So, I had another birthday. It happened nearly a week ago now. I am now 28 years old. I'm an old man. But my beautiful wife did her best to help me to enjoy the day anyways along with my parents, and in fact they made it a very nice day. We went to lunch at a nice place and had delicious food. Of course I still had to work and all, but a nice little lunch doesn't hurt. And then after work, Rochelle made shish-kabobs, and potatoes at my parents house. We also invited Marissa and Charles. We all had a good time. I got a bunch of new clothes and a nice flash for my camera. I have been very excited about the flash. I spent the next day taking pictures of random things. With every new attachment and every new photography gadget I get, I feel like I'm one step closer to my dream of having a bona fide photography studio. Taking photos in dark areas will no longer be such a challenge. It will be nice to have.
Charles got me a racquetball glove, one which helped me compete a little better against him today. Having a glove really does make a difference. It's nice. My old one had holes in it, and just didn't grip like it used to. Today we played four games, finishing up around 8:15 am. Charles took two games and I took two. They were pretty even games. It was fun, but I have been super tired today as a result. I am seriously out of shape, and am doing what I can to get back in shape. This seems to be a constant battle with me, to be getting in shape.
I finished a very strange book this week. I got it on Heidi's suggestion. It's called The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul, by Douglas Adams. He's the same author who wrote Hitch-Hikers Guide to the Galaxy, which I also read. Of the two, I thought Hitch-Hikers was better. But this was also very amusing. Adams has a very unique style that really does entertain. He writes things with a tinge (or a ton) of sarcasm. I have given up trying to figure out what he actually thinks about anything, because he tends to make fun of everything. Let me quote the first two paragraphs:
"It can hardly be a coincidence that no language on earth has ever produce the expression "As pretty as an airport.I read this aloud to Rochelle and we were both laughing about it. The heroes in his books tend to be misfits with a fair amount of luck. They typically go from one scene to the next confused about where they are and what is going on around them. Many books have comic relief characters, but Adams uses those characters as the main characters. It's a good laugh. I like it. Heidi, thanks for the suggestion!
"Airports are ugly. Some are very ugly. Some attain a degree of ugliness that can only be the result of a special effort. This ugliness arises because airports are full of people who are tired, cross, and have just discovered that their luggage has landed in Murmansk (Murmansk airport is the only known exception to this otherwise infallible rule), and architects have on the whole tried to reflect this in their designs."
I don't think I can read too many of his books at once, but I imagine I will eventually get through most of them. I'm currently reading The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury. While the book is certainly unique, and interesting, I'm not sure how much I like it yet. I'll let you know. There are so many books that I'd like to read. There are two more in the Alvin series by Card that I haven't read yet. The last one I just found out about. I didn't even know it existed. The next one is sitting next to me waiting for me to get to it. All of this, and I keep thinking... I need to start working on my gmat! Eek. Well, if nothing else, all this reading will help my reading speed during the gmat. I think that's the section I'm the most worried about. The math section will be difficult for sure. I'll definitely need to freshen up in that area, and learn some tricks for solving things quickly, but there is only so much I can do to increase my reading speed. Really, I just need to read a lot.
So, I started my own library today! Yup. And I expect each of you to do the same too. I'd like to see what books everyone else has read, and likes. You can see my library at: http://books.google.com/books?as_list=BDTmy-PEQueTij7_p09a-ARoU_DiA1rNo0Zl2-7Mw8G06_sb4ec8&hl=en
I have tried to put in many of the books that I have read recently in there and rate them and organize them a bit with tags, but I haven't written any reviews yet, nor have I put in all of the books I have read in... but I'm working on it. I believe the "My Library" part of Google Books is a new feature. It doesn't seem to be wholly refined yet. But I've actually looked for other things like this before and am glad to see that google is working on it. I've always wanted to have a family and friend book club, and I think this is a good way to go about it. What do you say? Are you interested in doing a book club everyone? All you need is a google account. And then you do a google book (http://books.google.com -- not a normal google search) search for books you have read, and click "add to my library". That starts your library. And then to get to your library, find the link on the top right that says "My Library". Go there, copy the address and give it to everyone you know, and invite them to do the same. Put the link on your blog! Once you are in "My Library" you can add tags like "Alvin Series" or "Not read yet" or whatever else you fancy. You can rate the books on a 5-star scale, and give them a review too. When you are all done, I'll make a web page with all of your libraries (unless you don't want to be on it) and I'll let you all see it. But you do need to make your library and share it with me! Consider it a late birthday present for me! Ok, that's all for my rant today.
