 hour drive one-way, but man is the view worth it. I had to do some work, and work in the hot humid sun, but then I got to eat my lunch on the beach. I took some pictures for you to envy...I mean enjoy.
On the other hand, don't be too jealous. I also had to go into the maritime forest to look for a marker and had my first introduction to a tick, or should I say a nest of them. Somehow I managed not to get one to bite me though, and for that I am very thankful. (Especially to DEET.)
On the other hand, don't be too jealous. I also had to go into the maritime forest to look for a marker and had my first introduction to a tick, or should I say a nest of them. Somehow I managed not to get one to bite me though, and for that I am very thankful. (Especially to DEET.)
My feet in the Atlantic
Now I have been in both the Atlantic and the Pacific. (Ignore how white my legs are.)
For the birds
These were my adoring fans. I fed them my bread crusts. They were willing to get really close to me in order to get them as well.
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