I'm currently listening to Summerland by Michael Chabon. From the blurb, I thought it would be American Gods-ish, but it's not at all. It's sort of like The Brothers K, in its use of baseball as a metaphor for the events of the book, layered on top of generic ordinary-kids-become-heroes-in-a-parallel-world.

I'm about halfway through and liking it so far, much more so than the other books I've listened to lately--Acacia by David Anthony Durham, which was fairly predictable with unoriginal characters, and I finally gave up after slogging through 13 CDs, and The Guernsey and Potato Peel Pie Literary Society (or whatever), which was absolutely, positively, and horribly predictable, complete with obnoxious Mary Sue character who dies for her principles in a concentration camp. OMG please bash me over the head with her heroicness just a little bit more.

Somewhat to my surprise, I find the baseball bits to be the most enjoyable parts of Summerland. They've actually made me laugh aloud. And the poor DH rule gets lambasted again--as soon as one scene in the book started, I said, "He's going to make this about the DH rule." And he did.

The book is also set on a fictional San Juan island (though he's taken certain liberties with geography), and I always like it when books are set where I live, or have lived.

Also finished Reviving Ophelia by Mary Pipher, and will review it shortly on Goodreads, which is where I'm mainly tracking my reading, such as it is, these days. I'm relieved now that I didn't have a daughter; adolescence is going to be treacherous enough with a son.

Tags: baseball, books

but I just love how the boy gets up early in the morning so he can have breakfast with Michael, before he goes to work. We started doing this when he was about a year and a half old, to get him out of the habit of nursing first thing in the morning. It quickly became a habit, and he cries if he somehow sleeps through and misses seeing Michael before he leaves for the day.

I think a lot about how these days are fleeting, and that in just a few years we won't be nearly cool enough for him to hang out with us. The boy is pissed that he can't get married to us when he grows up ("How come it's not okay in our society? Is it okay in Spokane?") although a couple of weeks ago, he came up with a potential loophole, and wondered if maybe he could marry someone else and still live with us. I said yes, but as usual noted that he probably wouldn't want to.

I'm excited to see what kind of person he'll grow up to be, and there are definitely things that I won't miss about this age, like fighting over bedtime or the inability to think through consequences of putting the dog's water bowl right in front of the door, where I'm going to knock it over when I come in. But man. I am going to miss his love and devotion.

Tags: parenting, preschooler

We're starting up a new online round of the Battlestar Galactica board game. I'm GM and there will be no flaking on my part. There are some awesome writers/roleplayers in this group and it's really fun. Excellent game mechanics, too. Want to play?

bsg_board_game

Tags: games

From the NYT article, Ayn Rand's Revenge:

In Ayn Rand’s libertarian epic “Atlas Shrugged,” Galt, an inventor disgusted by creeping American collectivism, leads the country’s capitalists on a retributive strike. “We have granted you everything you demanded of us, we who had always been the givers, but have only now understood it,” Galt lectures the “looters” and “moochers” who make up the populace. “We have no demands to present you, no terms to bargain about, no compromise to reach. You have nothing to offer us. We do not need you.”

“Atlas Shrugged” was published 52 years ago, but in the Obama era, Rand’s angry message is more resonant than ever before. Sales of the book have reportedly spiked. At “tea parties” and other conservative protests, alongside the Obama-as-Joker signs, you will find placards reading “Atlas Shrugs” and “Ayn Rand Was Right.”

The Tea Party types around here seem barely literate and completely uncomprehending of the need for sensible taxes in a civilized society. They are not the creators, they are the idiot moochers.

Also, here is where I confess that I never read that whole radio address in the middle of Atlas Shrugged.



Totally teal deer (too long, didn't read). Much like the Battle of Waterloo interlude in Les Miserables, except that since I'm still in my Napoleonic Wars phase, I actually did go back and read those chapters.

Tags: books

This morning, the boy and I were talking about something, I think it was about something that he thought we owned. He made a statement, and I politely disagreed. He said, "Mom, when you started drinking coffee and you stopped growing [I've told him that too much caffeine can stunt your growth], I think that maybe your brain got a little bit different."

