The Family

I like our Family Site!!!  I know that we are living closer together and seeing each other more often so there isn’t much news that we need to share here, but I liked our site and I hate seeing it sitting idle for months on end.  I liked that is was a record of sorts of the important events in our lives, and even some of the less important ones that were interesting at the time.

Eleanor has taken her first steps.  That should be here.

Luke and I were house hunting.  Of course it was all for naught, but I could have posted about that.  I could have posted that Carrie visited several months ago.  I could even have posted that Ramona visited a few weeks ago.   It might be interesting if Ramona and I both shared about that visit – 2 perspectives.

What is new in your life Chris?  I know Aleah was in some sort of Karate thing recently.  You could post that school is out and what grades the kids are going to next year.

We could all post something!  And we should do it.  Or one of these days Chris is going to decide that the family blog has outlived its purpose and take it offline.  Then what would I use as a home page????

We made these decisions in person, phone conversations, and email, but, for the record, we are drawing names this year and the names are:
Luke has Chris
Nelia has Joseph
Joseph has Christina
Ramona has Nelia
Chris has Luke
Christina has Ramona
and everybody has the kids

This is for the “real” gift, not the eve gift. Agreed price point is more or less $50. It feels funny setting a price. I think if you can afford less or more or if what you reeeeaaly want to give is less or more, you should not feel like you have to keep it at $50, but it gives us all a starting point. (just my opinion)

I guess we’ll see how it goes this year and decide if we want to continue this way.

In case anyone came here and found the site down – I’m switching hosting providers.

As I was pulling down a full backup of everything, the old provider got very unstable – I don’t know I managed to trip some “user downloading too much” or some “unusual account activity” switch, but something broke in the middle of my backup.

So if anything is missing or unusual, I’m quite sorry.

I have high hopes for the new host though; only been with them for a week or so now without complaint.  We’ll see if it keeps up the smooth sailing!

Just a quick note of something that’s making me feel good today (and, will continue to feel good I’m sure)

Checking my Student Loan and seeing: STATUS : Paid in Full

I haven’t been able to reach everyone, and goodness knows for the next two weeks I’m not going to know where I am or what I’m doing – so here’s the timeline.

In various stages this week, we finish our packing – then the nice men come and finish it for us (they might be packing a lot of stuff we just didn’t get to) – and then the even nicer men come and load almost everything on a truck and take it away. In short, by Friday we will be sleeping on an air mattress and eating takeout off paper plates. Healthy!

Next week is where it gets interesting.

Monday we pick up the truck, Joseph loads it with everything we didn’t trust with the movers, and hopefully then we drive out.

We plan to be in New Braunfels by Thursday. We’d better be; that’s when we’re closing on the house. Assuming we don’t collapse under the paperwork.

We then sit in a hotel for a tremendously long time. The current homeowners need some time to get their logistics in order and get moved out, so we don’t actually take possession till early the following week. At which time it’s back to the air mattress and paper plates, and some seriously traumatized kitties.

I do not know when we will get our stuff back. It should be some time that week – Wednesday has been tossed about as a popular option, but that’s by no means certain. However, we should most likely have everything by the weekend. I think.

Therefore – if anyone would like to render unpacking assistance, or see the new house in a state of original disarray, June 7 would be a good day.

If all goes as planned, we will have a nice large yard and perhaps some empty boxes for entertainment, and one or maybe even two possible places to sit down.

Sounds like tremendous fun, yes? 🙂

We have had two years of gloom & doom – preparing for the apocalypse and the end of the (Maya) year/calendar.

So, this year, it’s time for some light.

That’s the theme – light.

You can interpret it literally, figuratively, metaphorically – as long as it fits. Give a feather pen because it is lightweight, give a book to spread the light of knowledge, give a light bulb to give light.

Price limits are flexible, but under $15 is the target.

And here are the names:
From -> To
Chris -> Nelia
Christina -> Joseph
Joseph -> Luke
Ramona -> Chris
Luke -> Ramona
Nelia -> Christina

I have bad news and good news.

First, the bad.

Annwynn is nearly 18. He’s been getting slower and skinnier and more decrepit for many years, and last weekend he had a very bad weekend – the kind of very bad where you realize it’s time to let go.

His appointment is next Tuesday, the 20th. We’re having the vet come to the house, and are trying to arrange things so it’s as calm and soothing for him as possible. And in the meantime, we’re trying to make sure his last week is full of all his favorite things. His favorite foods (basil pesto, blue cheese, and peanut butter), evening sniffs outside, precedence in all chairs and laps and soft places, sleeping under the covers – anything he wants.

And I’m trying to really focus on the present for this precious last week.

Now the good news.

We didn’t plan it this way, but it’s good that it worked out the way it did. A kitten showed up at work. They managed to trap her, and she was taken in by a local adoption agency. However, I sent my name with her, and was just accepted as a foster home for her. I picked her up yesterday.

She’s about 3 months old, is still skittish, but settling into things nicely. Mileva and Lyra are offended and indignant; Annwynn has noticed but I don’t know if he remembers. We got a picture last night of Little Bit laying on top of Annwynn. We got several photos, actually; it was a while before he noticed.

