Quickie
I said I'd have a "real update" at some point this week, and so far I have failed to provide. I'm afraid work hasn't been different enough to provide worthwhile material, and my creativity is just about burned out. Partly this is a result of the word-wrangling I end up doing at work, but I suspect it also has something to do with the glut of bizarre and disturbing dreams I've been having for the past few weeks.
At any rate, life goes on. Outside of work, my various reading projects have kept me suitably busy. I finished Crime and Punishment a week or so ago and Ender's Game yesterday. Both very good, though in rather different ways. I also read A Series of Unfortunate Events, books 1-12. If you've not experienced those books, I would recommend them to you. Though they are rather depressing, they're also delightfully written. Mr. Snicket (the mysterious author) is a master of absurd-yet-fitting analogies and brain-tickling metaphors. The following is one of my favorite passages:
"The three adults smiled at the children, and the children smiled back, but of course the Baudelaires were not born yesterday, an expression which here means 'young or innocent enough to believe things certain people say about the world.' [...] But the three siblings were not born yesterday. Violet was born more than fifteen years before this particular Wednesday, and Klaus was born approximately two years after that, and even Sunny, who had just passed out of babyhood, was not born yesterday. Neither were you, unless of course I am wrong, in which case welcome to the world, little baby, and congratulations on learning to read so early in life."
The problem with the series is that the books are ridiculously expensive: about $15 each. I was lucky enough to find them sold in groups of three for $12/group, so I naturally snatched them up.
Anyway, I hope you're all doing well. I hope to write up something that's either entertaining or thought-provoking before too long. It'll probably depend on how much sleep I can get in the coming days. In the meantime, if you need something to read, go check out Wilson's post on Aquinas' view of resistance to government. Go on; it's good.
Oh, and one other thing that greatly amused me. Shortly before the end of last semester, I introduced a handful of my friends to Ask A Ninja.com. The little videos are incredibly stupid, but some of them are also very funny (at least, they make me laugh). But now, that humble site has gained a measure of respectability: NPR featured a lengthy excerpt from a recent episode on this afternoon's program.
Whaddaya know...I almost got a "real post" after all. ;-)
Labels: Life update
posted by Martinez at 5:34 PM
5 Comments:
A wonderful answer to the high cost of purchasing books is to borrow them from a library :) unless you are like my dear friend Debra who is convinced she must own (and then find storage space for) any and every book she wants to read. Libraries allow your reading to be limited only by your time (and ignoring of other duties and responsibilities) rather than your budget. You can always begin a wish list of those deemed worthy of acquiring for your personal library...Congratulations upon finding time to read for personal pleasure. I remember completing grad school and finally having time for choosing a book to read. It was frabjous!
Thanks for the link! And now I suppose I have to apologize for making fun of Ask A Ninja. Except I think maybe making fun is the whole point. ;-)
Wilson:
No apology necessary; if "making fun" isn't the point (though it probably is), then it's certainly one of the main ones. If I thought The Ninja took himself at all seriously, I wouldn't be nearly as amused.
25 points for being a good sport, though. ;-p
Rhonda:
Libraries are indeed wonderful things. Unfortunately, my local library is rather disappointing. The selection isn't terribly small, it just never seems to include whatever I happen to be looking for at any given time. Not that I particularly mind (or need) the excuse to buy more books, of course.
Oh, and 150 points for the Lewis Carroll reference. Callooh! Callay!
(Disclaimer: "points" are completley frivolous and are not redeemable for cash or prizes.)
Thank you! Thank you! I wish that I could take full credit but since I try to be an honest person, I must admit to recently "lifting" the term from another blog... I guess that means reduced points for my efforts... reclaimable for nothing... Sorry that your library is so disappointing. For a small town, we have quite a nice one and ILL can be used for fun books as well as academic ones :)
dang....dreams are funny things, aren't they? Maybe funny isn't the right word in this case. Heh, wow, that's weird, same thing has happened to me. Does that mean you've been kinda cranky at work too, or is that still just me? ;) Oh, yeah, sorry I haven't replied yet, yeah, I got your email about the philosiphers, thanks much! Haven't had a chance to look yet though, I will soon with that info though.
Doug
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