Have a good day ya'all and I'll look forward to reading your reviews!
BJ's:
http://books.google.com/books?as_list=BDTmy-PEQueTij7_p09a-ARoU_DiA1rNo0Zl2-7Mw8G06_sb4ec8&hl=en
Rochelle's:
http://books.google.com/books?as_list=BDfuiR1cQ-8WeusXKt_6DARoU0TBaTquVjgRt9pN79r6f0bjBScs&lr=&sa=N&start=10
Posts
10 comments:
I'm glad you had a nice day on your birthday last week. It was fun to visit with Charles and Marissa.
I love this book list sharing idea! I started a book list per your request, or rather, library, but I'm still working on it. The address is http://books.google.com/books?as_list=BDfuiR1cQ-8WeusXKt_6DARoU0TBaTquVjgRt9pN79r6f0bjBScs
Thanks for telling us about this!
Hmmm... it looks as if it will be hard for people to get the links from these comments (only part of the link shows). As the links come in, I'll post them at the bottom of my blog.
Glad to see you are doing some reading! I was wondering how I could keep track of what I've read. I was just trying to keep all the books in one place so I wouldn't forget. So I'm excited to start my own library and will do so as soon as I can.
It was fun to be a part of your birthday. Also hard to realize that my youngest child will soon hit the 30's! If you think you are getting old, think about us!!!:-D
i like the library idea...i just don't know if i will do it.
i've read soooo many books- i have no idea if i could recreate the list!
glad you had a nice 28yh birthday!
love you!
Well, I'll give the library thing a try too but I honestly don't know how I'll even remember! I'll see how it goes.
Also, I'm glad that you had a nice birthday too. Just don't worry about age, Beej. Just embrace your life as it is in every stage you go through. I know I'm only 5 yrs. older, but 28 was great for me, so was 30. And I plan on 40 and 50 and so on being great too.
Love you!
You don't necessarially need to put every book you have ever read in your library. Just start with the ones that you have read recently, and update it when you read more. If you want to work backwards too, that would be great. The idea is that we can pass books around by more than just word of mouth. And when you are wondering what to read next, you can browse books others have read, and see what they thought of them. I would love to see what books rank among your favorites! But, alas, if you are too busy, I suppose I'll just wander around at the Orem library, and pick something at random. ;-)
-- Love you all!
What a great idea! Google has such nice features. I am glad you are doing this and I am promising I will do one too--soon. I have wanted to read "Holes" for awhile because like you I love a story about characters you don't normally see as "leading".
On another note, in this family you will never be "old". Pretty much impossible for you to be considering you are last in line to get old. :)
I am glad you had a nice birthday. Really and truly need to have you two over. If you have time, you are welcome to watch a Saturday session here. Let me know.
Love ya!!
Yay! I'm so glad you enjoyed that book! And if I were to try to create my own library, most people would fall asleep reading the titles, let alone trying to read the books... "Pastoral Care in Late Anglo-Saxon England." And so forth. I'll have to finish reading the post later, I just got excited that you read my suggestion and liked it. :)
Please take note: the most recent comment in this post is from me. You said I don't comment much on your blog. I think I've commented, for the most part, on most posts. But comment wars/exchanges can't take place unless other people answer your comments... ;P
and yes, I've just looked, and with the exception of the happy birthday Rochelle post, I've commented at least once on every post that is currently visible on the main screen of your blog. So don't you give me this, "you never comment on my blog" rubbish! LOL
Post a Comment