I laughed and said, "Did you hear that, Michael? He thinks that drinking coffee makes me dumb."

"I didn't say you were dumb," he corrected. "I just said different."

Tags: preschooler
Current Mood: amused

So I'm looking to replace my Kindle, since rather than being the unnecessary luxury I perceived it to be, before it was broken, it's become a convenient luxury. Obviously food/mortgage > Kindle, but fortunately I am not currently in the position of needing to choose. And with my plans to quit my job sometime next year, unless HBK goes in the toilet or my job satisfaction dramatically improves, I feel a little bit of a compulsion to spend money while I still have disposable income.

But replacing the Kindle doesn't have to be with another Kindle. I use it mostly for its wireless, non-WiFi access. I really like being able to check my e-mail on the go, or even sitting around the house, since then I don't have to turn on the computer with all its attendant time-wasting possibilities. I do also read the Globe almost every day, but that's mostly because I'm paying for a Kindle subscription and I don't want to waste my money. Plus they're short, well-written stories and I don't have the energy to commit to a full-length book at 2 a.m.

The current leaders:
1) A refurbished Kindle v1. Relatively cheap option at $99, I'm familiar with it, I like it, and the free wireless via cellular phone network can't be beat.

2) A Kindle v2; not sure they would give me a discount on upgrading. I don't like that you can't adjust your grip on the v1 without accidentally hitting either the Previous or Next Page buttons.

2) iPod Touch. More expensive, particularly once you get into the versions with real memory. WiFi wireless, so not as convenient (I don't even have it at home, since I opted for the cheaper modem, and the neighborhood networks are actually all password-protected--sneaky neighbors). Small screen. But it has actual web capabilities, unlike the Kindle, which is clunky for most graphic web sites and won't access Ravelry at all. Really cute. Can hold music and movies. Has a Kindle app. Did I say cute?

3) Netbook. A little big for toting around, but it has actual computer capabilities. About the same price as a Touch with decent memory. Same WiFi limitations.

4) Barnes & Noble Nook. Not released yet, so could be buggy. I've never been an early adopter of any hardware (unless you count the DEC Rainbow, which, um, should probably count against me, but in my defense I was 12 and my dad bought it) so I'm not really sure I should start now. Anyway, the touch screen looks interesting, and I like that you can lend books more easily. I don't know if it will have web access, even an experimental version like the Kindle has, which would be a major strike.

Tags: books

Thanks for all the nice words about my dearly departed Kindle. I don't know why I was so upset, other than being exhausted for weeks. Nobody died, and nothing irreplaceable was broken. (Though I really did lose it last night when I went to pick up some yarn that was waiting to be overdyed, and got stung by a yellow jacket that had somehow gotten tangled up in it.) I went to bed at 9 p.m. and my outlook today is much improved.

Wow. Theo's absolutely right, but it's a little jarring to see it in cold hard print.

Red Sox Seek Answers and Dismiss Nostalgia

I was listening to Sunday's game, fully expecting a win when Papelbon got out the first two batters of the 9th. His implosion almost made me cry, even in a year when I didn't really think the Sox could win the World Series. His collapse was just so unexpected and complete. Blowing two 0-2 counts? Are you kidding me?

It would kill me to see Big Papi go, but when your DH doesn't hit, it sort of defeats the purpose of having a DH.

Tags: baseball

Note to self: make this cake this week.

http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/nutella-swirl-pound-cake

Tags: recipes

Did no one on my friends list watch this, or deem it worthy of comment? (In particular, I'm looking at you musical fans, megastoat, boylawyer, and kcobweb. And I know choonpiaw liked the Buffy musical episode, so this should've been a natural.) Or maybe I missed posts about it? I just watched this a couple of nights ago, and I really liked it.

http://drhorrible.com

I haven't seen Neil Patrick Harris besides a few random eps of Dougie Howser (sp?), so that was a revelation. I thought he was pretty awesome. I particularly liked how the song "My Eyes" was written and staged.

Tags: movies