Having her makes this week a whole lot less maudlin. And she’s going to be excellent therapy for next week.

So, Chris …

It’s 15 weeks into the year … how is the book reading going?

I’m about to finish up Blue Mars – I had Red Mars in the top 10 list; Blue Mars is the last book in that trilogy. I’m reading it partially because it made the list. And now that I’m nearly done, I fully stand by Joseph’s recommendation 🙂

Next I have a few more Dresden books … I’ve read through Turn Coat; Joseph’s read through Ghost Story. Trying to wait till Cold Days is out in paperback.

But what have you read? Are you still on track? Have you read anything that you’d recommend?

OK, Chris. This is limited to 52 books – just seemed like a fun number to hit. And since you’ve probably already read some of these, and some of these you might not be interested in at all, this shouldn’t overwhelm your whole year’s worth of planned books.

I had you in mind for these recommendations. However, some of the selections might not be really obviously you – but I included them because the book is just so well written. Some of these recommendations are from me and some are from Joseph – neither of us have read all the books on this list, though eventually we will.

And as I went through, some of them I thought Dad (or Mom) would also like – so this could be worth skimming for those of you who aren’t Chris.

I wish we lived closer! If we did, it would be no problem for you to borrow most of these (there are some we don’t have). It’s still no problem for you to borrow .. say, half of these. But some of them are pets we’d loan in person, but sending them through the mail is nerve-wracking.

And by the way … what would be your 52 recommended book list?

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Top 5 picks

I looked through the list and narrowed it down to 10 books. This is the Yes, Seriously, READ THESE BOOKS list.

Links are to whatever I thought made sense. Book reviews, mostly, but sometimes Wikipedia articles or whatever else struck me. Some are even to Amazon (which might be too convenient)

Fiction
Mouse Guard, Fall 1152, by David Petersen. Graphic novel. Style is High Adventure; setting is medievalesque, protagonists are mice. Love the story and the art. Will probably take you an hour or so to read. Fall is the first, but you’ll want to read Fall and Winter. There are 2 others books, but they’re ancillary to the main story.

Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson. This is the first of his Mars trilogy. If you want to continue, the next ones are Green Mars and Blue Mars. Beautifully written, with a real gift for description.

Lavinia by Ursula K. LeGuin. This is one of LeGuin’s greats. Christina & Mom should read this one too. In the Aeneid, Lavinia is Aeneas’s wife .. and this is her full story.

What Dreams May Come, by Richard Matheson. Yes, the source for the movie. The book is beautiful and haunting and has such a wonderful description of the afterlive; of both Heaven and Hell. It really sticks with you. It’s my absolute favorite of Matheson’s works.

Bridge of Birds, by Barry Hughart. Recommended for everyone. OK, it may not be Dad’s thing, but the book is just brilliant. Hilarious, fast paced, and the ending was perfect. I actually cried; it was very moving. I haven’t read the other books in the series – everyone says they aren’t as good, and I’m afraid of the let down .. but I so want to return to these characters. Wonderful characters, wonderful book.

Nonfiction
1812: The Navy’s War, by George Daughan. About the War of 1812 from a naval perspective. The writing is clear and makes the subject interesting, compelling, etc. He also wrote ‘If By Sea’ which is the same kind of thing for the Revolutionary War. I’m sure it’s just as good, but we haven’t read that one (but we bought it and will read it). Either is recommended; 1812 just happens to the be the one we’ve read. Both are very highly recommended for Dad as well.

Closing of the Western Mind, by Charles Freeman. There are a lot of different perspectives on this book – that he’s completely right, that he’s completely wrong. But it’s amazingly well written, well argued, thought provoking – even if you disagree with him.

Consider the Lobster, by David Foster Wallace. OK, anything at all by David Foster Wallace. Well – all I’ve read are his essays. I haven’t read any of his fiction, so my perspective is one-sided. But he can write essays like no one else I’ve ever read. The book is a collection of essays; the link goes to the full text of the title essay. If you like the way he writes, then by all means get the book. The other essays aren’t about food – the range of topics is amazing. The porn industry, Modern American Usage, the McCain campaign, radio programs.

Blink, by Malcolm Gladwell. I’d also recommend Tipping Point, but Blink was my favorite. The writing is very clear, the examples are all interesting (some exceptionally so), and the conclusions are fascinating. A book that makes you think about how you think.

Secret Life of Dust, by Hannah Holmes. Fascinating, absolutely fascinating book. Though if you’re going to be upset about learning just how much dust is in your home and just what’s living in that dust, you might want to skip certain chapters. But my goodness, she makes dust the most interesting thing you’ve ever read about.

Those are the top 10. Now for the 52. I won’t go into as much detail, and it might take me some time to get links for all of them.

Continue reading →

This year I’m toying with the idea of trying to read 52 books. A book a week. Right now I am slightly ahead – I’ve finished two books (Dresden Files – Cold Days, Iron Druid – Trapped), but they were both easy reading.  The kind of books you can sit down and plow through.   But now I have a thick book in front of me: A Memory of Light, book fourteen of the Wheel of Time series. 900 or so pages of condensed, thick story.  It should take me a bit longer to read through this one.

But after I finish this beast I don’t have anything new to read. Anyone read an interesting book lately?