Hello 2012. Looking forward to this year and some new changes. Don’t worry, I’m not going to make any resolutions to dare fate into breaking by February.
Okay…maybe just one: I’ll continue to avoid eating spam or any spam bi-products this year.
I could reflect on 2011 but I don’t want to. It had its moments. I have prior blog entries should I feel nostalgic.
I wrapped this year up by swapping out an outlet for our dryer, moving out the POS laundry machines that former tenants left us, and installed our nice machines. The POS machines began requiring us to make weekly treks to the laundromat. A major pain in the ass when you consider the amount of laundry a family of four produce. My hatred for that finally exceeded the hell involved in swapping out these machines and installing an appropriate outlet for the dryer (electricity in it’s raw form scares the hell out of me).
I really need to reduce the amount of Mountain Dew I consume in a week. Not a “resolution”, merely an observation.
Reading for pleasure has not been possible this past year. If it didn’t involve Trig, Calculus, proofs, predicate logic or set theory, I wasn’t reading it. In between semesters I managed to squeeze in “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” and Robert Louis Stevenson’s “Treasure Island” (a childhood favorite). When this semester ended I re-KINDLEd my love for pleasure reading. Yeah, notice the pun? …my awesome wife set me up with a Kindle for Christmas. Both kids got kindles too. We’re Kin-dle-ings…ok, I really to stop that.
Ramen noodles are not food and should not be purchased. Not a “resolution”, merely an observation.
Why I like the Kindle – I like the “electronic ink.” It really is pleasant to read and the background has kind of a faux paper texture. It’s not backlit like a tablet or laptop so it’s easy on the eyes. You can adjust the font and line spacing to suit your needs. It’s simple small, lightweight and portable. Long battery life and it has an umbilical cord direct to Amazon. Yeah…we’re amazonoholics. You should see the number of empty boxes from Christmas shopping.
I really need less ass time, more running/biking. Not a “resolution”, merely an observation.
I still love the tactile qualities of a a printed book….and some books will still be “bookworthy”. But for reading disposable paperbacks that you just read once, and toss in a box (or shelf) that take up space (Or you take a pile of them to your local second hand bookstore and trade them in for more disposable books.) the Kindle is a perfect solution. Not to mention you also get access to things you wouldn’t normally read. Speaking of which, if you’re a book-o-phile, check out Goodreads.com. Rate 20+ books that you’ve read and you’ll get a great list of great recommendations based on your reading. There is also a social aspect where you can connect with other bookworms. I’ve got a few “to read” books based on the recommendations of others.
Sailor Jerry is my new favorite awesome rum. Drink more rum? Not a “resolution”, merely an observation.
Because of GoodreadsI finally decided to check out what all the hype is regarding George R.R. Martin and his Song of Fire & Ice series. I see the first book “A Game of Thrones” everywhere. I’m always skeptical about that which is popular. I mentioned this to my Mom while we were out Christmas shopping and behold…I got a copy for Christmas. I had another book lined up to read first, but the Prologue of “A Game of Thrones” sucked me in and I couldn’t get to chapter 1 soon enough.
Sons of Anarchy is my latest TV addiction. Ok, I resolve to watch more of that.
I’m not a big fantasy reader…mostly because there is alot of derivative crap out there and alot of emphasis placed on the mythology and lore vs. a good storyline. I loved Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonriders of Pern books (read those in high school and post high school) read Lord of The Rings when I was a senior in high school. There might be a Conan book in there somewhere but I won’t publicly admit that. My friend Jordan was big into Peirs Anthony, I tried one of his books, couldn’t get into it.
A Game of Thrones is an epic, gritty, violent, political and even…yep…sexual…. story that takes place in a classic Castles, Knights, Wizards and Dragons type of setting. I’ll write a proper review of it when I’m done. It’s like “The Sopranos” only with chain mail and swords. I’m into this probably as much as I was into JJ Abrams’ Battlestar Galactica series. Great characters you love and hate. Well written. While reading the prologue I was totally transported to a dark snowy forest and could see my breath and hear the snow crunch while these shadowy creatures with swords that screamed when they struck metal tore up these two men. When you lose the mechanics of words to the mental movie playing in your head, it’s a good freakin’ book. You also get small morsels at a time of the background of each character. It’s like peeling back layers of an onion as you go. I prefer this style over writers like Anne Rice that take 6 chapters to write about one character.
I’ll rant more about this later, I’m off to enjoy the New Year…see you in 2012.
